In new book, Mary Trump says Donald Trump appeared 'afraid' after COVID-19 hospitalization


In The Reckoning, the follow-up to her 2020 memoir Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, Mary Trump argues that her uncle Donald Trump's presidency helped push the United States toward "an even darker period in our nation's history."
The book has been seen by The Guardian, which reports that Mary Trump writes extensively about how Americans are collectively experiencing trauma because of Donald Trump and his "assault on democracy." She also describes what it was like watching on television last October when her uncle was released from the hospital after spending three days receiving treatment for a severe case of COVID-19.
Trump was flown back to the White House by helicopter, and after landing on the South Lawn, made his way up to the Truman Balcony. His niece writes that when he ripped his mask off, Trump was doing his "best Mussolini imitation," and what he thought was a "macho display of invulnerability" looked familiar to her.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"He clenched his teeth and jutted out his jaw, just as my grandmother did when she was biting back anger or clamping down on her pain," Mary Trump writes. "In Donald, I saw the latter." Mary Trump said she has asthma, and as such is "acutely aware of what it looks like when somebody is struggling to breathe. He was in pain, he was afraid, but he would never admit that to anybody — not even himself. Because, as always, the consequences of admitting vulnerability were much more frightening to him than being honest." Read more at The Guardian.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Trump crypto token launch earns family billions
Speed Read The World Liberty Financial token is now the Trump family's 'most valuable asset'
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revolt
Speed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower
Speed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodus
Speed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates