Trump's niece says the way he was raised left him 'utterly incapable of leading this country'


President Trump grew up in a family with so many issues that it left him "utterly incapable of leading this country, and it's dangerous to allow him to do so," his niece, Mary Trump, told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday.
Mary Trump's tell-all, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, was released on Tuesday. She is a clinical psychologist, and describes her grandfather, Fred Trump Sr., as being a "sociopath," telling Stephanopoulos he was "incredibly driven in a way that turned other people, including his children [and] wife, into pawns to be used to his own ends."
It is impossible, Mary Trump added, "to know who Donald might have been under different circumstances and with different parents." After her grandfather died in 1999, Mary Trump learned that he had almost entirely cut her and her brother out of his will. They filed a lawsuit, and she told Stephanopoulos in order to "cause us more pain and make us more desperate," her aunts and uncles canceled the health insurance they received through Fred Trump Sr.'s company. The siblings reached a settlement in 2001, but she said it wasn't a fair one.
Subscribe to 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.
Mary Trump also shared that she visited her uncle in the White House a few months after he was inaugurated, and he "already seemed very strained by the pressures. He'd never been in a situation before where he wasn't entirely protected from criticism or accountability or things like that." Stephanopoulos asked her what she would say to him if they spoke today, and Mary Trump responded, "Resign."
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.
-
July 12 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include generational ennui, tariffs on Canada, and a conspiracy rabbit hole
-
5 unusually elusive cartoons about the Epstein files
Cartoons Artists take on Pam Bondi's vanishing desk, the Mar-a-Lago bathrooms, and more
-
Lemon and courgette carbonara recipe
The Week Recommends Zingy and fresh, this pasta is a summer treat
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling