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Who Could Ever Love You: A Family Memoir
7 hours, 37 minutes
This program is read by the author.
Who Could Ever Love You is an intimate, heartbreaking memoir of a father, a mother, and a family’s exile.
Mary Trump grew up in a family divided by its patriarch’s relentless drive for money and power. The daughter of Freddy Trump, son of wealthy real-estate developer Fred Trump, and Linda Clapp, a flight attendant from a working-class family, Mary lived in the shadow of Freddy’s humiliation at the hands of his father.
Fred Trump embodied the ethos of the zero-sum game, and among his five children there could only be one winner. That was supposed to be Freddy, his namesake, but Fred found him wanting—too sensitive, too kind, too interested in pursuits beyond the realm of the real-estate empire he was meant to inherit. In Donald, Fred found a kindred spirit, a “killer,” who would stop at nothing to get his way. Even after Freddy’s short-lived career as a professional pilot for TWA came to an end, he never stopped trying to gain his father’s approval.
In Who Could Ever Love You, Mary Trump brings readers inside the twisted family whose patriarch ignored, froze out, and eventually destroyed his own. Freddy Trump’s descent into alcoholism and illness, along with Linda’s suffering after their divorce, left Mary dangerously vulnerable as a young girl. Inadequately and only conditionally loved, there were no adults in her life except for the father she loved but lost before she could know him; and a mother abandoned by her ex-husband’s rich and powerful family who demanded her loyalty but left her with nothing.
With searching insight, poignant detail, and unsparing prose, Mary Trump reveals the cold, selfish cruelty that has come to define the Trump family thanks in large part to her uncle, whose malignant ambition has riven America and threatens the world.
This program is read by the author.
Who Could Ever Love You is an intimate, heartbreaking memoir of a father, a mother, and a family’s exile.
Mary Trump grew up in a family divided by its patriarch’s relentless drive for money and power. The daughter of Freddy Trump, son of wealthy real-estate developer Fred Trump, and Linda Clapp, a flight attendant from a working-class family, Mary lived in the shadow of Freddy’s humiliation at the hands of his father.
Fred Trump embodied the ethos of the zero-sum game, and among his five children there could only be one winner. That was supposed to be Freddy, his namesake, but Fred found him wanting—too sensitive, too kind, too interested in pursuits beyond the realm of the real-estate empire he was meant to inherit. In Donald, Fred found a kindred spirit, a “killer,” who would stop at nothing to get his way. Even after Freddy’s short-lived career as a professional pilot for TWA came to an end, he never stopped trying to gain his father’s approval.
In Who Could Ever Love You, Mary Trump brings readers inside the twisted family whose patriarch ignored, froze out, and eventually destroyed his own. Freddy Trump’s descent into alcoholism and illness, along with Linda’s suffering after their divorce, left Mary dangerously vulnerable as a young girl. Inadequately and only conditionally loved, there were no adults in her life except for the father she loved but lost before she could know him; and a mother abandoned by her ex-husband’s rich and powerful family who demanded her loyalty but left her with nothing.
With searching insight, poignant detail, and unsparing prose, Mary Trump reveals the cold, selfish cruelty that has come to define the Trump family thanks in large part to her uncle, whose malignant ambition has riven America and threatens the world.
288 pages, Audiobook
First published September 10, 2024
1266 people are currently reading
9926 people want to read
About the author
Mary L. Trump
10 books629 followersMary L. Trump is the author of the international #1 bestseller Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, the New York Times bestseller The Reckoning: Our Nation's Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal, and Who Could Ever Love You: A Memoir. She holds a PhD from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University. She writes the newsletter The Good in Us and is the host of The Mary Trump Show on YouTube.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 343 reviews
September 12, 2024
This is a beautifully written memoir about this most public and damaged family. Mary Trump has a doctorate in clinical psychology, and has studied her own family for years. But in the end, the damage to her and her immediate family is real and so, so sad. I applaud her courage in revealing the years of fear and disappointment as she struggled with her depressed mother and alcoholic father. For years, she watched her grandfather, Fred Trump, belittle and demean her father at every turn, as her dad tried to escape by finding his own path as a TWA pilot. A very compelling memoir.
September 17, 2024
3 stars = Good and worthwhile.
She literally can’t help but hurt me. I’d never let her hurt me again.
This is a personal memoir of Mary’s childhood and the effects her mentally ill family members had on her and her parents. Donald is relegated to the periphery, popping up only enough to solidify he is a toxic and developmentally stunted asshole, which everyone on this planet already knows.
If you are seeking spilled tea, I think her first book is better, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. In contrast, this one was a brave memoir to publish as with her PhD in psychology, Mary is completely aware of ways she was manipulated or behaved poorly as a self-focused teenager, and she owns it on the page, regrets and all.
This is an easy book to recommend to people that like to read about dysfunctional families, and to those that have an abusive or unloving parent. If you are looking for political discourse, this is not it. I read the audiobook version which is narrated by the author herself. She reads it well but without obvious emotion or anything to make it a must-listen, so I'd say read whichever format you prefer.
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First Sentence: I exhaled as the needle slid into my veins.
Favorite Quote: My father’s tragedy was that ultimately, he believed every lie his father told about him. My tragedy was that I did, too.
She literally can’t help but hurt me. I’d never let her hurt me again.
This is a personal memoir of Mary’s childhood and the effects her mentally ill family members had on her and her parents. Donald is relegated to the periphery, popping up only enough to solidify he is a toxic and developmentally stunted asshole, which everyone on this planet already knows.
If you are seeking spilled tea, I think her first book is better, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. In contrast, this one was a brave memoir to publish as with her PhD in psychology, Mary is completely aware of ways she was manipulated or behaved poorly as a self-focused teenager, and she owns it on the page, regrets and all.
This is an easy book to recommend to people that like to read about dysfunctional families, and to those that have an abusive or unloving parent. If you are looking for political discourse, this is not it. I read the audiobook version which is narrated by the author herself. She reads it well but without obvious emotion or anything to make it a must-listen, so I'd say read whichever format you prefer.
-------------------------------------------
First Sentence: I exhaled as the needle slid into my veins.
Favorite Quote: My father’s tragedy was that ultimately, he believed every lie his father told about him. My tragedy was that I did, too.
November 3, 2024
In this sad and heartbreaking memoir, Mary Trump describes her childhood as a member of the Trump family. Mary’s persistence and determination to distance herself from a twisted and extremely dysfunctional family rigidly controlled by a patriarch whose only goal in life was to accumulate wealth continues to this day.
October 4, 2024
Who Could Ever Love You by Mary L Trump. Autobiography more about Mary and how she grew up than about the rest of the family. The family definitely was dysfunctional. Donald was the coddled child but not because of him, but because he was the mini me of his father. His father described as a sociopath with a personality just like his son demonstrates now. One thing that struck me interesting, Donald’s bullying behaviors started in early grade school. This included other children and family. I wanted to say poor little rich girl. Honestly, I can’t take away the abuse, verbal and false expectations placed on Mary. This family needs to stop breeding. It breeds complete to toxic dysfunction . Obviously, some things money cannot buy.
September 11, 2024
4.75
Mary is an engaging storyteller. She masterfully weaves the tale of the birth of her childhood traumas and her healing process. I felt like the story lacked depth in some sections but she admittedly is a private person. I can imagine it's painful and surreal recounting such a traumatic upbringing to the world. Especially knowing that what she says will be met with contrasting opinions depending what side of the fence people are on with the Trumps. I related to her more than I expected. The audio book was an excellent listen and her voice has a no-nonsense warmth to it.
Mary is an engaging storyteller. She masterfully weaves the tale of the birth of her childhood traumas and her healing process. I felt like the story lacked depth in some sections but she admittedly is a private person. I can imagine it's painful and surreal recounting such a traumatic upbringing to the world. Especially knowing that what she says will be met with contrasting opinions depending what side of the fence people are on with the Trumps. I related to her more than I expected. The audio book was an excellent listen and her voice has a no-nonsense warmth to it.
September 21, 2024
The cruelty of TFG and his siblings is disgusting. We are grateful Mary survived her childhood.
September 23, 2024
For those of us that grew up in a toxic & abusive family, this story may resonate with you. It did with me.
And knowing that the most hate filled person to come from that family has poisoned the well of our country and wants to continue to do so, sends an urgent message to not only read this memoir in an effort to understand the dysfunction Ms. Trump lived in but also her inner strength to survive.
And finally, the most import message we have before us is to vote blue come November, 2024.
And knowing that the most hate filled person to come from that family has poisoned the well of our country and wants to continue to do so, sends an urgent message to not only read this memoir in an effort to understand the dysfunction Ms. Trump lived in but also her inner strength to survive.
And finally, the most import message we have before us is to vote blue come November, 2024.
September 18, 2024
I’ve seen Mary Trump interviewed on television frequently over the last couple of years. I’ve read her regular online columns. I’ve read her previous books. I was totally taken aback by her latest book WHO COULD EVER LOVE YOU.
The book opens when she is in severe distress. She talks of dealing with it and relates “As of autumn 2023, my life has gotten smaller. Days go by without my seeing another human being. Sometimes I can’t remember the last time I went outside.”
I was dumbfounded. How could she do such wonderful interviews and writes such important books in that condition? Answer: with strength, concerned, intelligence, And great understanding.
Mary Trump discusses growing up in an extremely dysfunctional family. Her grandfather, Fred Trump, was very dictatorial and opinionated. He disliked Mary’s father, Fred, the oldest child, because he was kind and had his own interests that did not include real estate. He wanted to be a pilot and was very good one. But that’s not what his father expected him to be. Eventually, his treatment by his parents, never being able to reach their expectations. pushed him into the alcoholism that led to his death at age 42.
Especially after her parents divorce, Mary lacked the caring and kindness that children need. Her frequent illnesses, including asthma, required hospitalization, but were not managed well by her mother, who deteriorated after her parents divorced.
Her grandfather‘s favorite was very obviously his second son, Donald. He had the killer instinct. At the weekly Sunday dinners, Donald displayed his bullying tactics early on.
The family action that saved Mary was her aunt teaching her to read when she was three years old. Mary now had escape: books.
Mary had an inner strength enabled her to not only get through a traumatic childhood, but also to become a psychologist the ability to understand her family’s background and use that knowledge to help others, especially those witnessing what her uncle has done to the US.
October 19, 2024
I've enjoyed reading all of Mary Trump's books. This is similar in style and a continuation of her family drama/tragedy; however, this book is more about Mary. When I first heard she had another book out, I assumed the title referred to Donald. It does not. Now I wonder if the title refers to her, or her father? She certainly conveys a lonely, bereft childhood. While reading, I kept feeling an urge to scoop up and hold the child that was Mary, in a warm embrace. It's very sad, especially when her own mother repeatedly ignored her while she suffered through dangerous, life threatening asthma attacks. The entire family was/is adrift. Here is a lonely description of her father's funeral:
Nobody outside of the immediate family was there, no food had been prepared, and nobody had anything to say. p. 206, Kindle Edition
She writes beautifully:
But there was a poetry to the casting of that wide circular net and a rhythmic physicality to hauling it against the weight of a dozen writhing fish and the pull of the water. p. 153, Kindle Edition.
She is a brave woman, standing up for her convictions and holding her own, against a family that typically betrays her. Check out her youtube channel: here
Nobody outside of the immediate family was there, no food had been prepared, and nobody had anything to say. p. 206, Kindle Edition
She writes beautifully:
But there was a poetry to the casting of that wide circular net and a rhythmic physicality to hauling it against the weight of a dozen writhing fish and the pull of the water. p. 153, Kindle Edition.
She is a brave woman, standing up for her convictions and holding her own, against a family that typically betrays her. Check out her youtube channel: here
September 15, 2024
I can sum this book up in 3 words: Oh. Poor. Me.
Yes, she had a dysfunctional family and childhood. I’m not sure why she thinks the world would be interested. The salient points of the dysfunction of the T**** family were much better covered in her first book. Now she seems to be grasping for attention in her last two books.
Oh, and who puts their late father’s SSN in a book?
Sorry, Mary, your 15 minutes of fame are up.
Just to note: I got this book from the library. I won’t spend money on anything having to do with djt.
Yes, she had a dysfunctional family and childhood. I’m not sure why she thinks the world would be interested. The salient points of the dysfunction of the T**** family were much better covered in her first book. Now she seems to be grasping for attention in her last two books.
Oh, and who puts their late father’s SSN in a book?
Sorry, Mary, your 15 minutes of fame are up.
Just to note: I got this book from the library. I won’t spend money on anything having to do with djt.
September 23, 2024
There aren’t many books anymore that I can’t put down, but this was one of them. As enjoyable as her first book on her sociopathic Uncle was, this is the book that vaults her into the gifted memoirist category. Highly recommended.
October 5, 2024
Disturbing and depressing.
December 11, 2024
I listened to the audiobook of Mary Trump’s WHO COULD EVER LOVE YOU.
I like and respect Mary Trump and I can relate with many parts of her childhood, though our situations were quite different.
I can certainly relate to her angry feelings about her Uncle Donald, who according to Mary, was awful at thirteen, when her mother met him. He continued to with more brazen behavior as he grew. I could hear the vitriol in Mary’s voice when she spoke his name.
While I understand having unresolved feelings, as a reader and listener, I don’t want to hear the writer or narrator tell me how to feel. Unresolved feelings make me think the writer lacks objectivity. I’m not saying a victims need to forgive abusers or that they ought not to still be angry. I want to read someone who has enough emotional distance from the cause of issues have an easing of the hate.
Mary has been through a lot. She’s genetically preloaded with mental illness (nature), grew up with parents who couldn’t put their pain above hers and had a cruel, controlling and amoral extended family. That’s a lot to overcome. Though I’ve had some similar experiences, at least no one in my family is Donald Trump.
I wish Mary the best.
I like and respect Mary Trump and I can relate with many parts of her childhood, though our situations were quite different.
I can certainly relate to her angry feelings about her Uncle Donald, who according to Mary, was awful at thirteen, when her mother met him. He continued to with more brazen behavior as he grew. I could hear the vitriol in Mary’s voice when she spoke his name.
While I understand having unresolved feelings, as a reader and listener, I don’t want to hear the writer or narrator tell me how to feel. Unresolved feelings make me think the writer lacks objectivity. I’m not saying a victims need to forgive abusers or that they ought not to still be angry. I want to read someone who has enough emotional distance from the cause of issues have an easing of the hate.
Mary has been through a lot. She’s genetically preloaded with mental illness (nature), grew up with parents who couldn’t put their pain above hers and had a cruel, controlling and amoral extended family. That’s a lot to overcome. Though I’ve had some similar experiences, at least no one in my family is Donald Trump.
I wish Mary the best.
October 1, 2024
This book is a bore. I’ve read two of Mary’s other books and had high hopes for this one, but alas it was a disappointment.
The book is appropriately labeled as a “family memoir.” I honestly felt like I had read everything before from Mary’s earlier books, "Too Much and Never Enough” and “The Reckoning: Our Nation’s Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal.” The latter is my favorite of Mary’s books.
I didn’t enjoy this book at all. Mary goes into incredible detail about her traumatic family life in her formative years. I almost couldn’t believe the things she said she remembered from her childhood. My childhood memories aren’t that detailed.
I also started to think that one could likely find fault in practically anything. And I think it’s likely that most people could point to less than desired instances in their family histories.
I gave this book one star because I didn’t think there was anything new worth reading. Further, the way it was written made it arduous to get through. Sadly, I can’t recommend this book.
The book is appropriately labeled as a “family memoir.” I honestly felt like I had read everything before from Mary’s earlier books, "Too Much and Never Enough” and “The Reckoning: Our Nation’s Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal.” The latter is my favorite of Mary’s books.
I didn’t enjoy this book at all. Mary goes into incredible detail about her traumatic family life in her formative years. I almost couldn’t believe the things she said she remembered from her childhood. My childhood memories aren’t that detailed.
I also started to think that one could likely find fault in practically anything. And I think it’s likely that most people could point to less than desired instances in their family histories.
I gave this book one star because I didn’t think there was anything new worth reading. Further, the way it was written made it arduous to get through. Sadly, I can’t recommend this book.
December 6, 2024
The best part of this book was when it was over. I understand that Mary was not given the tenderness that she wanted as a kid... but she's a Trump! I was disgusted when she said her family was impoverished. She obviously wasn't that bad off if she had a roof over her head, clothes on her back, medical insurance, and her schooling paid for.
I felt like Mary was just like any other Trump stretching the truth to her advantage. I don't believe that she could remember the things she spoke of at age 4. This book was an entitled rich girls story of her not getting everything she ever wanted.
I felt like Mary was just like any other Trump stretching the truth to her advantage. I don't believe that she could remember the things she spoke of at age 4. This book was an entitled rich girls story of her not getting everything she ever wanted.
July 10, 2025
The title intrigued me.
September 14, 2024
This book is about Mary's trauma and how it came about. She does a very good job explaining the abuse she received from every member of her family. The Trump family was and is so very toxic. Fred Trump, her grandfather, had total, sadistic control over the family. Everyone jumped to Fred's tune, or else Fred destroyed them. Thus, Mary's father, who could not measure up to Fred's evil ideas of a man, was crushed by the entire family at the behest of Fred. Donald was then raised to the position of the golden child because he was just as evil as his father and stupid enough to do whatever Fred wanted. Mary, her mother, and her brother took on the burden of the family's hatred once Mary's father died.
For some reason, her mother was equally abusive. Whether it was due to her divorce from Mary's dad or if she would have always been abusive, I don't know. Regardless, Mary's mom was unbelievably cruel to Mary throughout Mary's life.
Mary had no chance for a healthy foundation to her personality. She received no love, no sense of safety, and no approbation from her family. Thus, she grew up feeling unloved, unwanted, and unlovable - even to herself. Luckily, as she has aged, she has turned toward her own therapy and her writing as a way to deal with the serious mental and emotional trauma heaped on her throughout her life. Hopefully, she will find peace within herself.
For some reason, her mother was equally abusive. Whether it was due to her divorce from Mary's dad or if she would have always been abusive, I don't know. Regardless, Mary's mom was unbelievably cruel to Mary throughout Mary's life.
Mary had no chance for a healthy foundation to her personality. She received no love, no sense of safety, and no approbation from her family. Thus, she grew up feeling unloved, unwanted, and unlovable - even to herself. Luckily, as she has aged, she has turned toward her own therapy and her writing as a way to deal with the serious mental and emotional trauma heaped on her throughout her life. Hopefully, she will find peace within herself.
September 21, 2024
A beautifully and skillfully written journey through a child's nightmare
About a third of the way through this eloquent accounting of a life that might've looked privileged from the outside, I wanted to crawl into the pages of this book and take young Mary Trump home. Stuck in a claustrophobic tangle of a brutally and deliberately damaged father, a narcissistic mother and the pack of hyenas that comprised the elder Trumps -- sociopathic grandfather Fred, cold and uncaring grandmother Mary, bullying Robert, domineering Maryanne and spineless Elizabeth and Donald, so monstrous that his exile to military school was a relief to all -- sensitive, brilliant, creative, loving Mary was largely unseen, her needs never met, her sense of worth crushed deliberately, yet with absolute indifference. This window into her own world is also a powerful companion to her excellent book " Too Much and Never Enough," rounding out the damning exposé of the monster who cost this country so much.
If I could tell Mary Trump anything, it would be these two things:
You were always enough.
I wish I'd had the privilege of having been there to love you as one of the tribe of kiddos I helped raise. I would've adored you.
About a third of the way through this eloquent accounting of a life that might've looked privileged from the outside, I wanted to crawl into the pages of this book and take young Mary Trump home. Stuck in a claustrophobic tangle of a brutally and deliberately damaged father, a narcissistic mother and the pack of hyenas that comprised the elder Trumps -- sociopathic grandfather Fred, cold and uncaring grandmother Mary, bullying Robert, domineering Maryanne and spineless Elizabeth and Donald, so monstrous that his exile to military school was a relief to all -- sensitive, brilliant, creative, loving Mary was largely unseen, her needs never met, her sense of worth crushed deliberately, yet with absolute indifference. This window into her own world is also a powerful companion to her excellent book " Too Much and Never Enough," rounding out the damning exposé of the monster who cost this country so much.
If I could tell Mary Trump anything, it would be these two things:
You were always enough.
I wish I'd had the privilege of having been there to love you as one of the tribe of kiddos I helped raise. I would've adored you.
December 26, 2024
Idk, I struggled more with this than her other book. Some terrible behavior by her grandparents…some really hard things she had to go through, but a lot of these TERRIBLE traumatic “proof my mother’s an evil person” stuff felt a bit…not the worst ever? Sorry your mom brought the wrong photos, that your grandparents decided to bury your dad’s ashes, and your mom was tired and probably didn’t realize how bad your asthma attacks were when she kindly invited you to sleep in her bed? Definitely not great stuff—but I’m not sure if it needed to be life-altering trauma you’re still dealing with? Maybe I’m just really bad at empathy…her grandparents were obviously terribly mean people.
Just didn’t feel like this book offered much new from the previous one. Only got it cause it was an audio book available now from the library!
Just didn’t feel like this book offered much new from the previous one. Only got it cause it was an audio book available now from the library!
March 19, 2025
This is the third book I have read by Mary Trump. She calls it a family memoir. It is the most gut-wrenching of the three books. Mary grew up in an extremely dysfunctional home. Mary has talked before about her father, Fred Trump, who was Donald’s older brother. Fred, Sr., Donald’s father and Mary’s grandfather, was also abusive to his namesake, Fred. What I learned more about was Mary’s mother, Linda, who was also quite neglectful. She had a very sad childhood, and also became estranged from her brother. This family is a mess … so much cruelty and collateral damage. The book is very well written and heartbreaking. I’m hoping it is cathartic for Mary.
dnf
December 3, 2024I was trying so hard to finish this because I’ve DNF’d a few books lately but got halfway through and it was unbearable.
Marketed as a tell-all about growing up in the Trump family, truthfully this is a self-indulgent account of Mary Trump’s entire childhood. It is rambling and unedited, with unnecessary details. It honestly was more about the innerworkings of her own mind than about the family. Much of it felt like a diary of her working through her own childhood trauma that maybe shouldn’t have been publicly shared.
Marketed as a tell-all about growing up in the Trump family, truthfully this is a self-indulgent account of Mary Trump’s entire childhood. It is rambling and unedited, with unnecessary details. It honestly was more about the innerworkings of her own mind than about the family. Much of it felt like a diary of her working through her own childhood trauma that maybe shouldn’t have been publicly shared.
September 13, 2024
This book is basically a regurgitation of Too Much---Never Enough. It's a very depressing story about Mary Trump's horror-filled childhood in a perversely dysfunctional family. She speaks about her feeling that she didn't belong or that she would never be enough. Very sad tale. If you want to read about the Trump family, read Too Much---Never Enough and skip this one. Do not recommend.
December 8, 2024
Just like I learned in Hillbilly Elegy: evil men simply need therapy instead of taking out their trauma on every citizen in the country. This was an eye opening read about the Trump family.
September 15, 2025
Obviously taken with a grain of salt considering the current situation of our country.
Very interesting to learn about her grandparents and father and how that all ties in with our current administration. Interesting listen for sure.
Kudos to Mary for telling her story. I’m glad she’s successful today after wading through a toxic childhood and being shit on.
Very interesting to learn about her grandparents and father and how that all ties in with our current administration. Interesting listen for sure.
Kudos to Mary for telling her story. I’m glad she’s successful today after wading through a toxic childhood and being shit on.
January 8, 2025
This is such a heartbreaking memoir written by a member of one of America's most controversial families. My heart truly goes out to this strong woman who suffered so much from a very young age. 💔
October 1, 2024
It was an interesting read about growing up in the Trump household. Donald was groomed to take over the business and Fred was ridiculed and assigned to do maintenance work at the rental properties. He was a kind man and smart. He had been trained as a pilot but gave it up. I found it sad.
May 24, 2025
This book was okay.
It’s great she came out and wrote so much about her family and experience growing up around them. It sheds light on a family we surprisingly know little about. It helps us understand how an empire was built and the environment Donald Trump grew up in. I give 3 stars for this alone.
That being said, this entire book reeks of entitlement. I wanted to like her and understand her struggle so bad.
Mary Trump doesn’t get the ultra expensive camera lens for her birthday. Instead, her parents get her the cheaper more affordable option given their circumstances. She makes sure to specify she “sarcastically” thanked them for the gift. There isn’t even a hint of gratitude in the writing.
Mary doesn’t get the summer camp achievement award from when she was 16 years old. 50 years later, she unironically believes the award was stolen from her and she deserved it all along. Sound familiar? If one thing runs in the family, it’s entitlement.
Mary asks her elderly mother (who just years later is diagnosed with cancer) for pictures of her as a child. Her mom volunteers to hand deliver them to her campus despite Mary being in her mid thirties and more than capable of picking them up herself. Then, she writes about how much she hates the pictures her mom brought her and how her mom “can’t help but hurt her.”
And finally, her grandfather’s estate. She sued her grandfather for taking her out of the will. However, she writes at length about how much she despised her grandfather and his family, how little she felt she belonged, and how neglected she was. And yet? She feels entitled to a piece of the pie which she spent years resenting in the first place. It didn’t quite make sense (at the very least, it wasn’t explained properly).
The book was devoid of any greater meaning. Chapters felt disorganized from one another. The entire book was so negative. And I can’t blame her. This family is horrible. She’s great, she’s brave, and I appreciate her willingness to shed light on her family. Aaand this book was mediocre at best.
It’s great she came out and wrote so much about her family and experience growing up around them. It sheds light on a family we surprisingly know little about. It helps us understand how an empire was built and the environment Donald Trump grew up in. I give 3 stars for this alone.
That being said, this entire book reeks of entitlement. I wanted to like her and understand her struggle so bad.
Mary Trump doesn’t get the ultra expensive camera lens for her birthday. Instead, her parents get her the cheaper more affordable option given their circumstances. She makes sure to specify she “sarcastically” thanked them for the gift. There isn’t even a hint of gratitude in the writing.
Mary doesn’t get the summer camp achievement award from when she was 16 years old. 50 years later, she unironically believes the award was stolen from her and she deserved it all along. Sound familiar? If one thing runs in the family, it’s entitlement.
Mary asks her elderly mother (who just years later is diagnosed with cancer) for pictures of her as a child. Her mom volunteers to hand deliver them to her campus despite Mary being in her mid thirties and more than capable of picking them up herself. Then, she writes about how much she hates the pictures her mom brought her and how her mom “can’t help but hurt her.”
And finally, her grandfather’s estate. She sued her grandfather for taking her out of the will. However, she writes at length about how much she despised her grandfather and his family, how little she felt she belonged, and how neglected she was. And yet? She feels entitled to a piece of the pie which she spent years resenting in the first place. It didn’t quite make sense (at the very least, it wasn’t explained properly).
The book was devoid of any greater meaning. Chapters felt disorganized from one another. The entire book was so negative. And I can’t blame her. This family is horrible. She’s great, she’s brave, and I appreciate her willingness to shed light on her family. Aaand this book was mediocre at best.
September 15, 2024
I read her first book, but have not yet read the second. This book is profoundly sad. It is very different from her first book that focuses on Donald Trump utilizing her psychology expertise and her unique perspective being his niece.
This book reveals, in great detail, that not only does Mary Trump have the evil Trump's as relatives, she had a traumatic childhood, in part due to the residual effects of her grandfather and Donald Trump's cruelty to her father. Mary Trump's stories of her childhood are interesting and profoundly sad; this is a heavy read.
She starts and ends this book with events of the last few years which include emotional crisis which makes a great deal of sense given everything she has had to deal with and the energy consumed by full filling the obligation of red flag warnings of her dangerous psychopath uncle illustrating in her books.
I had a hard time piecing events described in this book. The sequence was hard to follow and many scenarios unfinished (or finished in the sense that issue were not resolved to this day) I think rereading would help, but I don't have the emotional strength. My own mother treated me so much like her mother treated her; distinction being my mother also physically abused me.
This book reveals, in great detail, that not only does Mary Trump have the evil Trump's as relatives, she had a traumatic childhood, in part due to the residual effects of her grandfather and Donald Trump's cruelty to her father. Mary Trump's stories of her childhood are interesting and profoundly sad; this is a heavy read.
She starts and ends this book with events of the last few years which include emotional crisis which makes a great deal of sense given everything she has had to deal with and the energy consumed by full filling the obligation of red flag warnings of her dangerous psychopath uncle illustrating in her books.
I had a hard time piecing events described in this book. The sequence was hard to follow and many scenarios unfinished (or finished in the sense that issue were not resolved to this day) I think rereading would help, but I don't have the emotional strength. My own mother treated me so much like her mother treated her; distinction being my mother also physically abused me.
January 22, 2025
I haven't read her other books because I didn't want to anymore about *that man.* So my questions may be answered there, but this book felt like Swiss cheese, full of holes that were never explained. I read this one because I thought it would be more about her and the family dynamic.
Normally, I come to feel a kinship with the memoir writer, even if they are deeply flawed, I understand why. But I never felt like I came to know anyone her family well enough to understand why they behaved the way they did. Her mother, for example was the biggest question mark. Mary tells of repeatedly having asthma attacks in the middle of the night and going into her mother's room only to have her mother invite her into bed, where she struggled to breathe until the sun came up, at which point her mother took her to the hospital. Later she learns that her mother was awake and listening to her struggle to breathe and did nothing.
The psychological principle I am familiar with is learned helplessness, and I wondered if that was a factor in this family. At a certain point, why didn't anyone leave the orbit of this toxic man? Was it just the money? Her father could have kept his pilot's job and salary and lived on that. After the divorce, her mother could have gotten a job and moved her family out of the city, and lived somewhere cheaper. She underlines the fact that her mother paid rent. So go pay rent somewhere else. (Would the Trumps have tried to take the kids? Considering the boarding schools and summer camps, the kids aren't around all that much.)
Mary said she was left only $200,000 and that was as good as being written out of the will completely. Do you know how many people would kill to have a $200,000 nest egg and the education and experiences that were provided to you? It's not many who can afford an annual summer camp like the one she attended.
This book just felt like the dregs of the story, what you have left after you've already told all the best anecdotes.
Normally, I come to feel a kinship with the memoir writer, even if they are deeply flawed, I understand why. But I never felt like I came to know anyone her family well enough to understand why they behaved the way they did. Her mother, for example was the biggest question mark. Mary tells of repeatedly having asthma attacks in the middle of the night and going into her mother's room only to have her mother invite her into bed, where she struggled to breathe until the sun came up, at which point her mother took her to the hospital. Later she learns that her mother was awake and listening to her struggle to breathe and did nothing.
The psychological principle I am familiar with is learned helplessness, and I wondered if that was a factor in this family. At a certain point, why didn't anyone leave the orbit of this toxic man? Was it just the money? Her father could have kept his pilot's job and salary and lived on that. After the divorce, her mother could have gotten a job and moved her family out of the city, and lived somewhere cheaper. She underlines the fact that her mother paid rent. So go pay rent somewhere else. (Would the Trumps have tried to take the kids? Considering the boarding schools and summer camps, the kids aren't around all that much.)
Mary said she was left only $200,000 and that was as good as being written out of the will completely. Do you know how many people would kill to have a $200,000 nest egg and the education and experiences that were provided to you? It's not many who can afford an annual summer camp like the one she attended.
This book just felt like the dregs of the story, what you have left after you've already told all the best anecdotes.
October 4, 2024
As an empath this book stretched my finer sensibilities almost too far to bear. As I read, I knew the Trump bastion was despicable, but the traumas they put Mary, her dad (who was belittled and humiliated for not towing the family line), her brother Fritz (not to such a degree because to make sure he and his family got what they needed he actually capitulated a lot) and her mother (not good enough for the family) through almost defies belief. I found myself saying out loud, "You've gotta be kidding!" and "How can such a rich family treat their own in so many cruel ways?" No wonder Mary found herself in the psychological place she ended up in. To get more insights, do read the book, but if you're sensitive (as I am) beware the damage it could do to YOUR psyche (as was done to Mary's). Estabish boundaries as you read. I truly hope Mary will now find a measure to healing and wholeness as she has cut herself off from her dysfunctional and disabling family, including her own mother.
Mary writes very well, is self-aware and self-critical (maybe too much due to her PTSD). I want to give her a big hug and assure her that she is worthy of all the love others can and will offer her, and hopefully she'll learn to love herself to a greater degree over time. She's still young (well, younger than I am), so there is time - as long as she maintains the distance she has put between herself and the rest of that terrible, money- and power-focussed family.
Mary writes very well, is self-aware and self-critical (maybe too much due to her PTSD). I want to give her a big hug and assure her that she is worthy of all the love others can and will offer her, and hopefully she'll learn to love herself to a greater degree over time. She's still young (well, younger than I am), so there is time - as long as she maintains the distance she has put between herself and the rest of that terrible, money- and power-focussed family.
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