Well-written and a quick read. She confirms a number of things I've read in other books, fleshes some of them out further, and she's the source who gave Fred Trump's tax papers to the NY Times, which they then used to write a scathing article about the Trump family's tax frauds over the years (she came by them legally - they were part of discovery in a lawsuit she and her brother had filed against the family).
The interesting part is that the villain of the story is Fred Trump, not Donald (although she had plenty to say about Donald). Fred Trump used Donald as a front-man because of his charm and charisma, something Fred Trump never had. So while Donald was putting on a show, Fred was behind the curtain pulling the levers.
Mary Trump has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and she is not shy about her opinions of Donald Trump's personality quirks because she was able to observe his behavior first-hand over many years. She lays the blame for it squarely at the feet of her grandfather, who she said ruled with an iron hand over a dysfunctional extended family. The storyline about Donald Trump as a successful businessman is a myth created by his father; everything he ever succeeded at was due to Fred Trump's money and influence. |
