Fred Trump III is speaking out against his sister Mary Trump and her tell-all new book, Too Much and Never Enough. The 57-year-old nephew of President Donald Trump told the Daily Mail Mary Trump is still bound by a nondisclosure agreement with the Trump family and should not have written such a book.
The family memoir, which was published on July 14, describes “the dark history” of the Trump family and explains how Donald Trump became the “most dangerous man” who “threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric,” according to publisher Simon & Schuster.
Some of the accusations Mary Trump makes in the book include Donald Trump cheating on the SAT by hiring someone to take the test for him, and the family sending Fred Trump Jr., Donald Trump’s older brother and the father of Mary Trump and Fred Trump III, to the hospital alone on the night he died.
The Trump family has been trying to stop the publication of the book, citing a 2001 settlement between Mary Trump and her late father’s siblings. Donald Trump’s brother Robert Trump filed a lawsuit twice to block the publication, but a New York appellate judge ruled that Simon & Schuster could publish the book. On July 13, another New York judge ruled that Mary Trump can publicize her book, too.
However, Fred Trump III, Mary Trump’s only brother, has criticized her for violating the nondisclosure agreement and debunked some claims in the book, according to the Daily Mail.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Fred Trump III Is 1 of the 2 Children of Fred Trump Jr., Donald Trump’s Brother Who Died in 1981
Fred Trump III is the only son to Fred Trump Jr. (second from the left in the photo above) and Linda Trump, a flight attendant. He is the brother of the 55-year-old Mary Trump, whose book threatens to reveal what she says is the dysfunction of the Trump family. He has two uncles, Donald Trump and Robert Trump, as well as two aunts, retired federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry and Elizabeth Trump Grau.
Fred Trump III was named after his father, Fred Trump Jr., and grandfather, Fred Trump, who started his real estate development business in New York when he was only 22 years old. Fred Trump Jr. was the family’s second-oldest son and was born eight years before the president. He helped with his father’s real estate business for a while but eventually became a pilot.
The marriage of Fred Trump III’s parents ended in divorce, and his father died in 1981 of a heart attack caused by alcoholism at the age of 43. The next time Fred Trump III’s family was in the news was when he and his sister filed an objection to their grandfather’s will in 2000.
2. Fred Trump III Sided With Mary Trump in the High-Profile Lawsuit About Their Grandfather’s Will
Despite his criticism of Mary Trump’s book, Fred Trump III sided with his sister when they sued their aunts and uncles over their grandfather’s will in 2000.
According to Heavy’s previous report and the Daily Mail, the dispute centered around the millions of dollars left behind by Fred Trump after his death. Fred Trump III and Mary Trump claimed that they deserved one-fifth of their grandfather’s property, an estimated $5 million to $15 million, because this portion would’ve been given to their father if he had been alive.
The lawsuit was settled privately later that year and both Fred Trump III and Mary Trump signed a nondisclosure agreement. According to the Daily Mail, the two received several million dollars as a result of the private settlement, which Fred Trump III now says his sister violates.
3. Fred Trump III Works in Real Estate Just Like His Uncle Did
Fred Trump III graduated from Lehigh University with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1984. Unlike his free-spirited father, he took the traditional path and established a career in real estate.
Fred Trump III started as an associate at the real estate firm Edward S. Gordon in New York City and has since worked for firms including the First Winthrop Corporation and Shorenstein Realty Services. In April 2017, he joined Cushman & Wakefield’s office leasing team as an executive director.
He identifies himself as a “third-generation member of a prominent New York real estate family” on his LinkedIn page. While his company website shows that he works in his office in Midtown New York, Fred Trump III currently resides in Greenwich, Connecticut, with his wife, Lisa Trump, whom he married in 1989 and has three children with.
4. Fred Trump III Said He & His Family Have No Involvement in the Preparation of Mary Trump’s Book & He Disapproves of It
Already sued by her uncle Robert Trump twice, Mary Trump now has to deal with another adversary.
Although Fred Trump III joined his sister in the 2000 lawsuit, he has now disapproved of Mary Trump’s new book that aims to disclose the high-profile family’s drama. Among the reasons for his disapproval, he told the Daily Mail, is the nondisclosure agreement they both signed as part of the settlement two decades ago.
He believes they’re still bound by the agreement and that by writing Too Much and Never Enough, Mary Trump is in violation. In a statement provided by the president’s son Eric Trump to the Daily Mail, Fred Trump III said:
At the time that our lawsuit with the family was resolved, Mary and I had each received a generous financial settlement from the family and were more than willing to agree to execute non-disclosure provisions, all of which had been approved and recommended by our attorneys and advisors at that time.
In my opinion, those provisions of the 2001 settlement agreement are still in effect and binding today and I have continued to honor them.
However, Mary Trump later dismissed her brother’s claim, saying that the 2001 nondisclosure agreement was “based on ‘demonstrably fraudulent’ financial information and should be held invalid,” according to the Guardian.
5. Fred Trump III Denies the Claim That His Disabled Son Has Been Cut Off by the President & His Siblings
In 1999, William Trump, Fred Trump III’s son, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy shortly after his birth. His severe disabilities require round-the-clock and expensive medical treatment.
But when Fred Trump III and Mary Trump went to the court to contest the will of Fred Trump, the family revoked the insurance coverage they’d had since birth, Business Insider reported. This is also one of the accusations made in Too Much and Never Enough.
In a 2016 interview with the New York Times, Donald Trump admitted that he withdrew the medical benefits to his nephew’s newborn out of retaliation. “I was angry because they sued,” he told the Times.
According to the New York Times, Fred Trump III said in an affidavit in a lawsuit over the health insurance that he was shocked that his family would jeopardize his son’s medical care. However, he now denies his sister’s claim in her new book.
In the statement issued to the Daily Mail by Donald Trump’s son, Fred Trump III says the claim is false:
As is also known by Mary, our son William has been very well provided for financially for many years through the William Trump Medical Fund by my aunts and uncles, Maryanne, Donald, Elizabeth, and Robert; for which we are very appreciative.
William Trump once received in-home therapy visits provided by a nonprofit in Greenwich, and Fred Trump III held golf tournaments to raise funds to support such programs in their community, according to Stamford Advocate.
Fred Trump III also said he and his family “have a strong relationship” with their extended family.
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