Donald Trump said disabled people should just die, his nephew says
Fred Trump III says he will not vote for his uncle in November
When Fred Trump III asked his uncle Donald Trump for money to help with his disabled son's medical care, he says the former U.S. president suggested letting the young man die instead.
Fred's son, William Trump, was born with a genetic mutation that altered his physical and cognitive development. The former president had contributed financially to William's care over the years, but mounting costs forced Fred to ask for more help in a 2020 phone call.
In his new book, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, Fred alleges that his uncle's response was: "I don't know, he doesn't recognize you. Maybe you should just let him die and move down to Florida."
Fred was shocked at the response, and insisted that his son does recognize him.
"To this day, it's still hard to wrap my head around it," he told The Current's guest host Susan Bonner.
"I don't know how one human being could say that about anybody else. Least of all his grandnephew," he said.
Fred said his uncle has never met William, who is now living in a group home and doing well medically.
"He's 25 years old now, an extremely wonderful young man. Everybody that he touches, they are the better for it," Fred said.
After the former president was elected in 2016, Fred and his wife Lisa realized they could use their new connection to the Oval Office to attempt to help the disabled community. He said his cousin Ivanka Trump helped to set up a meeting with the then-president in early 2017, where Fred and a group of advocates made a pitch for better supports for people living with disabilities.
Fred said his uncle seemed interested in what they had to say, and called him back into the Oval Office when the meeting had ended and everyone else had left.
"He just looked at me and said, 'Those people, the costs. Why don't they just die?'" Fred said.
"That was the precursor to … what he said to me about his grandnephew, three years later."
In a statement to The Washington Post, Donald Trump said he had helped Fred and William both financially, and through introductions to government and medical officials.
"I helped him so much, more than anyone else in his life, and this is the thanks I get," said the former president, who is contesting the U.S. presidential election as the Republican nominee in November, facing off against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
The statement did not respond to a question about Fred's allegations of what his uncle said about disabled people, the Washington Post said.
Bitter family fights
Fred is the son of Donald's older brother, Fred Trump Jr., who he described as a free spirit who eschewed the family real estate business to become an airline pilot.
Fred said that decision didn't sit well with Donald or Fred Jr.'s father, Fred Trump Sr., who "constantly ridiculed" him for it.
"Donald called him a glorified bus driver. I think that's pretty demeaning," Fred said.
If you can't trust your own uncle to do the right thing, how can the people of America trust him to take care of them if he's re-elected president?- Fred Trump III
Fred Jr. died of a heart attack in 1981 after a struggle with alcoholism. After Fred Sr. died in 1999 after a battle with dementia, Fred and his sister Mary Trump expected to receive some portion of the inheritance that would have gone to their father.
But they discovered that the former president and his two living siblings at the time — Robert Trump and Maryanne Trump Barry — had convinced Fred Sr. to remove them from the will. An ensuing lawsuit was settled out of court.
"When I would ask for money from the fund that had been set up by Donald and his siblings, I was literally asking for my own money — I always looked at it that way," Fred said.
Despite those conflicts, Fred said he and his uncle remained close over the years, even attending his inauguration.
"We were close. Donald was the first person to put a golf club in my hand ... even when my father was alive, he would take me places and we would do things," he said.
When Mary released a sharply critical book about their uncle in 2020, Fred distanced himself from his sister's book, calling it a breach of the family's privacy.
He said he ultimately decided to write his own book not out of a desire for revenge, but as a way to speak up for the needs of people living with disabilities.
"The only way I could [do that] was to tell the story of my family. That's a very complex story, a sometimes cruel story, and yes … that story couldn't be told without telling about Donald," he said.
A Trump voting for Harris
Fred said he'd like to see better funding and training for the caregivers that help people living with disabilities and their families. He also wants more diverse housing supports, arguing that a one-size-fits-all model won't meet everyone's needs.
Fred said he didn't vote for his uncle in 2016 or 2020, instead casting his ballot for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, respectively. While his uncle never asked who he voted for, Fred has already made his mind up about this election.
"I am going to be voting for, endorsing and campaigning for Kamala Harris," he said, adding that he believes her administration, if elected, would "advocate on behalf of people with disabilities."
He said his uncle has an ability to make people believe he's on their side, but can cast them aside once he gets what he wants.
"If you can't trust your own uncle to do the right thing, how can the people of America trust him to take care of them if he's re-elected president?"
Audio produced by Ben Jamieson
