Mary Trump’s definitive biography on her uncle Donald, gives extraordinary insight to his character, behaviour and how he exercises authority and sovereignty in office as the United States 47^th president.

Published in 2020 by Simon & Schuster, the book chronicles much of the Trump family’s early life, and how they became a powerful, rich and politically influential New York family. It’s a similar story line about the lineage of all the super-rich elite families in the USA, and possibly throughout the world.  However, what makes this biography different from the outset is that the author is a clinical psychologist, and uses her professional expertise to offer a psychoanalytical portrait of her Uncle, whom she considers “the world’s most dangerous man”.  It is probable that had her uncle not became the 47^th president of the United States, his psychological profile would have garnered little attention, apart from  his mentions in the Epstein files, which may have caused him serious legal troubles as an ordinary citizen, albeit a very rich one!

Mary Trump details, her Uncle’s somewhat solitary family life, the death of his mother, and how he was subject to a strict, uncompromising upbringing at the hands of his father, Fred Trump. Disagreements over inherited wealth, family internecine power struggles and often bitter, personal attacks and infighting over family loyalties, inherited wealth and dominance, shaped the early life of her Uncle.

Her psychoanalysis of Donald is withering and contemptuous:

“I have no problem in calling Donald a narcissist-he meets all nine criteria as outlines in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) but the labels gets us only so far”…A case could be made that he also meets the criteria for antisocial personality disorder, which in its most severe form is generally considered sociopathy, but can also refer to common criminality, arrogance and disregard for the rights of others…he may have a long undiagnosed learning disability that for decades has interfered with his ability to process information. He has a horrible diet and dos not exercise which may contribute to or exacerbate his other possible disorders”. [i]

But to what purpose does it serve to annihilate the character and standing of a family member in such a public sphere through an unauthorized family biography? Mary Trump’s response to this criticism is that she had witnessed the “complicity, silence and in-actions of his siblings {that} destroyed her father, and she couldn’t let Donald destroy her country”.[ii]

As we watch and listen with a sense of dread and fear for the future of our world; the United States of America and Israel continue to attack Iran. Mary Trump is saying through her biography of her Uncle, Donald Trump, “Well, I told you so; and you still voted for him.”

I doubt whether any of Benjamin Netanyahu’s family will write his biography; but Fredrick M Burkle warned us 2018, that today’s autocratic leaders have limited capacity for empathy, love, guilt, or anxiety that become permanent and guide everyday decision making…character or personality traits that perpetuate the lives of autocratic leaders are further distinguished by sociopathic and narcissistic behaviours that self-serve to cover their constant fear of insecurity and the insatiable need for power”. [iii]  

I guess, none of the above is helpful, insofar as it isn’t going to stop or prevent wars. But, perhaps it reminds us yet again, of the former UN Secretary General, U Thants’s words that “Wars begin in the minds of men, and in those minds, love and compassion would have built the defenses of peace”. [iv]

[i] Trump, M.L, Too Much is Never Enough, How my Family created the world’s most dangerous man, p.12-13

[ii] Op.Cit. p17

[iii] Burkle, F.M, Character Disorders among Autocratic World Leaders and the Impact on Health, Security, Human Rights and Humanitarian Care, p.1

[iv] UNESCO Digital Library