Who Could Ever Love You

A Family Memoir

By: Mary L. Trump PhD

Narrated by: Mary L. Trump PhD

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, the highly accomplished, dashing eldest 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 own 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. Finally, at the age of forty-two, he succumbed to Fred’s lethal contempt and died alone in an emergency room, with no family by his side.

In WHO COULD EVER LOVE YOU, Mary Trump brings us inside the twisted family whose patriarch ignored, froze out, and eventually destroyed his own. Freddy Trump’s decline into alcoholism and illness, along with Linda’s suffering after their divorce, left Mary dangerously vulnerable as a very 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 our nation and threatens the world.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2024 Mary L. Trump, PhD (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“By turns lyrical and stark, Mary Trump writes with honesty, anguish, and unflinching detail about growing up in a family that made a sport of destroying its own. Who Could Ever Love You lays bare the Trump dynastic traumas and demonstrates how those traumas now hold sway over all of us. Mary Trump has written a brilliant memoir.”—Molly Jong-Fast

“This memoir is the portrait of a spark—is it love, or God, or decency?—the spark inside the rare person that can grow in the hardest ground, the sandiest soil. I honestly don’t know how someone can withstand such a thoroughly poisonous stew of a family dynamic and come out the other end such an intelligent, caring and perspicacious human being. That Mary Trump exists is nothing short of a miracle.”—Aimee Mann, Grammy Award-winning musician

"Trump’s clear and concise prose shines...an astute and occasionally explosive plunge into an American dynasty’s heart of darkness."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Fred Trump and his destruction of Mary Trump's family

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.

Mary’s writing is exceptional. She is concise and yet weaves a brutal tale with elegant prose. It is heartbreaking.

I really liked the analysis of her family and the way she peeled back the layers of her buried trauma.

Masterfully written, heartbreaking story

I was devastated by the end of this book. That being said, I appreciated the short chapter format which provides vignettes of Mary’s life. Such is the pristine detail that I felt like I was right there, looking in. I hope Mary knows how much she is loved and cared for by so many people. I wish her all the best.

Mary had an incredibly hard life

What a tremendously dysfunctional family. Feel very sad for Mary. It didn’t surprise me that Donald didn’t have any friends. No one liked him. Mary said even his parents didn’t like him.

I’ll never forget the asthma episodes. I was walking my dogs and listening and could hardly breathe

I loved this - totally related to Mary Trump. Her ability to portray the vision and thinking of a child and every so often the beauty of the world around her- while also sharing the completely dysfunction family - she is an amazing writer

A family tragedy

Based on The Trump family history it is obvious that money does not make you happy. I found it sad how this dysfunctional family had such an unhealthy and dangerous effect on Mary. I found the book very interesting and I couldn’t stop listening to it. At Times, it made me sad but it made me thankful for the family that I have.

Sad but uplifting

Thank you Dr Trump for sharing your story. Have watched many of your interviews and you’ve always been impressive.

Outstanding recall of what it is like to grow up in a family bereft of love and consumed by materialism.

Material wealth is at a surfeit in the Trump family and is only offset by a tragic lack of the ability to love one another. A sad tale of what happens when one inherits just enough money to sink a devil deeper into the pit.

informative

the insight of they family
didn't like the coldnest shown by family...seem so sad
.

Strength

I am very moved by this book. I have the utmost respect for Mary Trump and how she has overcome the toxic family she has had to endure. It is a testament to her perseverance to make her own story one of triumph over the adults in her childhood. Thank-you.