The “Trump books”

Bolton does not come across as a particularly nice person. Maybe my personal bias but I initially feel he was sucking up to Trump. He really wanted the job. Sure he has examples of times Trump acted like a total idiot but often I sensed covert praise for Trump that gets lost in the rhetoric. In fact, he maligns and criticises Obama multiple times. He is also racist which is noticeable when he challenges the reader to pronounce the name of a hotel in Helsinki. Very noticeable is the deep involvement of Jared Kushner and Trump relying heavily on his and Ivanka’s opinions. When Republicans voted for Trump, they didn’t realize it was a triumvirate they were getting. Three for the price of one. In all honesty, I didn’t care much for Bolton. He’s an egomaniac and thinks he knows best. As for Trump. There’s no doubt the man is a raving lunatic, erratic and makes international decisions based on a perceived ‘personal’ relationship. This is not an easy read. It’s got too many facts and figures. I’d have preferred less details or else a double-spaced font. It’s too dense and tedious to read, especially as a pdf document. At the end, Bolton actually makes a pitch for Democrats to vote for Trump saying a second term would please them more than Republicans. Bottom line, don’t really bother with the book. Most of it is in the public domain. We all know Trump is an awful, belligerent, spoilt, attention seeking showman. And Bolton was complicit until he wasn’t.

I devoured this book in two days. After slogging through Bolton’s book, I didn’t think I wanted to read another Trump reveal all, but Mary Trump’s book is actually engaging. And most importantly everyone can breathe easy about blaming themselves for electing a monster to the White House. Poor Donald is just an innocent boy too scared of his father so he did whatever it took to make sure ‘daddy doesn’t get angry at him.’ The real villain is Fred Trump Senior. The book reveals the story of a toxic family that was unleashed on an unsuspecting American audience. There is much in the book that’s salacious but coming from the source of an insider, it is scary and sad that a man could create such discord within his own family. If there is one space most people consider a safe haven, it’s within the walls of their family unit. Fred Trump Senior dismantled that security blanket. Mary Trump’s more bizarre revelations have been bandied about in the press like Trump paying someone to take his SAT’s and his comment to his niece about her being so ‘stacked’ as well as the fact he went to the movies while his brother was dying. And medical cover taken away despite its critical need for a child! What I found tragic is when Fred Trump Senior died, none of his children stayed the night with their mum and left her alone in ‘The House’. And what about poor old ‘Gam’. She was a suppressed women who could not protect her kids and turned against her grand-daughter when it mattered most. There will be justification for her actions because ‘Toots’ was emotionally abused. But there’s no excuse for how she enabled and disabled her sons. Ofcourse Mary Trump has an axe to grind and she uses the book to berate her family about being unsupportive to her father and pushing him down the path of destruction. But she admits she’s upset. Her clear message to readers is of an incapable and dangerous man who should resign. The book should be required reading for Trump’s base.