# Trump's niece putting out a book **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 15, 2020, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692 "2020-06-15T11:38:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/41 "2020-07-07T20:53:26Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Pretty sure when Trump was in HS they did not check IDs for the SAT so it was easy to pay someone to take the SAT for you. And if they did check IDs a fake ID was not hard to get. I don’t recall using an ID when I took the SAT in the 1980s. For that matter, I’m not sure I had an ID to show when I took the SAT. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/42 "2020-07-07T21:24:19Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I am among the many who have wondered why on earth anyone would debase themselves by dating, much less marrying, a pig like Trump. I’ve speculated, without a shred of evidence, that she was put up to it by Russia. Not just her, mind. There have been others too, I suspect. She just happened to be the one to land the fat bastard. Lucky girl. Explains the far away & dead behind the eyes expression. Spends her life Imagining what it would have been like if she married the plastic surgeon. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/43 "2020-07-07T21:30:25Z")
I think I had to show ID for the SAT and GMAT in the early 80s. Maybe it depended on where you took the test. Also in the 60s and before many IDs did not have a picture , varied by state. They had height, weight , hair color , eye color. Tenn. only put pictures on their DLs around 1983, ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/44 "2020-07-07T21:37:50Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > She is claiming Trump was a victim of child abuse from his father. I mean thats not shocking. Trump is a narcissist/sociopath and his brother died young from alcoholism. That kind of life outcome tends to be tied into childhood trauma. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/45 "2020-07-07T21:39:12Z")
I did not have a photo driver’s license until the 80s. Don’t remember if I needed an ID for taking the SAT in 1976, but if I did it was a paper driver’s license with no picture - fakes were easily come by. The only picture ID was the LCB (liquor control board) card that was needed to buy alcohol in the state run liquor stores. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/46 "2020-07-07T22:25:43Z")
I’m two years younger than trump. I know I didn’t need any ID to take the SAT ~1966 ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/47 "2020-07-08T01:08:07Z")
When Tenn added pictures to DLs a woman claimed having her picture taken was a graven image that was against her religion. Don’t remember what they did about her. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/48 "2020-07-08T02:47:49Z")
Did somebody say _toddler_? > **[In New Book, Trump’s Niece Describes Him as Still a Child, Seeking Attention...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/us/politics/donald-trump-mary-book.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage)** > > The release of Mary L. Trump’s “Too Much and Never Enough” has been widely anticipated. Not only is she family, but she’s also a shrink. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/49 "2020-07-08T03:21:53Z")
Something to clarify (or maybe others who have read the book will clarify for me): In the reviews I’m reading, there’s no obvious indication of physical abuse in Trump’s childhood. It’s all emotional abuse from all that I’ve seen. Here’s something I’m intrigued by: Every review cites that claim that Trump has been “institutionalized” for much of his adult life, with no further explanation of what that’s all about. Has anybody here seen any additional detail on what that’s about? One review I saw did kinda-sorta hint: Immediately after that “institutionalized” quote, there was a remark that he has been surrounded by enablers all his life who saw to it that he never suffered any consequences or accounting for all his bad behavior. Maybe that’s all Mary Trump means by “institutionalized”? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/50 "2020-07-08T04:08:09Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > One review I saw did kinda-sorta hint: Immediately after that “institutionalized” quote, there was a remark that he has been surrounded by enablers all his life who saw to it that he never suffered any consequences or accounting for all his bad behavior. Maybe that’s all Mary Trump means by “institutionalized”?– That’s how I interpreted the “institutionalized” remark, and furthermore, that he has never been required (or sought) to function as an independent individual. He has always been plugged into a structure, whether family, corporation, social group, and now his rally crowds and sycophants. He has derived and continues to derive his identity from groups and external “institutions,” not from internal guiding principles. IOW he has no soul. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/51 "2020-07-08T04:40:21Z")
Would Trump be able to cook a meal himself if he had to? Would he be able to do his own grocery shopping? Does he know how to do his own laundry? Including ironing and folding? Could he do his own clothes shopping? Housecleaning? Minor home repairs? Make a budget and stick to it \? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/52 "2020-07-08T11:09:23Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Would Trump be able to cook a meal himself if he had to? Would he be able to do his own grocery shopping? Does he know how to do his own laundry? Including ironing and folding? Could he do his own clothes shopping? Housecleaning? Minor home repairs? Make a budget and stick to it \ ? \< claps hands \> Wipers!!! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/53 "2020-07-08T11:41:48Z")
People are offering $10k for the guy who took the SAT to come forward. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/54 "2020-07-08T12:07:01Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Quite frankly I think the Bolton book is much more important and relevant, as much as I despise the man himself, because it details Trump’s incompetence and malfeasance in office, whereas this one is more of a biography describing how he came to be such a greedy self-obsessed asshole. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I think more people will be repulsed on a more visceral level by stories of Trump being a jerk to his family than will be dissuaded by stories of his “incompetence and malfeasance in office” tho. > > One is something familiar, the other is something abstract (and remote, for most people). On further reflection, I’m inclined to agree with @Snowboarder_Bo. I do think the Bolton book is historically more important, but this one may turn out to be more popular, interesting, and perhaps influential. The Bolton book does very effectively paint a picture of Trump as grossly incompetent, but it has drawbacks that make it slow going. One is that Bolton himself is a reprehensible asshole. Another is that the detailed narratives of all the political infighting gets tedious. A third is that the book so far (I’m still less than halfway through it) features one shining hero: the man who always knew what was going to happen and why, whose advice when followed was always the best, and when ignored always led to disaster, and that shining hero was: John Bolton. And he’s not shy about letting everyone know it. Not to mention the frequent Obama-bashing. Anyway, the Mary Trump book does sound intriguing. Don’t know if I’ll get it, but I do hope it helps to open the eyes of people who haven’t been paying attention to the last three and a half years. The two books actually complement each other: one explains why Trump is a useless, lazy, narcissistic and incompetent asshole, and the other shows all those attributes in action as president. One marvels that the US still exists as a country. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/55 "2020-07-08T12:15:30Z")
At first I thought what the heck could a niece really know? But watching Rachel Maddow last night cover the book extensively, I thought she knows plenty. Just wow. Like how some of the family screwed the rest of the family on daddy Fred’s inheritance. Having someone take the SAT for him- I totally believe that and I hope his partner in fraud fesses up to it. Maybe Bolton’s book is more significant in terms of the policy aspects of this corrupt administration, but Mary Trump’s book I think is going to do much better because it gives us insight into how this monster was created. I personally hope hers sells better than Bolton’s. She was motivated to show us the danger of what a second term would do to the nation. Bolton sat on his hands during the impeachment inquiry so that he could sell more books. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/56 "2020-07-08T13:07:20Z")
Guy who took the SAT for him has a common name so he won’t be easy to find. And he may not want to talk to press anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/57 "2020-07-08T13:12:55Z")
And he died in 1999. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/58 "2020-07-08T13:16:19Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Guy who took the SAT for him has a common name so he won’t be easy to find. And he may not want to talk to press anyway. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > And he died in 1999 Should be easy to find. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/59 "2020-07-08T13:22:12Z")
But difficult to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692/60 "2020-07-08T13:36:24Z")
What I read was _emotional_ child abuse. Whatever that means. What I have read so far about this book does not surprise me at all, I feel no curiosity or wish to read it. Perhaps some DA might be interested for professional reasons, thinking of a time post immunity. I hope the **Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations** ( **RICO** ) **Act** can be applied widely to a big circle of acomplices & family. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-niece-putting-out-a-book/855692.md?page=4)