Fred Trump III, nephew of former President Donald Trump, called his uncle a “nuclear lunatic” and claimed he did “really horrible things” to him and made inappropriate comments about people with disabilities.
Fred Trump said Trump’s methods are “complicated and sometimes brutal.” ABC News Interview It aired on Tuesday.
“And I know every family is complicated. Every family has their crazy uncles,” he added. “My uncle Donald is a bomb nut. And he left his mark on my family history.”
Fred Trump made the remarks on ABC’s “Good Morning America” while promoting his new book, “All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way,” which features “previously untold stories” about the Trump family and Fred Trump’s complicated relationship with the former president.
When asked what he meant by “nuclear nut,” Fred Trump said his uncle did things that “made me shudder” and made him question whether he really knew him.
“Is this the same man I knew? What has changed him? What has made him the way he is?,” Fred Trump continued. “But with that being said, I’ve always had a good relationship with him, and he’s done some really horrible things to me. Some of you may say, ‘Why would you still want to have a relationship with him?’ He’s my uncle, he’s family, and that means a lot.”
Fred Trump, the son of Fred Trump Jr., the former president’s brother who died in 1981, told ABC News that he sees his book as a way to advocate for people with developmental disabilities, including his son, William.
Fred Trump claimed that during a visit to the Oval Office, his uncle suggested that disabled people “would be better off dead,” and that a similar incident occurred during a phone call with Trump to tell him the family’s medical fund for Prince William was running low.
“Without hesitation [Trump] “They said, ‘Your son doesn’t recognize you. Let him die and move to Florida,'” Fred Trump said. “My response was, ‘No, Donald. He recognizes me.'”
“Am I surprised? I don’t think anybody wouldn’t be surprised to hear something like this,” he added. “But that’s the kind of person he has become. It’s sad.”
Trump Communications Director Stephen Chang denied Fred Trump’s allegations in a statement to The Hill.
“This is a complete fabrication and completely fake news of the highest order,” he said. “It’s outrageous that such a blatant and disgusting lie would be published in the media. Anyone who knows President Trump knows he would never use such language, and this false story has been thoroughly debunked.”
“This is just a cheap way to sell books that should be in the bargain section of the fiction department,” he added.
Trump’s nephew also spoke out about one of the book’s chapters, titled “The Race Card,” in which he says his uncle used racist language.
“I was about 10 years old and I was at my grandparents’ house like any other day,” Fred Trump said, “and I heard Donald yelling. I went into my grandparents’ driveway and there was a white Eldorado convertible with two diagonal lines on it. I remember it. It had a black roof, so it had electrical tape wrapped around it. And Donald used the N-word twice to describe who he thought might have done this.”
The former president has not spoken publicly about the allegations. Denying previous allegations He claimed that she used a racist slur while filming her show, “The Apprentice.”
When asked if he thought his uncle was a racist, Fred Trump responded: “He was a racist at the time.[s]”I am making the point that those who I believe to be racist are making. That’s the best answer I can give to this question.”
Pressed further, Fred Trump said he didn’t believe the former president was a racist.
“I think he’s going to use anybody who can help him, whether they’re black or not,” Fred Trump said. “And whether you want to say that’s racism or not, I don’t think so. He’s using people as tools. And then when he gets what he needs from them, which is their votes, he throws them away.”
Fred Trump later told ABC that he planned to vote for Vice President Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, but would attend President Trump’s inauguration if invited.
This story was updated at 5:13 p.m.
