Fred Trump III | |
---|---|
Born | Frederick Crist Trump III November 15, 1962 Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
Alma mater | Lehigh University |
Notable work | All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way |
Spouse | Lisa Beth Lorant |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | Fred Trump Jr. Linda Clapp |
Family | Trump family |
Frederick Crist "Fritz" Trump III (born November 15, 1962) is an American author and advocate for people with disabilities. [1] He is the nephew of United States President Donald Trump, who he is best known for his criticism of in his 2024 memoir, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way. [2]
Frederick Crist Trump III was born in Manhattan, New York City on November 15, 1962 [3] to flight attendant Linda Lea Clapp and Fred Trump Jr., a commercial airline pilot of Trans World Airlines and the son of real estate developer Fred Trump Sr. His younger sister is the psychologist and writer Mary Trump, who has similarly criticized Donald Trump. [4] [5] Trump graduated from Lehigh University before 1990. [6]
Trump is a real estate executive who has worked at multiple different firms, including the First Winthrop Corporation, a New York real estate company. [6] [7] He has also worked for Cushman & Wakefield, an American real estate firm that handled the leasing of properties for the Trump Organization until the January 6 United States Capitol attack, which caused their business relations to cease and Trump to be asked to leave the firm. [8] Despite being a member of the Trump family, he has never directly worked for the Trump Organization. [7] [8]
On July 30, 2024, during Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, Trump published a memoir titled All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, which details his experiences with his uncle Donald Trump and his grandfather Fred Trump Sr. [2]
In the memoir and interviews regarding it, Trump claimed that Donald Trump, in response to his request to refill his disabled son William's medical fund, told him to "let him die" instead, claiming that William doesn't recognize him and that he should "move down to Florida" afterwards. [2] [9] [10] According to Trump, Donald Trump has never met William. [10] [11] He also claimed that Donald Trump made a similar remark in May of 2020, only generalized to say that all people with complex disabilities should "just die" due to their expenses, [2] [9] [11] [12] and that he used the N-word twice in one day after his car's tires were slashed. [2] [9] [10] [12] [13] Trump explicitly stated that, while he does not believe that his uncle is a racist, he does believe that he uses people "as props" and will "cast them aside" when he "gets what he needs out of them". [2] [13] Despite his allegations, Trump stated that he still wishes to have a relationship with his uncle, emphasizing that "he's family, and that means a lot". [2] [12] [13]
Donald Trump's campaign communications director Steven Cheung denied these allegations, calling them "completely fabricated", "blatantly disgusting", and "total fake news of the highest order", adding that "Anyone who knows President Trump knows he would never use such language, and false stories like this have been thoroughly debunked.". [2] [10] [12] [13] Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump, responded through a representative that it was "disappointing" that Trump decided to "cash in less than a 100 days [sic] before an election" and publish "this garbage" after "decades of unwavering love, support, golf memberships, family vacations and millions of dollars in support for his wonderful son". [10]
Donald Trump personally responded to Trump's allegations in a statement to the Washington Post, claiming that he has "helped him more than anyone else in his life" and that "this is the thanks I get", adding that he believes Mary Trump "convinced him to do this". However, Trump claimed that he has not spoken to Mary Trump since she published her 2020 book that similarly criticized Trump, nor has he read said book. [11]
During Donald Trump's first term as President, Trump met with the Trump administration and the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. [14] However, despite his connections and family ties with Donald Trump, Trump has never voted for him. He voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, [7] but had not been a vocal critic of his uncle until the publication of his memoir. [8] [11] He endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024, stating that he was willing to campaign against Donald Trump "without hesitation" and speak at the Democratic National Convention if he was asked. [11] [12] [15]
Trump lives with his wife, Lisa Beth Trump (née Lorant), in Connecticut. [6] Together they have three children: Cristopher, Andrea, and William. His youngest child William has a rare KCNQ2 mutation, resulting in physical and mental disabilities as well as a seizure disorder, requiring a lifetime of care. [1] [16] [14] His uncle, Donald Trump, has given him significant financial assistance to aid with William's care, but once temporarily withdrew the aid in response to a lawsuit by Trump and Mary Trump regarding the estate of Fred Trump Sr. [4] [8] [11] [14]