HEALING THE SCARS OF
the pandemic, political disruption, and the insurrection is going to take time, says Mary Trump. From the September 22, 2021, “Michelle Meow Show” program “Mary Trump: The Reckoning.”
MARY L. TRUMP, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist; Author, The Reckoning: Our Nation’s Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal and Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man In Conversation with MOLLY JONGFAST, Editor at Large, The Daily Beast; Host, “The New Abnormal” Podcast; Twitter @MollyJongFast Introduction and Q&A by MICHELLE MEOW, Producer and Host, “The Michelle Meow Show” on KBCW/ KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors
Editor’s note: Just hours before this program took place, news broke that former President Donald J. Trump had filed a lawsuit (seeking $100 million or more) against his niece, Mary Trump, and The New York Times over the release of his financial information. The release of the information had been mentioned in a Daily Beast interview Molly Jong-Fast had conducted with Mary Trump. Naturally, our speaker and moderator addressed the situation in our program. MOLLY JONG-FAST: It’s very fun to get to interview you . . . after I got you sued. I’m sorry. MARY TRUMP: You know, I was actually telling somebody the other day that I really wish Donald would sue me, because it would help book sales. And turns out you’re the reason I got sued all along. So thank you. [Laughter.] JONG-FAST: My editor at The Daily Beast sent me a text that was like, “Yo, Molly.” And I wrote back, “What’s going on?” He was like, “You’re in this lawsuit.” And I was
18
MARY TRUMP: THE RECKONING Trump, a clinical psychologist, author and niece of the former president, discusses Americans dealing with trauma. just delighted. But then my husband, who’s like an adult, was like, “Oh, my God, what is this?” He is having a heart attack. I think the lawyer misspelled her own name at one point in the [lawsuit], I’m not sure. . . . She’s a very kind of Trumpy lawyer. TRUMP: I think her office is in a strip mall or something. But just so you’re aware. If I do indeed have to pay $100 million dollars, you’re going to have to pay your fair share. [Laughter.] JONG-FAST: I mean, I’m good for it. And I have books here I can probably sell. I’m kidding. By the way, I’m certainly not good for it. I have a lot of questions for you, obviously. First, this lawsuit is a state lawsuit; it’s not a federal lawsuit. And it’s like they did it in Westchester or— TRUMP: Dutchess County. JONG-FAST: Dutchess County, which I think is in central New York. Yes, slightly strange. TRUMP: My uncle Rob lived there. So it is a little strange, because he doesn’t live there
THE COMMO N WE AL TH | December 2021/January 2022
anymore. JONG-FAST: Right. OK, so let’s get to the book. The book, called The Reckoning, just came out. First I want to talk to you about the first chapter, which is like incredibly autobiographical in a way that I really appreciate. Can you talk to me about writing? Talk a little bit about that first chapter and how you came to write so personally, because I think we both are able to write about our families, but not write about ourselves. This is a departure for you. TRUMP: Yeah. You know, the first book obviously had a particular agenda attached to it. [Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man was published in 2020.—Ed.] It really wasn’t a memoir in a way, and it certainly wasn’t my memoir. So a lot of things that I might have been interested in writing about weren’t really relevant to the task at hand. In large part, the same is true of this book, which is not at all a memoir. It really has nothing to do with my family. However,
