Mary L. Trump Quotes

Mary L. Trump

Profession : Psychologist

Birth : May 3, 1965

Donald learned from a very young age that in order to survive in my family, he needed to be what my grandfather referred to as a killer, you know, somebody who had no weaknesses - in other words, kindness, generosity, sensitivity. So I think, over time, those qualities were systematically drilled out of Donald by his dad.

Mary L. Trump

And how can you be happy if you don't laugh or appreciate humor?

Mary L. Trump

While thousands of Americans die alone, Donald touts stock market gains. As my father lay dying alone, Donald went to the movies. If he can in any way profit from your death, he'll facilitate it, and then he'll ignore the fact that you died.

Mary L. Trump

Donald has been institutionalized for most of his adult life, so there is no way to know how he would thrive, or even survive, on his own in the real world.

Mary L. Trump

Donald, following the lead of my grandfather and with the complicity, silence and inaction of his siblings, destroyed my father. I can't let him destroy my country.

Mary L. Trump

I think the simplest way to put it is to say that Donald continues to need to prove to his father that he's the tough guy, the killer, the best, you know, that he's winning all the time, and above all, that he's not weak. And the ways to be weak in my family were to be kind, to admit mistakes, and to apologize.

Mary L. Trump

Donald's need for affirmation is so great that he doesn't seem to notice that the largest group of his supporters are people he wouldn't condescend to be seen with outside of a rally.

Mary L. Trump

I have no problem calling Donald a narcissist - he meets all nine criteria as outlined in the 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders' (DSM-5) - but the label gets us only so far.

Mary L. Trump

That's what sociopaths do: they co-opt others and use them toward their own ends - ruthlessly and efficiently, with no tolerance for dissent or resistance.

Mary L. Trump

I had to take down Donald Trump.

Mary L. Trump

The fact is, Donald's pathologies are so complex and his behaviors so often inexplicable that coming up with an accurate and comprehensive diagnosis would require a full battery of psychological and neurophysical tests that he'll never sit for.

Mary L. Trump

In Donald's mind, even acknowledging an inevitable threat would indicate weakness. Taking responsibility would open him up to blame. Being a hero - being good - is impossible for him.

Mary L. Trump

Donald learned that you can never admit you're wrong. That was considered a weakness... it's a kind of toxic positivity, there was no admitting pain, there was no admitting weakness.

Mary L. Trump

From a fairly young age, Donald had a really hard time reading social cues. You know, the rules in the house, my grandparents' house were very different from the rules in school. So, he had a difficult time adjusting to that.

Mary L. Trump

I saw firsthand what focusing on the wrong things, elevating the wrong people can do - the collateral damage that can be created by allowing somebody to live their lives without accountability.

Mary L. Trump

It's impossible to know who Donald might have been under different circumstances and with different parents.

Mary L. Trump

A lot of people who end up being horrible criminals when they are adults had very abusive childhoods. You can have sympathy for that child. It does not at all, under any circumstances, diminish their responsibility for what they do.

Mary L. Trump

In my family, it was kind of an unwritten rule that certain behaviors that would have been crossing a line for other people were OK if you were a particular Trump.

Mary L. Trump

All the kids - well, I don't know about the girls in the family, but all the boys - worked in my grandfather's office in the summers and maybe on weekends once in a while, so they saw how he operated. They saw how he treated people. They saw the kinds of people he rubbed elbows with.

Mary L. Trump

He never has made a living. He went from my grandparents' house to the very regimented military school, back to the house, to my grandfather's company, to the Trump Organization, which I view as a sinecure for him. And then 'The Apprentice,' whatever that was, and the White House.

Mary L. Trump