Fred Trump III | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frederick Crist Trump III (1962-11-15)November 15, 1962 (age 63) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Lehigh University |
| Notable work | All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way |
| Political party | Democratic[1] |
| Spouse | Lisa Beth Lorant |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Fred Trump Jr. Linda Clapp |
| Relatives |
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| Family | Trump family |
Frederick Crist "Fritz" Trump III (born November 15, 1962) is an American author,real estate executive, and advocate for people withdisabilities. His son William Trump has a rareKCNQ2 mutation that results in severe disability. He is the nephew ofUnited States PresidentDonald Trump and is best known for his allegations against him in his 2024memoir,All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way.
In his memoir, Trump alleged that his uncle, Donald Trump, has made multipleableist,racist, anddehumanizing comments throughout his life, one of which concerned William Trump. Both Donald Trump and those affiliated with him have denied Trump's allegations.[2]
Frederick Crist Trump III was born inManhattan, New York City, on November 15, 1962,[3] to flight attendant Linda Lea Clapp andFred Trump Jr., a commercial airline pilot ofTrans World Airlines and the son of real estate developerFred Trump. His younger sister,Mary L. Trump, is a psychologist and writer who has similarly criticized Donald Trump.[4][5] Trump's father died of aheart attack on September 26, 1981, when he was 42 years old and when Trump was 18 years old. The Trump family claimed that his death was a result of hisalcoholism.[4] Trump graduated fromLehigh University in 1984 with abachelor's degree ineconomics.[6][7]
Trump married Lisa Beth Trump (née Lorant) – a seniorunderwriter for aNew York-basedinsurance company – in 1989, and they have had three children.[8][9] Trump's eldest two children were born healthy.[7] His third and youngest child, William Trump, was born on June 30, 1999. William was seemingly healthy immediately after birth, but started having seizures within 24 hours, requiring Trump and his wife to spend the first six weeks of William's life at hospitals.[10][11] At the time, William was diagnosed withinfantile spasms andcerebral palsy, but he was diagnosed with a KCNQ2 mutation 15 years later.[4][10][11]
After his grandfather Fred Trump died in 1999, Trump and his sister, Mary L. Trump, sued their auntMaryanne Trump Barry and uncles Donald Trump andRobert Trump in March 2000. During the lawsuit, they claimed that they were being unfairly denied their inheritance, as they were told that they would only receive a portion of what they had expected. Donald Trump and his siblings eventually responded by financially withdrawing from William Trump's medical funds,[4][8] a response that Donald Trump later admitted was an act of revenge to theNew York Daily News.[8] The dispute was settled in 2001, but the details of the agreement have been kept private due to a confidentiality agreement.[8][12]
Trump is a real estate executive who has worked at multiple different firms, including the First Winthrop Corporation, a New York real estate company.[9][13] He has worked in a number of positions, including as an associate, a leasing broker, a managing principal, and a senior director.[14] He has also worked as anexecutive director forCushman & Wakefield, an American real estate firm that handled theleasing of properties forThe Trump Organization until theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack, which caused their business relations to cease and Trump to be asked to leave the firm.[8][14] He had worked for the firm for nearly four years before being asked to leave.[14] Despite being a member of theTrump family, he has never directly worked for The Trump Organization.[13][14]
Trump has hosted at least two golf fundraisers forGreenwich-basednonprofit organizationAbilis, which matches disabled clients, particularly those withdevelopmental disabilities, with resources such as therapy and manages group housing. Abilis had provided in-home therapy visits for Trump's disabled son William prior to the fundraisers.[10]
During thefirst presidency of Donald Trump, Trump met with the Trump administration and thePresident's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities to advocate for a number of specific investments to help people with disabilities.[11] Trump also had connections with theUnited States Department of Health and Human Services during that time, and says that he has visited theOval Office around a dozen times for a variety of reasons, mainly to advocate for people with disabilities.[2][7]
In his 2024 memoir, Trump criticized people with disabilities being seen as "less than in so many ways" and persistent societal barriers against them, such as doorways that cannot accommodate wheelchairs and difficulty in finding meaningful day programs. He added that he believes that acceptance and tolerance will only come with public education and awareness.[11]
On July 30, 2024, during Donald Trump's campaign in the2024 United States presidential election, Trump published a memoir titledAll in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way. The memoir details his experiences with his uncle Donald Trump and his grandfather Fred Trump.[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 William die instead, claiming that William does not recognize him and that he should move toFlorida afterward.[2][15] According to Trump, Donald Trump has never met William.[12] He also claimed that Donald Trump made a similar remark in May 2020, only generalized to say that all people with complex disabilities should die due to their expenses,[2][12][15] and that he used theN-word twice in one day after his car's tires were slashed.[2][15][16] Trump explicitly stated that, while he does not believe that his uncle is a racist, he does believe that he uses people as if they wereprops and will "cast them aside" when he gets what he desires out of them.[2][16]
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". Trump also added that, while he doesn't believe that he or anyone else could change his uncle, he has always enjoyed spending time with him.[2]
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". He claimed that anyone who personally knows Donald Trump would be aware that he would "never use such language", and that false stories like Trump's have been thoroughly debunked.[2][16] Trump maintains that his allegations are not fabricated and have actually occurred.[7] Donald Trump's sonEric Trump responded through a representative toEntertainment Weekly that it was disappointing that Trump decided to "cash in" less than 100 days before an election and publish his allegations after extensive support and money from the Trump family.[17]
Donald Trump personally responded to Trump's allegations in a statement toThe Washington Post, claiming that he has helped Trump more than anyone else in his life, only to get allegations in return. He added that he believes Trump's sister, Mary L. Trump, convinced him to make the allegations. However, Trump claimed that he has not spoken to Mary since she published her 2020 book that similarly criticized Donald Trump,Too Much and Never Enough, nor has he read her book.[12]
Trump is aDemocrat.[1] He has publicly disapproved of theoverturning of Roe v Wade.[13] Despite his connections and family ties with his uncle Donald Trump, Trump has never voted for him. He voted forHillary Clinton in the2016 United States presidential election andJoe Biden in the2020 United States presidential election,[13] but had not been a vocal critic of his uncle until the publication of his memoir.[12][14] He endorsedKamala Harris for president in 2024, stating that he was willing to campaign against Donald Trump "without hesitation" and speak at theDemocratic National Convention if he was asked.[12][18] However, he stated that he was willing to attend Donald Trump's inauguration if his uncle won the election and if he was invited.[2]
On January 26, 2025, six days after thesecond inauguration of Donald Trump, Trump stated that the stripping of security details forUnited Nations AmbassadorJohn Bolton andCOVID-19 expertAnthony Fauci was not surprising to him and should not be surprising to anybody, claiming that Donald Trump will "go after" anyone who does not support him. He praised Fauci, saying that he had "done great work for this country", but added that his tenure did not "work out" for Donald Trump. He encouraged the Democratic Party to "get some spine and stop the whine", adding that the party needed a strong leader to "fight back" against Donald Trump before thenext election cycle, as it would be too late by that point.[1]
In March 2025, Trump critiqued the upcoming budget plan that would eventually lead to the2025 United States federal government shutdown, claiming that the cuts toMedicaid would be devastating for his disabled son, William, as well as for "tens of millions of people like William", and accused the cuts of lacking "humanity and decency".[19] In June 2025, Trump raised concerns aboutDonald Trump's mental health, claiming that Donald Trump's behavior at the time paralleled the behavior of his family members such as Fred Trump Sr. before their diagnoses ofAlzheimer's disease. He added that his uncle used to be able to "stick to a message" but had lost the ability to do so.[20]
Trump lives with his wife, Lisa Beth Trump, inConnecticut, and they have three children together.[6][9] His youngest child William has a rareKCNQ2 mutation, resulting inphysical and mental disabilities as well as aseizure disorder, requiring a lifetime of care.[10][11][21] William is nonverbal and uses a wheelchair.[7] He has been living in agroup home about 20 minutes from his parents' home for "the last couple years [sic]", according to Trump in 2025.[7][1] William attended Central Middle School as a child, and reportedly enjoyed ice cream, swimming, peanut butter sandwiches, andreggae at that point in his life.[10]
Trump's uncle, Donald Trump, has given him significant financial assistance to aid with William's care.[11][12] In September 2024, Trump claimed that a spokesperson for his uncle alerted him a few weeks prior that William's medical fund had been dissolved.[7]
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