President Trump’s nephew, Fred Trump III, said in an interview with CNN this morning that when he called his uncle last year seeking financial assistance for his disabled son, William, the former president “said, ‘He doesn’t know you. Let him die and move to Florida.'”
“I don’t know how you can say that about other people, but to say that about your own great-great-grandson is pretty grotesque,” said Trump’s nephew, the son of the former president’s brother, Fred Trump Jr., who struggled with alcoholism and died of a heart attack in 1981.
William has the gene mutation KCNQ2 and suffers from seizures.
Fred Trump, 61, explained that he believes the former president and other family members excluded him from his grandfather’s will years ago, and that the former president and his aunt then agreed to set up a fund to help with William’s care. He said the money “never actually materialized,” and that his uncle made the comment to him last year when he called the former president to ask for help with William’s medical expenses.
“I said, ‘No, he recognizes me,'” said Fred Trump, who recently published a book about his experiences with the Trump family. His sister, Mary Trump, previously published a similar book and has been a long-time critic of her uncle.
Reached for comment, Trump campaign communications director Stephen Chang said the story about the former president’s nephew was “totally fabricated, completely fake news of the highest order.”
“It’s outrageous that such a blatantly offensive lie would be published in the media,” Chang said. “Anyone who knows President Trump knows he would never use such language, and this false story has been thoroughly debunked. This is nothing more than a cheap ploy to sell a book that should be in the bargain section of the fiction section.”
The former president’s nephew said he believes in Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies and is prepared to campaign for her, including in key battleground states where he has ties.
“If asked, I will campaign and spread the word on behalf of the Harris campaign. My mother was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I would like to go to Michigan,” he said. “I went to Lehigh University, as did my father and son, Christopher. Andrew went to school in Philadelphia. I have family in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a very important state. I see myself as a different type of person than Trump. I think I can fit in with any group.”
NBC News has also reached out to Harris’ campaign for comment.
