Donald Trump Went to the Movies as Brother Fred Died Alone in a Hospital, According to Niece Mary Trump

President Donald Trump's younger brother, Robert Trump, passed away on Saturday, leading many to revisit the recent anecdote about his older brother, Fred Trump Jr.'s death. Trump's niece, Dr. Mary L. Trump, released a tell-all book about her family last month. It included a story about her father's death, while her uncle Donald relaxed at a movie theater.

In her book, Too Much and Never Enough, Mary recalled the whole Trump family's apparent under-reaction when her father passed away at the age of 42. She claimed that none of them accompanied Fred Jr. to the hospital when he suffered an early heart attack in 1981. While Fred Jr.'s condition worsened in that hospital, Donald still declined to visit, instead, going to a movie theater without a care in the world. The story struck home this week, when Trump's younger brother, Robert passed away in a New York City hospital.

Mary Trump wrote that the day her father, Donald’s brother, died, Donald went to see a movie. Today, on the day his other brother died — when it was widely reported Robert was close to death — Trump played golf. pic.twitter.com/ea11qMrnrC

— Ed Greenberger (@EdGreenberger) August 16, 2020

This time around, the White House pointedly announced that Trump was visiting his brother Robert in the hospital on Friday. Mary was the first to reveal that Robert was sick, however, telling Jane Fonda in an interview for Greenpeace that her uncle Robert had been hospitalized "a couple of times in the last three months."

Of course, many Americans were not comforted by the idea of the president visiting a hospital on Friday, given the current state of the coronavirus pandemic. Many on social media also noted that Robert's illness coincided with the pandemic, yet his official cause of death has not been revealed. The president has been heavily criticized for his response to COVID-19 going back to December, with many analysts saying that if he had acted sooner, the U.S. might not be in the state it is in now.

Mary's book delved deeply into the Trump family dynamic during Fred Jr., Donald and Robert's generation. She claimed that their father, Fred Trump Sr., was emotionally abusive to them all, but that he favored Donald above the others. She also said that this was her father Fred Jr. had left the family business to become a pilot, as Fred Sr. would often tell him: "Donald is worth ten of you."

Through White House spokespeople, Trump has denied this assessment. He said that his family was "warm" and "loving," and that Mary was simply trying to make a profit with her book. Dr. Mary L. Trump holds a PhD in psychology and has worked in both a practical and academic setting. Her book claims that her uncle — the president — exhibits sociopathic tendencies and that the insulation of wealth and powerful connections have kept him from being held accountable for his actions.