The Time Trump Came To Marblehead To Deliver His Father's Message

MARBLEHEAD, MA — In 1964, 18-year-old Donald Trump and his brother Robert were sent to Marblehead to visit their older brother Freddy.

Freddy wanted to be a TWA pilot and was living in Marblehead. He was also seen as a letdown by his father because he had not shown an interest in joining the family real estate business.

"[Dad] says he's embarrassed by you," Donald Trump said, according to "Too Much and Never Enough," the controversial new book by Donald's niece and Freddy's daughter, Mary L. Trump.

"Dad’s right about you. You’re nothing but a glorified bus driver," Donald Trump also said to Freddy, according to the book.

Mary Trump's book portrays Fred Trump Sr., not Donald J. Trump, as the true villain of the family, according to reviews. And the Marblehead scene is a crucial turning point in both her father's and the future president's lives, Mary Trump argues in her book.

"Freddy understood that his brothers had been sent to deliver their father’s message in person – or at least Donald had. But hearing Fred’s belittling words come out of his little brother’s mouth broke his spirit," she wrote. "With the benefit of a seven-and-a-half year age difference, (Donald) had plenty of time to learn from watching Fred humiliate his older brother and Freddy’s resulting shame. The lesson he learned, at its simplest, was that it was wrong to be like Freddy...Fred didn’t respect his oldest son, so neither would Donald. Fred thought Freddy was weak, and therefore so did Donald."

Mary Trump said the fractured relationship with his family led Freddy Trump to alcoholism, which killed him when he was 42. Donald Trump has frequently cited his older brother as the reason he does not drink. Last year, President Trump told The Washington Post he had some regret over the pressure he put on his brother to follow in their father's footsteps.

"It was just not his thing," Trump said. "I think the mistake that we made was we assumed that everybody would like it. That would be the biggest mistake."

Dave Copeland covers Marblehead and other North Shore communities for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).