Donald Trump's nephew alleges his uncle said disabled Americans 'should just die'

Fred C. Trump III, the nephew of former President Donald Trump , claims in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir that his uncle told him that disabled Americans, including his own son, “should just die.”

The book “All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way,” set for release on July 30 , is anticipated to feature a scathing portrayal of the former president, including claims of his use of racial slurs, as seen in excerpts published by TIME magazine and The Guardian on Wednesday.

In the excerpt, Trump’s nephew reveals his son, William, was diagnosed with infantile spasms, a rare disorder impacting his physical and cognitive development. This diagnosis inspired him and his wife to push for better education, investment, and research to understand how best to help people with disabilities.

During his uncle’s tenure in the White House, he said he contacted his cousin Ivanka, an advisor to her father at the time, who helped him get a meeting with members of the Trump administration.

Trump’s nephew said he spent 45 minutes in the Oval Office with his uncle, health care advocates, and doctors, who discussed the challenges faced by their family members and patients with disabilities. After the meeting, the now-Republican nominee requested to speak with him privately.

“Those people,” he alleges his uncle said, “The shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die.”

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“I truly did not know what to say. He was talking about expenses. We were talking about human lives. For Donald, I think it really was about the expenses, even though we were there to talk about efficiencies, smarter investments, and human dignity,” Fred Trump’s grandson writes in his memoir.

TIME magazine and USA TODAY contacted the former president for a response to his nephew’s description of events but did not receive a reply.

This is not the first time the Republican nominee has been called out for making insensitive statements about people with disabilities.

During his 2015 presidential campaign, Trump made fun of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has a physical disability that affects joint movements. After facing backlash for imitating the reporter’s physical shaking, the former president said he was actually criticizing the reporter’s journalism , not his disability.

A spokesperson for the news organization expressed outrage at the time, stating that it was unacceptable for Trump to mock the physical appearance of one of its reporters.

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @rachelbarber_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump's nephew alleges his uncle said disabled Americans 'should just die'