Cheatsheet: "Too Much and Never Enough" by Mary L. Trump

No

Why

Clinically trained psychologist of the Trump family analyzes four decades of intergenerational trauma to give a portrait of how Donald Trump was made. Great read about the flows of wealth, mindsets of scarcity and abundance, and tangentially relevant to anyone who wants to know what not to do in their inheritance and raising wealthy children.

My Notes By Chapter

  • Part 1, Chapter 1: Fred Trump and his wife who could not reconcile how much they have and how much they spent
  • Monetary value was human value. The more he had the better he was. If he gave something to someone else, the more they would have and the less he would have. Fred Trump had deep deep scarcity.
  • Part 1, Chapter 2: Dismantles his son by devaluing and degrading every part of his personality and natural abilities. Donald Trump got destroyed by Fred Trump by cutting off his ability from feeling the entire spectrum of feeling. This is a form of CPTSD.
  • Part 2, Chapter 7: Donald Trump became irreconcilable, and Fred Trump had to keep subsidizing his lifestyle even though he was an abysmal entrepreneur. This was all brand building.
  • Donald Trump did not loan $1m from his father and turn it into billions. He actually burned $413 million, and sold his father's real estate holdings worth a $1 billion for $750 million, meaning he and his siblings gave away $250 million in equity for free. Fred Trump has never been able to express anything but positivity, specifically toxic positivity, that ruined his wife, son, and now Donald Trump.

Bonus Resources

Summary of Too Much and Never Enough by Mary Trump
free summary of Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump Synopsis Too Much and Never enough explains the psychological trauma that created the President, Donald Trump. Written by Donald’s Niece, Mary Trump, the book describes their family’s dark history. Mary links her “dysfunctional” family to th…
Great summary broken down by themes.
BOOK REVIEW: In ‘Too Much and Never Enough,’ Mary Trump has relived her nightmare to shine some critical light on ours - The Berkshire Edge
Imagine seeing your dysfunctional uncle, the man who helped demean and destroy your parents, cheat them and you out of a rightful inheritance, then gain such awesome power.
“Donald has, in some sense, always been institutionalized, shielded from his limitations or his need to succeed on his own in the world. Honest work was never demanded of him, and no matter how badly he failed, he was rewarded in ways that are almost unfathomable … Donald’s failings cannot be hidden or ignored because they threaten us all …