The White House ridiculed a tell-all memoir by President Trump’s niece as ‘obviously not being fact checked’

Team Trump has hit back angrily at an “insider” account of the family life that built the 45th US President. “It’s ridiculous, absurd allegations that have absolutely no bearing in truth,” Mr Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said. “Have yet to see the book, but it is a book of falsehoods.” The New York Post also reported that White House adviser Kellyanne Conway also questioned the veracity of the claims reportedly levelled by Mary Trump in advance copies of Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man that were obtained by various news outlets. “As for books generally, obviously they’re not fact-checked, nobody’s under oath,” Conway said. Ms Conway said that “family matters are family matters” and attacked Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist, for “giving her opinion about somebody who is not her” patient. Ms Conway also noted Trump’s sister, former federal appeals judge Maryanne Trump Barry, had attended the president’s inauguration and that she and Trump “are in touch otherwise, they are siblings” — despite a claim in the book that Ms Barry had harsh words for her brother’s candidacy. “As I say, unlike many of you, I don’t like to get involved in people’s family business,” Ms Conway said. “I certainly wouldn’t if I was troubled, thin-skinned and living in a glass house — like so many people these days seem to think things are their business.” In her book, Mary Trump recalls that Maryanne Trump Barry initially dismissed Mr Trump’s bid for the White House, according to CNN. “‘He’s a clown,’ my aunt Maryanne said during one of our regular lunches at the time. ‘This will never happen’,” Mary Trump reportedly wrote. Maryanne Barry also accused her President brother of having “no principles” and called his support among evangelical Christians “mind boggling,” according to the New York Times. “The only time Donald went to church was when the cameras were there,” Mary Trump quotes her aunt as saying. The book also alleges that Mr Trump paid a friend to take college-entrance exams for him, according to reports. Mary claims that Mr Trump’s personality was warped by the domineering behaviour of his late father, Fred Trump Sr, who she labels a sociopath, according to the Washington Post. As a result, Mary claims, for Mr Trump, “lying was primarily a mode of self-aggrandisement meant to convince other people he was better than he actually was”. Mr Trump’s younger brother, Robert, sued to block publication of Mary’s memoir, but a judge last week cleared the way for its release by Simon & Schuster, which said it would hit the shelves on July 14, two weeks ahead of schedule. Mary still faces a ruling over allegations that writing the book violated the terms of a 2001 nondisclosure agreement tied to the settlement of Fred Trump’s estate. BAN LIFTED TO ALLOW PUBLICATION OF ‘BOOK OF FALSEHOODS’ An appeals court judge in New York has lifted a temporary ban on the publication of a potentially explosive “tell-all” book by President Donald Trump’s niece, court documents showed. The ruling issued on Wednesday local time allows publisher Simon & Schuster to print and distribute the 240-page book by Mary Trump, who dubs the US president “the world’s most dangerous man.” It would be the latest bombshell memoir to dish dirt on the leader after former aide John Bolton’s book, which described Trump as corrupt and incompetent, was cleared for publication last week. The president’s brother Robert Trump had asked for the restraining order, arguing that Mary was violating a nondisclosure agreement signed in 2001 after the settlement over the estate of Fred Trump – the father of Donald and Robert and of Mary’s father Fred Trump Jr. Judge Alan Scheinkman postponed addressing whether the author had violated the agreement preventing her from revealing family secrets by writing the book, titled Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man. Nevertheless Simon & Schuster “is not a party to the agreement,” so the block of their publication of the book “is vacated,” he ruled. In the book, Mary, a clinical psychologist, recounts what she witnessed of the “toxic family” in the home of her grandparents, according to her publisher. “According to the plaintiff, Ms Trump has stated that (the) book contains an ‘insider’s perspective’ of ‘countless holiday meals,’ ‘family interactions,’ and ‘family events,’” Scheinkman’s ruling said. The Daily Beast has reported the book will reveal that Mary Trump was the crucial source for explosive New York Times reporting on Trump’s finances, which suggested the billionaire paid little in tax for decades. In a statement, Mary Trump’s lawyer Ted Boutrous said the lifting of the prior restraint against the publisher was “very good news.” “We look forward to filing our brief tomorrow (Thursday) in the trial court explaining why the same result is required as to Ms. Trump, based on the First Amendment and basic contract law,” he said. Mary Trump’s legal team said they were hoping for a July 10 hearing, which will most likely take place virtually. Last week a judge refused to block the release of Bolton’s book, titled The Room Where It Happened, saying it was too late for the restraining order sought by the Trump administration. Trump has characterised the portrait of 17 months up close with the leader, until Bolton was fired in September, as “fiction.” Other books written about the president include journalist Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury, a behind-the-scenes account of Trump’s chaotic early days in the White House, which sold more than four million copies worldwide. Trump dismissed that book as “full of lies.” TRUMP NOT BRIEFED ON RUSSIAN PLOT TO KILL US TROOPS It comes as Mr Trump has adamantly denied that he and Vice President Mike Pence had been briefed about a bounty Russia allegedly paid the Taliban to kill US forces in Afghanistan, backing up earlier White House claims that the two were unaware. “Nobody briefed or told me, @VPPence, or Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an ‘anonymous source by the Fake News @nytimes. Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us,” Mr Trump posted on Twitter, according to a report in the New York Post. “Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration. With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine – Where’s Hunter?” he continued. “Probably just another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax. Who is their ‘source’?” He called on the newspaper to reveal its source, but added that “this ‘person’ probably does not even exist!” The New York Times reported on the bounties last Friday and claimed the president was made aware about the situation and was discussed in late March by the White House’s National Security Council. The report said several options were weighed — including sanctions and a complaint to be made via diplomatic channel — but the White House had yet to authorise any response. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe released statements over the weekend saying that Mr Trump and Mr Pence had not been briefed. Ms McEnany’s statement commented on the “inaccuracy of The New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed on this matter.” Mr Trump, in a third tweet, criticised how Joe Biden and the Obama administration handled Russia relations. “Funny to see Corrupt Joe Biden reading a statement on Russia, which was obviously written by his handlers. Russia ate his and Obama’s lunch during their time in office, so badly that Obama wanted them out of the then G-8. US was weak on everything, but especially Russia!” he said. Mr Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, blasted Mr Trump for failing to protect American troops. “His entire presidency has been a gift to Putin, but this is beyond the pale,” the former vice president said at a virtual town hall, referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “It’s a betrayal of the most sacred duty we bear as a nation, to protect and equip our troops when we send them into harm’s way.” Former President Barack Obama and other members of the Group of 8 industrialised nations ousted Russia from the association in 2014 following Mr Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Mr Trump, who is hosting this year’s meeting of the G-7, has proposed inviting Russia to September’s expected gathering. TRUMP DELETES ‘WHITE POWER’ VIDEO Mr Trump has deleted a video he retweeted showing one of his supporters in Florida shouting “white power” at protesters, drawing an immediate rebuke from the only African-American Republican in the Senate. The video shows Trump protesters and supporters shouting profanities at each other. After a protester calls a Trump supporter a racist, the man responds by raising his fist and shouting “white power”. The slogan is often used by white supremacists. In his tweet, Mr Trump wrote “Thank you to the great people of The Villages”. “There’s no question that he should not have retweeted it and he should just take it down,” US Senator Tim Scott said on US TV. “It was so profanity-laced, the entire thing was offensive. Certainly, the comment about the white power was offensive,” the South Carolina Republican added. “It’s indefensible. We should take it down.” White House spokesman Judd Deere said the president “is a big fan of The Villages (a retirement community in Florida where the video was filmed)”. “He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.” The tweet comes on the heels of Mr Trump’s hostile response to protests against racial injustice engulfing the US following the death of George Floyd. African-American man Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes in Minneapolis. Mr Trump has been accused of racism by politicians for his tweets in the past, including for attacks on black politicians and for telling four congresswomen they should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”. ROLLING STONES THREATEN TO SUE TRUMP Meanwhile, British music legends, the Rolling Stones, are threatening Mr Trump with legal action for using their songs at his rallies despite cease-and-desist directives. The Stones said in a statement on Sunday (local time) that their legal team is working with music rights organisation BMI to stop use of their material in Mr Trump’s re-election campaign. “The BMI have notified the Trump campaign on behalf of the Stones that the unauthorised use of their songs will constitute a breach of its licensing agreement,” the Stones said. “If Donald Trump disregards the exclusion and persists, then he would face a lawsuit for breaking the embargo and playing music that has not been licensed.” The Trump campaign team has yet to comment on the matter. The Stones had complained during Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign about the use of their music to fire up his conservative base at rallies. The Rolling Stones’ 1969 classic You Can’t Always Get What You Want was a popular song for his events. It was played again at the close of Mr Trump’s recent rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma – an indoor event criticised for its potential to spread the coronavirus. The music rights organisation BMI has informed the Trump campaign that if it plays Stones music again at an event, it will be in breach of its licensing agreement, the statement said. Other artists have also complained about having their music associated with Mr Trump’s events. The family of the late rock musician Tom Petty said that it had issued a cease-and-desist order after Mr Trump used the song I Won’t Back Down in Tulsa. “Trump was in no way authorised to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind,” the statement said. “Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his to be used in a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together.” Grammy Award-winning musician Neil Young lashed out at Mr Trump in 2018 after hearing one of his songs played against his wishes during Mr Trump’s pre-midterm campaign rallies. The Canadian-born musician admonished Mr Trump for using his 1990 single, Rockin’ in the Free World, despite earlier warnings.