Fred Trump III says a decades-old story about his uncle’s reaction to missing a newspaper cover helps explain why withdrawing attention could blunt Donald Trump’s provocations — while still urging coverage of consequential news.
The anecdote describes Donald Trump’s gloom after not appearing on The New York Post cover following eight days of negative headlines.
Fred Trump III, an outspoken critic of his uncle, urged the press to cover consequential developments but to avoid amplifying every provocation.
The nephew has previously challenged Trump’s public claims and authored a memoir with further allegations about the president.
# What happened
# The 1990 anecdote Fred recounts a Father's Day gathering in 1990 that followed eight straight days of Donald Trump appearing on the front page of The New York Post with "very personally negative headlines." According to Fred, his uncle seemed "gloomy," and when asked why, Robert Trump told him Donald was upset because "he wasn't on the cover of the Post today." Fred wrote "I have never forgotten that." He used the story to propose a simple argument: sometimes the most powerful response to a demand for attention is withholding it.
# What Fred Trump III asked the media to do Fred's post did not call for ignoring consequential news. He wrote: "Cover consequential news, of course. But not every Trump provocation deserves amplification." The recommendation is selective attention: report on matters of substance while resisting reflexive coverage of every provocation designed to command headlines.
# Context on the nephew Fred Trump III has become an outspoken critic of his uncle. Earlier in the month he publicly disputed Donald Trump's claims about his actions after the Sept. 11 attacks. In his memoir, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, Fred alleges his uncle used racist slurs and once said people with severe disabilities "maybe" should die. The president has denied allegations made by his nephew.
# Why this matters for the press Fred's point is tactical rather than normative: it focuses on media effects. If a public figure seeks attention as a currency, then reducing gratuitous exposure could blunt that figure's influence. Fred frames this as a targeted recommendation — maintain coverage of consequential developments while avoiding amplification of provocations designed primarily to command attention.
# How this fits recent developments Fred's comment comes amid what the article describes as an "escalating war on the press." Other family members have spoken critically about the president's conduct and statements in recent weeks, and media outlets are debating how to cover a figure who often seeks to dominate the news cycle.
# Bottom line
If there's one thing that Donald J. Trump is actually good at, it's taking any situation, no matter how sacred or somber, and making it about himself. The tragically infamous 9/11 terrorist attack against this nation is no exception to that rule. Over the years, the president has spun many a wild web with respect to hi
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