Trump Considers Suing His Niece Over Her Tell-All Book, Saying She Signed an NDA

[octoberlib]

This past Sunday, news broke that the president’s niece, Mary Trump, was on track to publish a “harrowing and salacious” book this summer about her world-famous uncle. By Sunday night, the president had been privately briefed on what he could expect from the upcoming book. By Tuesday, he had begun discussing siccing his lawyers on his niece.

According to two people familiar with the situation, Donald Trump has told people close to him that he’s getting his lawyers to look into the Mary Trump matter, to explore what could be done in the way of legal retribution—or at least a threat—likely in the form of a cease and desist letter. One of the sources with knowledge of the situation said that in the past couple of days, the president appeared irked by news of her book and at one point mentioned that Mary had signed an NDA years ago.

Mary Trump signed an NDA following a 2001 settlement after litigation disputing Fred Trump’s estate, according to people familiar with the matter. That NDA states she is not allowed to publish anything regarding the litigation or her relationship with Donald, Maryanne and Robert.

It’s not clear what type of response the president or his personal legal team will ultimately pursue. But his administration and his outside counsel have been busy during this tumultuous election year—one already ravaged by a cratered economy, a mass protest movement against police brutality and institutional racism, and the coronavirus pandemic—combating other new manuscripts and memoirs authored by top Trump associates turned bitter enemies.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-considers-suing-his-niece-mary-trump-over-her-tell-all-book-saying-she-signed-an-nda?via=twitter_page

[leftieNanner]

1. Go ahead and call his bluff, Mary!

Get your book released to the public and tell him to fuck off.

Do it!

[dmr]

43. What happens if she signed it under duress?

Can it be voided?

I can see Donald and his henchmen brow beating and threatening her. Remember the stories of how vulgar and horrible Michael Cohen behaved on Donald's behalf?

I probably would have caved just to be free of them.

[Thomas Hurt]

2. is Barron old enough to sign a contract yet?

The Pig probably has a NDA in the desk waiting for the poor kid to reach majority.

I wonder if they let anyone into his presence without signing one.

[JDC]

7. Signed via ink print w his baby foot just after birth.

[Demovictory9]

47. lol

[Ms. Toad]

12. An NDA based solely on being allowed to be in "the great one's" presence,"

especially if the person is an immediate family member, is almost certainly unenforceable. (The promise has to be made in exchange for something of legal value - being in your father's presence probably doesn't count.)

But - an NDA as part of a settlement of a claim probably is enforceable. So if promised it in exchange for continuing to litigate the estate distribution, Mary Trump may well be restricted in what she can legally say.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. If the NDA is enforceable she might have to give the money back,

but it can't prevent her from publishing the book if she wants to take that risk. I'm sure she has lawyers that have taken a good hard look at the NDA and have advised her accordingly.

[Ms. Toad]

18. Yup.

I was addressing mostly whether Baron could sign an enforceable NDA.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. Probably not while he's a minor, but his evil dad would make him sign anyhow,

then threaten to sue him. Trump often threatens to sue people even when he doesn't have a legally supportable claim because he knows they can't afford to put up a defense. I don't know why his lawyers haven't been sanctioned for doing that shit.

[Thomas Hurt]

19. I am not sure he uses them solely as enforcable contracts...

I think he uses them as intimidation and bullying, not to mention if you are running a scam on someone a NDA gives it gravitas.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. I think that's exactly right.

He intimidates people by threatening litigation, knowing they can't afford to defend against it.

[Ms. Toad]

23. Definitely -

but it's good for folks to know that a promise given in exchange for nothing isn't enforceable.

[captain queeg]

3. His lawyers? Does that mean Bill Barr?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Let's say the NDA is enforceable, which would depend on what's in it

and the circumstances under which it was signed (typically these are construed against the person who demanded and drafted the agreement). It still won't prevent her from publishing; it will only make her liable for damages, possibly the return of money she got in the estate settlement. Because Trump is the president, his attempt to prevent her from publishing the book at all is likely to be construed as an unconstitutional prior restraint - that is, the government trying to suppress free speech. If he sues on the ground that the book is defamatory he will have to overcome the fact that he's a public figure, which is very difficult. She should tell him to fuck off and die.

[octoberlib]

8. Thanks for your informative post. The dude must walk around with a stack of NDAs.

[Ms. Toad]

14. Nice summary. n/t

[jrthin]

39. I LOVE you last sentence. nt

[crickets]

45. Beautiful. nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. Tell it, Mary, tell it.

Screw DJT.

[WhiskeyWulf]

6. What kind of life is someone leading . . .

if they have to get everyone around them to sign NDAs?

[octoberlib]

9. Exactly.

[AleksS]

38. Yup. You only get NDA's if

if there’s something that you don’t want disclosed.

Or alternately:


You don’t get an NDA if you’re NOT hiding something.

[Nikki28]

10. The first

thing that come to my mind is maybe he raped her as a child.i mean would the Evangelist go for that! Na never mind. They would say Jesus approves

[Cha]

11. Go For IT, BLOTUS.. More Publicity for Mary!

[Me.]

15. A Minute Behind You

[Cha]

24. lol..

Reminds me of the time way back when.. this poster named "RummyisFrosted" told me jokingly.. "You're old and slow, zidzi!".. 'cause we both posted something similar at the same time but his post got on first.

It was during the bush error.. I laughed so hard for some reason.. I'm still laughing over it.

[Me.]

27. JOggers (Meaning You) Are Never Slow

[Cha]

34. I am

Now! lol

[Me.]

13. So Sue Her

[live love laugh]

46. Yeah sue her sewer. nt

[sop]

16. Mary will be the most sought after interviewee on every tv and radio show in America.

Rachel Maddow should schedule an in-depth interview over two or three nights; that will be must-see TV. Trump's niece has been waiting for this moment for years, she will eviscerate the POS.

[FakeNoose]

20. What kind of person makes his own family members sign an NDA!?

Write all the cease and desist letters you want to, it won't mean spit.

If Niece Mary Trump signed an NDA (which I doubt) she was probably underage and it can easily be contested in court. MY GUESS is that Niece Mary is telling the story that the other Trump siblings are TOO CHICKENSHIT to tell. Chump has been hated by his own family for a long time, long before he ran for pResident. The hatred runs very deep -- back to the death of elder brother Fred Junior. There is so much dirt there!

[Ms. Toad]

25. Same kind that cuts his ill niece out of her grandfather's will. n/t

[ck4829]

26. Anyone else did a Reverse Borowitz? I clicked thinking "This HAS to be a parody", then I sighed...

"This is what's really happening."

[enki23]

28. So, he's saying it isn't libel

[Me.]

29. It JUst Occurred To Me That Simon & Schuster

must have this covered. They've been around better lawsuits than this one.

[eleny]

31. They're publishing Bolton's book, too

[eleny]

30. She's only following his lead regarding oaths

[Walleye]

32. How many of these fucking NDA's has he forced on people.

Kellyanne Conway once let it slip that everyone in the White House had signed one. That can’t be legal. He’s such a pathetic bully.

[obamanut2012]

48. It is illegal to make any of his WH staff sign NDAs

They aren't worth the paper and print they are printed with.

[Walleye]

50. He doesn't care if it's illegal. But I bet the people are scared to break the NDA's anyway

[Retrograde]

33. Doesn't he have a country to ruin, er, run?

It's amazing enough that he has time for all his rallies, much less time to pursue intimidation lawsuits, which, given his track record, I think this is.

Has Dear Leader ever won a lawsuit after someone called his bluff and said, Yeah? Go ahead and sue me.

[Princess Turandot]

35. I wonder if her brother was part of the estate settlement..

He has made comments over the years about Trump, in particular about the episode in which Trump dropped them from their corporate insurance coverage out of spite, when their son had recently been dx'd with cerebral palsy.

[Renew Deal]

36. He's got a NDA with his neice

It just might prove the books point.

[keithbvadu2]

37. Dotard certainly needs a lot of NDAs.

Dotard certainly needs a lot of NDAs.

[Faux pas]

40. First

he has to deny he knows her. Then, when that doesn't work, haul out the NDA. He's losing it.

[Xolodno]

41. Funny thing when you become a public figure....

...a shit load of stuff that is protected as a private figure, suddenly disappears. He obviously didn't see this coming.

[Walleye]

51. I love it. Picture him trying to plug the leaks springing up all over his little rowboat

[UTUSN]

42. K&R

[MagickMuffin]

44. Oopsie, the Government cannot infringe on her 1st Amendment rights

That is called censorship and he can't do it. He can try and intimidate her but he can't do jack.

[obamanut2012]

49. Yup, he can't be both a private itizen and the President

Changing it up whenever he feels like it.

[malaise]

52. Please proceed asshole

He sure is afraid of the truth coming out - down he goes!!

[Jersey Devil]

53. The NDA probably refers to the estate battle only

I can't imagine her lawyer would have allowed her to sign an NDA that completely bars her from any disclosures of anything at all regarding Trump.

[spanone]

54. this fucker has an NDA with everyone in the country.

that's how he operates....threatening lawsuits