Mary Trump’s Tell-All Book Temporarily Blocked in Court

A judge on Tuesday granted Robert Trump a temporary restraining order halting the publication of Mary Trump’s upcoming tell-all, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.

The injunction marks the first, tentative win for President Donald Trump’s younger brother in his war to stop the publication of his niece’s memoir, which The Daily Beast revealed earlier this month would contain allegations embarrassing to the First Family. The Trump siblings have maintained that the book, to be published by Simon & Schuster, violates the confidentiality clause that Mary Trump signed off on in the settlement of family patriarch Fred Trump Sr.’s estate.

Robert Trump and his celebrity attorney Charles Harder made their first play to block the book in Queens Surrogate Court—but the judge junked the suit almost immediately, telling the elder Trumps to refile in state Supreme Court. They took the advice, and submitted a new request for a temporary restraining order in Robert Trump’s home turf of Dutchess County, in upstate New York.

Their arguments seemed to at least somewhat persuade Judge Hal Greenwald, who ordered Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster to appear before him on July 10—and barred them from disseminating her book.

A person familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast the court had declined Mary’s attorneys’ request for a public hearing.

“Pending the hearing and determination of Petitioner Robert S. Trump’s within motion for a preliminary injunction, Mary L. Trump and Simon & Schuster, Inc., together with their respective members, officers, employees, servants, agents, attorneys, representatives and all other persons acting on behalf of or in concert with either or both of them, are hereby temporarily enjoined and restrained,” the jurist ordered. “From publishing, printing or distributing any book or any portions thereof including but not limited to the book entitled: ‘Too Much and Never Enough, How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man,’ in any medium containing descriptions or accounts of Mary L. Trump’s relationship with Robert S. Trump, Donald Trump, or Maryanne Trump Barry.”

This decision is only preliminary, leaving the book’s ultimate fate up to a later decision on the merits of the lawsuit. 

Mary Trump’s attorney, Theadore Boutrous Jr., told The Daily Beast in a statement, “The trial court’s temporary restraining order is only temporary but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment. We will immediately appeal.” 

A person familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast the book, to be published by Simon and Schuster, is already on its third print run and the publishing giant is working to get the tome, which is currently Number Four on Amazon’s bestseller list, out to bookstores ahead of its July 28 release. 

A spokesman for Simon & Schuster, Adam Rothberg, said they were disappointed in the court’s decision. “We plan to immediately appeal this decision to the Appellate Division, and look forward to prevailing in this case based on well-established precedents regarding prior restraint,” he said. 

Harder said in a statement, “Robert Trump is very pleased with the New York Supreme Court’s injunction against Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster. The actions of Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster are truly reprehensible.  

“We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trump’s breach of contract and Simon & Schuster’s intentional interference with that contract. Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end.”

The Daily Beast first reported that Fred Trump Sr.’s granddaughter and Donald Trump’s niece had written a “harrowing and salacious” tell-all in which Mary would out herself as The New York Times’ primary source for their Trump tax investigation.