Political Memes

You guys know he has dementia, right? Just like his parents did.

Fred's first brush with a loved one showing signs of dementia came when his namesake grandfather, Frederick Christ Trump Sr., was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He says that Donald's cousin, John Walter, also had dementia, and Donald's late sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, displayed similar symptoms before her death last year, despite never being diagnosed.

Fred recalls his grandfather's decline beginning in the 1980s, "with some of the similar stories you've heard time and time again, that when his limousine would stop, he would just get out of the car and start walking away."

Fred Sr.'s behavior became a norm for those around him, says his grandson. "You know, things that you almost say, 'Oh, there goes grandpa again.' "

"You have to understand," adds the younger Fred, "he still went to work every day — that was part of the thing."

Fred Sr.'s continued employment "was to give my grandmother [Mary Anne MacLeod Trump] a rest and not have him around the house," he tells PEOPLE. "My grandmother used to call it the 36-hour day, being around my grandfather, who had onset Alzheimer's."

Fred — who described his experience growing up in the Trump dynasty in his recent book, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way — recalls his grandfather "becoming a little more agitated" as his condition grew worse.

"He would scream, and I witnessed this, scream at my grandmother for spending too much money," says Fred, reminding that money was not a concern for his grandfather. The behavior "kept escalating and escalating, to the point where doctors would say to my grandmother, 'You really shouldn't be staying in the same bedroom with him at night.' "

Fred, the son of Donald's late brother Fred Trump Jr., clarifies that he never saw or heard his grandfather ever become physically violent with his grandmother, but instead, "agitated in his language, and vicious."

He also alleges that Donald's sister, Maryanne, seemed to exhibit signs of dementia before her death on Nov. 13, 2023.

"One of the last times I saw Maryanne, she said, 'You know, I've only met your wife Lisa once.' And I was sort of taken aback by that...I said, 'Well, you've actually met Lisa hundreds of times over the almost 40 years that you've known her, as long as I have.' "

That’s from last year, btw