Trump’s niece accuses him of cheating on SAT in her memoir

U.S. President Donald Trump allegedly paid someone to take the SAT on his behalf to get admission to the Wharton School, which has caused controversy. According to newspapers including The New York Times, Mary Trump, President Trump’s niece who holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, made this claim in her upcoming memoir, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.”

The all-tell family memoir claims that President Trump, who was concerned that he would not receive scores required for admission to the University of Pennsylvania, paid his smart friend, Joe Shapiro, to take the SAT on behalf of him. Even though his sister Maryanne, who graduated from Columbia University with a master’s degree, helped him with his assignments, she could not sit the test for him.

The high score the proxy earned for him helped the young Trump to gain admission to the Wharton School in 1966 when he transferred from Fordham University which he had attended since 1964 after graduating from New York Military Academy. He has often boasted about attending Wharton, which he has referred to as “super genius stuff,” but the book claims that he cheated on the scholastic test. According to The Washington Post, however, Shapiro’s family said Shapiro is already dead and did not take the SAT on behalf of the president nor knew him before college. White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews also denied the claim, calling it a complete lie.

Ms. Trump also described President Trump and his father Fred Trump Sr. as “sociopaths.” She wrote that they used other people to achieve their goals and never tolerated opposition or resistance.

President Trump did not respect his brother Fred Trump Jr. (Ms. Trump’s father) either, and Fred Trump Sr. once embarrassed him in front of his employees, saying “Donald is worth ten of you.” Fred Trump Jr., who did not get along with his family, grew dependent on alcohol and died of a heart attack at the age of 42. However, no one in the family visited him in the hospital, and President Trump went to the movies on the day his brother died according to Ms. Trump.


Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com