Did Trump say that a disabled child in his family would be better off dead?

1. The allegation: a nephew’s account of private remarks in the Oval Office

Fred Trump III recounts that after a May 2020 White House meeting with disability advocates, the president pulled him aside and said, “maybe those kinds of people should just die,” citing “the shape they’re in” and “all the expenses,” according to excerpts from his book All in the Family and reporting in TIME, The Independent and The Guardian ^{[3] [5] [2]}. Multiple outlets ran essentially the same passage from the memoir, presenting the line as Fred’s direct quotation of his uncle ^{[1] [6]}.

2. The narrower question: did Trump say a disabled child in his family would be better off dead?

Fred’s memoir reports two linked moments: one in the Oval Office about disabled people generally, and a later call in which Fred says his uncle repeated the sentiment in reference to Fred’s own son, William — a child with severe disabilities — saying other people’s children “should” die or be allowed to die ^{[2] [1]}. Reporting summarizes Fred’s claim that Trump explicitly placed William on “the list” and suggested letting him die, which is how coverage frames the allegation that a disabled child in the family was referenced ^{[6] [4]}.

3. What the public record shows and what it does not

The factual record available to news organizations is Fred Trump III’s written account in his memoir and published excerpts; journalists reporting the story note the claim is drawn from that memoir ^{[3] [1] [2]}. News outlets also report that TIME sought comment from Trump and did not receive a reply, indicating no public denial or confirmation from Donald Trump in those instances ^[3]. What is not in the public record — and thus not independently verified by reporters — is an audio recording, contemporaneous witness corroboration, or a statement from the former president directly confirming or denying the specific quoted language beyond the noted lack of response ^{[3] [1]}.

4. Context, interpretation and competing perspectives

Advocates and commentators treat Fred’s account as evidence of a cruel attitude toward people with disabilities and point to historical examples of dehumanizing rhetoric to underline the stakes ^{[7] [8]}. Some outlets and opinion writers use the memoir to argue voters should weigh the moral implications ^[8]. At the same time, mainstream reporting makes clear the source is a family memoir — an intimate, subjective form of reporting that can carry personal interpretation and memory — and that there is no independent contemporaneous public record presented in the reporting to definitively prove the words were uttered exactly as quoted ^{[3] [1]}.

5. Bottom line — a precise answer to the question asked

Available reporting states that Donald Trump’s nephew alleges Trump said disabled Americans “should just die,” and that Fred writes the remark was later applied to his own son; this is the basis for the claim that Trump said a disabled child in his family would be better off dead ^{[1] [2]}. However, the assertion rests on Fred Trump III’s memoir and its excerpts as reported; the reporting does not present an independent recording or a direct statement from Donald Trump confirming or denying the specific quote, and TIME reported Trump did not respond to a request for comment ^{[3] [4]}. Therefore, the answer is: reporting attributes the statement to Trump via his nephew’s memoir, but independent corroboration beyond that memoir and published excerpts has not been documented in the cited coverage ^{[3] [1] [2]}.