The Disturbing Claim Ivana Trump Made About Donald's Reading Habits In The '90s

Ever wonder what former President Donald Trump's preferred reading material might be? Well, according to his late ex-wife, Ivana Trump, the answer is actually pretty disturbing. In September 1990, Vanity Fair revealed that, according to Ivana, Donald enjoyed reading speeches by Adolf Hitler, and he even kept a book of them next to his bed.

Ivana became Donald's first wife in 1977, and the pair had three children together during their relationship: Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump. In 1989, Ivana discovered that Donald was having an affair with who would become his second wife, model Marla Maples, and she filed for divorce the following year. Being married to Donald for over a decade certainly gave Ivana a unique and intimate view of the political figure. Back in 1990, Ivana told her lawyer, Michael Kennedy, about Donald's unusual reading habits. She claimed that he kept "My New Order," a book of Hitler's speeches, in a cabinet near his bedside and that he would occasionally bring it out to read it. Reading Hitler's collected speeches is a pretty shocking hobby for anyone, let alone a political leader. Yet, while it may seem like this is just a rumor spread by Ivana to damage her ex-husband's reputation, it's interesting to note that Donald was a bit cagey when asked about it. 

Donald Trump was said to have received his controversial book of speeches from his cousin, John Walter. Walter, who died in 2018, worked for the Trump Organization. According to Vanity Fair, Ivana had also claimed that Walter would often visit Donald at work and say "Heil Hitler," which was suggested to be an inside joke within the family. Walter was reportedly interested in history and ancestry and often insisted on his family's German heritage, which was allegedly hidden by Donald's father and Walter's uncle, Fred Trump. Walter was also stationed in Heidelberg, Germany, while serving in the army. 

When asked if Walter had given him a book of Adolf Hitler's speeches, Donald's response was, "Who told you that?" Ultimately, he denied that Walter gave him the book but not that he had it. "Actually, it was my friend Marty Davis from Paramount who gave me a copy of 'Mein Kampf,' and he's a Jew," Donald said. According to Davis, he did give Donald a book, but "it was 'My New Order,' Hitler's speeches, not 'Mein Kampf.'" He added, "I thought he would find it interesting," noting, "I am his friend, but I'm not Jewish." The details of Donald's ownership of the book and how he got it are clearly muddled, but later in the interview, he made sure to note, "If I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read them."

Donald Trump's response to questions about his rumored copy of "My New Order" was eyebrow-raising. Yet, apparent evidence that Trump might not be anti-Hitler doesn't stop there. In the 2021 book, "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost," author Michael Bender claimed that in 2018, Trump told then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, "Well, Hitler did a lot of good things." He allegedly continued with this assertion, noting that Hitler improved Germany's economy.

In a June 2024 interview with MSNBC, Barbara Res, a lead engineer in the building of Trump Tower, recalled one of the many "ridiculous remarks" Trump made while he was her employer. She claimed that after hiring a new employee, who was German, Trump told executives "how great the guy was and he was a real gentleman... And he looked at a couple of our executives who happen to be Jewish, and he said, 'Watch out for this guy — he sort of remembers the ovens,' you know, and then smiled." Res added, "Everybody was shocked. I couldn't believe he said that. But he was making a joke about the Nazi ovens and killing people, and that's the way he was." While all of these claims are alleged, Trump's reputation around his view of Adolf Hitler may give more weight to Ivana Trump's statement about his rather disconcerting reading material.