Judge Blocks Release of Tell-All Book by Trump’s Niece, Mary

President Donald Trump in a file photo. Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images

A judge blocked the release of a book from President Donald Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, in which she offers an unflattering account of her relationship with her uncle and other family members.

Judge Hal Greenwald, based in Poughkeepsie, New York, issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday at the request of President Trump and Robert Trump, his brother. They said the book violates a nondisclosure agreement that was part of the estate of Fred Trump, President Trump’s father, after his death in 1999.

Their settlement nearly two decades ago included a confidentiality clause that explicitly states they would not “publish any account concerning the litigation or their relationship,” unless all of them agreed, according to court papers.

Greenwald set deadlines for each side to submit arguments about why the book, titled “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,” should or shouldn’t be published. Mary Trump was slated to publish the book on July 28.

Mary Trump’s attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr., in a statement, said she will appeal the decision.

Boutrous said the order was “a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment.” He added: “This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in (sic) election year, should not be suppressed even for one day.”

Robert Trump’s attorney, Charles Harder, said his client is “very pleased” with the judge’s order.

“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,” Harder said, according to CNBC. “Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end.”

Simon & Schuster, which also published a book from former White House adviser John Bolton, said it is disappointed by 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,” the publisher said, according to the news outlet.

The move comes several days after a New York City judge dismissed a claim by Robert Trump to halt the publication of Mary Trump’s book. Surrogates Court Judge Peter Kelly said the claims were not appropriate for his court, where disputes over estate matters are settled.

Published accounts of the book’s contents say it contains an “insider’s perspective” of “countless holiday meals” and family interactions and family events, along with personal observations by Mary Trump, a psychologist, about her “supposedly toxic family,” according to the court papers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.