Mary Trump, psychologist and niece of U.S. President Donald Trump, has launched a fresh attack on her uncle, describing him as “unevolved,” “cruel,” and “incapable of forming close relationships” during an appearance at the Hay Festival in Wales.
Promoting her latest book, Who Could Ever Love You, a scathing memoir about the Trump family legacy, Mary Trump told the audience she is now estranged from nearly all her relatives, calling herself “the black sheep of the family.” The only exception, she said, is her daughter.
Mary, daughter of Donald Trump’s late older brother Fred Trump Jr., painted a bleak portrait of the Trump family dynamic. Her grandfather, Fred Trump Sr., was described as “literally a sociopath,” and the overall family atmosphere was one marked by cruelty.
“Cruelty is a theme in my family,” she said bluntly.
Recounting her brief time working for Donald in her 20s, when she was hired to ghostwrite his second book, Mary said it gave her rare insight into the man who would later become president.
“He is the only person I’ve ever met who’s never evolved, which is dangerous by the way,” she said. “Never choose as your leader somebody incapable of evolving.”
She added that her uncle remains one of “the most provincial people I know,” a trait she said has proven disastrous in political leadership.
Reading from her book, Mary described how her father’s friend, Anna Maria, first met Donald when he was a teenager. She recalled him as “cocky, rude, intensely jealous of his older brother Freddie,” and someone who “nobody could bear to be around.” Mary wrote that Donald “devolved” over the years into “an even more arrogant adult with a widening, cruel streak.”
She also accused him of physically aggressive behaviour toward younger relatives, recalling how, at age eight, she was targeted by Donal,d throwing baseballs at her “as hard as he could.” She believes a catcher’s mitt given to her by her brother was intended to protect her hands from injury.
Mary shared additional family history that shed light on her uncle’s early development, noting that his mother was seriously ill after his birth and unable to care for him during a crucial stage of childhood. That left him in the care of his father, Fred Sr.
“So you can imagine how that sort of changed the trajectory of Donald’s life,” she said.
Mary has been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump for years, gaining prominence after the release of her bestseller Too Much and Never Enough in 2020. In 2021, Donald Trump sued her for $100 million, alleging she violated a confidentiality agreement by sharing financial records with The New York Times. Mary said the lawsuit sent a clear message, but she refuses to be silenced.
“What if everybody capitulates? Then what? Well, then we lose. And that’s unacceptable,” she told the Hay Festival audience.
Closing her remarks with cutting honesty, she said she struggles to understand those who fear her uncle.
“He’s so pathetic. I would be embarrassed to be afraid of him.”
Mary’s latest book continues her crusade to expose the inner dysfunction of one of America’s most infamous political families, one damning page at a time.
