Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Mary Trump niece says she used to feel compassion for president - but feels that is now 'impossible'

President's niece said Mr Trump has never been held accountable for his actions

Graig Graziosi
Wednesday 22 July 2020 14:32 EDT
Comments
Mary Trump says the U.S. has devolved into a version of her incredibly dysfunctional family

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Mary Trump, the niece of Donald Trump, said it was "impossible" for her to fear compassion for her uncle at this stage of his presidency.

Ms Trump is the author of "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," a book about the Trump family and Mr Trump's upbringing.

In an interview with The Guardian, Ms Trump is asked whether she loves her uncle, the president.

"No I don't," she said. "I used to feel compassion for him. I really did. But that became impossible when I started learning about things that he had done and seeing what he's been doing since 20 January, 2017."

Ms Trump's book is largely about how the president, from his childhood, was encouraged to be a cheater and a liar. Mr Trump's father, Fred Trump, is portrayed as the patriarchal villain of the family, arranging his children at dinner by order of personal importance and treating laughter as a sign of weakness.

Though she paints Mr Trump as something of a victim of his father, she said the president deserves no sympathy for his upbringing.

"I completely understand having sympathy and empathy for the child who did suffer mightily but it's not an excuse for his behaviour," she said. "He's an adult human being who knows the difference between right and wrong, even though he doesn't think the rules apply to him. He knows what he's doing and one of the reasons we're in this position is because he's never been held accountable for anything. So his transgressions become more egregious over time and he needs to be held to account."

Ms Trump has actively worked against Mr Trump and other members of her family. She helped the New York Times in a 2017 investigation that dug into the methods Mr Trump and his siblings used to dodge millions of dollars in taxes.

In 2016, Ms Trump voted for Hillary Clinton for president and she said she will support former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 US election.

"I will do whatever I can to help him get elected," Ms Trump said.

She said that Mr Trump's re-election would be "the end of the American experiment" and that people continuing to support her uncle for another four years is "unthinkable."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in