Plain Talk from Mary Trump

By Jessie Seigel / May 30, 2025

Mary Trump, author, psychologist, and Trump niece

In this issue of My Washington Whispers, I am providing a link to a video recently made by Mary Trump.

Mary is Donald Trump's niece, a psychologist, and author of Too Much and Never Enough, a book about the psychology of the Trump family and of Donald Trump in particular.

But this video is more centrally about our political situation. It stands as an incisive and insightful analysis delivered in plain language, pulling no punches--just the approach I often wish other commentators would take.

Mary argues that to talk with people who vote for Donald--trying to convince them--is a waste of time.

She suggests that people on the left make the mistaken assumption that MAGA folks --"for reasons we can't fathom" vote against their own self-interest. And that the left erroneously assumes that the right's self-interest includes sane goals similar to their own: wanting their children to do better, health care, clean air, economic survival, etc.

Ms. Trump maintains that that assumption is not necessarily correct. That even if those on the far right do want those things, "they want other things more." Specifically, she suggests, they want white people to have more rights than other people. She states: "They don't necessarily care if they do better than such people; they simply want those people to do worse." Mary suggests that many don't want to face that fact "because it is very dark."

Most important, Mary Trump argues: "I always believe in hope, but we can't lie to ourselves. The people in power are the people who want fascism. We do ourselves no favors if we don't name that clearly."

She notes that we need to persistently "throw sand in the gears" of Republican efforts. She then discusses ways in which Democrats are squandering the few opportunities open to them. And she calmly decries Democrats who "continue to choose collegiality over fighting for the American people."

She also argues that those who oppose fascism must recognize that their differences are irrelevant compared to what they are fighting for. She feels that if we can unite effectively, we can win the battle.

Myself, I don't know if it is a fight we will win. But it is a fight we MUST fight to win.

I urge you to watch Mary Trump's video in its entirety (it is not very long). You can access the video here.

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