The niece of former President Donald Trump recently weighed in on why two of her high-profile cousins haven't yet shown up in Manhattan to stand by their father in his first criminal trial.
During a Wednesday night MSNBC YouTube stream, Mary Trump was asked why she thinks Donald Trump Jr. — the ex-president's eldest son — and his eldest daughter Ivanka are absent from trial proceedings. She responded that they see little to be gained by standing alongside their father in Manhattan.
"Ivanka made the calculation a long time ago that it was not in her best interests to remain in any way associated with the rest of her family. She doesn’t need them,” Mary Trump said. “All of these relationships are transactional. She is a legitimately wealthy person because of the person she is married to. She doesn’t need Donald for anything."
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"She’s not going to show up in a courtroom to support him especially in a case which is so, seriously, at its base so depressingly tawdry," she added.
In regard to Donald Trump Jr., Mary observed that his brother, Eric, simply drew "the short straw," noting that it would either be he or his brother going to the trial, and that both going wouldn't make sense. However, she added that if their father demanded it, all would be in attendance "maybe with the exception of Ivanka."
Mary Trump then used their absence to posit that perhaps their father cares less about the support of his own children than he does about public support from Republicans, like the ones who recently held a press conference outside the courtroom.
"He’s much more disturbed by the absence of crowds outside rallying in his defense which is why we’re seeing this parade of increasingly pathetic and sycophantic members of Congress who should be maybe governing but are taking time out of their apparently not very busy days to help undermine Americans’ confidence in the rule of law," she said.
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Earlier this week, a slew of Republicans vying to be Trump's running mate traveled to Manhattan to defend the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee. This included both elected officials like North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (R), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Sens. Tim Scott (R-Alabama) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) as well as businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
Mary Trump added that Trump's two oldest adult children not showing their faces was more proof that their relationship was more "transactional" than anything else.
"[Donald Sr.'s] narcissistic needs are much greater than that so somebody else is going to have to make him feel better on that score but it’s a pretty obviously transactional family and if they’re not getting anything out of it, there’s no reason for them to be there," she said.
Watch the video of Mary Trump's segment below, or by clicking this link.
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