Mary Trump delivered some of her most pointed accusations yet against her uncle, President Donald Trump, in a recent interview with The Daily Beast Podcast. The 60-year-old clinical psychologist drew direct parallels between the 79-year-old president’s behavior and the dementia that afflicted his father, Fred Trump Sr., who died on June 25, 1999, after battling Alzheimer’s for years.
When pressed by Joanna Coles, The Daily Beast’s chief content officer, about her uncle’s cognitive state, Mary Trump did not hold back. She described witnessing unmistakable signs of decline in the president that mirror what she observed in her grandfather during his final years. Fred Trump Sr. was diagnosed with mild senile dementia in 1991, with his physician noting obvious memory decline and significant memory impairment before his death.
“There are times I look at him and I see my grandfather,” Mary Trump explained during the interview published November 17. She noted that her uncle sometimes appears confused and disoriented, adding that his short-term memory appears to be deteriorating. While emphasizing she is a clinical psychologist rather than a neuropsychologist, Mary said she possesses sufficient expertise to assess certain neurological disorders.
The concerns Mary raised extend beyond memory issues. She pointed to what she described as deteriorating impulse control in her uncle, noting that this compounds existing problems he has struggled with throughout his life. The interview represents perhaps the clearest case Mary has made publicly about her belief that the president is experiencing cognitive decline similar to what his father endured.
Mary Trump recounted painful memories of watching her grandfather’s decline unfold beginning in the early 1990s. What started as small lapses gradually escalated into more serious symptoms. She described how Fred Trump Sr. stopped recognizing her, with the family eventually beginning to spend Easter at Mar-a-Lago partly to keep the ailing patriarch out of public view during his decline.
According to Mary Trump, her uncle’s treatment of his father during this period was callous. She characterized Donald Trump as treating the elder Trump like an annoyance.
Mary Trump’s assessment aligns with observations from other family members. Reports indicate Fred C. Trump III, 61, another nephew of the president, told People that he has observed similar patterns of decline.
The interview also featured insights from Dr. John Gartner, a psychologist who taught at Johns Hopkins University for nearly three decades and co-hosts the podcast “Shrinking Trump.” In a separate interview published September 21, Gartner told The Daily Beast Podcast that he has observed major deterioration in the president’s language skills and motor skills. Gartner emphasized that diagnosing dementia requires comparing someone’s current functioning against their own baseline performance.
Mary Trump also suggested her uncle may not always be oriented to time and place. She characterized him as sometimes appearing uncertain, describing observing a look of confusion that suggests he may not always know where he is.
The White House responded swiftly to Mary Trump’s claims. White House spokesman Steven Cheung dismissed her allegations, calling her a loser. The harsh rebuke reflects the administration’s approach to addressing questions about the president’s cognitive fitness from family members and medical professionals.
Questions about presidential health and cognitive ability carry significant weight given the demanding nature of the office. The presidency requires maintaining complex schedules, processing vast amounts of information, and making critical decisions that affect millions of people. While age alone does not determine fitness for office, concerns about cognitive decline in any president naturally draw public interest and scrutiny.
Mary Trump’s professional background as a clinical psychologist adds a particular dimension to her observations, though she has been clear about the distinction between her qualifications and those of a neuropsychologist who specializes in assessing brain function. Her familial relationship with both the president and his late father provides her with decades of personal observation, though it also complicates the objectivity of her assessments, given the well-documented tensions within the Trump family.
The interview underscores ongoing debates about the health and fitness of elderly political leaders. With both major political parties having fielded candidates in their late seventies and eighties in recent election cycles, questions about cognitive health have become increasingly prominent in American political discourse. These discussions raise challenging questions about how to balance respect for experience and accumulated wisdom with legitimate concerns about age-related cognitive changes.
In a prolonged legal fight, Donald Trump has asked a New York appeals court to shut down his niece’s efforts to obtain family financial documents in a breach of contract case that has been bogged down for months by disputes over discovery. His legal team filed papers last week opposing Mary Trump’s appeal and urging the court to move the case toward trial.
At the center of the disagreement is Mary Trump’s demand for Estate Valuation Materials tied to the estate of her grandfather, Fred Trump Sr. She contends these records could show she was misled about the true value of her inheritance and improperly persuaded to sign a 2001 family settlement following her grandfather’s death in 1999.
Attorney Michael Madaio, representing the former president, told the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division that Mary Trump’s arguments have been repeatedly rejected. His filing stated that Justice Reed correctly declined to compel discovery that was “not material or necessary” to any legitimate claim or defense.
Donald Trump originally brought the lawsuit against Mary Trump, claiming she violated a confidentiality clause in the family settlement by providing tax records to the New York Times and sharing details in her book “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.” The book sold 950,000 copies on its first day and offered a psychological analysis of her uncle.
Trump’s complaint seeks at least 100 million dollars in damages and accuses his niece of working with the New York Times in what he called a deliberate scheme to reveal confidential tax information. The Times published a 2018 investigation into Trump’s finances that accused him of engaging in tax strategies related to the wealth he inherited from his father. The report later won a Pulitzer Prize.
Justice Robert Reed has consistently denied Mary Trump’s discovery requests. In August, he again refused to compel the production of the “Estate Valuation Materials,” ruling that the documents “clearly and unambiguously released” the former president “from unknown claims, including fraud claims.”
Mary Trump appealed and also sought permission to reargue the matter. Reed denied that request in August. In October 2024, her attorneys told the appeals court that allowing Reed’s decisions to stand would severely disadvantage her, effectively blocking her from pursuing one of her affirmative defenses.
The roots of the family conflict trace back to Fred Trump Sr.’s will, which left most of his estate to his surviving children and allocated $200,000 to each grandchild. Although he was advised in 1981 to increase the shares for the children of his late son, Fred Trump Jr., he chose not to amend the will.
Fred Sr. was diagnosed with mild senile dementia in 1991 and later developed Alzheimer’s disease. When he died in 1999, Mary Trump and her brother, Fred Trump III, challenged the will. They alleged that Donald Trump, Maryanne Trump Barry, and Robert Trump improperly influenced their aging grandfather.
In response to that lawsuit, Donald Trump, Maryanne Trump Barry, and Robert Trump cut off medical insurance for Mary Trump and Fred Trump III, including coverage for Fred III’s son William, who had been diagnosed with epileptic spasms requiring lifelong medical care. The family had previously covered medical expenses through a foundation created by Fred Sr.
The dispute was resolved in 2001 when Mary Trump and Fred Trump III sold their interests in the family’s real estate assets. The settlement included a confidentiality clause that now serves as the basis of Donald Trump’s lawsuit.
Mary Trump filed her own lawsuit in September 2020 against Donald Trump, Maryanne Trump Barry, and Robert Trump’s estate, alleging they defrauded her of tens of millions of dollars relating to her share of the family real estate. Donald Trump filed his countersuit in September 2021.
Mary Trump has since written three books about her family. After “Too Much and Never Enough,” she published “The Reckoning” in November 2022 and “Who Could Ever Love You” in October 2024. She also hosts a podcast and appears frequently as a political commentator.
Oral arguments on Mary Trump’s appeal are expected to take place in February 2026. At the trial court level, Justice Reed recently set a series of deadlines, aiming for an August 2026 target to confirm that discovery is complete and the case is ready for trial.
Both sides agreed to finish depositions by April 9 and wrap up expert discovery and all related disclosures by June 2026. They plan to file a Note of Issue by August 2026, confirming the case is prepared for trial.
