Donald And Ivanka Trump Have A Transactional Relationship, According To Mary Trump

Donald Trump's niece, Mary Trump, has long been an outspoken critic of her uncle, laying bare in public settings and in interviews what she sees as the truth behind the former president's motivations and actions. 

During one interview shortly after the 2022 legal probe into the January 6 riots, Mary Trump shared her thoughts regarding how Trump's daughter Ivanka had given her testimony. At the time, when asked under oath about whether or not she believed that the 2020 election had been rigged, Ivanka answered that she "accepted" the fact that the results of the election had been legitimate (via Huffington Post). This statement was in clear opposition to Trump's long-held position that he in fact won the election and that it was stolen from him. 

Ivanka's exact words had been, "I respect Attorney General Barr, so I accepted what he was saying," referring to Barr stating that there had been no election fraud, and that Donald Trump lost the election legally and indisputably. Trump, at the time, was not happy about what his daughter had said on the stand, and Mary Trump says that his response to the situation amounted to him accusing his golden child daughter of committing perjury.      

After Ivanka gave this statement in a televised court hearing, Donald Trump took to social media to fire back, saying that his daughter, with whom he had always preported to be close, had been "checked out," wasn't well informed about the details of the election, and only said what she said because she was, "only trying to be respectful to Bill Bar and his position as Attorney General (he sucked!)" (via Huffington Post). 

The issue with Trump's statement that his daughter had only said what she said out of respect for Barr (and not because she truly believed the election was legitimate) is that it suggests she didn't tell the truth while under oath, with would be considered perjury. 

Mary Trump, shortly after Donald Trump made this statement on social media, told MSNBC that she felt Trump was essentially "accusing" his daughter of "perjury." Mary seemed mildly surprised Trump would go so far as to do that, yet, at the same time she said that the behavior of both Donald and Ivanka Trump during this situation was "exactly what I expected from both of them." After all, Mary says, the father-daughter-duo are only close to each other as far as it serves each of their individual interests. 

Mary Trump said of Ivanka's statement on the stand, "I think Ivanka walked a very fine line ... She did not say anything necessarily incendiary but, as we thought would happen, she decided she needed to come down on the side of what the facts support" (via Huffington Post). Mary also noted that Donald Trump "didn't entirely throw her under the bus," either. In other words, both parties said what they felt they needed to say to protect themselves without fully damning each other in public. 

This makes sense to Mary, she said, because the relationship between Donald and Ivanka Trump, "whether they seem close or not, is entirely transactional." Mary went on to explain that, "Once one or both of them come to the conclusion that there's nothing in it for them, then they will move on."

Mary Trump reached this conclusion both as a member of the family and as a professional psychologist. She went on to say in the interview that she believes Donald Trump "understands" that he did in fact lose the 2020 election, but cannot personally face or publicly admit it because in his mind it would make him a "loser."