Mary Trump, daughter of Donald Trump’s late older brother, Fred Trump Jr., and a vocal critic of her uncle, has characterized the former president’s recent campaign trail antics as “some of Donald’s most bizarre behavior.”
In her The Good In Us newsletter, Trump’s estranged niece highlighted a 10-minute “disquisition on Arnold Palmer and his anatomy,” along with other incidents from the campaign weekend, including a “twenty-minute ramble after the sound cut out at one of his rallies” and the spectacle of the former president “in an apron pretending to work at McDonald’s.”
However, Trump’s comments about the late golf legend during a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania—Palmer’s hometown—have sparked particular controversy, with many finding the remarks about the late golfer’s physique crude and inappropriate.
“When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh my God, that’s unbelievable,'” Trump said at the rally, adding, “I had to say it. We have women that are highly sophisticated here, but they used to look at Arnold as a man.”
Mary Trump attends a conversation about her book “Who Could Ever Love You” with Judy Gold at 92NY on September 12 in New York City. Mary Trump mocked her uncle, former President Donald Trump, for recent Arnold Palmer comments.
Photo by Dominik Bindl/Getty Images
Mary Trump argued that the incidents serve a dual purpose—as fodder for mockery, which she considers an “effective tool,” and as evidence of what she describes as Donald Trump’s unfitness for office and apparent cognitive decline.
“I think it’s important to shine a bright light on all of this,” she wrote.
Newsweek contacted Trump’s campaign via email on Monday for comment.
The Palmer comments drew a measured response from Peg Palmer Wears, one of the golf pro’s daughters. In an interview with the Associated Press, Wears said: “I’m not really upset. I think it was a poor choice of approaches to remembering my father, but what are you going to do?” She added: “What would my dad think of Donald Trump today? I think he’d cringe.”
The incident has also put Republican leaders in an awkward position over the weekend. House Speaker Mike Johnson, when pressed by CNN‘s Jake Tapper on Sunday about Trump’s remarks, attempted to deflect, praising his ability to “fill the room” and “speak for two hours straight.”
Johnson defended Trump’s rally performances, saying: “He has fun at the rallies, he says things that are off the cuff. But I’m telling you, I’ve been in those events, I’ve been in those arenas, and people have a great time at those arenas.”
While Mary Trump used these examples to mock her uncle, she cautioned against focusing solely on theatrical moments.
In her newsletter, she stressed that there are “other, serious threats” posed by her uncle that shouldn’t be overlooked. She pointed to his agenda for a potential second term, which she characterized as being “founded on grievance and a desire to do real harm to the American people—at least those of us who oppose him.”
Of particular concern, she said, is her uncle’s recent rhetoric about using military force against what he terms the “enemy within.”
Initially vague, the statements have become more specific, with Donald Trump targeting Democratic politicians like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi, whom he reportedly called “sick” and “evil” during a recent town hall event.
Mary Trump drew parallels to past incidents, such as the controversial clearing of Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., for a photo opportunity, warning that without the “so-called adults in the room” like [former Secreterary of Defense] Mark Esper and [former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman] General Mark Milley, there would be “no guardrails in place this time around.”
She shared grave concern about potential violations of the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the military against American citizens without congressional approval.
She also noted a shift in Trump’s campaign strategy compared to previous election cycles. While he moderated his speech and positions in the final weeks of past campaigns, Mary Trump observed that he now seems to have “quadrupled down on hate, grievance, and fascism.”
With just over two weeks until Election Day, she emphasized the urgency of the situation, saying: “We have fifteen days—there’s still time for us to stop him.”
