Mary Trump, the estranged niece of President Donald Trump, offered a fresh assessment of his political standing, writing that he is on a “slippery slope down which he will continue to slide.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told Newsweek, “Mary Trump is a stone-old loser who doesn’t have a clue about anything.”
Why It Matters
Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr. and has repeatedly criticized Trump’s administration. She writes about the president’s policies and family history as one of the few members of the Trump family who has publicly spoken out against him.
What to Know
In the latest post on her Substack, The Good in Us by Mary L. Trump, Mary Trump argued that the president has “lost the ability to control the narrative,” pointing to what she described as a “devastating uncertainty about our country’s future.”
“The strategy of lying, spinning, and obfuscating isn’t effective anymore and where, at least to a certain group of people, he looked strong, forceful, and full of fight, he now appears diminished to the point of impotence,” she wrote.
Her comments come as Trump’s approval rating has declined since returning to the White House in January. A recent poll from YouGov and The Economist found that 39 percent of voters approve of Trump’s job performance, while 57 percent disapprove. The survey polled 1,592 adults from December 20–22, 2025.
Trump’s approval has slipped as voters remain focused on the economy and cost of living, alongside renewed backlash tied to the Epstein files. Trump campaigned on releasing the files, but his administration moved slowly until Congress voted last month to compel their release.
Mary Trump wrote that the president’s challenges have mounted because “the solution to them has become more complicated.”
“He can pretend they don’t exist, but convincing others they don’t requires more than yelling at reporters or telling people not to trust their own lived experiences,” she wrote.
She also argued that while the United States is “on the precipice of something awful,” the country can still pull back from it. For the president personally, she predicted a darker trajectory.
“Donald, on the other hand, is on a slippery slope down which he will continue to slide. Putting on the brakes would require his recognizing his limitations; deferring to experts; admitting his mistakes; and changing course. Donald is exactly who he’s always been; he’s incapable of change and that may finally be working to our advantage,” she wrote.
Mary Trump has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration and the GOP this year, including on issues related to free speech and foreign policy.
What People Are Saying
Trump wrote on Truth Social in November: “So many Fake Polls are being shown by the Radical Left Media, all slanted heavily toward Democrats and Far Left Wingers… Fake News will never change, they are evil and corrupt but, as I look around my beautiful surroundings, I say to myself, ‘Oh, look, I’m sitting in the Oval Office!’”
CNN data analyst Harry Enten said last week: “I would say the report cart is negative; it’s minus. It’s no good. How do we know this? Why don’t we just talk about Trump’s negative net approval rating. Every single day since March 12, Trump has been in the red—negative. That is days in a row 281. He has spent more time underwater than Jacques Cousteau for goodness sake.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, told CNN: “I think the dam is breaking. Many Republicans may not have called him out, but last week 13 Republicans voted with Democrats to overturn one of President Trump’s executive orders, which enabled him to fire federal workers. We also saw Indiana Republicans vote against redistricting. He didn’t call any of them traitors and call for primaries against them, but I would like to say that is a sign where you’re seeing Republicans—they’re entering the campaign phase for 2026, which is a large signal that lame duck season has begun.”
What Happens Next
Trump’s approval rating and broader support will shape how Republicans approach the midterms next November, with the party defending seats in both the House and Senate against Democrats.
