As the first of Donald Trump’s four criminal trials began in New York this week, his niece, Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist, on Tuesday, weighed in on what he would be going through and his likely reactions amid the legal challenges.
Trump’s Unique Situation: The trial taking place in “Room 1530 in the Manhattan Criminal Court” will have a massive and complicated impact on the country’s future, said Mary Trump, referring to her uncle’s hush-money case. “The reality is, the future of the country is, to a significant degree, tied to the future of Donald Trump,” she said.
Donald Trump will likely be stuck in that New York City courtroom for at least four days a week and eight hours a day and will not be free to come and go as he pleases, Mary Trump, a podcaster, said. Even if he wants to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court, where his presidential immunity claim is being discussed, he has to seek permission, she added.
“We're going to be seeing Donald Trump in a unique context for which he is totally unprepared,” Mary Trump said. Unlike at a rally or at a press conference, where he controls the room and determines the narrative, in a courtroom, he can’t speak out of turn, she said.
“He will be seen to be rude, weak, and incapable of controlling himself when bound by the same rules to which the rest of us must conform,” Mary Trump said.
Testifying In Own’s Defense: Mary Trump also raised the possibility of Donald Trump testifying in his own defense due to his belief in his ability to bend things his way and that everything is at stake in the trial. She, however, said it “would be absolutely devastating” for him.
A criminal defendant is allowed to testify in their own defense in a criminal trial, although most do not do so as the “risk of what could come out on cross-examination outweighs any benefit that could be gained from hearing directly from the defendant,” according to Elmen Legal.
Giving her rationale, Mary Trump said her uncle may have to sit there and take it for weeks on end. “This is not going to sit well with him,” she said.
If he isn’t going to testify, he would play the victim by claiming the “system is so corrupt, that it’s so unfair to him, that if he did testify, his words would be twisted, and in the end, it would be unfair,” she added.
Lonely Crusader: Mary Trump also weighed in on why none of Donald Trump’s family was in the courtroom to support him. She noted that Melania Trump apparently thinks it’s “Donald’s problem” not hers and his adult children haven’t given reason.
This showed how isolated the ex-president was and in the grand scheme of things, he was “utterly alone,” Mary Trump said.
“Being in a courtroom day after day is extraordinarily draining for the criminal defendant, and to face it with no emotional support could be potentially debilitating,” she said.
“Donald has never faced the constellation of horrors he's currently experiencing, so there's no way of knowing the impact it's all going to have on him, but on some very deep level, he's been dreading this for decades — and the time has finally come,” Mary Trump said.
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