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Mary Trump shared her theories after a series of incidents involving her uncle and female journalists
Owen ScottFriday 28 November 2025 16:38 GMTComments
CloseDonald Trump’s five most controversial confrontations with journalists
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Donald Trump’s niece has explained why she thinks the president’s attacks on female reporters appear to have ramped up in recent weeks.
In the most recent incident Thursday, the president lashed out at a journalist who asked him about the D.C shooting suspect, asking if she was a “stupid person”.
Just one day before, Mary Trump had addressed her uncle’s previous run-ins with female reporters on her show, Mary Trump Live.
“His misogynistic attacks against reporters in particular are increasing and that means a couple of things,” she said. “It means that he’s increasingly comfortable lodging such attacks,” she continued, before reeling off a list of targeted groups. “There’s no hiding it anymore.”
The president’s niece also theorised that the sharp rebukes he delivers when questioned could be a sign that the pressure is getting to him in his second term.
open image in galleryMary Trump has claimed that her uncle is clashing with female reporters more regularly because he is 'rattled' (YouTube)“I think it’s also a sign that he’s a little rattled,” she continued. “He’s also never clearly heard of the Streisand effect. When you call attention to the thing you want people to ignore, it’s probably a terrible idea.” The Streisand effect is a phenomenon which explains how attempts to suppress information actually increases interest in that same information.
The White House hit back at Mary Trump’s claims in a statement given to the Daily Beast. “Mary Trump is a stone-old loser who doesn’t have a clue about anything,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said.
The Thursday incident, the latest in a series of such verbal attacks, took place after it emerged the D.C. shooting suspect had come into the country from Afghanistan under a Biden-era resettlement scheme.
The president hit back at a female reporter who challenged his suggestion Biden’s administration had failed to properly vet Afghan refugees.
“Are you a stupid person?” he said. “Because they came into on a plane along with thousands of other people that shouldn’t be here, and you’re just asking questions because you’re a stupid person.”
open image in galleryDonald Trump demanded that Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey was ‘quiet, piggy’ while onboard Air Force One (Getty)On Wednesday, Trump took aim at veteran White House reporter Katie Rogers over a New York Times report about his activity in office. The president accused her of being “assigned to only write bad things” about him and called Rogers “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
In a statement addressing Trump’s comments, The NYT said in a statement: “Expert and thorough reporters like Katie Rogers exemplify how an independent and free press helps the American people better understand their government and its leaders.”
Trump was involved in two further incidents earlier in November.
On Tuesday November 18, the president berated ABC News’ chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce for being a “terrible person and a terrible reporter,” during a state visit from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Bruce had asked questions about the Trump Organization’s business dealings in Saudi Arabia, and about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Trump described her questions as “horrible” and “insubordinate,” before calling ABC’s license to be revoked and describing the media outlet as “fake news.”
open image in galleryTrump criticised ABC News chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce (pictured) for asking an ‘insubordinate’ question (Getty)Just days earlier, Trump sparked widespread outrage when he told Bloomberg’s White House correspondent, Catherine Lucey to be “quiet, piggy” on Air Force One.
Lucey has been trying to ask Trump about the Epstein files but only managed to finish half of her follow-up question before the president cut her off.
Responding to criticism of the comment, the White House claimed the reporter had “behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way”, adding “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take”.
Accusations of misogyny have been levied against Trump ever since he first launched his campaign to become president in 2016.
Much of the controversy surrounding him at the time centered around a leaked Access Hollywood recording from 2005 about grabbing women. He claimed the comments were “locker room talk” while branding his then-opponent Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman.”
During a presidential debate with Clinton in 2016, Trump insisted: “Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Nobody”.
The Independent has approached the White House for comment.
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