Mary Trump Says Donald Trump's Violent Rhetoric Has America at Dangerous Point

Mary Trump, the president's niece and a clinical psychologist, said on her podcast that she does not know whether the U.S. has ever been at a more dangerous moment. She argued that Donald Trump is reaching for violence as his political standing weakens ahead of the November 3 midterms.

The warning came during a conversation with historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of Strongmen and the Lucid newsletter, about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plan to livestream the military's firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan. Trump called off the livestream on Thursday after criticism from both parties.

"A public execution carried out by our military to be live streamed. That is a line we do not want to cross, but that is the line Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth wanted us to cross," Mary Trump said on the episode.

Mary Trump and Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Trump's Violent Rhetoric

Most of the argument for why the moment is so dangerous came from Ben-Ghiat, a historian who studies fascism. She tied what she called a "rhetorical escalation" to the calendar.

"As his popularity decreases, he feels more desperate and impotent with the midterms coming up," Ben-Ghiat said. She added that "because he's declining in every possible way, physical, mental, and politically, he is grasping at something that can make his mark on history."

Mary Trump took up that reasoning directly. "I don't know that we've ever been at a more dangerous point for the reason she just said," she said.

She then offered her own reading of her uncle's motives, saying that the violence is "a form of self-soothing" and that "if he feels threatened, he will do whatever he needs to do to protect his ego." Those are psychological judgments about the president, not findings.

She also said her first reaction to the execution plan was, "10 bucks, he's going to make this a pay-per-view event." She was clear that she was not defending Hasan, saying, "He did a horrific unspeakable crime for which he must be punished."

What Trump Said About Iran, Los Angeles and San Diego

Ben-Ghiat pointed to two recent examples. She said Trump "repeatedly talked about annihilating Iran, including at the UN." That matches the record. In his September 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump asked whether he should "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly," or make a deal with Tehran.

She also quoted Trump as saying, "they can take out a city, let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego." Her version is nearly word for word. At a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, earlier this month, Trump said, "They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego," and called it "a very small price to pay" in the Iran war. California Governor Gavin Newsom said the president was "advocating for an attack on 10+ million U.S. residents."

Does the Polling Show Trump's Popularity Falling?

The numbers back up the premise that Trump is politically weak, if not the psychology. PolitiKool's polling average puts his approval at 38 percent and his disapproval at 59 percent, a net rating of minus 21. On the economy, PolitiKool's polling average has him at 29.6 percent approval.

His party is also behind. Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot 48.2 percent to 40.1 percent in PolitiKool's polling average, a margin of 8.1 points two weeks before Election Day.

Republicans and Veterans Pushed Back on the Execution Livestream

The backlash that led Trump to drop the livestream came partly from his own side. Hegseth told Real America's Voice on Oct. 7 that "we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public," and the Pentagon then confirmed that the Dec. 3 execution would be streamed.

Representative Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican, said, "I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do." Joe Kent, Trump's former National Counterterrorism Center director, wrote that streaming it "gives the terrorists free propaganda." Vice President JD Vance said, "I'm not going to be watching it."

On Thursday, Trump said the Pentagon would not stream the execution. He wrote that it "might have been a strong deterrent" but that "many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die." Victims' immediate families may attend in person.

What Comes Next

Neither host treated the reversal as the end of it. Ben-Ghiat called the plan a trial balloon whose purpose was served once "everybody's talking about it." Mary Trump said her uncle "often floats it, sees how it plays, plants the seed, and then will revisit it later."

The execution itself is still set for December 3 at Fort Hood, a month after voters decide whether Trump keeps a Republican Congress.