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By Billie Schwab Dunn
Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter
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Donald Trump's estranged niece, Mary Trump, has claimed her uncle is a threat to women and questioned the future of women's rights in America.
In her latest newsletter entry, titled "We Know Who's Responsible," Mary Trump discussed Roe v. Wade being overturned and said the threats to women "are getting worse," for which she blames Donald Trump.
Monday marked the second anniversary since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court formally released a ruling that overturned the nearly 50-year-old decision that protected a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion. This was a decision supported by Trump while he was president.
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Mary Trump—daughter of Donald Trump's late brother Fred Trump Jr.—is a frequent critic of her uncle and has publicly criticized him over everything from his potential second term to his family history. She issued a scathing rebuke of the former president in her latest newsletter.
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Newsweek emailed representatives of Donald Trump and Mary Trump for comment Tuesday.
In the piece, Mary Trump included a photo of Donald Trump with the caption: "Trump: I Get The Credit For Roe v. Wade Being Overturned."
"There is no greater threat to the women of America than Donald J. Trump. He is the reason Roe was overturned. He is the reason the [sic] Texas, led by its authoritarian governor Gregg Abbott, feels so emboldened to go after women. And he is the reason there will be a national abortion ban if we don't do everything we can to stop him," she wrote in the newsletter.
"Donald keeps bragging that he was the one who got Roe overturned. He keeps telling us the decision was 'amazing.' He said watching states enact new restrictions is 'a beautiful thing to watch.' He has said everything should be left to the states. Including contraception and IVF treatments. And he has winked and nodded at his extreme right-wing friends about what he will do if he gets another chance.
"For two years, we have watched endless attacks on the rights of women that were championed by a man who bragged about grabbing women by the genitals—because he could. And for two years, we have seen just how much worse this nightmare can get."
In May 2023, a Manhattan jury of nine men and three women found the former president liable for sexually abusing and defaming journalist E. Jean Carroll and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
After that trial, presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote that, despite Carroll's failure "to prove that she was 'raped' within the meaning of New York Penal Law," the evidence made clear "that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that."
Elsewhere in her newsletter, Mary Trump said the fall of Roe v. Wade "should have been rock bottom"—but it wasn't.
She continued: "Two years ago, when six unelected right-wing Republican operatives posing as Supreme Court justices decided to strip basic human rights from millions of women, that should have been the lowest point: that should have been when America said enough.
"But the horrifying truth is, that it was just the beginning. If we've learned anything these last two years, it's that Republicans were never going to stop with Roe, and they're just getting started when it comes to their efforts to control women."
The psychologist and writer went on to include a variety of examples of women who have been negatively impacted by Roe v. Wade being overturned, such as a woman having to leave Texas to seek treatment and a 10-year-old rape victim traveling from Ohio to Indiana so she could receive an abortion.
Mary Trump said that Republicans not only overturned Roe v. Wade, but are also questioning IVF treatments. This is about the fact that an Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.
She then questioned what the rights of women in America would look like two years from now and asked whether we would "do everything we can to make sure there is no more going back" or "will we look back on this as the moment as the beginning of much worse."
Mary Trump concluded: "I'm counting on the women of America to see through the noise and the lies and see the truth of what is happening in 21 states. I'm counting on them to stand up and take back what has been taken from them. I'm counting on all of use [sic], including our male allies, to making [sic] sure Donald is never anywhere near the levers of power again.
"If we don't do these things, Donald and his party will finish what they started. And then we'll know, unmistakably, just how much worse things can get."
Trump and Biden's Roe v. Wade Opinions
Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden has continued to criticize Donald Trump over his support for the decision.
"Two years ago today, Donald Trump's Supreme Court majority ripped away the fundamental freedom for women to access the health care they need and deserve," Biden said in a statement shared with Newsweek on Monday.
"The consequences have been devastating: in states across the country, Trump's allies have enacted extreme and dangerous abortion bans—many with no exception for rape or incest—that are putting women's lives at risk and threatening doctors with jail time.
"Donald Trump is the sole person responsible for this nightmare ... If given the chance, there is no question he will ban abortion nationwide, with or without the help of Congress. You don't have to take my word for it—his advisers have already laid out the plans to do it."
Biden's statement also noted that he and Vice President Kamala Harris are continuing to fight for abortion rights across the country.
Trump delivered a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference in Washington, D.C., just two days ahead of Monday's anniversary, and mentioned the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
During his speech, the former president thanked Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett for "the wisdom and the courage they showed on this long-term, very contentious issue. This has been a long time it's been fought."
"We did something that was amazing," Trump said. "The big problem was it was caught up in the federal government, but the people will decide, and that's the way it should be. The people are now deciding. Some states are a little bit more conservative, and some states are much more liberal."
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