Mary Trump has spent a decade studying her uncle's psychology, but Natalie Harp's relationship with him stands apart from anything she's seen.
The president's niece, a trained clinical psychologist, told host Joanna Coles on Wednesday's episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" that devoted White House aide Natalie Harp has "the qualities of a stalker" and that Trump has welcomed it.
"Natalie Harp is a different type entirely. There's something seriously wrong with her," Mary Trump said. "I think there's something psychologically wrong with her. She needs help. She has the qualities of a stalker. And it's the only case I've ever seen in which the stalking victim has welcomed being stalked."
Coles had asked about a remark attributed to Trump in which he said of Harp, "She'll never leave me. The others will leave me." Coles wondered whether that reflected a fear of abandonment, given how Trump treated his own father after Fred Trump developed Alzheimer's.
"Every single relationship Donald has is transactional," Mary Trump responded, pointing to "cracks in the inner circle," including press secretary Karoline Leavitt. "There are limits when people are sycophantic enablers. Even they have limits to the amount they are willing to be humiliated or have their lives in danger," she said.
Harp, she argued, is filling a void. "I think that is in part because Donald is not getting the attention he needs because nobody cares about him," she said. "Which makes sense, because he doesn't care about anybody, and she's willing to fill that role. And it is inappropriate. It's wrong. I think he's taking advantage. But nobody seems to have a problem with it."
She added that the double standard was glaring. "If a Democratic president, an 81-year-old Democratic president, was hanging out with a 35-year-old woman and spending more time with her than he did with anybody else in his family, I'm pretty sure there would be a problem," she said.
Coles also asked about Harp's friend, far-right activist Laura Loomer, who has flown with the president. "I think she's just very skilled at inserting herself. I find her vile," Mary Trump said, adding that any woman hoping to last around her uncle has to meet one more requirement. "If you're a woman who wants to stay in Donald's good graces, you have to be subservient."