Donald Trump's Niece Says His Relationship With Ivanka Is 'Entirely Transactional' After Jan. 6 Testimony

Former President Donald Trump was quick to downplay the video testimony of his eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, who refused to endorse her father’s unfounded claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. But his niece says that this did not mean Donald Trump threw Ivanka Trump “under the bus completely.”

In an interview Sunday on MSNBC, Mary Trump, a psychologist and the daughter of Trump’s deceased brother Fred, said that the apparent rift between her cousin and uncle was not entirely surprising.

Mary Trump said it reflected what has always been the nature of their relationship.

"It is important to remember that [Donald and Ivanka Trump's] relationship, whether they seem close or not, is entirely transactional," Mary Trump explained. “Once one or both of them come to the conclusion that there’s nothing in it for them, then they will move on.”

Last week, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot shared a clip from their staff’s interview with Ivanka Trump as part of their first set of public hearings. Ivanka Trump had said that she believed former Attorney General Bill Barr’s rebuttal of her father’s claims that his defeat to Joe Biden was not the result of fraud.

Donald Trump also took particular umbrage with Barr's testimony last Friday, describing him in a post on his Truth Social network as a "weak and frightened Attorney General." Donald Trump undercut Ivanka Trump's testimony, posting that she had "long since checked out" by the election and asserted she was only being "respectful" to Barr.

Mary Trump said that Ivanka Trump “walked a fine line” in her testimony and that Donald Trump did not “throw her under the bus completely” with his rebuke. However, Mary Trump did note that the low profile maintained by Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner may point to some strains in their relationship with the former president.

"There’s probably been some strain there for a long time, probably beginning with Donald’s perpetuation of the 'Big Lie,'" said Mary Trump, referring to the conspiracy theory that Biden’s victory was stolen.