'I'm Donald Trump's niece – this is the real source of all his problems'

Donald Trump's niece claims to know the source of his problems (Image: Getty)

Donald Trump’s niece has claimed that the source of the president’s “problems” lies in an incident that occurred when he was only two-and-a-half-years-old.

Mary L Trump, 60, is one of Trump’s fiercest critics and has spoken at length about what she feels are the dangers facing the world due to his presidency.

In recent weeks, Mary has spoken in depth about why she thinks her uncle behaves the way he does, and why his actions are so controversial.

Discussing Trump, 78, earlier this week, Mary has put the blame for who he is today at the feet of his mother and father. According to Mary, Trump’s mother Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, was incredibly ill when the president was just over the age of two.

As a result, she had to undergo treatment in order to recover, and during that period, Trump’s father, Fred Trump, negatively influenced his young son.

Mary L Trump says Donald's father is the reason he is who he is (Image: Getty)

Speaking to Times Radio about the matter, Mary explained: “Fundamentally, Donald’s problems, his psychological and emotional problems stem from the fact that as a very young child, when he was about two-and-a-half, which is the most crucial developmental period in any young child’s life, his mother was very ill.

“So, she was psychologically, emotionally and physically absent for about a year, which is devastating. One problem is that during that time, the only person he had as a quote unquote caregiver was his father, who was a sociopath.

And then, because my grandmother continued to be ill in other ways, she was not emotionally capable of healing the rifts that had occurred in her relationship with him.

“So he never felt safe, he never felt loved and I think if you start from that kind of deficit and you never find somebody to fill in the gaps or to heal you, then you are in the mercy of anybody who may find you of use.

Donald Trump's niece Mary has openly criticised him (Image: Getty)

“Unfortunately, my grandfather is ultimately the person who did the most damage to Donald, because he exploited Donald’s weaknesses and he exploited the damage that had been done to him.”

Mary claimed that, as a result of Fred’s alleged treatment of Trump, her uncle “became hardened, he became a bully, he became somebody who convinced himself that he didn’t need anything from anybody else”.

Mary’s comments came as the Trump administration enacted another controversial policy, this time freezing all student visas alongside the proposed introduction of social media checks for visas.

In a cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by Politico, it was reported that the White House will ramp up social media scrutiny during vetting procedures of student visas.

The cable seen by the publication stated: “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming days.”

In response, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council Aaron Reichlin-Melnick warned the economic impact could be substantial, reports the Daily Express US.

He said: “Trump's decision to suspend student visa interviews threatens nearly $44 billion in economic contributions and over 370,000 jobs across the United States, according to NAFSA. If the United States stops taking foreign students, the economic impact would be catastrophic."