Donald Trump's 'Biggest Fear Is Coming True': Mary Trump

Donald Trump's biggest fear of "being seen as a loser" is coming true, the former president's estranged niece has claimed.

Writing on her Substack blog, Mary Trump, a vocal critic of her uncle, alleged the Republican's greatest worry is that the world will find out over the course of his hush money trial that he is "nothing of what he has claimed to be."

Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.

Trump's high-profile trial, which started last week, will determine whether he falsified business records over payments, allegedly facilitated by his former lawyer Michael Cohen, to former adult-film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair secret before the 2016 election, as alleged in a criminal indictment.

Prosecutors led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg allege the payments were part of a scheme to stop potentially damaging stories about the Republican from becoming public. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the 2024 election, has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges against him in the case.

"As someone who has known Donald for almost six decades (oy), I can tell you that beneath the bluster, there lies a fear so profound, it consumes him," Mary Trump wrote. "It's not the fear of losing his wealth or power or his status—although, to be clear, he lives in terror of these things as well—it's something more personal: It's the fear of being seen as a loser."

She continued: "Donald has spent a lifetime, with a seemingly endless stream of help from various sources, building an image of success and invincibility. He's crafted a persona that, to people who knew him from The Apprentice, made him appear larger than life. The truth is, though, it's all smoke and mirrors. The reality of Donald is that he is nothing of what he has claimed to be. And his greatest fear is that the rest of the world will finally find that out.

"This is exactly what is unfolding in Judge Merchan's courtroom—a place in which Donald has no power, no control, and no authority."

On Monday, the court heard opening statements in the trial.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, a former Justice Department attorney, presented the case on behalf of Bragg's office and Trump attorney Todd Blanche delivered the defense's opening arguments.

The trial is expected to last for six weeks.