On Thursday, President Donald Trump remarked that “the world is a casino” in a glib reply to questioning from a reporter. The following afternoon, his niece Mary Trump had an equally glib response, pointing out that her uncle has a less-than-stellar track record regarding casinos.
It started in the Oval Office, where Trump was taking questions from reporters while meeting with Israeli and Lebanese leaders to discuss the ceasefire. A reporter asked about bets that had been placed on the war via prediction markets, which have raised questions not only about the ethics of betting on conflict, but the legality of what is widely suspected to be insider trading. As has been widely discussed, millions of dollars have been earned by gamblers placing bets suspiciously timed just before Trump makes consequential statements on the war. But he was dismissive about such concerns.
“The whole world has become somewhat of a casino,” he said. “I don't like it conceptually. It is what it is.”
His niece — who has long been an outspoken critic of her uncle — took the opportunity to take a swipe at the president.
“‘The world is a casino,’ says the guy who bankrupted three of them,” she posted to X. “The world is next.”
Mary Trump was actually wrong, because her uncle, in fact, bankrupted four casinos between 1991 and 2009. According to experts, they failed for several reasons. Some of these were beyond the future president’s control, like wider industry trends and the 2008 recession. But other problems were directly of Trump’s own creation. For example, while the properties sank into debt, he extracted millions in salary, bonuses, and fees.
The president’s niece has never been shy with criticisms of her uncle, once declaring that he is "utterly incapable of leading this country, and it's dangerous to allow him to do so.”
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