Mary Trump, the niece of President Donald Trump, is asking why a member of her own family is not in prison — and she is directing pointed criticism at Hakeem Jeffries, the man expected to be the next Speaker of the House, for sitting down with the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who served as a senior adviser in the Trump White House during its first term.

Speaking in a Substack conversation with Steven Beschloss, Mary Trump said Jeffries, who has led House Democrats as minority leader since January 2023, had undermined himself months before taking on the role many expect him to assume.

"I think Hakeem Jeffries has disqualified himself, and that happened months ago when he met with Jared Kushner, as if Jared Kushner should have been part of this conversation other than to say, 'When is he going to prison?'" she said.

The meeting drew scrutiny from within Jeffries's own party. In August, following a New York Times report published on Sunday, August 23, Jeffries came under attack from fellow Democrats after the newspaper reported that he and Kushner had met privately to seek common ground on issues such as housing, immigration and the high cost of living. Jeffries said he had agreed to the meeting to discuss the affordability crisis in the United States. The episode has underscored a tension inside the Democratic Party between members pressing for investigations of the Trump administration and efforts to find bipartisan common ground on pocketbook issues.

According to Mary Trump, Kushner then repeatedly leaked details of the meeting, putting Jeffries on the defensive and leaving him to insist that Democrats would be all about accountability.

"Why are you meeting with a man who is not even part of this government to immunize him? It was one of the biggest blunders I have seen, and he did not have a good response," she said in the Substack conversation.

In her view, Jeffries now treats demands for accountability as though they amounted to a form of mob retribution.

"Accountability is not getting even. If somebody robs your house and you go to the police station to demand that the person who robbed you gets arrested and then potentially tried, is that getting even, or is that getting justice?" she said.

She continued, likening Jeffries to Merrick Garland, who served as attorney general under President Joe Biden: "The American people want justice. Clearly, Hakeem Jeffries is not cut out for this at all. He, much like Merrick Garland, is the wrong man at the wrong time."

Mary Trump argued that Jeffries appears out of step with his own caucus, since many other Democratic members of Congress are leading with accountability as a central message.

"So I really hope somebody challenges Jeffries. His speakership feels almost inevitable," she said. Any challenge would have to surface before House Democrats hold their internal vote to nominate a candidate for Speaker, ahead of the full House election when the new Congress convenes.

Beschloss set up the question by criticizing what he called a worrying, cautious response from Jeffries about an accountability agenda, noting that Jeffries emphasized the effort would not be about "getting even" but about "getting things done" — as if serving justice and confronting corruption were not critical.

Beschloss added that he was pleased with House Oversight Committee member Robert Garcia's viral threat to the White House: "Lawyer up." He also acknowledged Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who will likely chair the Senate Finance Committee, for warning about "subpoenas." He then asked Mary Trump how tough and ruthless Democrats should be, who their key targets should be, and who ought to lead them.

Jeffries responded to the meeting publicly at the time. In an X post in August, he was unequivocal: "No one from the Trump Cartel is getting a pass."

"I shouldn't have to say it, but I am: No one is going to get a pass," he said in the accompanying video.

He pledged to follow the facts, apply the law, and be guided by the Constitution from day one, and to hold the crooks accountable.