Donald Trump Takes Blame For Sister Maryanne Trump Barry's Negative Spotlight

Maryanne Trump Barry, Trump's elder sister, died at the age of 86 at her home in Manhattan. This is the third of Donald's siblings to die, as his elder brother Fred Trump Jr. died in 1981 at age 42, and his youngest brother Robert Trump died in August 2020 at age 71. Donald issued a statement about his sister's death on Truth Social, which he started by singing her praises: "A truly beautiful woman, tall and elegant, with a presence like no other, she was also a tremendous student, intellect, and Judge, in charge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, just below the U.S. Supreme Court."

He then pivoted to describing how he felt his pursuit of the presidency had impacted her: "Her life was largely problem free, PERFECT, until I made it difficult for her when I decided to run for President. The Fake News, and others, went after her mercilessly, and because of the fact that she felt it inappropriate, due to her position, to defend herself, it just never stopped! While tough and strong, she was made to suffer in those years from 2016 until her Retirement." While Donald was running for president and during his presidency, Barry kept to herself, not publicly commenting on Donald and his politics. However, during Donald's 2020 reelection campaign, recordings came out of Barry criticizing her brother as president.

Donald Trump and Maryanne Trump Barry had a complicated relationship over the years, and that seemed to be made clear when Mary Trump, daughter of Fred Trump Jr., secretly recorded Barry talking disparagingly about Donald after he'd publicly floated the idea of putting her as a federal judge at the border. Barry reportedly said of her brother, "All he wants to do is appeal to his base. He has no principles. None," via The Washington Post.

Donald ended his Truth Social post about his sister by complimenting her and her work: "I will never forget the many times people would come up to me and say, 'Your sister was the smartest person on the Court.' I was always honored by that, but understood exactly what they meant — They were right! She was a great Judge, and a great sister. She will be truly missed!"

Ronald Reagan first appointed Barry to the District Court in New Jersey in 1983 — Roy Cohn, one-time lawyer for Donald, was said to have helped get Barry the seat. Then in 1993, Bill Clinton advanced Barry to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She was largely respected as a judge, though her 2019 retirement came after the start of a misconduct investigation into Barry and whether she committed tax fraud in the 1980s and 1990s in connection with money allegedly given to her (and her siblings, Robert and Donald) by their father. Her retirement stopped the investigation, and she largely stayed out of the spotlight afterward.