Who Was Donald Trump’s Older Sister? What to Know About Maryanne Trump Barry

Donald Trump and his older sister Maryanne Trump Barry had a tumultuous relationship before her death at the age of 86.

Like her brother, Barry has also been involved in government, having served as a senior judge on the US Court of Appeals until her retirement in 2019.

Although she has not often spoken publicly about Trump, in 2020 Barry’s niece Mary Trump released a secretly recorded audio recording of Barry criticizing her brother’s presidency.

“It’s the fakeness of everything. It’s the fakeness and this cruelty. The Donald is cruel,” she said, referring to his stance on immigration.

Nearly two decades before the audio recording was released, Barry spoke positively of her brother, saying New York Magazine 2002 that he kept showing up for her.

“I had an operation six years ago. “Donald came to the hospital every day,” she said. “Once would be enough — a call to duty. That’s how love shows itself, when you go that extra mile.”

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On November 13, 2023, Barry was found dead in her apartment in New York City. Sources told ABC News there were no signs of trauma or foul play.

From her career as a federal judge to her relationship with her younger brother, here’s everything you need to know about Donald Trump’s late sister Maryanne Trump Barry.

She was born in Queens, NY

Maryanne Trump Barry.

Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty

Barry was born in 1937 to Fred Trump Sr. and Mary Ann MacLeod Trump, the first of five children. She grew up in Queens, New York, and attended Kew-Forest School.

She later graduated cum laude from Mount Holyoke College and received a master’s degree in public law and government from Columbia University in 1962.

She was married twice

Maryanne Trump Barry at Ivana Trump’s birthday party on February 14, 1990.

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty

Barry’s first marriage was to David Desmond, with whom she had her first and only child, a son, David William Desmond. Barry and Desmond were married for 20 years before divorcing in 1980.

In 1982, Barry married her second husband, John Joseph Barry, a trial and appellate attorney. The two remained together until John’s death in 2000 at the age of 60.

She put her legal career on hold while raising her son

Donald Trump Jr, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry and Vanessa Kay Haydon Trump pose for a portrait during Easter Sunday at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida on April 16, 2006.

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Barry deliberately chose not to enter the family real estate business in which Trump and their other siblings thrived.

“I knew better even as a child than even attempt compete with Donald,” she said New York Magazine 2002. “I couldn’t win. He built models at a very young age. Huge buildings.”

She added that while she worked for her father for several summers, she did “women’s work” such as decorating the lobby, which took her away from the family profession.

Instead, she devoted herself to raising her son until he entered the sixth grade. At that moment, she decided to enroll in law school and start her career.

She became a federal judge in 1983

Maryanne Trump Barry at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing on January 12, 2006.

Dennis Brack/Bloomberg/Getty

After receiving her law degree from Hofstra University, Barry began a career in government, eventually becoming the first assistant United States attorney in 1981.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan nominated Barry to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Sixteen years later, President Bill Clinton nominated her to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

However, Barry stepped down from her post in 2019 when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals launched an investigation into whether she and her father and siblings engaged in alleged fraudulent tax and financial transactions. Ten days later, Barry effectively ended the investigation when she retired, per The The New York Times.

Trump said he would consider her for the Supreme Court

Donald Trump is pictured with his sister Maryanne Trump Barry at the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre, Scotland on June 10, 2008.

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In 2015, while running for president for the first time, Trump told Bloomberg TV that his sister would be a good fit for the Supreme Court, according to CNN.

“I think she would be phenomenal, I think she would be one of the best,” he said. He added that Barry is “very smart” and a “very good person”.

She criticized Trump in secret audio recordings released by her niece

Elizabeth Trump Grau, her husband Jim Grau, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald Trump, Lisa Desmond, her son Robert, David Desmond, Donald Trump, Jr, wife Vanessa Kay Haydon Trump, Eric Trump and fiancee Lara Yunaska pose for a group portrait during the event Easter Sunday at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida on April 16, 2006.

Davidoff Studios/Getty

In 2020, Barry made headlines when her niece Mary released a 15-hour audio recording of conversations secretly recorded in 2018 and 2019. In excerpts originally released by The Washington PostBarry didn’t hold back when she talked about her brother and his presidency.

“All he wants to do is appeal to his base,” Barry said in one recording. “He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean, my God, if you’re a religious person, you want to help people. Don’t do it.”

“His g—— tweet and lying, oh my god,” she added. “I speak too freely, but you know. Changing stories. Lack of preparation. Lying. Holy s—.”

She also accused him of having someone else take his test to get into the University of Pennsylvania, where he transferred after completing a year at Fordham University.

“He got into the University of Pennsylvania because he had someone to take his exams,” Barry said. “SAT or whatever. That’s what I believe.”

The Trump administration rejected the claim and called the accusation “absurd.”

She died in November 2023

Donald Trump with his sister Maryanne Trump Barry.

Andrew Milligan – PA Images/PA Images/Getty

Barry was found dead in her Fifth Avenue apartment around 4 a.m. on November 13, 2023. ABC News reported that sources said there were no signs of trauma or foul play.

Sources add that the emergency team responded to the call of a person in cardiac arrest.

Barry’s death comes three years after her brother Robert Trump died in August 2020 at the age of 71. Their other brother, Fred Trump Jr., died of a heart attack in September 1981 at the age of 42.

In addition to Trump and her son, Barry’s immediate survivors include her younger sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau.

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