Maryanne Trump Barry was former President Donald Trump’s oldest sister. And she wasn’t just his sister; she also had quite a career of her own. Until 2019, she was a senior U.S. Court of Appeals judge.
Now we’re learning that Barry has died at the age of 86 years old. ABC News reports that she died at her apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York City. She was discovered unconscious around 4 am local time. According to sources who spoke to ABC, there doesn’t appear to be any sign of foul play. It’s suspected that she may have died of natural causes. Reportedly, emergency crews were called to the apartment to respond to a reported case of cardiac arrest.
ABC contacted a spokesperson for former President Trump, but the spokesperson declined to comment on Barry’s death.
Barry’s death means that Trump now only has one living sibling. In 1981, at the age of 42 years old, his brother Fred Trump died from a heart attack. Then, in 2020, Trump’s brother, Robert Trump, died at the age of 71 years old. Trump’s only surviving sibling is his sister Elizabeth Trump Grau, who is 81 years old.
Reportedly, Trump and Barry were not close or on good terms. According to a recording Barry’s niece secretly made and later reported to the Washington Post, Barry said of her brother, “All he wants to do is appeal to his base.” She added, “He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people. Not do this.”
Even though their relationship was strained, they still kept in touch. The last time they saw each other in person was this past summer at Trump’s club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Barry had quite an impressive career during her lifetime. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan appointed her to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Then in 1999, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Watch the video below to learn more about Barry’s life, career, and unexpected death.