Maryanne Trump Barry, the eldest sister of former President Donald Trump, passed away at the age of 86, as reported by U.S. media outlets. She was discovered deceased early Monday morning in her New York City apartment. The cause of her death has not been disclosed.
Mrs. Barry had a distinguished career as a federal judge in New Jersey, serving from 1983 until her retirement in 2019. She was one of only two female prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey from 1974 to 1983. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan as a federal district judge in 1983, she was later appointed by President Bill Clinton to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1999. Her career faced scrutiny in 2019 following a New York Times investigation into the Trump family’s tax affairs, leading to a judicial misconduct inquiry that was closed upon her retirement.
She married twice, first to David Desmond, with whom she had a son, and later to John Joseph Barry, who passed away in 2000. Despite being a Republican like her brother, Mrs. Barry avoided public discussions about him. However, their relationship reportedly soured following the release of a memoir by her niece, Mary Trump, which included critical comments Mrs. Barry made about Donald Trump.
The former president, who is considered a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has lost two brothers, Fred in 1981 and Robert in 2020, and his first wife, Ivana Trump, last year. His only surviving sibling is his sister Elizabeth Trump Grau, a former banker.
