DONALD Trump's older sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, a former federal judge, was found dead in her home on Monday at the age of 86.
Barry was the eldest of the Trump siblings and often supported her brother's business ambitions while also becoming a major critic of his during the final year of his presidency.
Her nephew Donald Jr told reporters it was a "rough day for myself and my family" as he was questioned about Barry's death on Monday.
“I’m very close with her grandson. We hang out all the time. And so it’s obviously a rough day for that,” he said.
While Don Jr. appeared to have remained close with Barry's family, his dad and the ex-judge's relationship soured just three years before her death.
Secret recordings of Barry criticizing her brother in 2018 and 2019 during a conversation with niece, Mary L. Trump, became public in 2020 following the release of Mary's memoir about the family.
Barry tore into her brother, saying in one recording that all he wants to do is "appeal to his base."
"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," she said.
Barry said Trump's strict border policies were "cruel," calling them "phony" and described her brother as "a brat."
"It's the phoniness and this cruelty. Donald is cruel," Barry said.
Barry graduated from the Hofstra University School of Law and had a decades-long career as a federal prosecutor and federal judge.
In 1974 Barry became an assistant United States attorney for the District of New Jersey and was initially one of only two women out of 62 lawyers in the office.
She was nominated to the US Court of Appeals in 1999 by then-President Bill Clinton.
She retired in 2019 just 10 days after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals launched an investigation into her for judicial misconduct and tax evasion.
Because of her retirement, the investigation automatically closed.
"In concluding these proceedings, the Judicial Council does not reach the merits of complaints," the judicial council of the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals said at the time.
The investigation was prompted by a report that Barry and her siblings, including Donald Trump, were participating in tax schemes to maximize their inheritances.
The Trumps were allegedly receiving millions in untaxed gifts from their father and avoiding a 55 percent tax on gifts over a certain value.
Barry died at her Upper East Side apartment in New York City around 4 am on Monday.
She was found in her bedroom and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Medical examiners will determine her cause of death, but there were no signs of trauma.
The former President has yet to comment on the sad news but his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., spoke on it briefly after leaving a Manhattan courthouse, saying it was a "rough day for myself and my family."
Don Jr. said he learned of the news as he arrived to the courthouse to testify in a civil fraud trial.
"I’m very close with her grandson. We hang out all the time. And so it’s obviously a rough day for that," he said.
Born in 1937, Barry was the first child of Fred Trump Sr. and Mary Trump, followed by Fred Jr., Elizabeth, Donald, and Robert.
Fred Jr. died in 1981 of a heart attack caused by his alcohol use. He was 42 years old.
Robert was hospitalized in 2020 after suffering a stroke and died on August 15 at age 71.
The former president said in a written statement: "He was not just my brother, he was my best friend."
