Trump dismisses sister Maryanne calling him 'cruel' with 'no principles' in audio recordings: 'Who cares?'
In the late hours of Saturday, August 23, secret audio recordings of Donald Trump's older sister Maryanne Trump Barry left social media abuzz as she claimed the POTUS had “no principles” and was "cruel." Hours later, the president finally responded to those claims saying, "Every day it’s something else, who cares?”
“I miss my brother, and I’ll continue to work hard for the American people. Not everyone agrees, but the results are obvious. Our country will soon be stronger than ever before," Trump added in the statement to the Washington Post, which had initially published the story about Maryanne's claims. The recording was secretly made by Mary Trump, niece to both Maryanne and the president, and who recently released a tell-all book about Trump and their family last month.
The Post's story about Maryanne's secret recordings came just a day after the White House hosted a private memorial service for the president's younger brother Robert Trump, who died on August 15 at the age of 71. In the reported recordings from 2018, Maryanne can be heard telling her niece, "Donald is cruel. 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." This was allegedly regarding Trump's now-suspended policy at the US-Mexico border that led to children being separated from their parents owing to immigration hearings.
“His godd****d tweet and lying, oh my God. I’m talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy sh**,” Maryanne can be heard continuing, making the scandalous allegation that the president not only rarely reads, but also had someone else take his SAT exam for him to get into the University of Pennsylvania, as revealed by The Post.
The family of the now-deceased man who allegedly took the test for the POTUS has reportedly denied these claims, although Mary told The Post that it was a different person with the same name.
In her book 'Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,' Mary referred to these claims but hasn't named her aunt Maryanne, who can be heard in the recordings saying, "It’s the phoniness of it all. It’s the phoniness and this cruelty. Donald is cruel.” The former federal judge is the oldest of the five Trump siblings, two of whom are dead.
Mary is the daughter of the POTUS's older brother Fred Trump Jr., who died in 1981. Her spokesperson told The Post that she had started secretly recording her relatives in 2018 after doubting they were lying to her regarding property and inheritance. The recordings are considered legal under New York state law, and according to the spokesperson, Maryanne's revelations were a surprise to Mary herself, who hasn't spoken to her aunt since recordings were made. As for the president, in 2016, he had called his sister a 'highly respected judge', noting at the same time that they do disagree on public policy issues.
The recordings however have Maryanne saying Trump once asked her “Where would you be without me?" The president had allegedly referred Maryanne to President Reagan to appoint her to a federal judgeship and it was "the only favor I ever asked for in my whole life,” Maryanne says in the recording, adding that she deserved it on her own merit. She also noted the president was the only one who did not speak for their father, Fred Sr., during his funeral in 1999. “Donald is out for Donald, period,” she said. That said, Maryanne is yet to comment on these recordings or on Trump's presidency publicly.