The Surprising Things Donald Trump's Sister Said About Him

President Donald Trump is no stranger to giving or receiving harsh criticism. He's even grown accustomed to being publicly denounced by his estranged niece, Mary Trump, author of the scathing tell-all Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. Now, we can add Donald's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, to that list of critics.

In August 2020, the Washington Post published details about some surprising recordings of Maryanne venting to her niece Mary about the president. Mary — who is the daughter of Donald's deceased brother Fred Trump Jr. (he died in 1981 of complications from alcoholism, according to the Daily Beast) — secretly recorded meetings with her aunt in 2018 and 2019. It would make sense that the younger Trump gathered this information as insight for her book, which was released in July 2020.

This is the first time Maryanne has been publicly heard criticizing her brother. With about 15 hours of recorded conversations in existence, according to the Post, there was bound to be some bombshells dropped. Let's see what damage she caused.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the recordings is when Maryanne Trump Barry claimed that her brother cheated to get into the University of Pennsylvania. Mary originally accused her uncle of paying someone to take his SATs in Too Much and Never Enough, according to the New York Times, asserting that he sees "cheating as a way of life."

Per the Washington Post, Maryanne alleged during the recordings that after attending Fordham (she wrongly said for one year, but it was actually two, per CNN), Donald Trump paid a man named Joe Shapiro to take his entrance exam to get into the prestigious University of Pennsylvania. After a shocked Mary questioned this statement, Maryanne continued to explain. "SATs or whatever," she said. "That's what I believe."

However, the widow of Donald's friend Shapiro said this is simply not possible, according to ABC News. The White House also told several news outlets these accusations are false. Furthermore, Maryanne accused the president of being a cheating "brat" and that she did his homework for him. Now that's a solid game of he-said-she-said — and there's even more.

Additional to the explosive accusation that Donald Trump cheated his way into college, his sister Maryanne Trump Barry continued her unleashing of pent-up feelings in the series of recordings from her niece. According to the Washington Post, Maryanne called Donald "cruel" and phony for his controversial immigration policies and the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexican border.

Maryanne also talked about being fed up with her brother's back-and-forth stories as well as his tweeting, the latter of which has basically become a bonafide trait of his leadership. "His goddamned tweet and the lying, oh, my God," she complained, according to the Post. "The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying," she continued. Maryanne also expressed her bewilderment that her brother was surprised when she told him she does not watch Fox News, the conservative news channel Donald has closely aligned himself with.

While these are some serious accusations, President Trump does not seem too concerned as he's focused on his 2020 re-election campaign for president.

While some may have expected President Donald Trump to unleash a series of attacks on Twitter, which he often does to people who wrong him (Steph Curry, Chrissy Teigen, Meryl Streep, to name a few), he had very little to say in response to his sister Maryanne Trump Barry's claims. In a statement the White House issued to the Washington Post, Donald said, "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!" (The brother he referenced is Robert Trump, who died on Aug. 15, 2020.)

The release of Mary Trump's harsh book Too Much and Never Enough, along with the leaking of the secret recordings, come at a key time during Donald's presidency, as he is currently campaigning for his re-election to the White House and navigating steep criticism from the liberal media in regard to his dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement. It is uncertain if Maryanne's disapproval of her brother will affect his credibility at all, or if his supporters will also say, "Who cares."