American attorney Maryanne Trump lost her husband John Barry in 2002 but shares her son, William, with her ex-spouse David Desmond. Details explored.
The world is mourning the death of Maryanne Trump Barry, the elder sister of former U.S. president, Donald Trump.
On November 13, 2023, Barry was found dead at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where she had been under hospice care for cancer. She was 86.
Before her passing, she became an Assistant United States Attorney in 1974 and was first appointed to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
Following her tragic passing, many want to know more about her personal life, like, who she was married to and the number of kids she had. Keep reading for more.
Who was Maryanne Trump Barry married to?
At the time of her death, lawyer Maryanne Trump Barry lived a private life and no information about her love life was known to the internet.
Hence, it is safe to say she was single; not married nor dating anyone for her last twenty-three years on earth.
However, she had been married twice before. Her first husband was David Desmond and her second spouse was John J. Barry.
She married her Desmond in 1960 when she was 23 years old in 1960. Not much about the former couple is known but they divorced in 1980, after twenty years of marriage.
The pair were parents when they split.
Two years later, she found love again and got married to her second husband, John Barry at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York on December 26, 1982.
Who was Maryanne Trump Barry’s late ex-husband, John J. Barry?
Married to Maryanne Trump Barry, John Joseph Barry was also an attorney.
His specialty was as a trial and appellate lawyer from Sparta, New Jersey.
John’s focus was on commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense.
A graduate of New York University and Pratt Institute, he was a partner at Tompkins, McGuire, Wachenfeld & Barry.
His brother-in-law Donald Trump was one of his many clients.
They were married 18 years before he died on April 9, 2000, at his and Maryanne’s home in Manhattan.
He was aged 60 and his cause of death was established as cancer.
John was survived by his daughter Barbara Coates and his stepson Dr. David Desmond.
How many children did Maryanne Trump Barry have?
Maryanne Trump Barry was a mother when she died.
She had one child, a son named David William Desmond.
She welcomed her son from her first marriage to her ex-husband, David Desmond.
Who is David William Desmond?
David William Desmond is a neuropsychologist and writer.
He was born in 1960 to Maryanne Trump Barry, who is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
William is a grandson of the real estate developer Fred Trump; and a nephew of Donald Trump.
He lives in Palm Beach, Florida, and Paris, France.
He has been married to his wife, Lisa Aitkin and the couple have a son together.
Who was Maryanne Trump Barry?
Former attorney Maryanne Trump Barry was born on April 5, 1937, in Queens, New York, United States.
She was the oldest of the children between real-estate developer Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump.
Her siblings include Elizabeth Trump Grau, Robert Trump, Fred Trump, Jr., and Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, just to mention a few.
While growing up, she attended Kew-Forest School. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1958, and a Master of Arts in public law and government from Columbia University in 1962. She later attended law school, earning her Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law in 1974.
Barry was a federal judge and the sister of the former president.
She held top judicial positions for presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton during her career.
In 1974 Barry became an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, one of only two women out of 62 lawyers in the office.
Barry retired from her position as a federal judge in 2019 after an investigation into tax fraud.
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.
However, because of her retirement, the investigation was immediately dropped.
Barry didn’t make many comments about Donald Trump but was usually supportive of his business endeavors.
However, she was caught in 2018 saying he has “no principles” and blasting his “goddamn tweets and lying.”
The audio was obtained by the Washington Post and recorded by the president’s niece Mary Trump.
“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 in the recording.
Barry also called her brother a “brat” and said she did his homework and got him into college.
“He was a brat. I did his homework for him. I drove him around New York City to try to get him into college. He went to Fordham for 1 year & then he got into the University of Pennsylvania because he had somebody take the exams,” she said.