It’s been a tumultuous and tragic few weeks for the Trump family with the passing of President Trump’s brother and best friend, Robert, and the publishing of Trump’s niece’s book which takes aim at the President and his family.
Now, on Saturday, the Washington Post revealed that Trump’s niece Mary L. Trump secretly recorded 15 hours of in-person conversations with Trump’s sister Maryanne Trump Barry.
Mary Trump released transcripts and audio excerpts to the Washington Post.
In the conversations, Trump’s sister said some unflattering things about her brother (WARNING: Excerpt includes explicit language which we Have censored):
“All he wants to do is appeal to his base,” Barry said in a conversation secretly recorded by her niece, Mary L. Trump. “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.”
Barry, 83, was aghast at how her 74-year-old brother operated as president. “His g[-]d[—]ed tweet and lying, oh my God,” she said. “I’m talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy s[—].”
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows responded to the audio recordings on ABC’s “This Week”.
Meadows said he never met Trump’s sister, “I was at [Trump’s brother’s] funeral the other day. I was hoping to meet her there. She didn’t show up for her brother’s funeral.”
“And the president that I have the privilege of serving is not the one that’s being described on a 15-hour, I guess, is what I’m reading, secret tape,” Meadows continued. “I mean, what family member tapes another family member for 15 hours secretly?”
“I can tell you this, the president is committed to this country, loves this country. In terms of the one principle that he not only every morning talks to me about is, what can we do to serve the American people better? And he has been very consistent in that,” explained Meadows.
The release of the audiotapes and Mary Trump’s book come at a difficult time for the Trump family as they grieve the loss of President Trump’s brother, Robert, who died on August 15th. No official cause of death had been reported but it’s believed he died of a hemorrhagic stroke due to the blood thinners he was on after suffering a recent fall.
