WASHINGTON • Ms Maryanne Trump Barry, President Donald Trump's older sister and a former federal judge, described him as a liar who has "no principles" in a series of audio recordings made by her niece, Ms Mary Trump, in 2018 and last year.

The recordings were provided to The Washington Post, which published them online on Saturday night. In the recording, Ms Barry can be heard disparaging her brother's performance as president.

"His... tweet and the lying, oh, my God," she says in one of the recordings posted by the newspaper. "I'm talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying."

Ms Trump is the author of the recently published book, Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man. In it, she recounted how the President's upbringing turned him into what she called a reckless leader.

According to The Post, Ms Trump secretly recorded 15 hours of face-to-face conversations with Ms Barry about the President and his upbringing.

In a statement provided by a White House spokesman, Mr Trump dismissed the accusations and referred to the recent death of his younger brother, Mr Robert Trump.

"Every day it's something else, who cares," the President said. "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."

Ms Barry, who was appointed to the federal bench by then President Ronald Reagan, says in one conversation that Mr Trump helped her get that appointment by asking his lawyer, Mr Roy Cohn, to urge Mr Reagan to appoint more female judges.

Ms Barry says the President once said to her: "Where would you be without me?"

Ms Barry says she told her younger brother at the time: "You say that one more time and I will level you." She says she was angry that he was trying to "take credit" for her accomplishments as a judge.

The Post said that in one conversation, Ms Barry criticises the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents when they tried to cross the border from Mexico.

"All he wants to do is appeal to his base," Ms Barry tells Ms Trump, according to the paper.

"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."

NYTIMES