--- title: FBI, Secret Service Probe Threat Sent to Trump’s Sister description: Federal authorities are investigating a threat Donald Trump’s sister received a day after the mogul’s son was sent a similar letter. canonical: https://time.com/4265807/donald-trump-sister-threat-letter/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-21T13:59:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:49:47.574Z article:section: Politics og:title: FBI, Secret Service Investigate Threat Sent to Donald Trump’s Sister og:description: The letter came a day after one was sent to Trump's son og:url: https://time.com/4265807/donald-trump-sister-threat-letter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd033a42f19dd8449/69888bc5e20a87efbfa900bc/donald-trump-sister-fb-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1509 og:image:height: 849 og:image:alt: US property tycoon Donald Trump (L) is p og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FBI, Secret Service Investigate Threat Sent to Donald Trump’s Sister twitter:description: The letter came a day after one was sent to Trump's son twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd033a42f19dd8449/69888bc5e20a87efbfa900bc/donald-trump-sister-fb-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Feds Investigate Threat Sent to Donald Trump’s Sister > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4a8de9bb-9442-4036-962b-520a74dec743&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump's family threatened with suspicious letters [Watch (HLS stream): Trump's family threatened with suspicious letters](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/v84cOY5V.m3u8) (0:37)  _Published 2016-03-21. Donald Trump's sister got a threatening letter in the mail a day after his son received a letter with suspicious white powder inside._  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 21, 2016 1:59 PM UTC  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 21, 2016 1:59 PM UTC Federal authorities are [investigating a threatening letter Donald Trump’s sister received in the mail](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/threatening-letter-sent-donald-trump-s-sister-prompts-investigation-source-n541931) a day after the mogul’s son was sent a similar letter. NBC News, citing anonymous sources, reported that the FBI and Secret Service are probing the Friday incident involving the Republican presidential front-runner’s older sister, Maryanne Trump Barry. Trump Barry, a federal appeals court judge in Philadelphia, was mailed a [threatening letter similar to the one received by Trump’s son](http://time.com/4264272/donald-trump-eric-mail-threat/), Eric Trump, which reportedly warned that if Trump did not drop out of the presidential race soon, harm could come to the family’s children. Eric Trump’s package contained a non-hazardous powdery substance inside, [according to the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/18/police-investigating-suspicious-package-threatening-letter-sent-to-donald-trumps-son/). Trump Barry’s did not, NBC News reports. It’s unclear if the letters were sent by the same sender. Threats have also been delivered to Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign headquarters in Houston and to Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign headquarters in Washington, according to the _Post_. \[[_NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/threatening-letter-sent-donald-trump-s-sister-prompts-investigation-source-n541931)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4265807/donald-trump-sister-threat-letter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4265807/donald-trump-sister-threat-letter/"},"headline":"Feds Investigate Threat Sent to Donald Trump’s Sister","datePublished":"2016-03-21T13:59:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:49:47.574Z","description":"The letter came a day after one was sent to Trump's son","url":"https://time.com/4265807/donald-trump-sister-threat-letter/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd033a42f19dd8449/69888bc5e20a87efbfa900bc/donald-trump-sister-fb-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd033a42f19dd8449/69888bc5e20a87efbfa900bc/donald-trump-sister-fb-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US property tycoon Donald Trump (L) is p","caption":"Donald Trump is pictured with his sister Maryanne Trump Barry on June 10, 2008.","creditText":"ED Jones—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4265807/donald-trump-sister-threat-letter/","name":"Feds Investigate Threat Sent to Donald Trump’s Sister"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump's family threatened with suspicious letters","description":"Donald Trump's sister got a threatening letter in the mail a day after his son received a letter with suspicious white powder inside.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/v84cOY5V/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-21T17:04:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/v84cOY5V.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4265807/donald-trump-sister-threat-letter/","duration":"PT37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4265807/donald-trump-sister-threat-letter/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```