Melania Trump's Ultra-Private Sister Draws Attention with Twitter Account

Lucien Capehart Photography, Inc/Getty Images Ines Knauss (left) and Melania Trump in 2005

Melania Trump's older sister, Ines Knauss, has long avoided the spotlight - but not social media.

Knuass, 53, has been posting reactions to her brother-in-law Donald Trump's tumultuous presidency on a private Twitter account recently unearthed by journalist Ashley Feinberg.

Feinberg, who previously discovered both James Comey and Sen. Mitt Romney's secret social media handles, shared screenshots of Ines' account in her newsletter last week.

The activity included "liked" tweets that were critical of the former president's impeachment attorney and an apparent joke about her brother-in-law's Twitter account getting suspended after the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Knauss' Twitter account was previously noted by Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan in her 2020 book The Art of Her Deal, about the former first lady.

Though Knauss' account is locked, Feinberg said that she "was able to get a look at her feed through a third party."

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"We should all congratulate Melania Trump for her successful campaign against cyberbullying," read one tweet the first lady's older sister "liked," referencing Mrs. Trump's anti-bullying "Be Best" campaign, Feinberg reported.

(A spokesperson for the former first lady did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Friday.)

Knauss also shared well-wishes for the former president and first lady the day after they tested positive for COVID-19 in October and she has shared supportive messages from her brother-in-law, including an autographed magazine cover he signed and addressed to her, according to Feinberg.

But the screenshots also offer insight into Mrs. Trump's family and their thoughts about the one-term Trump presidency, which ended in the shadow of the pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

"Are you watching CNN?" Knauss texted father Viktor, according to a rough translation of a screenshot Knauss later tweeted.

"Of course I'm watching," he responded with a heart emoji and a follow-up text that said he was tuned into Fox News and One America News Network as well.

Knauss has semi-regularly made posts on her public Facebook account, wishing her nephew Barron Trump a happy 15th birthday in March and sharing old photos of her sister and other relatives.

The sisters changed their last name from "Knavs" to "Knauss" before the future first lady took her husband's last name when they married in 2005. Knauss and Mrs. Trump also have an older half brother, Denis Cigelnjak, who lived in Slovenia, GQ reported in 2016.

Knauss, like her younger sister, has embraced her privacy and eschewed the attention brought by politics.

And, like her sister, she reportedly has an interest in the fashion industry though she pursued design rather than modeling. (Mrs. Trump previously shared her artwork online.)

"They're very close," Palm Beach philanthropist Audrey Gruss told The New York Post in 2017.

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Ines was the maid of honor at the Trumps' wedding and, according to the Post, the sisters lived two blocks from one another in New York City before the first lady moved into the White House.

Mrs. Trump, who has maintained a low profile since leaving Washington, D.C., is known to be extremely close with her family.

A source close to the Trumps previously told PEOPLE that her parents virtually live with her and Barron wherever she establishes a residency. That includes Trump Tower in New York City, the private Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida and the former president's other club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he relocated for the summer.

"Melania's core family is really her family," the source said. "They are a big part of her life."

When asked if they enjoy the scrutiny and scandal that's consistently swirled since President Trump political turn, the source told PEOPLE: "Of course not."

"But they make the best of the situation, the source said. "They have no other choice, and they have chosen to stay here and support their daughter and grandson."

* With reporting by LINDA MARX