Robert Trump dies at 71 – President Trump’s brother ‘and best friend’ passes away after illness battle
PRESIDENT Trump’s brother “and best friend” has died at 71 after being hospitalized and battling an illness.
Robert Trump’s death comes just one day after he was admitted into a hospital in New York City.
“It is with a heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight,” Trump said in a statement on Saturday night.
“He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again.
“His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace.”
A cause of death has not yet been revealed, but Robert was reportedly “very ill” when he was admitted into the hospital.
The President was able to visit his brother at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City on Friday.
Trump told reporters before the hospital visit: “I have a wonderful brother.
“We’ve had a great relationship for a long time, from day one.
“He’s in the hospital right now, and hopefully he’ll be all right. But he’s having a hard time.”
When Robert’s hospitalization was announced, White House spokesman Judd Deere said the President has a “very good relationship with his brother who is very special to him.”
Robert was born in 1948 and is Trump’s only younger sibling.
Trump’s three older siblings are Maryanne, Fred Jr, and Elizabeth.
Robert was a business executive and real estate developer who managed the Trump Organization’s real estate holdings outside Manhattan.
He was married to Blaine Trump, but divorced her in 2007.
Robert married for a second time in 2020, to his long-time love Ann Marie Pallan.
According to The New York Times, Trump admitted to bullying Robert when they were younger.
In Trump’s 1987 book ‘The Art of the Deal,’ he wrote: “I think it must be hard to have me for a brother but he’s never said anything about it and we’re very close.
“Robert gets along with almost everyone… which is great for me since I sometimes have to be the bad guy.”
Earlier this year, Robert spent at least 10 days in a neurosciences intensive care unit (NSICU) at Mount Sinai hospital in New York.
The June hospitalization came shortly before he attempted to stop his niece Mary Trump from publishing Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man.
The president and his family lost their legal battle to stop Mary’s book from being released.
They claimed it contained private information about their family.
Robert’s attorney claimed that the book violates a non-disclosure agreement, vowing to re-file the suit in the Supreme Court of New York.
Approximately two days after Robert was released from the hospital in June, he commented on Mary’s actions to The New York Times.
He said: “Her attempt to sensationalize and mischaracterize our family relationship after all of these years for her own financial gain is both a travesty and injustice to the memory of my late brother, Fred, and our beloved parents.
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“I and the rest of my entire family are so proud of my wonderful brother, the president, and feel that Mary’s actions are truly a disgrace.”
Mary is the daughter of President Trump’s late older brother, Fred Trump Jr – who passed away at the age of 42 in 1981 from a heart attack.