Robert Trump, the youngest brother of President Donald Trump, did not have the same high profile as his more famous sibling. Robert Trump, who was born in 1948 and had been ailing for several months, died Saturday night. He was visited by the president Friday at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.
“It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight,” the president said in a statement late Saturday. “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.”
Here are some things to know about Robert Trump, who was born Aug. 26, 1948, in Queens, New York. He was two years younger than the president.
Businessman: Like his brother, Robert Trump was a New York real estate executive. He described himself as “gainfully retired” and lived in Millbrook, New York, in the Hudson Valley. Robert Trump supported several local charities in Dutchess County and served as a trustee of the nonprofit Angels of Light and a horse rescue group, according to Town & Country. Robert Trump worked in the family company after his father, Fred Trump, handed control of the business to Donald Trump, The New York Times reported. Robert Trump served as executive vice president of the Trump Organization and helped oversee the company’s casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the newspaper reported.
Good burger: Robert Trump had a burger named after him at Monte’s Local Kitchen and Tap Room in the Dutchess County city of Amenia, according to Town & Country. The “RST All American Burger” was an 8-ounce beef patty with cheese, lettuce, aioli, homemade pickles, and truffle fries. The cost was $17.50.
“The Trump boys love their burgers,” Robert Trump’s second wife and former secretary, Ann Marie Pallan, told The Hudson Valley News in 2015. The restaurant is now closed.
Robert Trump’s first marriage ended in a high-profile divorce. He was married to socialite Blaine Trump from 1984 to 2008. Trump married Pallan in March 2020. The couple did not have any children.
Banning book: Robert Trump attempted to block the tell-all book written by his niece, Mary Trump -- the daughter of Fred Trump Jr. -- about the president and the Trump family in her recently released book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.” Robert Trump sued his niece in Dutchess County Supreme Court to stop the book’s publication, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported. The courts ruled in Mary Trump’s favor, which allowed Simon & Schuster to publish the book. Robert Trump is not mentioned too often in the book, the newspaper reported.
Block party: In his 1987 book, “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump wrote that he would steal his younger brother’s blocks and glue them together, the Times reported. “That was the end of Robert’s blocks,” the president wrote.
Court orders: After Fred Trump Sr. died in 1999, there was an inheritance fight over what Fred Trump Jr.‘s family was entitled to, The Washington Post reported. The future president relied heavily on Robert Trump, who served as a spokesperson for the siblings in court proceedings. The case against the eldest Trump brother was settled and the terms remain private, the newspaper reported.
Mary Trump spoke to actress Jane Fonda about the relationship between the president and Robert Trump on Friday, the Post reported. The discussion was sponsored by Greenpeace.
“I can’t speak to what their relationship is like now, but when I was still in the family, they hated each other,” Mary Trump said. “I’m glad Donald is visiting him in the hospital, I wish he had visited my dad in the hospital,” she said.
Cox Media Group
