Former President Donald Trump lost his younger brother Robert near the end of his term in office. Robert Trump passed away on Saturday, Aug. 15 2020 at the age of 71. He was private about his personal life — especially for the brother of a U.S. president — so many people knew little about him before his death.
Robert Trump was just over two years younger than the president, who is now 74 years old. Both were born to parents Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump and grew up in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens in New York City. Robert and the president were the two youngest out of five siblings, the elders being Maryanne Trump Barry, Fred Trump Jr. and Elizabeth Trump Grau. Unlike the president and other members of their family, Robert Trump was known for avoiding the public eye.
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Robert married New York socialite Blaine Beard in 1980 after the two met at a charity event at the lauded British auction house Christie’s. They were together for over two decades but filed for divorce in 2007. The divorce was finalized in 2009.
Tragically, Robert had just been remarried in March of 2020. His new wife is named Ann Marie Pallan, and was his secretary for many years, according to a report by The New York Post. After saying their vows, the two reportedly retreated to Robert’s expansive property on Long Island for a makeshift quarantine honeymoon.
Robert worked for the Trump Organization for most of his life and was a close associate of his brother. Most recently, he has been in the news for handling the Trump family’s lawsuit against his niece, Mary L. Trump, to try to prevent the publication of her tell-all book, Too Much and Never Enough. The book was ultimately released despite Robert’s efforts to silence it.
So far, Robert’s cause of death has not been specified. Mary was the first to reveal that he was sick last week, during an interview with Jane Fonda for Greenpeace. She said that Robert had been hospitalized “a couple of times in the last three months.”
On Friday, the White House announced that Robert was in a New York City hospital and that the president had gone to visit him. Finally, on Saturday night, the Trump administration confirmed that Robert had passed away. Little more information on the illness that took him has been released. Trump issued a statement to the press, rather than on social media.
“It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight,” the president said. “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.”
