President Donald Trump revealed that his brother Robert’s funeral may be held at the White House, and may be as soon as Friday. He gave the hint on Monday morning, while speaking to reporters just before leaving on a trip to Wisconsin. Robert Trump died on Saturday at the age of 71.
Trump gave the tentative date and location for Robert’s service in a video posted by ABC News. He said: “That would be, I think, a great honor to him… He loved our country so much. He was so proud of what we were doing and what we are doing for our country.” This followed after a phone interview with Fox News on Monday morning, where Trump called his brother a “fantastic guy” and his “best friend.”
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NEW: Pres. Trump says he hopes to have a small service for his brother at the White House Friday.
“That would be, I think, a great honor to him…He loved our country so much. He was so proud of what we were doing and what we are doing for our country.” https://t.co/PkzcMENAkZ pic.twitter.com/UXsYZ5XTfi
— ABC News (@ABC) August 17, 2020
“This was not a great weekend; it’s very hard,” the president said candidly. “You knew it was going to happen, but still — when it happens, it’s a very tough thing. He was a great guy, he was a tremendous guy. He was my friend, I guess they say ‘best friend,’ and that’s true. And losing him… not easy.”
Trump and Robert were the two youngest out of five siblings, with Robert being about two and a half years younger than the president. Robert’s cause of death has not yet been revealed, but his niece, Dr. Mary Trump, said that he has been hospitalized several times over the last three months.
The president reportedly visited Robert in a New York City hospital on Friday, just about 24 hours before his passing. In his remarks to Fox News on Monday, Trump emphasized that Robert was never jealous of Trump’s own accomplishments.
“A lot of times in families, I hate to say it, but there’s jealousy, especially among children and children who are competitive children, because he was very competitive,” the president said. “There was not an ounce of jealousy. He’d go around talking about how great this is for the country and it’s so incredible. He was my biggest fan.”
“People would tell me all the time, ‘I spoke to your brother, and your brother was so thrilled and so thrilled at what was happening and what was happening for the country,’” he continued. “He was so angry at China because of what happened when the plague came in and they shouldn’t have allowed that to happen. They could have stopped it. He was so upset by that.”
Robert did not techincally work in the Trump White House, but did work for the Trump Organization for most of his life. In addition to the president and his family, he is survived by his wife, Ann Marie Pallan.
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