President Donald Trump’s younger brother, Robert S. Trump, died on Saturday after an unspecified illness.
“It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight,” Trump said in a statement shared by the White House 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.”
The president visited his brother on Aug. 14 in New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, hours after it was reported that the younger man had been hospitalized. Robert Trump, who was 71, had also been hospitalized in June. His illness was unrelated to the coronavirus, said people familiar with the situation.
Robert Trump was the one of four surviving children of real estate developer Fred Trump, and had been an executive at the Trump Organization. At one time, he oversaw the company’s casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Trump paid tribute to his sibling in remarks at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club on Friday, as “a really good guy that I love.”
The president is expected to attend his brother’s funeral.
———
©2020 Bloomberg News
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
