Donald Trump’s younger brother Robert dies at age 71 after ‘suffering brain bleeds from a recent fall’: President pays tribute to ‘best friend’ he visited in hospital a day before he passed away

Donald Trump’s brother Robert, 71, has died in hospital just one day after the president visited him in hospital in New York. 

The president said in a statement on Saturday night: ‘It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight. 

‘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.’

Robert, who took blood thinners, had suffered recent brain bleeds that began after a recent fall, according to a close friend of the family, who spoke to The New York Times. 

Over the past few weeks, he had not been able to speak on the phone, according to the family friend. 

Robert Trump, pictured with older brother Donald in 1999, was admitted to New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan in serious condition. The White House announced his death on Saturday

Trump arrived at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center on Friday afternoon to visit his ailing younger brother

Trump left Manhattan on Friday afternoon to fly to Bedminster, New Jersey, having said goodbye to his brother in hospital

From left to right: Robert, Elizabeth, Freddy, Donald and Maryanne Trump. Robert was the youngest of the five siblings

Rudy Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, was among the first to pay tribute to Robert.  

‘Robert Trump has a big heart,’ he tweeted. 

‘As a former Mayor I know how much he did to help New Yorkers in need. 

‘We have lost a really good man. My love, prayers and condolences to the #Trump family.’ 

Eric Trump then tweeted fond memories of his uncle, describing him as ‘an incredible man’ who was ‘strong, kind and loyal to the core.’ 

Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, was among the first to send his condolences to the family and said Robert ‘had a big heart’

The youngest of Donald Trump’s adult children, Eric, then tweeted a tribute to his uncle, saying he was ‘an incredible man’

Robert Trump had no children, but he helped raise Christopher Hollister Trump-Retchin, the son of his first wife, Blaine Trump. 

Besides the president, he is survived by his second wife, Ann Marie Pallan, and his sisters, Maryanne Trump Barry and Elizabeth Trump Grau. 

His brother Fred Trump Jr. died in 1981. 

Robert’s death came one day after the president visited him in hospital in New York City, where he was said to be suffering from a serious condition.

Trump had been scheduled to travel to his country club in nearby Bedminster, New Jersey for the weekend, but made a stop in Manhattan first to check in on his sibling. 

The president was seen leaving the heliport after flying in from New Jersey.

Hospital security guards were seen blocking off access to a street outside the medical center ahead of the president’s visit earlier this afternoon.   

Trump was wearing a protective face mask as he arrived at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in Lennox Hill late Friday afternoon. 

Robert had been admitted to the hospital and was described as ‘very ill’, however details of his illness are still not officially confirmed. 

During a White House press briefing after his visit to his brother’s bedside, the president said his brother was ‘having a hard time’ but did not elaborate on why he had been hospitalized.Trump says his brother is having a ‘hard time’ after hospitalizationLoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:51FullscreenNeed Text

Robert has openly voiced his support for his brother over years. He is pictured hugging Donald on Election Day 2016

Robert, the youngest of the five Trump siblings, was previously hospitalized for ten days at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York in June. 

He was admitted to the neurosciences intensive care unit where he was treated for a ‘serious condition’, the Daily Beast reported. 

Around the same time, Robert had filed a lawsuit against his niece Mary Trump, seeking to block her from publishing a tell-all book on the president. 

Mary is the daughter of the brothers’ eldest sibling, Fred Trump Jr, who struggled with alcoholism and died in 1981 at the age of 43. 

Robert filed for an injunction claiming the explosive book, ‘Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man’, violated the terms of a confidentiality agreement she signed nearly two decades ago. 

In a statement to The New York Times in June, he accused his niece of attempting to ‘sensationalize and mischaracterize’ their family relationship for her own financial gain.

Robert is pictured right with sister Maryanne and brother Donald in 1990 

Robert is the youngest of the five Trump siblings born to Fred and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. Pictured left to right: Donald, Fred Jr, Robert, Maryanne, and Elizabeth

‘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,’ Robert said. 

Donald Trump statement on Robert’s death

‘It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight. 

‘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 explosive memoir was eventually released last month after a judge agreed to lift a temporary restraining order preventing Mary from publicizing or distributing her work.

The judge said the confidentiality clauses in the 2001 agreement, ‘viewed in the context of the current Trump family circumstances in 2020, would offend public policy as a prior restraint on protected speech’. 

The younger Trump had openly voiced his support for his brother over the years. 

In an interview with Page Six ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Robert said he supported his brother’s campaign ‘1,000 per cent’.’ 

He was later seen celebrating Donald’s victory at the New York Hilton where the then president-elect delivered his acceptance speech. 

Robert also spoke out in support of his brother during a brief, but rare interview at LAX airport last December, when Trump had been at the center of an impeachment trial. 

When asked how his older sibling was doing, he told the cameraman: ‘I think he’s doing fantastic’, before getting into the his car.

Robert had also held a senior position in the family business, but unlike his brother, he has generally maintained a low public profile. 

He previously served as an executive for Trump Organization where he managed the real estate portfolio outside of Manhattan. 

In 2016 Robert told Page Six that he was ‘gainfully retired’. 

Robert was married to socialite Blaine Trump (pictured) for 25 years until their 2007 divorce. Until his death, he lived in Long Island with wife Ann Marie Pallan

Robert married his former secretary Ann Marie Pallan (center) in March. The two were rumored to be having an affair while he was married to first wife Blaine 

He was married to socialite Blaine Trump for 25 years until their 2007 divorce, and until his death served on the board of directors of ZeniMax Media. 

The couple’s split was widely reported in the tabloids following reports that Robert had been living with his mistress – and now wife – for two years. 

Prior to his death, he was based in Long Island where he lived with wife Ann Marie Pallan, his former secretary, who he reportedly married in March. 

Despite their split, Robert was said to have remained on good terms with his ex-wife, who reportedly attended Trump’s inauguration in 2017.  

Robert also has two older sisters. 

Elizabeth Trump Grau, 78, is a retired executive from Chase Manhattan Bank, and Maryanne Trump Barry, 83, is a retired federal judge.  

Just like his older brother, Robert formerly served as an executive for the Trump Organization, but managed to keep a relatively low-profile. He is pictured above with ex-wife Blaine (in green), Donald, parents Mary and Fred, and sister Maryanne

Left to right: Blaine Trump, Robert Trump, Donald Trump and Ivana Trump are seen at the Pierre Hotel New York in 1987

Fred Trump with his son Robert, wife Mary Anne and Robert’s wife Blaine at a gala in 1985

Blaine and Robert Trump at the Met Ball, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in 1983

Robert Trump and wife Blaine at Halloween AIDS fundraiser, hosted by Magic Johnson in 1993 at Tavern on the Green

As the youngest of the five Trump siblings, Robert was shielded from the pressures placed on the eldest, Fred Jr, and then Donald. 

He was never groomed to take over the family real estate company, and was considered by those who knew him to be the inverse of the brash, self-promotional brother who eventually did. 

After graduating from Boston University, he first went to work on Wall Street, instead of immediately joining the family business. 

But he eventually went to work for his brother as a senior executive at the Trump Organization.

Robert Trump is pictured with his older brother Donald and then-girlfriend Melania Knauss

Trump put Robert in charge of the Atlantic City casino in 1989 – which sparked a huge row. The pair are pictured at a Casino Control Commission meeting in Atlantic City in March 1990

From left: Donald Trump; his father Fred Trump; Blaine Trump and her husband Robert Trump

‘You could consider him the quietest of Trumps,’ said Michael D’Antonio, a Trump biographer. 

‘He was glad to stay out of the spotlight.’ 

Jack O’Donnell, a former Trump Organization executive who worked closely with the Trump family, told the New York Times that Robert was someone with a natural ease and good humor that his older brother lacked.

‘He was dignified, he was quiet, he listened, he was good to work with,’ O’Donnell said. 

‘He had zero sense of entitlement. Robert was very comfortable being Donald Trump’s brother and not being like him.’

The pair were not always close.

In 1990, a year after Trump had put Robert in charge of the opening of the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Trump furiously attacked Robert over problems with the slot machines.

People who knew him said Robert was devastated by the fight with Trump, and the rift between them took years to heal, the New York Times said. 

He reconciled with his brother when Trump decided to run for president, according to a person close to the family.