'My best friend': Donald Trump announces death of younger brother Robert Trump

US President Donald Trump has paid tribute to his "wonderful brother", Robert Trump, saying the business executive and real estate developer will be greatly missed.

In this 1999 file photo, Robert Trump joins his brother Donald Trump at an event in New York.

In this 1999 file photo, Robert Trump joins his brother Donald Trump at an event in New York. Source: AAP

US President Donald Trump's younger brother, Robert Trump, has died a day after the president visited him in a New York hospital.

"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," Mr Trump said in a statement on Saturday.

Robert Trump, who at 71 was two years younger than the president, was a business executive and real estate developer.
US President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York to visit his younger brother, Robert Trump on 14 August.
US President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York to visit his younger brother, Robert Trump on 14 August. Source: AAP
President Trump made an emotional visit to see his ailing brother on Friday at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center before going to his golf club at Bedminster, New Jersey, for the weekend.

The president was expected to attend the funeral, an aide said. He has a busy travel schedule in coming days with plans to visit four battleground states as part of his re-election campaign.

The cause of death was not revealed. Mr Trump told reporters on Friday that his brother was "having a hard time" with an undisclosed illness.

ABC News had reported that Robert Trump was hospitalised in the intensive care unit at Mount Sinai hospital in New York for more than a week in June.



That same month, Robert Trump won a temporary restraining order against his and the president's niece, Mary Trump, to stop her from publishing a tell-all book that offered an unflattering look of the US president and his family.

A state supreme court judge in Poughkeepsie, New York, later denied a request to stop publication and cancelled the temporary restraining order.

Robert Trump had said the book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,” would violate a confidentiality agreement tied to the estate of his father Fred Trump Sr, who died in 1999. 


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters, SBS


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world