Trump's youngest brother and 'best friend' who sued niece over memoir 'disgrace'
Family feuds, big business, multiple wives, and the Trump family name - despite similarities with his infamous brother, Robert Stewart Trump led a very different life.
Robert was always seen as being a very different character to his brash, showbiz-minded older brother. According to one Trump biographer, Robert was the “quietest of Trumps” who was “glad to stay out of the spotlight” - apparently a world away from Donald, the world’s biggest headline-grabber since his entry into politics in 2015.
The business tycoon took a different path to Donald after studying at Boston University, first going to work on Wall Street instead of joining the family business owned by his father - before later joining the Trump Organisation to manage their property holdings outside of Manhattan. For 25 years he was married to Blaine Trump, until their divorce in 2008. Later, the year that he died aged 71, he married Trump Organization employee Ann Marie Pallan in 2020.
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Robert was the youngest of five Trump siblings (Trump Campaign)Born in 1948 as the youngest son to Fred Sr and Mary Trump, Robert was the fifth of the Trump siblings, including Maryanne, Fred Jr., Elizabeth and Donald. But despite a quieter demeanour than Donald, Robert’s life was no less marred by controversy, feud, and incredible riches.
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A fallout with his boss… and brother
Former Trump Organization executive Jack O’Donnell claimed Robert was an entirely different character to Donald, describing him as “dignified”, “quiet” and “good to work with”. O’Donnell added that he had no sense of entitlement, a personality trait now associated with the Trump name. “He had zero sense of entitlement. Robert was very comfortable being Donald Trump ’s brother and not being like him,” he said according to the New York Times.
But Donald’s regular rages when things went wrong would occasionally be targeted at Robert, and as the disgraced former president’s fame grew, Robert reportedly found working with him increasingly difficult. After Donald put Robert in charge of the Taj Mahal casino in New Jersey - after the previous three executives overseeing it were killed in a helicopter accident - one of these blowouts led to years of estrangement.
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Robert started out in Wall Street before later joining the Trump Organization - before a huge blowout with Donald (NY Daily News via Getty Images)Problems with the financial controls in the slot machines caused problems with the opening of the casino, taking months and costing millions to rectify. Regulators in the gaming industry didn’t permit the casino to open citing the lack of financial control, meaning on the opening night just a tiny section of the casino floor was open.
According to O’Donnell, Donald yelled and screamed at his brother, placing the blame for the faulty machines entirely on him. In response, “Robert calmly got up, walked out of the room, and that’s the last time I ever saw him,” according to O’Donnell. Robert stopped reporting to Donald and stepped out from the core of the business - but he was said to be “devastated” by the rift which had grown between himself and Donald.
Robert and Donald fell out for years, rebuilding their relationship when Donald began his political career (Getty Images)A return into the fold
As Donald’s political career began to take off, Robert committed himself “1000%” to his brother’s bid. He told the New York Post in 2016: “If he were to need me in any way, I’d be there.” Ever since 2015, Robert was a dedicated supporter of his brother as a politician.
This led to him leading the family’s legal charge against the memoir of his niece, Mary, after she wrote a memoir which exposed alleged truths about the family’s history of conflict. Mary, daughter of Fred Trump Jr, described major dysfunction in the family and claimed it turned Trump into a ruthless and reckless leader.
But Robert sued her in June 2020, describing the decision to write the book as “truly a disgrace”. In a statement released at the time, he said: “Her attempt to sensationalise and mischaracterise our family relationship after all of these years for her own financial gain is both a travesty and injustice to the memory of my late brother, Fred, and our beloved parents.”
Donald described Robert as not just his brother but his "best friend" (Getty Images)Click to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories
Later that year in August, Robert passed away aged 71, as months of poor health and hospitalizations finally caught up with him. In the days before his death and before going to visit his brother in hospital, Donald said at a news conference: “I have a wonderful brother. We’ve had a great relationship for a long time, from Day 1.”
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After holding his brother’s funeral service at the White House, Donald said in a statement that Robert was “not just my brother, he was my best friend,” adding: “He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever.”
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