Donald Trump’s younger brother Robert Trump dies at 71
New York: President Donald Trump's younger brother, Robert Trump, a businessman known for an even keel that seemed almost incompatible with the family name, died Saturday night after being hospitalised in New York, the president said in a statement. He was 71.
The president visited his brother at a New York City hospital on Friday after White House officials said he had become seriously ill.
It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight," Donald Trump said in a statement. 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 youngest of the Trump siblings remained close to the 74-year-old president and, as recently as June, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Trump family that unsuccessfully sought to stop publication of a tell-all book by the president's niece, Mary.
Robert Trump had reportedly been hospitalised in the intensive care unit for several days that same month.
Both longtime businessmen, Robert and Donald had strikingly different personalities. Donald Trump once described his younger brother as much quieter and easygoing than I am, and "the only guy in my life whom I ever call 'honey.' Robert Trump began his career on Wall Street working in corporate finance but later joined the family business, managing real estate holdings as a top executive in the Trump Organization.
When he worked in the Trump Organization, he was known as the nice Trump," Gwenda Blair, a Trump family biographer, told The Associated Press. Robert was the one people would try to get to intervene if there was a problem. Robert Stewart Trump was born in 1948, the youngest of New York City real estate developer Fred Trump's five children.
The president, two years older than Robert, admittedly bullied his brother in their younger years, even as he praised his loyalty and laid-back demeanor.
I think it must be hard to have me for a brother but he's never said anything about it and we're very close," Donald Trump wrote in his 1987 bestseller The Art of the Deal.
Robert gets along with almost everyone," he added, "which is great for me since I sometimes have to be the bad guy. In the 1980s, Donald Trump tapped Robert Trump to oversee an Atlantic City casino project, calling him the perfect fit for the job. When it cannibalised his other casinos, though, he pointed the finger of blame at Robert, said Blair, author of "The Trumps: Three Generations that Built an Empire."
When the slot machines jammed the opening weekend at the Taj Mahal, he very specifically and furiously denounced Robert, and Robert walked out and never worked for his brother again, Blair said.
A Boston University graduate, Robert Trump later managed the Brooklyn portion of father Fred Trump's real estate empire, which was eventually sold.
Once a regular boldface name in Manhattan's social pages, Robert Trump had kept a lower profile in recent years. He was not a newsmaker, Blair said.
Before divorcing his first wife, Blaine Trump, more than a decade ago, Robert Trump had been active on Manhattan's Upper East Side charity circuit.
He avoided the limelight during his elder brother's presidency, having retired to the Hudson Valley. But he described himself as a big supporter of the White House run in a 2016 interview with the New York Post.
I support Donald one thousand percent, Robert Trump said. In early March of 2020, he married his longtime girlfriend, Ann Marie Pallan.
The eldest Trump sibling and Mary's father, Fred Trump Jr., struggled with alcoholism and died in 1981 at the age of 43. The president's surviving siblings include Elizabeth Trump Grau and Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired federal appeals judge.
Authors Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher described Robert Trump as soft spoken but cerebral in Trump Revealed: The Definitive Biography of the 45th President : He lacked Donald's charismatic showmanship, and he was happy to leave the bravado to his brother, but he could show flashes of Trump temper."
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Cong leader Prithviraj Chavan defiant after facing verbal missiles on Op Sindoor remarks
Mumbai (PTI): Despite facing criticism, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday stood by his controversial comments that India faced a "total defeat" in aerial fight with Pakistan on the first day of Operation Sindoor on May 7.
The former Union minister refused to apologise for his comments on the Indian military operation against terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK in aftermath of massacre of tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in April.
Talking to reporters in Pune on Tuesday, Chavan claimed India faced a "total defeat in the aerial fight (with Pakistan) on May 7 which lasted for half-an-hour".
"One may believe this or not. After that the Indian Air Force got grounded and not a single aircraft took flight that day.... be it Gwalior, Bhatinda or Sirsa, there was a possibility of aircraft being shot down, so our complete Air Force was grounded," the former Maharashtra chief minister had said.
Hitting out at Chavan, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accused the Congress of speaking the language of Pakistan. He said questioning the military action was akin to demoralising the morale of armed forces.
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"The criticism does not stem from the love of the nation, but love for Pakistan," said the chief leader of the Shiv Sena, a key constituent of the BJP-led NDA.
Chavan, however, remained defiant.
"There is no question of apologising. The Constitution has given me the right to ask questions," the Congress veteran asserted.
Chavan also questioned the need of having a 12-lakh strong Army when future wars will be about aerial combats and missiles. "During Operation Sindoor we saw that there was no movement of the Army even for a kilometre," he had said.
BJP Lok Sabha MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra said Chavan's remarks are loaded with sedition.
"He (Chavan) has refused to apologise. The Indian armed forces struck 100 kms inside the Pakistan territory and destroyed 11 air strips (of the Pakistani Air Force). He made remarks that the Indian Army did not even move an inch (during the military operation). This is nothing but a statement full of sedition, a statement of a traitor," Patra said, lashing out at the Congress leader.
The BJP spokesperson maintained the Congress appears to be standing with Chavan and alleged the Opposition party is playing into foreign hands.
Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should apologise for it, he added.
Union minister Giriraj Singh of the BJP insisted it was not right to devalue the valour of Indian armed forces.
Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh suggested that wherever armed forces are concerned, every Indian should be mindful of statements they make and ensure their comments do not demoralise the military.
Operation Sindoor was a result of "mistakes of politicians", he claimed.
TDP MP Krishna Devraylu said after the poll defeat in Bihar, the Congress is rattled and their leaders have been talking absurdly.
"Chavan's remarks are a prime example of this. This kind of disrespect to our armed forces is not necessary. If the Congress is angry with the NDA, it should show it in a different way and not drag armed forces into it," Devraylu opined.
AAP MP Ashok Mittal said such statements should not be made by any senior politician, especially by someone who has been a former chief minister.
The Indian armed forces registered a strong victory and destroyed terror launchpads in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, Mittal added.
