President Trump announced on Saturday that his brother Robert Trump had died after a serious illness. “He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again,” the President said in a statement.

The President visited his brother in a hospital in New York on Friday afternoon. He told reporters then that his brother was having a hard time. He added, “I have a wonderful brother. We’ve had a great relationship for a long time, from day one.” The details of the illness have not been made public.

Robert Trump is the youngest in the family. He was 71 and he supported his brother’s presidency. “I support Donald one thousand percent. I think he’s doing a great job. I think he’s got a great message,” he once said during an interview.

The President paid a touching tribute to his brother in a statement, “His memory will live on in my heart forever. I love you. Rest in peace,” the President said. It is expected that Trump will attend his brother’s funeral in the coming days. President Trump’s other brother Fred died when he was 43, he was the father of Mary Trump, who has published a tell-all book which has unflattering and probably false stories about the President and his younger years which will be used by his critics and opponents.

Robert Trump does not have the same high-profile and highly public life as his brother, although he too was a real estate executive in New York. He has been retired for several years now and he is known to support several charities in his area. He worked for the family company after their father handed over the control of their business to Donald Trump back in the day.

Robert Trump was married to socialite Blaine Trump from 1984 to 2008. Their marriage ended in divorce. Then Robert married Ann Marie Pallan, his former secretary, in March 2020.