Joe Biden sends condolences to President Trump after death of younger brother Robert

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden offered his condolences to President Trump following the death of his younger brother Robert yesterday, aged 71.

The former Vice President said in a tweet that he and wife Jill were ‘sad’ to learn of Robert Trump’s passing, whose death was announced by the president on Saturday evening.

‘Mr. President, Jill and I are sad to learn of your younger brother Robert’s passing. I know the tremendous pain of losing a loved one — and I know how important family is in moments like these,’ Biden wrote. ‘I hope you know that our prayers are with you all.’

Joe Biden’s first wife, Neilia, and their 13-month-old daughter were killed in a car accident in 1972 after a tractor trailer broadsided their Chevrolet station wagon just days before Christmas. Forty-three years later, his son, Joseph ‘Beau Biden’, who survived the crash, tragically died of brain cancer. 

Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, joined him in sending her ‘deepest condolences and prayers to the entire Trump family at this difficult time’ on Sunday. 

‘Losing a loved one is never easy but know that we are thinking of you,’ the US Senator added. 

The former Vice President said in a tweet that he and wife Jill were ‘sad’ to learn of Robert Trump’s passing, whose death was emotionally announced by the president on Saturday evening.

Robert Trump's death was announced by the president in an emotional statement Monday, in which he called his younger sibling his 'best friend'

Robert Trump’s death was announced by the president in an emotional statement Monday, in which he called his younger sibling his ‘best friend’

WHAT HAPPENED TO JOE BIDEN’S FIRST WIFE, DAUGHTER, AND SON?

In 1972, just one month after winning his first Senate race, Biden received a phone call telling him his wife and college sweetheart Neilia,and their 13-month-old daughter Naomi, had been killed in a car accident on their way to buy a Christmas tree in Hockessin, Delaware.

Neilia’s station wagon was struck by a tractor-trailer as she pulled out from an intersection.

Biden’s sons Beau and Hunter survived the accident and were taken to the hospital; Beau with a broken leg and other wounds, and Hunter with a minor skull fracture and other head injuries.

Biden considered resigning from his newly-elected post to care for his son’s full-time, however Senate Majority Leader at the time, Mike Mansfield, persuaded him not.

Both of the boys made a full recovery from the accident, but tragedy would strike once more 43 years later.

On May 30, 2015, the former VP’s eldest son, Beau, who became Delaware Attorney General, died at age 46 after a two-year battle with brain cancer.

Joe Biden picked then-president, Barack Obama, to deliver his eulogy. During the emotive speech, Obama said: ‘He did in 46 years what most of us couldn’t do in 146. He left nothing in the tank.’

 

Robert Trump’s death came just one day after the president visited him in hospital in New York.

In an emotional statement, President Trump wrote: ‘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 reportedly took blood thinners, had recently been suffering from brain bleeds brought on by a fall, according to a close friend of the family who spoke to the New York Times.

According to the source, Robert had been unable to speak over the phone in recent weeks.

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.’

Ivanka Trump followed with a tribute on Twitter on Saturday night saying: ‘Uncle Robert, we love you. You are in our hearts and prayers, always.’

Donald Trump Jr tweeted Sunday morning: ‘Uncle Rob, we love you and we will miss you. RIP.’

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 is pictured right with sister Maryanne and brother Donald in 1990

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

Donald Trump Jr paid his respects to his uncle tweeting Sunday morning: Uncle Rob, we love you and we will miss you. RIP'

Donald Trump Jr paid his respects to his uncle tweeting Sunday morning: Uncle Rob, we love you and we will miss you. RIP’

Ivanka Trump tweeted Saturday night: 'Uncle Robert, we love you. You are in our hearts and prayers, always'

Ivanka Trump tweeted Saturday night: ‘Uncle Robert, we love you. You are in our hearts and prayers, always’

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

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'

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

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.

Robert, the youngest of the five Trump siblings, was previously hospitalized for 10 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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

‘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.

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 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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

In a rare but brief interview in December, Robert said his brother had been doing 'fantastic', when asked how the president was holding up during his impeachment trial. He is seen above in December 2019

In a rare but brief interview in December, Robert said his brother had been doing ‘fantastic’, when asked how the president was holding up during his impeachment trial. He is seen above in December 2019

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.

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