Robert Stewart Trump (August 26, 1948 – August 15, 2020) was an American businessman and investor. He was the younger brother of U.S. presidentDonald Trump, and was a loyal supporter ofDonald's political career.
Trump served on the board of directors forZeniMax Media, parent company toBethesda Softworks, a position he occupied from 1999[1] until his death in 2020.[2] In addition to being a board member at ZeniMax, he was also an investor in the company.[3]
In the years before his death, Robert Trump was the president ofthe Trump Organization, a business owned by the Trump siblings.[4] At some point, he also worked as a real estate developer.[5]
Following Mark G. Etess's death in an October 1989 helicopter crash on aGarden State Parkway median inLacey Township,New Jersey, Donald Trump appointed Robert Trump to serve in Etess's former position.[12][13][a] Etess had been the top executive at theTrump Taj Mahal, Robert Trump's special sporting events coordinator, and was the master of super deals in sports and entertainment for Donald Trump.[b]
When concern was expressed about violent video games, in the wake of theColumbine High School massacre in 1999, "political luminaries",[23] including Robert Trump, were added to the board of directors forZeniMax Media, parent company toBethesda Softworks.[1] until his death in 2020.[2] During his tenure as a director, ZeniMax published several series, includingFallout,The Elder Scrolls,Doom, andWolfenstein. His role at the company was highlighted by media outlets in the wake of theParkland school shooting, when his brotherlinked video games to violence and subsequently met with various industry chiefs,[24][25] includingRobert Altman,CEO of ZeniMax.[26] In addition to being a board member at ZeniMax, Trump was also an investor in the company.[3]
In the years prior to his death, Robert Trump was the president ofTrump Management, Inc.,[27]Fred Trump's business,[28] later owned by the Trump siblings, including Donald and Robert, as well as their sisters Maryanne Trump-Barry and Elizabeth Trump-Grau.[4] At some point, Trump worked as a real estate developer.[5]
In June 2020, Robert Trump filed a lawsuit seeking to preclude the upcoming publication of the book by his niece,Mary L. Trump,Too Much and Never Enough. Trump's lawsuit was based on a 2001 confidentiality agreement Mary Trump signed in settling a lawsuit related to her grandfather, Fred Trump's, will and estate.[29]
Justice Hal B. Greenwald of theNew York Supreme Court ruled in July 2020 that the book's publisher,Simon & Schuster, was not a party to the 2001NDA, and its rights to publish the book were not restricted by that agreement. Greenwald affirmed that Mary Trump's contract with the publisher gave her no ability to halt publication at that point.[30] The book was published on July 14, 2020.
Robert Trump lived inMillbrook, New York.[31][32] In 2012, Blaine Trump put her $17.5 million mansion in Millbrook up for sale.[33]
In 1984, Trump marriedBlaine Beard,[34] whom he met at aChristie's fundraiser.[35] He had a stepson named Christopher Trump-Retchin. In October 2004, Blaine overdosed on pills and was hospitalized atMount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan after she learned that Robert bought a $3.7 million house onLong Island for his secretary and then-girlfriend Ann Marie Pallan.[36] They were involved in a lengthy divorce battle that lasted from 2007 until reaching a secret settlement in 2010.[37][7][38]
In 2006, after Robert and Blaine separated, they put their 6,500-square-foot (600-square-meter), three-unit, three-floor, unfinished co-op residence on the market.[39]
Trump married his second wife, Ann Marie Pallan, in January 2020.[40] Robert was a longtime friend ofRobert A. Altman.[41]
In 1990, Donald Trump put Robert in charge of theTrump Taj Mahal casino inAtlantic City, New Jersey.[42] The casino experienced significant problems with its grand opening, especially the slot machine financial controls, that took months to rectify. According to Jack O'Donnell, a former Trump Organization executive, at one of the meetings, "Donald Trump screamed at his brother, putting the blame for the slot machine debacle entirely on him."[7]
Robert Trump remained a loyal supporter ofhis brother's political career. Fox commentatorEric Bolling, following Robert's death, had stated that he and his wife Ann Marie Pallan were vigorous supporters of Donald. Donald himself stated onFox & Friends that Robert was his biggest fan and that he would hear about Robert's immense support from others too.[43]
In August 2020,ABC News reported that Trump had been hospitalized atMount Sinai Hospital inManhattan, after having previously been in the hospital'sintensive care unit for over a week in June.[44] Donald Trump visited him that day, later stating that Robert was seriously ill and was "having a hard time".[45][46] Robert Trump died atNewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan the following day, August 15, 2020, at age 71.The New York Times quoted a family friend as saying that Trump had recently started experiencingintracerebral hemorrhaging after a fall.[7] His nieceMary, in an interview withGreenpeace a few days before his death, said that Robert had been sick and hospitalized "a couple of times in the last three months."[47]
In a written statement, Donald Trump said, "He was not just my brother, he was my best friend."[7][48] Afuneral service was held for Robert on August 21, 2020, in theEast Room attended by 150 guests. This was the first time in almost a century that a president had held a funeral in the East Room.[43]
^In addition to the death of 37-year-old Mark Grossinger Etess fromMargate, others killed in the October 10, 1989 helicopter crash were the pilot Robert Kent, fromRonkonkoma, New York, the co-pilot Lawrence Diener fromWestbury, New York, Jonathan Benanav from Margate, and Stephen F. Hyde fromLinwood. Jonathan Benanav, 33, had worked as an executive assistant manager and director of hotel operations at theSands Hotel & Casino inAtlantic City from June 1982 to July 1985, then had worked as general manager at theAirport Hilton inPhiladelphia before joining the Trump Organization in 1986 where he was the executive vice president ofTrump Plaza Hotel and Casino. Stephen F. Hyde, 43, was a quiet man who was attentive to details and headed Trump's three Atlantic City casino properties. The crash occurred at 1:40pm nearGarden State Parkway mile marker 71.5 about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) from theOyster Creek nuclear power plant.[12][13]
^After Donald Trump traveled to Russia and visitedMoscow andSt. Petersburg in 1987, he began organizing sporting events through representatives with Viktor Galaev (Russian:Виктор Галаев) and the KGB controllerSergey Chemezov's Sovintersport which held a monopoly on Soviet sports.[14][15][16][17] AsKGB officers, bothVladimir Putin and Chemezov, who were friends, lived in the same apartment building inDresden when they formed Sovintersport in the 1980s.[18][19][20][21] Sergei Chemezov, who became a hunter during his days in Dresden, loves hunting in Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia where Chemezov hunted with fellowing hunting enthusiastSergey Yastrzhembsky who was the Russian Ambassador to Slovakia from 3 June 1993 to 13 August 1996.[22]
^РОЛДУГИН, Олег (Roldugin, Oleg) (March 18, 2008)."ЧЕМЕЗОВ - ЗАПАСНОЕ ОРУЖИЕ ПУТИНА" [CHEMEZOV IS PUTIN'S BACKUP WEAPON].Собеседник (sobesednik.ru) (in Russian). Archived fromthe original on September 25, 2015. RetrievedMarch 18, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Original Sobesednik site as "ЧЕЛОВЕК С РУЖЬЕМ. Как глава Ростехнологии перешел из разведки в бизнеc" ("A MAN WITH A GUN. How the head of Rostekhnologii moved from intelligence to business")
^Козырев (Kozyrev), Михаил (Mikhail) (October 3, 2007)."Под прикрытием" [Under cover].Forbes (in Russian). Archived fromthe original on August 11, 2021. RetrievedAugust 11, 2021.
