REALITY TV
TV
MOVIES
MUSIC
CELEBRITY
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use Accuracy & Fairness Corrections & Clarifications Ethics Code Your Ad Choices
© MEAWW All rights reserved
MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Trump holds White House funeral for brother Robert as many family members attend service to pay last respects

The 71-year-old died last Saturday, August 15, after reportedly 'suffering brain bleeds from a recent fall'
UPDATED AUG 22, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

President Donald Trump held a private funeral for his younger brother Robert at the White House on Friday, August 21. This was the first such ceremony held at the presidential residence since former President John F Kennedy's death in 1963. It also made Robert one of only three non-presidents to ever have their funerals held at the White House.

The 71-year-old brother of the POTUS died last Saturday, August 15, after reportedly "suffering brain bleeds from a recent fall". For his funeral on Friday, Trump and his wife Melania donned plain clothes as the 74-year-old was seen in a blue suit and black tie while the first lady chose to wear a simple black belt dress. The two were seen together holding hands as the pallbearers carried Robert's casket out of the North Portico of the White House and down the steps to a waiting hearse late Friday afternoon. At one point, Trump closed his eyes and took a moment as pallbearers put his brother’s coffin down the steps and bagpipes played in the background.

The funeral ceremony also marked the presence of Robert's widow Ann Marie Pallan Trump, 55, with whom he tied the knot in March this year. The Trump brothers’ sister Elizabeth Trump Grau, 78, and her 84-year-old husband James Grau was also present. Elizabeth was tearful when pipers played Lord Lovat’s Lament, reportedly a tribute to the family’s roots as their late mother Mary Anne MacLeod was from Scotland.

(Getty Images)

Children of the Trump family also attended the funeral as they were all photographed on the steps of the White House to pay their respects to the deceased. Barron Trump and his siblings Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump were in attendance with their respective partners. Besides, Robert's stepchildren Genna Nixon, 31, and TJ Pallan, 25, and their respective partners Flynn Nixon and Laura Taylor had also come to the White House. However, the president’s eldest sister Maryanne Trump Barry, 83, and Robert’s 44-year-old stepson Christopher Hollister Trump-Retchin were not seen. It was not clear whether they attended the ceremony or not.

Trump chose not to address media outside the White House but tweeted a message for his late brother after the ceremony. “Robert, I Love You. Rest In Peace!” he wrote.

Earlier, on Monday, August 17, he gushed over his late brother saying he was never "jealous" of his accomplishments. “He wasn’t a jealous person, he was a very smart guy. You know, he would be there and he’d be behind me and... if I had the Number-One show, if I had big success, no matter what I did, even if it’s real estate deals or anything else, he was right there and in many cases helped me very much,” the president said of his favorite brother during an interview on ‘Fox & Friends’.

Trump added: “When I became president, he was one of the most loyal people. There was no jealousy. You know, a lot of times in families, I hate to say it, but there’s jealousy, especially among children... There was not an ounce of jealousy. He’d go around talking about how great this is for the country. He was my biggest fan.”

POPULAR ON MEAWW
MORE ON MEAWW