Why Donald Trump’s Brother Went to Court to Bury the Family’s Secrets

White House, August 2020. Donald Trump stands inside the East Room beside the casket of his younger brother Robert — the first presidential funeral held there since John F. Kennedy. The country saw a final act of brotherly devotion. Thirty-nine days earlier, lawyers acting in Robert’s name had gone to court to stop a book about their family. They lost. Twenty years before that, Robert had given sworn testimony about his father’s cognitive decline and a document brought to the family home for signature. He was not a hostile witness. He was the quiet son Fred Trump had personally chosen to help settle everything. It all began in 1989, with a phone call after three casino executives died in a helicopter crash. Start with the casket, because that room contains the entire story. Robert Trump spent much of his life protecting the brother who blamed him for a failing casino, relied on his loyalty and eventually needed his name attached to one final legal battle. But the testimony Robert gave under oath survived every lawsuit. Fred Trump chose his youngest son because he could be trusted to keep the family together. He never anticipated that choosing Robert would help the truth escape.