Getty Robert Trump and Blaine Trump in 2005 (left) and Blaine Trump in 2015 (right)
Robert Trump, the younger brother of President Donald Trump, died on Saturday, August 15, at the age of 71. The Office of the Press Secretary confirmed his death in a statement, in which President Trump wrote: “He was not just my brother, he was my best friend.” Although his cause of death was not provided, the news of Robert Trump’s death came just a couple of days after he was hospitalized at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.
Robert Trump is survived by his wife, Ann Marie Pallan, his former secretary whom he married earlier this year after a long relationship. Prior to that relationship, Robert Trump had been married to his first wife, philanthropist Blaine Trump, for over 25 years. The two tied the knot in 1984 but divorced very publicly in 2008 amid allegations that he had cheated on Blaine with Ann Marie, the New York Post reported.
Blaine Trump, born Martha Lindley Blaine Beard, has been married and divorced twice. She first married Peter Retchin and the two had a boy together in 1978, Christopher Hollister Trump-Retchin, who was later adopted by Robert Trump. Blaine Trump has been most recently linked to entrepreneur Steve Simon, who was referred to as her life partner in a 2015 article.
Here’s what you need to know about Blaine Trump, Robert Trump’s first wife:
1. She Married Robert Trump in 1984 & They Were Together for Nearly 25 Years Before Going Through a Public Divorce
GettyArchitect and designer Greg Jordan poses with Blaine and Robert Trump (l-r) on January 12, 2004 in Los Angeles.
Blaine married Robert Trump in 1984 and their marriage lasted nearly 25 years until they divorced in 2008. According to a PEOPLE profile on the couple from 1998, Robert Trump spoke about their first meeting: “I literally saw her across the room at a fund-raiser and made a beeline to find out who she was.”
In 1987, Blaine told the New York Times that despite their public appearances at various social events and benefits, they liked to keep their lives private. “You never hear from us,” she told the outlet. “Robert and I both love to go to the movies. Robert rates theaters on the quality of the popcorn. We get our popcorn fix and rev up for Monday.”
The marriage fell apart in the 2000s and Blaine filed for divorce from Robert in 2007. The New York Post reported that the marriage ended after Robert cheated on her with his secretary. Page Six wrote that Blaine learned in 2004 that Robert had bought a $3.7 million house on Long Island for his girlfriend and secretary. The divorce proceedings were messy and public and the outlet reported that there was no prenuptial signed.
2. She Is Now in a Longtime Relationship With Her Partner, Entrepreneur Steve Simon
Blaine Trump returned to Miami after her public breakup from second husband Robert, where she said she was able to truly feel better. “When I found myself single again, I went to Miami because I wanted to get strong physically and mentally,” she told AVENUE. “It felt like I was going home. It was really the beginning of a wonderful new life.”
She said she only returns to New York a few times a year to see her son Christopher and attend events for her non-profit organization God’s Love We Deliver. She told the magazine she’s a big fan of basketball and she met her partner, Steve Simon, at a Miami Heat match. She said Pat Riley, then-coach of the Miami Heat and now the organization’s president, is a mutual friend of the two and introduced them.
According to AVENUE, the couple is very active, traveling across Europe together, playing tennis, biking and spending time by the ocean. In 2016, Trump purchased a second home in Manhattan in the Gainsborough Studios building, a unit that was featured by Architectural Digest. In 2017, Simon and Trump attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration ball and the couple was pictured together by Vogue.
3. She Is a Philanthropist Who Is Involved in Many Causes, Including Non-Profit Group God’s Love We Deliver
GettyGod’s Love Board Vice-Chair Blaine Trump on June 9, 2015 in New York City.
Trump is best known for her philanthropy and fundraising efforts, for which she won the Marietta Tree Award for public service in New York City, according to PEOPLE. She has worked closely with the American Ballet Theatre, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and God’s Love We Deliver, a non-profit out of Manhattan that delivers “2,400 meals a day to needy AIDS patients.” According to the non-profit’s website, the organization delivers meals not only to AIDS patients but also others living with cancer and various serious illnesses.
The organization was founded in 1985 “when one woman began delivering food on her bicycle to a man dying from AIDS,” its website reads. In 2017, the non-profit announced that it had delivered its 20 millionth meal. Trump is listed as the vice chair on the board of directors for God’s Love We Deliver. In an interview with Ocean Home Magazine, Trump said she joined the non-profit as a volunteer in 1986 after a few of her friends were diagnosed with AIDS.
She said her greatest achievement with the company is that, “in a small way, I’ve helped thousands of people live with dignity, love and hope.”
4. She Was Briefly Married to Peter Retchin, With Whom She Had a Son, Christopher, Who Is Now a Real Estate Executive
#FlashbackFriday 1994 – Joan with Blaine Trump at the groundbreaking of the original @godslovenyc building. http://t.co/PGEUzSs780
Trump was first married to Peter Retchin, but it was a brief marriage, according to PEOPLE. The outlet reported that Trump dropped out of her studies at the University of Tokyo to marry Retchin, and they had a son together, Christopher, born in 1978. Retchin passed away suddenly on June 12, 2000, and his obituary described him as a “former New Yorker” who graduated from Columbia University in 1968.
After Retchin and Trump divorced, Retchin moved to Phoenix, where he founded R&R Property Management, a “home associations management company” alongside his second wife, Betsy Ross-Retchin. Retchin’s obituary described him as: “A loving husband to Betsy, adoring son to Merv and great brother to Maude and Ellen. His impeccable style, love of life and smile will be deeply missed by his family and friends.”
In 2007, Trump’s son Christopher married Raina Dawn Dieterle, the New York Times reported. Christopher and Raina later divorced and Raina, a photo editor and wedding planner, has remarried. The outlet wrote that Christopher was at the time a client manager in Manhattan at Quinlan Private, a real estate investment firm. According to his LinkedIn, Christopher is now an executive at TST Ventures, a full-service real estate company based in New York and Los Angeles, and has held the position since 2014.
Christopher’s LinkedIn profile says he grew up in New York City and attended Boston University before transferring to Arizona State University. His profile states: “He has been involved in sales and marketing in London, throughout Europe, Manhattan, worked for NBC in Torino during the Winter Olympics and worked at the White House under the Clinton Administration.” According to his profile, his hobbies include “skiing, golf, traveling, sailing and hiking.”
5. She Was Born in 1957 & Spent Her Childhood Moving Around, Attending High School in Japan
GettyIvanka Trump (L) and Blaine Trump on October 18, 2010 in New York City
Blaine Trump was born Martha Lindley Blaine Beard in 1957 in Orlando, Florida, to Jean and Josephus Beard. Her father was a top executive at IBM so Trump grew up moving around, spending time in Florida, Alabama and South Carolina. From the age of ten, she lived in Japan and attended the International School of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo, the New York Times reported in 1987.
She said because she was blonde and tall, she stood out among her classmates. “I was 5 feet 9 inches tall when I was 12 years old and the other kids always made fun of my big feet,” she told the Times. She said her height gave her an advantage in sports, however, and she soon became very active, playing volleyball and basketball although she also dreamed of being a ballerina.
According to a 2015 article in AVENUE, Trump’s mother was an art collector who passed on her love of art to her daughter. After her mother died in 2012, Trump took her mother’s ashes to Tanzania, Africa, to spread them in a “beautiful spot” following her mother’s wishes. Trump said she was very close with her mother and described her as a “steel magnolia” who showed her how to enjoy life and when times are tough, “just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you’ll get there.”
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