“Don’t Drink. Don’t Smoke.” The Brother Who Became a Warning
When Theo Von asked him why he doesn’t drink, Trump didn’t hesitate.
“I had a great brother who taught me a lesson,” he said. “Don’t drink, and he said don’t smoke.”
The irony? Fred Trump did both.
Trump described Fred as “a great guy” and “very handsome” — someone who “had so much going” for him. But Fred struggled with alcoholism for years, and it eventually killed him at just 42.
“He had a problem with alcohol,” Trump said simply. He added that he thinks it probably really took hold when Fred was in college — the age where “just having fun” starts turning into something darker for a lot of people.
For Trump, watching his brother slowly destroy his life was enough.
He didn’t need to “try it and see.” He treated Fred’s life as the experiment — and decided he wanted no part in repeating it.
So, while people have mocked him for his Diet Coke obsession or lack of drinking stories, he’s very clear: He made that decision on purpose. He saw where alcohol took his brother, and decided he’d rather never start than risk the same path.
During the conversation, Theo Von mentioned that for him, alcohol makes everything worse.
“For me, drugs is the problem,” he admitted, “but if I have a drink, then it’s tougher for me to prevent myself.”
That’s the kind of sentence you only really hear from people who’ve been to the edge and back.
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