While many world leaders have enjoyed a drink — Winston Churchill with whiskey, Richard Nixon toasting late into the night — former President Donald Trump has always abstained. His glass, as he puts it, has remained “bone dry” for nearly eight decades.
At 79, during a podcast with comedian Theo Von, Trump revealed the deeply personal reason behind his lifelong sobriety. It wasn’t about preference, policy, or image — it was a promise to someone he deeply admired: his older brother, Fred Trump Jr.
Fred, charismatic and full of life, struggled with alcohol dependency and passed away at just 42. Reflecting on his brother’s life, Trump said, “I think if I had ever started drinking, I could’ve been just like him.” Fred’s struggles became a lifelong lesson in discipline, self-control, and the dangers of addiction, shaping not only Donald’s choices but also the way he raised his children.