Original 10/26/2017: In a major speech today, President Trump declared the opioid crisis in America a public health emergency. By designating it a federal "emergency," Trump could free up considerable resources to help people and communities fight addiction; it is a powerful official acknowledgement of an epidemic that killed
more than 59,000 people last year.
But the issue of addiction is also a deeply personal one for Trump. His older brother Freddy suffered from alcoholism, and died in 1981 at the young age of 43.
The President spoke about his brother's struggles with addiction during today's speech, and it's not the first time he's shared his brother's story publicly. Trump has said in the past that Freddy's death had a "tremendous impact" on him. Perhaps most notably, he does not drink alcohol, do drugs, or smoke cigarettes, avoiding these vices because of his brother's alcoholism.
"He had a profound impact on my life, because you never know where you're going to end up,"
Trump said. "I've known so many people that were so strong and so powerful [yet] they were unable to stop drinking."
“[Fred] was a great guy, a handsome person. He was the life of the party. He was a fantastic guy, but he got stuck on alcohol,” Trump said of his brother.
“And it had a profound impact and ultimately [he] became an alcoholic and died of alcoholism. He would tell me, ‘Don’t drink ever.’ He understood the problem that he had and that it was a very hard problem.”
entire article:
Freddy's daughter, Mary Trump, is publishing a tell-all about their family.
www.townandcountrymag.com