--- title: Donald Trump Invokes Brother's Alcoholism in Opioid Speech description: President Trump discussed the challenges faced by his late brother, Fred Trump, Jr., who battled alcoholism before passing away. canonical: https://time.com/4999318/donald-trump-opioid-crisis-brother-fred-trump-jr/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-26T20:03:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:59:00.584Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Says His Brother Kept Him Away From Drugs og:description: Trump rarely discusses his brother, who died after battling alcoholism og:url: https://time.com/4999318/donald-trump-opioid-crisis-brother-fred-trump-jr/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba9361c10f3f7b98/6988e39086f68e66016e7015/president-trump-opioids-national-crisis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: president-trump-opioids-national-crisis og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Says His Brother Kept Him Away From Drugs twitter:description: Trump rarely discusses his brother, who died after battling alcoholism twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba9361c10f3f7b98/6988e39086f68e66016e7015/president-trump-opioids-national-crisis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'He Really Helped Me.' 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=97b806eb-0080-4f3f-93d4-ade72d7fac46&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump Declares Opioid Crisis a Public Health Emergency [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Declares Opioid Crisis a Public Health Emergency](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vlPhWRGH.m3u8) (2:07)  _Published 2017-10-26. In an address at the White House, President Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the national opioid crisis a public health emergency._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Oct 26, 2017 8:03 PM UTC In an address at the White House, President Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the national opioid crisis a public health emergency.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Oct 26, 2017 8:03 PM UTC During a Thursday announcement [declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency](http://time.com/4998975/opioid-crisis-donald-trump-public-health-emergency/), President Donald Trump discussed the challenges faced by his late brother, Fred Trump, Jr., who battled alcoholism before passing away nearly 40 years ago. Trump called his brother a “great guy,” adding that he’s never had a drink of alcohol or smoked a cigarette because of Fred Trump, Jr.’s advice to stay away from them. “He really helped me,” said Trump. “I had somebody that guided me.” Trump said that people should follow a similar warning to steer clear of opioids. “If we can teach young people not to start, it’s really really easy not to take them,” said Trump, referring to drugs. To be sure, some people become addicted to opioids after being prescribed opioid-based painkillers. Fred Trump, Jr. passed away in 1981\. Trump rarely speaks about his brother, although Trump discussed his brothers’ troubles in a [2016 interview](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/us/politics/for-donald-trump-lessons-from-a-brothers-suffering.html) with The New York _Times._ ## Transcript [00:00] Effective today, my administration, is officially declaring [00:03] the opioid crisis a national public health [00:07] emergency under federal law. And why I am directing [00:11] all executive agencies to use every appropriate [00:15] emergency authority to fight the opioid crisis. [00:19] I learnt myself I had a brother Fred, great [00:23] guy, best looking guy, best personality, much [00:28] better than mine. [ LAUGH ] [00:30] But he had a problem, he had a problem with alcohol, [00:34] and he would tell me, don't drink. Don't [00:38] drink. He was substantially older and I listened to him [00:42] and I respect it, but he would constantly tell me, don't [00:46] drink. He'd also add, don't smoke. But he would say [00:50] it over and over and over again. And [00:54] to this day I've never had a drink. And I have no [00:57] longing for it. I have no interest in it. To this day I've [01:01] never had a cigarette. Don't worry those are only two [01:04] of my good things. I don't want to tell you about the [01:06] bad things. [ LAUGH ] There's plenty of bad things, [01:08] too. But he really helped me, I had somebody that [01:11] guided me. And he had a very, very, very tough life [01:15] because of alcohol, believe me. Very very, tough tough [01:18] life. He was a strong guy, but it was a tough, tough [01:23] thing that he was going through, but I learned because [01:26] of Fred, I learned And that's what I think is so [01:29] important. This was an idea that I had where if we can [01:33] teach young people not to take drugs, just not [01:37] to take them, when I see friends of mine that are [01:40] having difficulty with not having that drink at dinner, [01:44] where it's literally almost impossible for them to stop I [01:47] say to myself, I can't even understand it. Why would [01:50] that be difficult? But we understand why it is difficult. [01:54] The fact is, if we can teach young people and people [01:58] generally not to start, it's really, really easy [02:03] not to take them. And I think that's going to end up [02:05] being a most important thing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4999318/donald-trump-opioid-crisis-brother-fred-trump-jr/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4999318/donald-trump-opioid-crisis-brother-fred-trump-jr/"},"headline":"'He Really Helped Me.' 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