While Winston Churchill started his mornings with whiskey and Richard Nixon was known to drink into the night, Donald Trump’s glass has always been empty.

The president says he’s never touched a drop — and in a rare moment of honesty, he finally revealed to podcaster Theo Von the emotional reason why.

Tragically passed away at 42

Donald Trump might be known for his larger-than-life personality, but there’s one thing he’s never touched — alcohol.

While other world leaders have been famous for their drinking habits (Churchill had his whisky before lunch, Nixon sipped late into the night, and Boris Yeltsin… well, enough said), Trump has kept his glass bone dry.

The 79-year-old president, currently in his second term and still stirring controversy with immigration, tariffs, and those ever-mysterious Epstein files, opened up about his lifelong sobriety during an appearance on Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend.

Von pointed out what many have noticed: “I noticed at the events you don’t drink or smoke, right? You never have?”

Trump nodded and replied, “No, I never have. I had a great brother who taught me a lesson.”

That brother was Fred Trump Jr., who tragically passed away at just 42 in 1981 from a heart attack linked to alcoholism. Trump spoke about him with rare tenderness: “He smoked and drank — great guy — he was a very handsome guy. He had a problem with alcohol and smoked a lot but I tell people, ‘No drugs, no drinking, no cigarettes.’ I tell that to my kids all the time.”

”He lived for so long in bad conditions”

The president reflected on how much he admired his older sibling growing up. “He was old enough that you would look up to somebody and I’d look up to him. I admired so much about him, he had so much going [for him]. He had the look, he had an unbelievable personality.”

Fred’s struggle with addiction, Trump said, was both shocking and heartbreaking:

“I think it had probably happened in college at a fraternity maybe? Somewhere along the line it happened and all of a sudden — this is not unique, this is a very common story unfortunately — the family would see it and start to notice it and it didn’t get better. He lived for so long in bad conditions. I was amazed his body could hold out.”

Trump even admitted that, had he ever started drinking, things might’ve gone downhill fast. “If I’d ever tried it,” he hinted, “I could’ve been just like him.”

Back in 2018, Trump also told Fox News, “I had a brother, Fred – great guy, best-looking guy, best personality, much better than mine. But he had a problem with alcohol and he would tell me ‘don’t drink, don’t drink.’ He had a very, very tough life because of alcohol. He was a strong guy but it was a tough, tough thing that he was going through. I learned because of Fred.”

12 cans a day

As many know, President Donald Trump has always had a very different favorite drink than alcohol. During his return to the White House for his second term, he drew attention by bringing back one of his most talked-about quirks from his first term — the famous Diet Coke button on his Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

Trump’s love for Diet Coke is well-documented. According to The New York Times, at his busiest times, he could go through up to twelve cans a day—a habit Coca-Cola even celebrated with a special gift to the president.

While other political leaders might unwind with a glass of wine after a long day, Trump prefers to press his little red button and have an icy cold can of Diet Coke delivered straight to his desk.