President Donald Trump is eyeing a White House funeral service later this week for his younger brother, Robert, who died over the weekend in a New York hospital.

�We�re looking at Friday. And we may do just a small service right here at the White House,� Trump told reporters Monday as he departed Washington on a trip to the Midwest.

The president said such a service would be a �great honor� for his sibling.

�I think he�d be greatly honored. He loves our country. He loved our country so much. He was so proud of what we were doing and what we are doing for our country,� Trump said.

Robert Trump, a businessman, died Saturday after being hospitalized in New York. He was 71.

President Trump announced his brother�s death in a statement Saturday that referred to his sibling as �my best friend� and promised they �will meet again.�

Trump had visited his brother in the hospital on Friday; White House officials had described him as seriously ill. The cause of death has not been released.

Trump discussed his brother�s death during a nationally broadcast interview Monday.

�This was not a great weekend. It�s very hard. You knew it was going to happen, but still when it happens it�s a very tough thing,� the president said on Fox News Channel�s �Fox and Friends.� �He was a great guy. He was a tremendous guy. He was my friend. I guess they say best friend, and that�s true. And losing him, not easy.�

Trump said Robert Trump had always supported him and there was no rivalry between them.

�There was not an ounce of jealously … he was my biggest fan,� Trump said.

(AP)