Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Trager received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1959 and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1962.
Trager became an assistant United States attorney of Eastern District of New York from 1970 to 1972.
On August 6, 1993, Trager was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York created by 104 Stat.
In 1994, Trager was recused from working on the Crown Heights riot, due to potential bias as well as impartiality.
[3] Trager died, in his home in Brooklyn, of pancreatic cancer on January 5, 2011, aged 73.