We discovered German and Scottish roots in Donald Trump's family tree
6-7 minute read
By Daisy Goddard | August 1, 2024
The Trump family tree tells a story of entrepreneurialism and economic immigration.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump is arguably one of the most famous men in the world. Known for his controversial comments, barely a week goes by where Trump's name doesn't hit the headlines.
But how much do you know about Trump's surprising family history?
We did a little digging into the Donald Trump family tree - and made some fascinating discoveries. His ancestors span the globe and had their lives shaped by historic events including the Highland Clearances. Here's everything we uncovered.
Discover even more political family trees via the Findmypast blog. From Winston Churchill to Boris Johnson, there are so many fascinating histories for you to explore.
From Donald Trump Jr. to Melania Trump: the Trump family tree explained
Let's start with the family's most notable member: Donald Trump himself. The former President was born on 14 June 1946 in Queens, New York City. Growing up, he and his siblings attended the prestigious Kew-Forest private school.
Who are Donald Trump's parents?
Donald Trump's father is New Yorker Frederick Christ Trump (1905-1999). His mother Mary Anne MacLeod Trump was born in Scotland and became an American citizen in 1942. Donald was the fourth of Fred and Mary's five children - he grew up with his sisters, Maryanne and Elizabeth, and brothers Fred Jr. and Robert.
Born in 1905, Fred Trump was a real-estate developer and businessman. He built on the real estate family business set up by his parents to create the Trump Organization that Donald Trump is head of today.
How many children does Donald Trump have?
Donald Trump has been married three times: to Ivana Zelníčková between 1977 and 1990, to Marla Mapes between 1993 and 1999 and to Melania Knauss, 2005-present. Like his parents, Donald has five children - Donald Trump Jr (b.1977), Ivanka Trump (b.1981) and Eric Trump (b.1984) with his first wife, Tiffany Trump (b.1993) with his second wife, and Barron Trump (b.2006) with his third wife Melania.
Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony.
Donald and Melania Trump sit at the top of a large family. Donald has 10 grandchildren - the eldest, Kai Madison Trump, was born in 2007, while the youngest, Carolina Trump, was born in 2019.
German roots on his paternal side
Trump is known for proclaiming his American identity, but interestingly, we found European roots on his father's side.
Fred was born in New York City on 11 October 1905 to German-American parents, Friedrich Trump and Elizabeth Christ. Friedrich was born in Kallstadt, Germany in 1869, while Elizabeth was born there 11 years later. The couple married in Bad Durkheim in 1902. Explore Friedrich's baptism record.
Friedrich's parents were Christian Johannes Trump (1829-1877) and Katharina Barbara Kober (1836-1922), both from Kallstadt. The region was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria for most of the 19th century. During this tumultuous period in Germany's history, the family lived and worked on grape fields.
Christian (Donald's great-grandfather) died of emphysema aged 48 in 1877, leaving behind his wife Katharine and six children. When Donald's grandfather Friedrich was determined too sickly to work in the fields alongside his siblings, he worked as a barber's apprentice before emigrating to the United States aged 16.
Friedrich's fortune
Friedrich made big profits during the Klondike Gold Rush, which saw prospectors flock to north-western Canada in search of gold. During this period, Fred ran a successful restaurant and brothel for miners.
Friedrich and Elisabeth moved to New York permanently in 1905. Friedrich was banished from re-entry to Germany by the German Imperial Government for avoiding military conscription.
Friedrich and Elisabeth Trump with their children, c. 1915.
Friedrich, Elisabeth and their children (including Donald's father Fred) are in the 1910 US Census. The family were living in Queens, New York. Friedrich's occupation is listed as 'none', and it is stated that the family own their house.
Friedrich died during the Influenza pandemic of 1918, aged 49. We can find his wife living with three of their children (Elizabeth, Frederick and John) in Queens, New York, in the 1920 US Census. Just two years after her husband's death, Elisabeth is listed as 'married' rather than 'widowed' on her census return.
Elisabeth lived for almost 50 more years after Frederich's death. As her obituary reads, she died in June 1966, aged 86. At the time of her death, she was living in Manhasset, New York.
Trump's Scottish heritage
Donald's mother Mary Ann MacLeod was born on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Outer Hebrides islands in 1918. Like Donald's paternal grandfather Friedrich, she emigrated to the United States as a teenager.
Mary first moved to the United States in 1930 on the RMS Transylvania, which left Glasgow the day after her 18th birthday. She worked as a maid in New York before meeting Donald's father Frederick Trump around 1935.
Mary MacLeod's parents were Malcolm Calum MacLeod (1866-1954) and Mary Jane Smith (1867-1963). The MacLeod family descended from Vatisker on the Isle of Lewis, while the Smiths were from the nearby South Lochs.
Donald's mother Mary was the youngest of 10 children. She was raised in a Gaelic-speaking household with English as her second language. Like many living in the Hebrides at this time, her father Malcolm was a fisherman and tenant farmer.
Our research revealed tragedy on Mary's mother's side. Mary Jane Smith (Donald's maternal grandmother and Mary MacLeod's mother) was born in the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in 1867. Her parents were Mary MacAuley (1826-1882) and Donald Smith (1835-1868).
We found the family in our 19th-century census records. In 1861, the couple were living in the remote village of Tong. Donald worked as a crofter and fisherman. Aged 26 and 24, Donald and Mary had a baby daughter and employed an 11-year-old servant named Ann Macsween.
Death at sea
We made a surprising discovery when looking for the couple in the 1871 Census of England, Scotland & Wales. As reported by the Glasgow Evening Citizen, Donald sadly drowned at sea alongside three other men on 26 October 1868.
A sudden storm hit their fishing boat, 'throwing it on its beam ends, and four of the crew were washed out into the sea'. Donald was just 34 when he died, leaving behind his wife and their six children.
But this wasn't the first time that Trump's maternal ancestors had faced hardship.
Living through land dispossession
Both of Mary Jane Smith's parents - Donald Smith and Mary MacAuley (Donald Trump's great-grandparents) - had their family's lives uprooted by the Highland Clearances.
Between 1750 and 1860, around 70,000 tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands were forcibly evicted from their land. In the early 19th century, the Smith family were forced to migrate south, while the Macauleys were evicted from their homes in the west of the Isle of Lewis.
Highland Clearances commemorative plaque on the Isle of Arran. Image credit: secretlondon123 via Wikimedia Commons.
Less than 200 years later, Donald and Mary's descendants would come to stand on the other side of land disputes. Fred and Donald Trump made their fortune as real estate developers and landowners with the Trump Organization, renting apartments in Brooklyn.
What will you uncover?
Both sides of Donald Trump's family tree tell a story of migration and rising through the ranks to build a powerful American dynasty.
These ancestry discoveries - with economic migration and tenant struggles - are somewhat surprising when compared to Donald Trump's political stances. The lives of the farmers on his father's side and fishermen on his mother's side are a far cry from Trump's glitzy empire as we know it today.
With billions of family history records at your fingertips, there's no limit to the fascinating discoveries that you can make about your very own ancestors. Start your family tree for free and get started.
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