Donald Trump’s Blatantly False Claim About His Father Leads To New ’25th Amendment’ Calls
During a somewhat strange moment in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Donald Trump appeared to mix up details about where his father was born.
While meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump complained that the United Kingdom had been “very, very uncooperative” regarding Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean that hosts a joint U.K.–U.S. military base.
The discussion then seemed to make Trump reflect on his family background.
“I love that country,” Trump said while talking about the United Kingdom. “I love it. My mother was born there. I love it. My mother was born there.”
He then started talking about his father’s background.
“My father was born like he knows all about my father my father was born there,” Trump said while gesturing toward the German chancellor, suggesting that his father was born in Germany. He added that there are certain places people naturally feel warm toward because of family connections.
However, Trump was only correct about one of his parents. His mother, Mary Anne Trump, was born in Scotland, which is part of the United Kingdom. But his father, Fred Trump, was actually born in New York, not Germany. It was Trump’s grandfather, Frederick Trump, who was born in what is now Germany.
Trump has made the same mistake before. In 2019, he also said that his father was “born in a very wonderful place in Germany.”
This latest slip has attracted attention partly because Trump spent years criticizing his predecessor, Joe Biden, for making verbal mistakes while he was president. In 2022, Trump even claimed that Biden had dementia.
Now some critics say Trump himself has been making frequent mistakes when speaking. They are also raising questions about his overall health, especially after reports that he had two “annual” physical exams only six months apart.
Because of this, some of the same accusations Trump once made about Biden are now being directed at him by his critics.
Some commentators, including Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan, went even further and suggested that the 25th Amendment should be considered. This is a constitutional process that can be used if a president is believed to be unable to carry out the duties of the office.
Hasan pointed out that there would likely have been a major reaction if former President Joe Biden had made a similar mistake about his own father’s birthplace. He also noted that this was not the first time Trump had incorrectly said that his father was born in Germany, even though Fred Trump was actually born in New York.
