Donald Trump has prompted online head-scratching after stating that his father was born in Germany, even though Fred Trump’s birthplace is recorded as the Bronx in New York City.
The president spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday (March 3) during a sit-down with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
While the meeting had long been scheduled, much of the discussion inevitably focused on the escalating conflict in the Middle East following a joint US-Israel strike on Iran.
During the press conference, Trump also took aim at the UK and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, after Britain initially declined to allow the US to use UK military bases for the operation.
Starmer later reversed course, and the US is now cleared to use the bases for defensive purposes.
Even with that shift, Trump said he was unimpressed, remarking of Starmer: “So we are very surprised. This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
That exchange led him into comments about his family background, including his late mother, Mary Anne Macleod Trump, who was born in Scotland and moved to the US when she was young.
Referring to Britain, Trump said: “They ruin relationships. It’s a shame. And I love that country. I love it. My mother was born there.”
He then motioned toward Merz while continuing: “My father was born — he knows all about my father. My father was born there. There are places that you sort of automatically very, very — feel warmly about.”
However, Fred Trump was not born in Germany; he was born in New York City.
The German-born relatives in Trump’s family tree are his grandparents, Frederich Trump and Elizabeth Christ Trump, who later emigrated to the United States.
This also isn’t the first time he has made the claim. In 2019, Trump told CBS News during a press briefing: “My father is German — was German — born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a very great feeling for Germany.”
Elsewhere in Tuesday’s appearance, Trump said he intended to take economic action against Spain after the country declined to support the US military effort related to the Middle East.
He told press: “Spain has been terrible. In fact I told Scott [Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent] to cut off all dealings with Spain.”
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez responded by criticizing the US strike on Iran, saying: “We will not be complicit in something that is bad for the world and that is also contrary to our values and interests simply out of fear of reprisals from someone.”