# Had Trump's grandfather naturalized by the time Trump's father was born? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [April 3, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012 "2026-04-03T20:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/1 "2026-04-03T20:07:36Z")
This is a factual question although I have not been able to find the answer on Google, but it has an obvious political implication. Trump’s grandfather emigrated to the US in 1885. Incidentally, I have no idea if my grandparents, immigrants all, ever naturalized. I can’t imagine it would have seemed very important in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/2 "2026-04-03T20:14:33Z")
Here is a pdf from the Washington Post website that includes an application for a passport made by Fred Trump in 1904 in which he states that he is a naturalized citizen since 1892: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-stat/graphics/politics/trump-archive/docs/friedrich-trump-naturalization.pdf](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-stat/graphics/politics/trump-archive/docs/friedrich-trump-naturalization.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/3 "2026-04-03T20:51:00Z")
Is there documentation for his assertion, though? Things were squishier back then. My grandfather immigrated around then. We thought he was born in the US. He had a US birth certificate. But after his death, we found that he also had a Russian birth certificate. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/4 "2026-04-03T21:10:23Z")
I don’t know, but as I understand it, at that time it wasn’t particularly difficult for an immigrant living in the US to get naturalised. So possibly Fred Trump would not have had a reason to lie about it. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/5 "2026-04-03T22:37:26Z")
According to Wikipdia: > Born and raised in [Kallstadt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallstadt "Kallstadt"), in what was then the [Kingdom of Bavaria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Bavaria "Kingdom of Bavaria"), Trump immigrated to the United States in 1885. In 1891, he began speculating in real estate in [Seattle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle "Seattle"). During the [Klondike Gold Rush](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush "Klondike Gold Rush"), he moved to the [Yukon, Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon,_Canada "Yukon, Canada") and made his fortune by operating a restaurant and a [brothel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothel "Brothel") for miners in [Whitehorse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehorse "Whitehorse").[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Trump#cite_note-brothel-2)[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Trump#cite_note-WhoHeIs-3) > > In 1901, Trump returned to Kallstadt and married [Elisabeth Christ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Christ_Trump "Elizabeth Christ Trump"). As he had failed to complete mandatory military service and notify the authorities of his departure in 1885, the [Bavarian government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_government "Bavarian government") stripped him of his citizenship in 1905 and ordered him to leave. Consequently, he returned to the United States with his family. So he had enough time to be naturalized, but may have lied because he lost his Bavarian citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2026, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/6 "2026-04-04T01:20:50Z")
I assume having had his Bavarian citizenship revoked, he would need a US passport to get back into the USA (they I assume would have taken his Bavarian passport?) Did they do that to someone who did not have an alternate citizenship? The article says he was ordered out in 1905 but the earlier post says he applied for the US passport in 1904? Did he see the handwriting on the wall? Inquiring minds want to know… ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/7 "2026-04-04T01:24:57Z")
Has anyone seen his long form passport application? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/8 "2026-04-04T01:46:59Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I assume having had his Bavarian citizenship revoked, he would need a US passport to get back into the USA (they I assume would have taken his Bavarian passport?) Did they do that to someone who did not have an alternate citizenship? You didn’t need a passport in 1905. They were basically VIP documents. They became mandatory for travel between continents after WWI. You could still travel all over the Americas without papers until WWII and between US and Canada at least until 1990. But I don’t know if people even bothered to be naturalized. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2026, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/9 "2026-04-04T03:12:42Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > You could still travel all over the Americas without papers until WWII For a cruise to Mexico from the US in 2000, all I needed was a copy of my birth certificate. I believe it was after 9/11 that they started to require passports. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-trumps-grandfather-naturalized-by-the-time-trumps-father-was-born/1029012/10 "2026-04-04T13:38:58Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > My grandfather immigrated around then. We thought he was born in the US. He had a US birth certificate. But after his death, we found that he also had a Russian birth certificate. That’s not unusual, even today. Many (maybe most/all) countries will issue birth certificates to their citizens regardless of where they were born. (I’ve got a birth certificate from each country of which I’m a citizen, though of course I was born only in one of them.)