Father Fred Trump, Mother Mary Anne MacLeod

President-elect Donald John Trump dedicated his 1987 book, “The Art of the Deal,” to his parents, Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump.

“The greatest influence on me during my upbringing was my father, Fred Trump. I gleaned so much from him,” Trump stated in the book, co-authored with Tony Schwartz. “I learned about resilience in a challenging industry, I learned how to inspire others, and I learned about effectiveness and competence: get in, accomplish your goal, do it correctly, and exit.”

He further noted, “We had a very conventional family. My father was the authority and the primary provider, while my mother was the quintessential homemaker.”

Donald Trump mentioned that his mother managed the children and also “cooked, cleaned, mended socks, and volunteered at the local hospital.”

Fred Trump, who passed away in June 1999, was a real estate developer, while Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who died about a year later in August 2000, was involved with various charities around Queens, New York, where they lived. They married in 1936 and had five children together.

Donald J. Trump was born on June 14, 1946, as the second youngest in the family.

Continue reading to discover more about what Donald Trump has expressed regarding his parents and his upbringing.

Who was Donald Trump’s father?

Fred Trump passed away on June 25, 1999, at the age of 93 after being admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.

The head of the Trump family was the son of German immigrant Friedrich Trump, NBC News reported, who emigrated from Germany to the U.S. in 1885 at the age of 16. Friedrich Trump, a restaurant owner, later returned to Germany and married his wife, Elisabeth, a seamstress, before they both moved to New York together.

Their son, Fred Trump, entered the real estate industry at the age of 19, as reported by the Associated Press. He began by selling single-family homes before transitioning to high-rises.

In “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump described his father’s business as “building rent-controlled and rent-stabilized housing in Brooklyn and Queens.”

After completing his studies at Wharton Business School, Donald Trump noted in “The Art of the Deal” that he worked for his father’s company and later urged its expansion into Manhattan.

In his obituary, the AP quoted Fred Trump as saying of Donald Trump, “I gave Donald free rein. He has great vision, and everything he touches seems to turn to gold. … Donald is the smartest person I know.”

While he admired his father, he also elaborated in “The Art of the Deal” on why he wished to break away from the real estate business to pursue other opportunities.

“The real reason I wanted out of my father’s business — more significant than the harsh physical labor and financial difficulties — was that I had grander ambitions and visions. There was no avenue to realize them by constructing homes in the outer boroughs,” Donald Trump stated.

In 1991, Fred Trump purchased $3.5 million in chips at one of his son’s Atlantic City casinos, which he did not plan to use for gambling, to help settle Donald Trump’s debts, according to the AP. (Later, the casino admitted to violating state gaming laws by accepting the loan and paid a $30,000 fine.)

Donald Trump stated that his father maintained the same working environment throughout his career: “My father still operates from a small, modest office located on Avenue Z in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn, in a building he constructed in 1948. It simply never crossed his mind to relocate,” he mentioned in the book.

Who was Donald Trump’s mother?

Mary Anne MacLeod Trump passed away on August 7, 2000, at the age of 88. The Associated Press referred to her as a philanthropist in her obituary and noted that she was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.

She first met Fred Trump during a trip to New York City in the 1930s, according to the AP, and they married in 1936, subsequently establishing a home in the Jamaica Estates area of Queens.

While Donald Trump dedicated the majority of the “Growing Up” section of his book to discussing his father’s influence on his childhood, he acknowledged that he inherited his “showmanship” from his mother.

“She always exuded a flair for the dramatic and the grand,” he remarked. “She was a very traditional housewife, yet she also had an awareness of the world beyond her immediate surroundings. I still recall my mother, a Scottish native, sitting in front of the television for Elizabeth’s coronation, not budging for an entire day.”

He recounted how his mother was captivated by the pageantry while his father seemed indifferent.

Donald Trump continued, “I also remember my father that day, pacing impatiently. ‘For crying out loud, Mary,’ he’d say. ‘Enough already, turn it off. They’re all just con artists.’ My mother didn’t even flinch. They were complete opposites in this regard. My mother adored opulence and grandeur, while my father, who is quite pragmatic, is only stirred by effectiveness and competency.”

Fred and Mary Trump were married for 63 years

Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump enjoyed 63 years of marriage and welcomed five children into their family.

Fred Trump Jr. passed away in 1981 at the age of 42 after battling alcoholism. “It’s very unfortunate, as he was a wonderful person who never really found his place. He had a lot going for him, but the pressures of our family dynamics were overwhelming for him. I wish I had realized this sooner,” Donald Trump shared in “The Art of the Deal.” He told The Washington Post in 2019 that he regretted pressuring his brother to join the family business instead of supporting his ambitions of becoming a pilot.

Robert Trump, a businessman, passed away in 2020. “I imagine it must be difficult to have me as a brother, but he’s never voiced any complaints and we’re quite close,” Donald Trump previously stated in his book. “Robert gets along with virtually everyone, which is beneficial for me since I occasionally have to take on the role of the ‘bad guy.’”

Maryanne Trump Barry, who passed away in 2023, served as a federal appellate judge in Philadelphia. In “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump remarked about his sister: “Initially, she followed in our mother’s footsteps by getting married and tending to the home while raising her son. However, she also took after my father’s ambition, and when her son David matured into his teenage years, she returned to education to study law.”

Elizabeth Trump Grau, Donald Trump’s other sister, is alive and has worked as an executive at Chase Bank Manhattan, as noted in their mother’s obituary. Donald Trump described her as “kind and intelligent but less driven” in “The Art of the Deal.”

Reflecting on how his parents raised five children in “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump wrote, “We resided in a spacious home, but we never perceived ourselves as rich kids. We were taught the value of a dollar and the significance of hard work.”

He characterized his parents as being “without pretensions.”