Things That You Probably Did Not Know About The Trump Family
Before he was elected into power as the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump was a real estate businessman. But just how did a boy from Queens become one of the most powerful men on earth? Well, we can actually trace his success to that of his grandfather. After that, his father Fred went on to take over the family business to great success. Of course, Donald would eventually get his turn to expand the fortune as well. Let us find out more about the history of this fascinating family!
A Little Boy
The 45th POTUS was born Donald John Trump on June 14, 1946. He is the fourth child of Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod. They had been married for a decade when they had him. The baby was born at a hospital called the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens. He had German ancestry from his dad and Scottish ancestry from his mom. Frederick, his grandfather, moved to the United States in 1885 at the young age of 16. He earned his citizenship in 1892. A skilled businessman, he started the family fortune with the operation of “boomtown” restaurants and boarding houses. On Facebook, Donald shared a photo of himself as a little boy. He decided to inject some humor into the situation by adding this caption: “Who knew this innocent kid would grow into a monster?” Yes, it was just a joke.
A Little Boy
Siblings
The wealth in the family started at the hands of Frederick, Donald’s grandfather. In 1902, he exchanged vows with Elisabeth Christ. They moved to New York three years later and stayed there until the end of their lives. Fred, Donald’s dad, was also born in 1905. When he was 15 years old, he started to work for the real estate business of the family. In 1923, he launched E. Trump & Son with his mom. The business operated in Brooklyn and Queens in New York City. Fred Trump tied the knot with Mary Anne MacLeod in 1936, and the couple went on to have five children together. Ever since he was young, Donald liked to follow his own rules. Look at this photo of him with his siblings back in the day. Donald is on the far left. From left to right, the other people in the photo would be Fred Jr, Elizabeth, Maryanne, and Robert.
Siblings
Boarding School
Donald Trump spent his kindergarten years until the seventh grade at the Kew-Forest School, a college preparatory school. In Queens. Things changed when he turned 13 years old because his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy instead. He was shipped to the private boarding school when they found out that he had been going down to Manhattan on his own without even telling them. At the boarding school, he became a popular student. Here is another photo that he posted on Facebook. The caption read, “#TBT My confirmation picture at First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, N.Y.”
Boarding School
Love of Sports
When he was at the Military Academy, he participated in a variety of sports. At 6’2”, he must have made one formidable player. He played golf, football, squash, and tennis. There were also photos from the school that showed him as a member of the varsity baseball team. Even though he eventually lost interest in the other sports, golf went on to be a staple in his life!
Love Of Sports
Football
During his time at the New York Military Academy, he played on the football team. He loved the sport so much that he bought a football team when he was older. Just so you know, he tried to run an American football league that directly competed with the National Football League.
Football
Proud Parents
Here is another photo that he shared on his Facebook page. He wrote, “#TBT Myself with mother and father at New York Military Academy. See, I can be very military. High rank!” While he said that he was “very military,” he actually had five draft deferments when the Vietnam war was going on. Out of the five, four were for the years he spent in college. However, the fifth one was granted because he had a medical diagnosis for bone spurs in his heels. There has been scrutiny over this diagnosis as of late. The daughter of the man who gave him the diagnosis said that the podiatrist did this as a “favor” to Fred Trump. Apparently, the older man was the landlord of the doctor!
Proud Parents
The Beat Of His Own Drum
We are sure that you already know that Donald Trump prefers to do things in his own way. Below, we have one more throwback photo, this time it is of him wearing his NYMA uniform. He had previously claimed that the outfit made him look “very military,” even though he never actually spent time in the military. A couple of decades after this photo was taken, he landed in hot water for his criticism of Senator John McCain, who was captured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Trump did not think he was a war hero and explained, “I like people that weren’t captured.”
The Beat Of His Own Drum
Graduate
In May 1964, Donald Trump attended his graduation from the NYMA. Later that year, he attended Fordham University. He stayed in the education institution for two years until he transferred to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his bachelor of science in economics in 1968. This is the senior yearbook photo from his high school. When he made his intention to run for the presidential race public, the New York Daily News published the photo on the front page after he criticized John McCain. The publication shone a light on the medals on his uniform and mockingly said that he must have been awarded for “being neat.”
Graduate
College Graduate
You are looking at a photo of Donald and Fred Trump when the former graduated from university. He took to Instagram to share this photo. He talked about the way his father succeeded in expanding the company of his own father by working on “thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments” in New York City. Donald took on the reigns of E. Trump & Son three years after this photo was taken. Not only that, but he changed the name of the company to the Trump Organization as well.
College Graduate
Brooklyn, 1975
Here is another photo that you will find on Facebook. The caption said, “#TBT With my father, Fred Trump, in Brooklyn,1975. A great Father’s Day gift—a stay at my 5-star hotel.” We are sure that this was a happy moment for the pair, but there was going to be trouble not long after it was taken. In the same year, the family chose to settle a lawsuit served by the Justice Department. It claimed that the company was discriminating against African-American clients who wanted to rent from them. According to them, the company was discriminating against people for their race and not economic status. This was not the first time that the family had to deal with a racial discrimination case either. In 1969, they were sued by the people managing their property in Cincinnati, Ohio. The lawsuit was settled quietly under Fred’s instructions. Even though they faced setbacks such as this one, the business continued to grow.
Brooklyn, 1975
Father and Son
In 1982, Donald Trump and his father made it to the wealthiest Americans list released by Forbes. It was all thanks to the fact that they had $200 million between them. In 1976, Fred Trump created $1 million trust funds for every single one of his children and grandchildren. This was what Donald meant when he said that he kicked off his career. The truth, however, was that he had access to the money made by his dad and grandfather. If you were under the assumption thought that Donald Trump was satisfied with $200 million, you will soon find out just how wrong you were.
Father And Son
The Business
Donald made even more money went the 1980s rolled in. He eventually found himself in the billionaires list released by Forbes in 1989. However, reporter Jonathan Greenberg of Forbes said that he believed that Trump tricked him about the wealth of the family to land a spot on the list. However, Trump did not stay a billionaire for a long time. He had business losses that prevented him from making a comeback. Take a look at this photo. When Trump shared it, he also talked about his bid to make the New York City convention center: “#TBT As a young man when I proposed the Convention Center in New York City.”
The Business
Trump Tower
As his wealth continued to grow, Trump wanted to leave his mark on history by shaping the New York City skyline. He had to push for the development of his Trump Tower for years. At last, the plan was approved and set in motion. The construction of the building came to an end in 1983. Take a look at Trump with the model of the Fifth Avenue complex, in which “one of the apartments will sell for $11 million and [Trump] claims four bidders – none of them Americans – are bidding for it.”
Trump Tower
Ivana Zelníčková
By 1978, he already started a real estate business in Manhattan. This was what would propel his wealth into the billions. He purchased a 50% stake in the Commodore Hotel, located beside Grand Central Terminal. In 1980, it was reopened under a different name: Grand Hyatt Hotel. Back then, there were other things that were occupying his time. In 1977, he and the Czech model Ivana Zelníčková got married. They had three children between them, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1992. It happened when the word got out that he had an extramarital affair with Marla Maples.
Ivana Zelníčková
First-Born Son
In the photo below, you can see Donald Trump holding Donald Jr. in 1977. Apart from his firstborn, he and Ivana had two more children. Ivanka was born in 1981, while Eric was born in 1984. As they were growing their family together, he was blindsided by a tragedy. His brother Fred Jr. passed away in 1981 after his fight with alcoholism. This had a big impact on Donald Trump, who decided to quit both alcohol and cigarettes after his demise.
First Born Son
Team Owner
In 1983, Trump purchased a United States Football League team called the New Jersey Generals. Later that year, he succeeded in bringing Heisman Trophy awardee Herschel Walker to the league. In 1985, he managed to the same with Doug Flutie of Boston College. Before the start of the 1986 season, the league ended up folding after it lost an antitrust case against the National Football League. Another thing that led to its demise would be the schedule change. You see, Donald Trump decided to move it from the spring/summer to the fall/winter.
Team Owner
‘The Art of the Deal’
In 1988, he launched the Donald J. Trump Foundation. In the beginning, it was supposed to a way for him to donate the proceeds of The Art of the Deal, his most popular book. The tax returns of the foundation show that money was donated to different healthcare and sports charities. It also gave money to conservative political groups. Trump added this caption to the photo he shared: “Here with my father Fred, back in 1980. My hero, role model, and best friend. #TBT.”
‘The Art Of The Deal’
Wollman Rink Renovation
It took a lot of missing deadlines, over-budgeting, and bureaucracy, but Donald Trump got the contract to fix up the Wollman Rink in Central Park. The city of New York awarded it to him in June 1986. The renovations were completed by December. Donald Trump literally left a mark on the attraction because you will find his logo on the rink railing! He donated part of the profit to public works and charities.
Wollman Rink Renovation
Fred Trump
Fred, his father, died in 1999. Back then, his will indicated that $20 million will be divided among his surviving children. This is a photo of Donald and Fred outside the skating rink in Central Park. This was taken after the renovation. The caption read, “#PresidentTrump with his father Fred #Trump at the Wollman Rink in #CentralPark, #NYC – in 1987. #POTUS45 #ThrowbackThursday #TBT”
Fred Trump
Marla Maples
After his divorce, Donald Trump tied the knot with Marla Maples. The two of them first met in 1989 and embarked on a publicized affair while he and Ivana were still together. Donald had a daughter called Tiffany with Marla. Apparently, they named her after the jewelry brand. Only two months after she was born in October 1993, her parents walked down the aisle at the Plaza Hotel. He bought the hotel in New York City in 1988. He sold it in 1995 after he transformed it from a three-star hotel to a four-star one.
Marla Maples
The Kids
Donald Trump is clearly fond of throwback photos! This one shows him with his children 20 years ago. In the photo, you can see Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Jr. Like their father, they went on to inherit a lot of money and worked in the family business as well. As you can see, the family fortune is in good hands.
The Kids
‘Lost City’
This is a photo of Donald with his “Television City” model. In case you did not know, he wanted to build this huge commercial and residential area in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. His plan was to have the headquarters of NBC News and different TV studios based there. The model in the photo showed a 150-story building that was meant to serve as the centerpiece of the area. It was supposed to be the tallest skyscraper in the world, but things did not go as they had planned. The project was criticized by a number of architecture critics who said that the plan was not only “woefully simplistic” but had “little connection to the varied pattern of streets” of that part of down. On top of that, people living in the area did not approve of it when Trump expanded the size of his plan. It further spiraled out of control when Mayor Ed Koch approved the plan to give tax breaks to NBC if it moved the studios there but did not grant Trump one. In the end, Trump started name-calling, which was reported by the tabloids.
‘Lost City’
Branching Out
If there is a photo of Trump that would show you the way he branched out of the family empire, this is going to be it. You can see him after his plan to purchase and refurbish the decrepit Commodore Hotel was approved by the New York Board of Estimate. Many would say that this was the opportunity that allowed him to get a footing in the real estate business. Of course, it is not entirely true to say that he ventured out by himself. For one thing, there was the $70 million construction loan guaranteed by his father Fred and the Hyatt Hotel chain. Even though Trump likes to say that he built his company from the ground up, it is probably more accurate to say that he simply continued the family’s success.
Branching Out
Trump Tower Completion
Aside from the finalization of the Commodore Hotel takeover, something big also happened that year. Trump was approved to start the development of Trump Tower! Reports claim that he had undocumented Polish workers demolish the flagship store of the Bonwit Teller retailer. It was a famous building thanks to its art deco style and was marked for preservation by the city of New York. After four years of construction, the building was completed. The last spaces were opened in November 1983. These days, the building is home to both commercial and residential spaces. Among these areas, the most famous ones would have to be the Trump Organization headquarters and Trump’s penthouse.
Trump Tower Completion
Trump Tower Opening
This photo of Trump and lawyer Roy Cohn was taken during the opening of Trump Tower back in 1983. The two of them have a long and interesting history together. For one thing, Cohn was the one to represent Trump during the federal lawsuit served by the Justice Department. Trump had been accused of breaking the Fair Housing Act at 39. The court claimed that he quoted different rental conditions, terms, and vacancy statuses to African-American clients to keep them out of his properties. Cohn failed to successfully defend his friend, so they had to settle the charges in 1975. Three years after that, Trump was back in court for alleged violations of the 1975 settlement. At any rate, legal aid was not the only thing that Trump needed Cohn for. Donald, it has been said, has similar ‘counterattacks’ in public. That probably explains why he likes to give the press comments, be it negative or positive.
Trump Tower Opening
Expansion
The photo shows Trump posing in his Trump Tower in 1984. He proudly told the media, “What I have done is build the most beautiful buildings in the best locations.” Trump was able to leave his mark on the Plaza Hotel and the Wollman skating rink during the ‘80s. In the following decade, he refurbished the Gulf and Western Building, as well as the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building. The latter was extensively renovated and then renamed the Trump Building. On top of this, Trump also wanted to rename the Empire State Building when he bought shares of it from 1994 to 2002. His plan had been to buy a majority share and then change its name to “Trump Empire State Building Tower Apartments.”
Expansion
Unhappy
This is a 1986 photo of Donald Trump as he was exiting a federal court. Does he look unhappy to you here? Well, it must have something to do with the fact that he agreed to settle his antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission for $750,000. He did not let the government know that he would buy more than $15 million of stock in Bally Manufacturing Corp. and Holiday Corp. Even though this is a huge sum, he had been doing well at the time. At any rate, the setbacks must have been easy to escape since he had just acquired a huge estate in Palm Beach, Florida. It is best known as the Mar-a-Lago estate.
Unhappy
A Gamble
Was he unsatisfied with his acquisitions in New York City? Maybe this was the reason he started to look into New Jersey as well. Gambling was legalized by the state in 1977, which was the reason he expanded his business. In 1984, he launched Harrah’s at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. He kept buying more casinos in Atlantic City over the course of the decade. However, this ended up being the wrong call.
A Gamble
Happier Times
This is one more photo of Fred and Donald Trump. Taken in July 1982, they were accompanied by Mayor Ed Koch here. They might look happy in this photo, but Trump would be suffering losses from his casino expansion in New Jersey a couple of years later. The properties in Atlantic City were doing poorly, so Trump had no other choice but to put Trump Shuttle, his airline, on the market. On top of that, he had to sell his yacht Trump Princess and restructure his debt. He was able to consolidate his casinos under Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. It had to undergo bankruptcy restructuring in 2004 and 2009, however.
Happier Times
Football Fan
It was not only his Atlantic City casino properties that proved to be a bad business decision in New Jersey. Aside from that, he also hired Walt Michaels to serve as the Head Coach of the New Jersey Generals, the team in the United States Football League that he bought in 1983. His plan was to make the league a real contender of the more popular National Football League. However, things did not turn out as planned because he made a mistake. Many teams were already losing money, so it did not help that he wanted to change the schedule to fall/winter from spring/summer. This decision was made so that it would compete directly with the NFL. Even though the USFL won its antitrust suit against the NFL, it was awarded only $1. This was a “victory in name only,” so the teams were still unable to make enough money to run the organizations. In the end, the league simply disbanded.
Football Fan
The Penthouse
We totally understand why you might have mistaken this photo for the interior of one of the Trump properties. After all, we all know that he likes gold. However, the photo was actually taken when he and Ivana were in St. Petersburg in 1987. You probably have an idea that Trump is linked to this Soviet nation. At the invitation of Ambassador Yuri Dubinin, he made the visit because he wanted to explore the idea of developing a hotel there. Nearly a decade later, Trump attempted to form real estate deals in Russia. For many years, he claimed that he did not have business connections there. However, this was proven false after it was revealed that he locked in on a deal to develop a building in Moscow last June 2016. Not only that, but he was getting a lot of funding from a source in Russia when he was going through bankruptcies during the ‘90s. Donald Jr. even said that the country made up a “pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. … We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
The Penthouse
Red Carpet
Donald Trump has had a falling out with the Hollywood elite. There was, however, a time when he was always photographed on red carpets. After all, he had been part of the New York elite from the moment that he was born. He has also worked on several films and always portrayed himself. Of course, what made him a true star was when he hosted an NBC show called The Apprentice in 2003. It was a huge hit and made his “You’re fired” catchphrase very popular. You might also be interested in checking out the spin-off series The Celebrity Apprentice if you have not seen it yet.
Red Carpet
Florida Friends
These days, Trump tends to go against celebrities who criticize his style of governance. This was not always the case, however. Even though he has since distanced himself from many famous people, there was recent interest in an old connection of his. Take a look at this photo of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein in 1997. It was taken at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The two men were pals for at least ten years. Trump was once quoted by New York Magazine saying, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
Florida Friends
Friends Like These
We bet you can see why a lot of people did not like his comment about Jeffrey preferring ladies “on the younger side.” In 2019, it received a lot of scrutiny because Epstein got arrested for sex trafficking minors in New York and Florida. There had been rumors floating about his pedophilia for decades before this. Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein partied at the Mar-a-Lago estate in the past. However, things did not end well for them. They were both wealthy financiers and competed in a bidding war for the Maison de l’Amitie, also known as the House of Friendship. The Palm Beach oceanfront property was very sought after, but it was Trump who ended up winning. It must have upset Epstein because they had not spoken since then. Four years after that, Trump sold the property to Dmitry Rybolovlev.
Friends Like These
Dreams
Take a look at this official portrait of Donald Trump. It was taken in 1983 and transports us to the days when he was not making headlines every single day. That was the same year that he made it to the list of wealthy people by Forbes thanks to the $200 million fortune of the Trump company. He would be edged out of the list thanks to the losses he incurred in the ‘80s. In 2019, Forbes said that Donald Trump had an estimated net worth of $3.1 billion, which made him the 259th richest man in the United States. Fun fact: he is the first billionaire to be the president! However, Forbes also claimed that his wealth went down by 31% ever since he announced his intent to run for the presidency.
Dreams
‘Ladies’ Man’
When he was a student at the New York Military Academy, Donald Trump joined many teams and school functions. This is a photo from his yearbook. Standing next to a lady, he was dubbed a “ladies’ man.” It took 50 years before people found out who this woman was. Apparently, she was a secretary at the school and went by the name Fran Dunn. She was requested to pose in the photo with the young man. Some things never change. We all know that Trump did not lose his ladies’ man reputation even after he was done with school!
‘Ladies’ Man’