Across the decades, Donald Trump has been both polarizing and fascinating. And the public fascination with Trump has led to extended scrutiny for the rest of his family. After all, you can learn much about Trump by learning about those he is closest to.
That’s one of the best reasons to learn more about his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod. More than anyone else, she helped to shape Donald Trump into the man he is today. And in its own way, her life story is just as fascinating as his own.
Her early life
Mary Anne MacLeod was born on May 10, 1912, on the Scottish Isle of Lewis. There, she was raised in a humble fishing community by a fisherman and a housewife.
She was the youngest out of 10 children and dreamed of escaping to America. She had learned to speak English as a second language (Gaelic was her first language) and in 1930, she hopped on a New York-bound ship at the tender age of 18.
America’s stock market and overall economy were quite weak at this time (this was early on in the Great Depression). But she believed America to be a land of opportunity and was confident she could live with her sister and find domestic work.
When she met up with her sister, she had only $50 and a dream. But she made the most out of coming to America.
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Making it in America
MacLeod had envisioned things would be much easier in America. But she quickly encountered obstacles to her own “American dream.”
For example, she soon found work as a nanny for a rich New York family but ended up losing that job due to the Depression. MacLeod even returned to Scotland in 1934, but didn’t stay long because she knew her future lay in America.
And that future had a face. Sometime in the early 1930s, she met aspiring businessman Fred Trump at a dance. Trump had started a construction business and was making a name selling properties in Queens.
In 1936, the two had a humble marriage ceremony that would seem downright alien to the modern Trump family. They were married in New York’s Presbyterian Church at the Madison Avenue. The two had a whirlwind honeymoon in Atlantic City before settling down in Queens’ Jamaica Estates. And it didn’t take Mary and Fred long to start a family.
On April 5, 1937, Mary gave birth to Maryanne Trump and in 1938, gave birth to Fred Jr. Financially, things were looking good for the family: Mary had her own Scottish maid, and Fred Sr. was making more money than ever.
Mary gave birth again to Elizabeth on March 10, 1942, and became a naturalized American citizen that same year. She gave birth to Donald in 1946 and to Robert in 1948, but giving birth this final time almost killed Mary.
A near-death experience and a new life
Robert’s birth was beyond complicated. It required a variety of surgeries and an emergency hysterectomy. Mary survived this experience, but it made quite the impression on her and possibly on Donald Trump (who was a toddler at this time).
Aside from this major scare, things were looking good for the Trump family. America’s economy was soaring after World War II, and Fred Trump Sr. really profited handsomely. And Mary was now a completely transformed woman.
She took expensive cruises and fancy flights all around the world and spent her days relaxing in places like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. And she became a famous face around New York as well, embodying the kind of rich socialite lifestyle that defined future generations of the Trump family.
To Mary’s credit, she used her new wealth for more than jet-setting vacations. She donated to many different philanthropic causes, including cerebral palsy research and work to help those with mental disabilities. But her greatest influence may have been on the future president of the United States, Donald Trump.
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Donald Trump and his mother
We know much about Donald Trump and his family thanks to his 1987 book The Art of the Deal. And in that book (via Business Insider), he acknowledges “that I got some sense of my showmanship from my mother” because “She always had a flair for the dramatic and grand.”
There are other influences on Donald, including her hairstyle that he seems to have made his own. Interestingly, though, Donald Trump doesn’t say much about his mom. When he does talk about her, he usually raises eyebrows.
For example, Donald blames his problems with relationships to his mother in a kind of backhanded compliment inside his 1997 book The Art of the Comeback. According to Donald, “Part of the problem I’ve had with women has been in having to compare them to my incredible mother, Mary Trump.” He concluded, “My mother is smart as hell.”
While Mary was definitely smart, we can only imagine she wouldn’t enjoy the blame for Donald’s contentious love life. After he divorced Ivana in favor of very publicly pursuing Marla Maples (who would become Donald’s second wife), Vanity Fair reports that Mary was deeply ashamed by Donald’s behavior. She allegedly asked Ivana at the time, “What kind of son have I created?”
Mary died in 2000 at the age of 88 after battling severe osteoporosis. She left behind a legacy of charity, including work for the Women’s Auxiliary of Jamaica Hospital and the Jamaica Day Nursery. And she left quite an impression on Donald Trump, who swore on a Bible she gave him for his Inauguration.
To this day, Trump keeps her photo in the Oval Office.