Fact Check: Was Donald Trump's grandfather deported from Bavaria?

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former President Donald Trump’s grandfather, Friedrich Trump, is said to have unsuccessfully petitioned the government of Bavaria (now southeast Germany) not to deport him and his family.

This claim is accurate. Historical records confirm that Friedrich Trump wrote a letter to the Prince Regent of Bavaria, pleading to remain in the country.

Background of the claim

In June of this year, the "Republicans against Trump" X (formerly Twitter) account shared a "fun fact" about Friedrich, asserting that he had been deported from what is now Germany. The post claimed that Trump's grandfather wrote a letter to Bavarian authorities, which was ultimately rejected, leading to his deportation.

Fact check: Donald Trump's grandfather Friedrich Trump was indeed deported from Bavaria

The evidence supporting this claim is robust and well-documented, according to Snopes.

The Letter to Prince Luitpold

Harper's Magazine published a translated version of Friedrich's letter in March 2017. The original letter, written in 1905, was discovered in a German archive and first published by the German newspaper Bild on November 21, 2016.

The Associated Press also confirmed the story, stating: "Bild newspaper printed the 1905 letter located by a historian, in which Friedrich wrote Bavarian Prince Luitpold begging the 'well-loved, noble, wise and just' leader not to deport him. Luitpold rejected the 'most subservient request.'"

In his letter, Friedrich described his distress and the negative impact of the deportation on his family. 

He wrote, "We were confronted all at once, as if by a lightning strike from fair skies, with the news that the High Royal State Ministry had decided that we must leave our residence in the Kingdom of Bavaria. We were paralyzed with fright; our happy family life was tarnished. My wife has been overcome by anxiety, and my lovely child has become sick. Why should we be deported?"

"This is very, very hard for a family. What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur. I would like to become a Bavarian citizen again," expressed the former president's grandfather. 

Friedrich Trump's early life and immigration

Friedrich was born in Kallstadt, Bavaria, in 1869. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager, avoiding compulsory military service. After working various jobs in New York, he moved to the State of Washington in 1891 and later to Canada during the Gold Rush, where he found financial success.

A New Yorker profile details Friedrich's ventures:

"Suddenly, in 1891, Friedrich was off to Washington State before going to the Klondike regions, where he pursued a colorful career providing food, liquor, and women to miners. He came back to New York enriched, a decade later, and continued to move around, trying the Bronx before settling in the Woodhaven section of Queens, where the Trump empire put down deeper roots than it had in Manhattan, and where his grandson [President Trump] was raised."

Return to Germany and deportation

In 1902, Friedrich returned to Kallstadt and married Elizabeth Christ. The couple moved back to New York, but Elizabeth's homesickness led them to return to Kallstadt in 1904. He sought to regain his Bavarian citizenship but faced significant obstacles due to his previous evasion of military service.

John Walter, Donald Trump's first cousin and family historian, explains, "On one of his trips home to Kallstadt, Friedrich married the girl next door, Elizabeth, and took her to New York. Elizabeth, however, was homesick, and in 1904 the family returned to Kallstadt. Friedrich 'worked, for a year, to get his citizenship back' from the German authorities."

He added, "To no avail: Friedrich had failed to fulfill his compulsory military duty, and as a result, he was expelled. 'So they left,' Walter says. 'And they went back to America, and that's why Donald and I are here.'"

Official deportation notice

German public media outlet Deutsche Welle reported on the deportation notice, which highlighted two primary issues: Friedrich’s failure to perform mandatory military service and his failure to officially unregister from Kallstadt. 

The official notice stated, "The American citizen and pensioner Friedrich Trump, currently residing in Kallstadt, is hereby informed that he is to depart the state of Bavaria, or face deportation."

In July 1905, Friedrich eventually returned to New York with Elizabeth, who was at the time pregnant with Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father, according to Snopes.