Donald Trump seemingly appeared to forget his father’s birthplace during a key White House meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
While speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Tuesday, the President called out the UK and Spain for failing to show support for the US-Israel joint strikes on Iran.
He called Spain “terrible” before saying, “I’m not happy with the U.K. either.” the 79-year-old said, “The U.K. has been, very, very, uncooperative with that stupid island they have, that they gave away and took a 100-year lease,” in reference to the UK transferring sovereignty of Chagos Island to Mauritius.
“They ruin relationships. It’s a shame,” the President said, before revealing he still has love for the country since it’s his mother’s birthplace. However, he also seemingly appeared to hint that both his parents were born in the United Kingdom.
“I love the U.K., my mother was born there,” Trump stated. He then pointed towards Chancellor Merz and said, “My father was… he knows all about my father. My father was born there.”
Trump with German Chancellor Merz next to him: “My father was born — he knows all about my father — my father was born there. These are places you automatically feel warmly about.” pic.twitter.com/9wgelu0per
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2026
While Trump did not specifically name Germany while stating his father’s birthplace, many assumed he meant the same, as he signalled towards the German chancellor while making the comment.
Political commentator Lawrence O’Donnell pointed out the President’s apparent memory lapse during a segment of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on MS Now.
“He said his father was ‘born there,’ which could also mean the United Kingdom, but since he was pointing to the Chancellor of Germany, we assumed he meant Germany because the Trump family is German,” O’Donnell stated.
This isn’t the first time Trump has made such a claim about his father’s birthplace. According to the Mirror US, he shared similar remarks during a 2019 press conference alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The President, while criticizing the-then Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, said, “I have great respect for Angela, and I have great respect for the country,” adding, “My father is German, was German, born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a very great feeling for Germany.”
This is not the kind of insider knowledge most people have access to, but my grandfather, Fred Trump, Sr., was not born in Germany; he was born in the Bronx, NY, and grew up in Woodhaven, Queens–something you’d think his favorite son would know.
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) March 4, 2026
Trump’s father, Fred Trump, was actually born in New York City. Meanwhile, his grandfather, Friedrich Trump, was born in Germany. According to The Irish Star, a German historian revealed that Friedrich allegedly migrated to the US in 1885 and began working in America during the Gold Rush.
He later returned to Germany in 1901, where he tied the knot with Elisabeth Christ. The couple relocated back to the U.S. after their marriage, leading to the Trump family getting American citizenship.
Following the President’s confusion about his father’s birth details, even his niece, and vocal critic, Mary Trump, took to X to clarify that her grandfather, Fred, was born in the Bronx, New York, and grew up in Woodhaven, Queens.
