The Unexpected Story of Donald Trump's Mother ... Came to the US as an Immigrant and $ 50 in His Pocket
Mary Anne MacLeod was carrying only about $ 50 ($ 700 today) when she landed in New York on May 11, 1930.
The woman who years later would give life to tycoon Donald Trump - US president-elect - entered that country legally from her native Scotland.
But contrary to the widespread idea that she first traveled as a tourist and then returned to marry the builder Fred Trump, customs documents indicate that from the beginning she intended to stay in the country.
His name appears in the immigration records of the time digitized by the Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, which preserves the data of more than 51 million travelers who arrived in the United States between 1892 and 1957 through said island and from New York Harbor.
According to these documents, MacLeod embarked on May 2, 1930 in the port of Glasgow for the United States, where he arrived nine days later aboard the ship Transilvania.
"She came with an immigrant visa to have a permanent residence," Barry Moreno, historian at the National Museum of Immigration on Ellis Island in New York, told BBC Mundo after analyzing the passenger record of the vessel.
His visa # 26698 had been issued in Glasgow on February 17, 1930, just three months before the trip.
The customs document notes that MacLeod did not plan to return to her home country, but rather intended to permanently reside in the United States and obtain citizenship.
"If from the moment she arrived she saw herself living in the United States permanently, that is called immigrating. There is no doubt about it," writer Gwenda Blair, author of the book The Trumps, told BBC Mundo: Three Generations of Builders and a Presidential Candidate ("The Tumps: three generations of builders and a presidential candidate").
The media in the US indicate that Trump has always maintained that her mother initially traveled to the country as a tourist and not with the intention of residing there.
For some it is an important distinction, given the anti-immigration rhetoric - illegal and even legal - that has characterized the tycoon's speech on his way to the White House.
His attacks on Mexican immigrants, whom he labeled criminals, have made Hispanics' view of Trump largely unfavorable.
Her initiative to temporarily ban Muslims from the United States was also very controversial.
Domestic worker
Originally from Tong, a town on the island of Lewis, north of Scotland, Trump's 18-year-old mother followed in the footsteps of three of her sisters who were already in the United States: Christina, Mary Joan and Catherine.
The authorities noted the name and address of the latter in Astoria (Queens) as the data of the person who was to receive it in New York.
As for her trade or profession, the customs document records MacLeod as "domestic."
"The domestic can mean several things: a person who worked at home; someone who works in a family home, cooking and cleaning for others; or someone who works as a domestic servant in a house," Moreno explained.
In that, MacLeod also seemed to follow the path, at least, of his sister Mary Joan, who had worked in domestic service when she met her future husband, Victor Pauley.
Whatever the meaning he gave to his definition of "domestic", the truth is that MacLeod used it again in September 1934, when he entered the port of New York for the second time from Scotland.
The customs document for this second voyage, this time aboard the ship Cameronia, reveals other relevant aspects of its first years in the United States.
First, that she remained in the country uninterruptedly from her arrival in May 1930 until June 1934, and that she designated New York as her permanent place of residence.
Moreno points out that, before traveling to Scotland, MacLeod processed a permit to re-enter the United States, which would have facilitated customs procedures during her second entry.
Humble origins
"She came from a very poor family. There was a great emigration from the town where she came from because at the end of World War I most of the men in the town died when a ship that brought them back sank," she told BBC Mundo Michael D'Antonio, author of the book Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success ("Never enough: Donald Trump and the search for success").
Mary Anne MacLeod was carrying only about $ 50 ($ 700 today) when she landed in New York on May 11, 1930.
The woman who years later would give life to tycoon Donald Trump - US president-elect - entered that country legally from her native Scotland.
But contrary to the widespread idea that she first traveled as a tourist and then returned to marry the builder Fred Trump, customs documents indicate that from the beginning she intended to stay in the country.
His name appears in the immigration records of the time digitized by the Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, which preserves the data of more than 51 million travelers who arrived in the United States between 1892 and 1957 through said island and from New York Harbor.
According to these documents, MacLeod embarked on May 2, 1930 in the port of Glasgow for the United States, where he arrived nine days later aboard the ship Transilvania.
"She came with an immigrant visa to have a permanent residence," Barry Moreno, historian at the National Museum of Immigration on Ellis Island in New York, told BBC Mundo after analyzing the passenger record of the vessel.
His visa # 26698 had been issued in Glasgow on February 17, 1930, just three months before the trip.
The customs document notes that MacLeod did not plan to return to her home country, but rather intended to permanently reside in the United States and obtain citizenship.
"If from the moment she arrived she saw herself living in the United States permanently, that is called immigrating. There is no doubt about it," writer Gwenda Blair, author of the book The Trumps, told BBC Mundo: Three Generations of Builders and a Presidential Candidate ("The Tumps: three generations of builders and a presidential candidate").
The media in the US indicate that Trump has always maintained that her mother initially traveled to the country as a tourist and not with the intention of residing there.
For some it is an important distinction, given the anti-immigration rhetoric - illegal and even legal - that has characterized the tycoon's speech on his way to the White House.
His attacks on Mexican immigrants, whom he labeled criminals, have made Hispanics' view of Trump largely unfavorable.
Her initiative to temporarily ban Muslims from the United States was also very controversial.
Migratory quotas
The descendants of immigrants who came to the United States through New York during the last decades of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century are equivalent to almost half of the country's population, according to the Statue of Liberty Foundation on its website. - Ellis Island.
However, although the US has historically been open to immigration, when MacLeod emigrated from his native Scotland there were some restrictions on the entry of foreigners.
"At that time, quotas were assigned to admit only a limited number of immigrants from each country. Between 1921 and 1955 there was a limited quota of immigrants from the United Kingdom. As a Scotswoman, she entered it," Moreno said.
The historian indicated that MacLeod also had to apply for a visa to obtain the immigration permit.
In the control sheets of the passengers of the ships, called Manifests, all the data of each one were recorded, including their personal characteristics (eye color, hair, race, etc.).
Each passenger had to answer the question of whether they brought at least US $ 50 and show that they had it.
That was the exact amount Macleod brought with him on each of his two trips.
"If you had less than US $ 50 there were doubts about whether you could survive in the United States while you got a job or you could meet with a relative who could take you in," Moreno explained.
Smart and ambitious
In his book "The Art of Negotiation," Donald Trump refers to his mother as a "very traditional housewife who was fully aware of the world beyond her."
The magnate describes a scene in which his mother is absorbed in watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on television.
"I was totally captivated by pomp and circumstance, by all that idea of royalty and glamor," she wrote.
D'Antonio refers to MacLeod as a highly spirited, highly intelligent and ambitious woman.
"That's what Trump told me about her, she was very competitive and as ambitious as her father. The only thing is that I think she could not express it in the same way because she was a woman. At that time it was difficult for women to make a career and be as ambitious as they can be today, "he said.
Apparently, MacLeod found in charitable activities that space to make her mark on the world.
After her death in August 2000, The New York Times published an obituary calling her a "philanthropist."
"Mrs. Trump was the main supporter of the Jamaica Women's Auxiliary Hospital (in New York) and the Jamaica nursery," the text reads.
He adds that the Trump family also contributed to the Salvation Army and the Boy Scouts of America, among other organizations.
"A pavilion at the Jamaica Medical Center bears his name and they also donated buildings to the National Kidney Foundation of New York / New Jersey," adds the obituary.
Not inconsiderable for an immigrant who came to the United States with only 18 years and US $ 50 in her pocket.
