During an odd moment in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Donald Trump seemed to forget where his father was born.
As Trump met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, he accused the United Kingdom of being “very very uncooperative” about Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean that’s home to a U.K.–U.S. military base.
The topic also seemed to trigger a wave of nostalgia about his parents.
“I love that country,” Trump said of the U.K. “I love it. My mother was born there. I love it. My mother was born there.”
Then, he focused on his dad’s origins.
“My father was born ― like he knows all about my father ― my father was born there,” Trump said as he gestured to the German chancellor, indicating his father was born in Germany. “So, you know, places that you sort of automatically, very very, feel warmly about.”
picture alliance via Getty Images
Trump was right about one of his parents. His mother, Mary Anne Trump, was born in Scotland, which is part of the United Kingdom. But his father, Fred Trump, was born in New York, not Germany. His grandfather, Frederick Trump, was born in what is today part of Germany.
Trump has made that same mistake before, claiming in 2019 that his father was “born in a very wonderful place in Germany.”
The latest verbal stumble drew attention, in part, because Trump repeatedly attacked his predecessor, Joe Biden, for his own gaffes when in office ― and in 2022 even claimed that Biden had dementia.
Now, some critics are pointing to Trump’s frequent flubs, as well as growing questions about his overall health (including two “yearly” physicals just six months apart). And they’re hitting the president with the same kinds of accusations he once made against Biden.
Some commentators, such as Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan, even called for invoking the 25th Amendment, a constitutional process that could ultimately lead to the removal of a president unable to perform his duties:
