President Trump told reporters on Tuesday that his father was born in Germany, even though his father was born in New York. When asked about NATO and other European nations paying their “fair share,” the president said he didn’t think Germany was paying enough. “Germany honestly is not paying their fair share. I have great respect for Angela and I have great respect for the country. My father is German—was German,” he said. “He was born in the very wonderful place in Germany and I have a good feeling for Germany, but they’re not paying what they should be paying.” According to The Washington Post, this is the third time the president has claimed his father, Fred Trump, was born in Germany when it was his grandfather Friedrich Trump who was a German immigrant in the U.S. Trump also wrote in his book The Art of the Deal that his father came to the U.S. “from Sweden as a child.” When Fred Trump was alive, he reportedly denied his German heritage and pretended to be Swedish in order to sell apartments during World War II.
