Donald Trump is one of the most talked about and albeit, one of the most controversial public figures of modern times. While it is quite easy to focus on what he is today, we have decided to take an alternate route.
Today we will learn about some amazing Donald Trump childhood facts that you probably didn’t know. Ready for the facts cheat sheet?
Without further ado, let us begin and learn about the childhood of the 45th President of the United States of America.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 1-5
1. Donald Trump’s father was Fred Trump. Born and brought up in the New York, Fred Trump became a real estate tycoon.
2. Did you know that Donald Trump’s mother (Mary) was a Scottish immigrant? She had the passion of becoming the center of attention.
3. As we said, Fred Trump was a real estate tycoon, allowing him to provide a lavish lifestyle to his family. Donald Trump and his three other siblings grew up in a 23-room house!
4. Unlike many kids during his time, Donald Trump (and albeit his siblings) could study in private schools and could ride limousines.
5. Fred Trump fathered 5 children with Mary. The eldest one was Fred Jr., but he died at a pretty early age after suffering from alcoholism.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 6-10
6. One of the sisters of Donald Trump by the name Maryanne became a judge in US Appeals Court.
7. The other sister of Donald Trump by the name Elizabeth became an administrative secretary.
8. The youngest child of the Trump family – Robert (born after Donald Trump was born) went into business.
9. The place where Donald Trump was born was Jamaica Estates, Queens borough, New York. His date of birth was 14th June, 1946.
10. At that time, house where he was born was the largest house in the suburbs of New York. The house stands there even today.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 11-15
11. For grade school, Donald Trump attended the Kew-Forest School.
12. Donald Trump’s childhood home had two Cadillac cars standing at the driveway. The cars were a symbol of the wealth of the Trump family.
13. The license plates of the cars had the initials of Fred C. Trump engraved on them as FCT1 and FCT2.
14. Okay, here is one of the most fascinating Donald Trump Childhood facts – ‘Flat Top’, ‘The Trumpet’, and ‘Donny’ were the names that Donald Trump’s friends used to refer to him.
15. Wondering why such names were in use? His friends used those names because of his hair.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 16-20
16. Donald Trump’s friends recalled that as a child, Donald was both cocky and friendly. He was indeed a troublemaker.
17. When he was in grade school, Donald was one of the favorites among his classmates. His popularity came from his shenanigans and his athleticism.
18. Donald was quite stupidly stubborn during his childhood. He almost always refused to acknowledge the mistakes he made.
19. Even when Donald Trump was very young, he had the habit of saying whatever came to his mind.
20. At the age of just 5, Donald Trump was pretty fearless. At that age he followed his babysitter into the sewers of New York City.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 21-25
21. The babysitter was really apprehensive that the darkness could scare little Donny. Despite those reservations of the caretaker, little Donny kept pressing forward into the darkness.
22. When Mary (mother of Donald Trump) gave birth to Robert Trump, she suffered a hemorrhage.
23. Because of the hemorrhage, Marry Trump received an unplanned hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) that required an acute abdominal surgery. The surgery nearly killed her.
24. Fred Trump, despite the condition of Marry, made his children go to school as usual.
25. Maryanne Trump even said that Fred said that he would call her out of school if anything wrong happened at the hospital, but she needs to go to school.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 26-30
26. Little Donny’s father was a very conservative Republican and a very strict father. At home he would always wear a tie and a jacket.
27. Talking about being strict, Fred Trump didn’t really give enough leeway to little Donny when it came to misbehavior.
28. Here is one of the most important Donald Trump childhood facts – He was known to ride his bike very fast along with his friends.
29. He and his friends even shouted at the top of their voices. Little Donny and his friends even cursed loudly.
30. Once a neighbor of the Trump family reported that Little Donny and his friends jumped off their bikes to beat up another boy!
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 31-35
31. Between his journey from childhood to adulthood, Donald Trump developed a type of behavior that is usually seen among bullies.
32. Did you know, besides being popular and charismatic, Donald Trump was narcissistic as well?
33. He actually enjoyed proving himself to be superior over those people who he considered were weaker than himself.
34. In school several of his teachers considered him to headstrong, determined and surly or bad-tempered.
35. Did you know that in school, Donald Trump actually gave his music teacher a black eye? He hit his teacher because the teacher thought that Donald did not know anything about music. No one could actually verify this.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 36-40
36. DT – the initials of Donald Trump were used by his friends as a shorthand for detention. His friends used this shorthand because of the frequent misbehavior by little Donny.
37. When on the playground, Donald Trump would taunt other children and pull their hair on multiple occasions.
38. Donald Trump was also known for disrupting the entire classroom and that too, multiple times.
39. Cursing and throwing spitballs along with his friends in the neighborhood was quite common for little Donny.
40. The neighborhood where he stayed considered him to a troublemaker.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 41-45
41. When Trump was in Kew-Forest School, there was a teacher named Ann Trees. According to Ann Trees, little Donny was completely unforgettable.
42. According to Ann Trees, little Donny was crotchety to faults, but surely, he was very determined.
43. Trees said that Donald Trump would sit with a twisted expression on his face and his arms folded as if he would dare people disagreeing with him.
44. In school, Trump excelled at sports and he would give fierce competition to everyone. Nonetheless, he was also a loser who would get pretty angry if things did not go his way.
45. Compared to his classmates, Trump was quite tall. His appearance emanated independence and confidence.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 46-50
46. Donny was an ardent lover of baseball, but if he made an out, he would smash a few baseball bats in anger.
47. Trump didn’t really have a calm and composed nature. Fits of anger were quite often and he did not shy away from picking fights every now and then. He would even pound other boys if necessary.
48. Trump was so fond of baseball that he would end up finding resemblance between himself and his hero – Yogi Berra.
49. Not just that, Trump even wrote a prose poem in school yearbook at the age of 12. The prose poem was inspired by the game of baseball.
50. By the time Donny was in sixth grade, he had earned himself a reputation of a hard hitter of the baseball.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 51-55
51. Trump was a gifted right-handed hitter. So powerful were his hits that outfielders were forced to shift to the left field to ensure that the ball never got past them.
52. Such switching of field arrangement didn’t deter Trump from hitting the ball strong enough to ensure that the ball went through people instead of going past them.
53. Trump was interested in playing soccer and football as well. However, his performance was quite dismal in those games and often ended up being a sore loser.
54. One of the most interesting of Donald Trump childhood facts is that he broke rules while he rode the subway system to reach his school (Kew-Forest) every single day.
55. So, what illegal thing did he do? He used to ride between the cars. It was not only illegal, but was also dangerous and albeit, his parents weren’t very thrilled when they came to know about it.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 56-60
56. At the age of 12, Donny did a very awful thing. He, along with his friends, took the E train into Manhattan. That wasn’t so awful, was it? Wait!
57. First of all, none of their parents were aware of this incident. On top of that, when they were in the city, they purchased knives for channeling gang members from ‘West Side Story’ – the then Broadway hit.
58. Fred Trump – father of Donald Trump was not really happy with Donny’s behaviors and activities. Fed up with such behavior, Fred sent Donald Trump to New York Military Academy.
59. Donald Trump was only 13 years old when he enlisted in the academy. It is from that academy that Trump finished his 8th grade studies as well as his high school.
60. The military boarding school wasn’t a playground for Donald. That is where he understood that he could get severely punished and even beaten up if he ever misbehaved.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 61-65
61. The military school where Donald Trump studied had strict requirements including strict curfews, commissary meals and daily inspections.
62. Basically, enrollment in the military academy was more like banishment from his family and it came out like a waking call.
63. Trump had to go through daily exercise at the military school. His sports activity and exercise regimen helped him to grow stronger and taller.
64. Donald, however, did not shed off his arrogance and the opinionated young Trump still maintained a combative attitude while in the military academy.
65. During his senior years in the military academy, there was some positive influence on Donny. He rose to the rank of a Captain, he wore military uniform and even participated in marching drills.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 66-70
66. The harsh conditions of the academy taught Donny that irrespective of the intensity of suffering, one must persevere and prevail.
67. This particular lesson helped him to glide through bankruptcy, bad publicity, two divorces, and divisive presidency later in his life.
68. The academy also managed to teach him some humility by forcing him to wake up early, dress up in uniform, eat food alongside other cadets of the academy in a long and crowded hall.
69. The food that he was given to eat was nowhere even close to being glamorous compared to what he ate at his home.
70. The things that Donny learned in the academy might have helped him later in his life.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 71-75
71. At home Donny had his stern father. In the academy, there was Lt. Theodore R. Dobias (basically, someone worse that Donny’s father).
72. Dobias was a war veteran who served in the Italy during the WWII. He was extremely strict and absolutely did not like when students ignored him.
73. Slapping students and even using corporal punishment was quite a common thing for Dobias.
74. Lt. Dobias even allowed the students of the academy to settle their differences through boxing in a boxing ring that Dobias had set up exclusively for the purpose.
75. Though the academy managed to inculcate some positive vibes in Donny, he still retained his erratic temper.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 76-80
76. Trump’s temper did not allow him to stay away from trouble. He fought with other cadets. In one instance, he used a broomstick to hit a fellow cadet during a fight.
77. In another instance, he tried to push out a fellow cadet from a window on the second floor. Luckily, Trump did not succeed because two other cadets stopped him.
78. In the academy Trump was forced to do his own homework, shine his own shoes and even clean the sink. Lt. Dobias and all other teachers in the academy treated Donny as just another cadet.
79. While in the academy, his teachers figured out that recognition, positive feedback and compliments drove Trump and he managed to distinguish himself from other cadets.
80. The teachers understood that Trump always wanted to be “Number 1”.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 81-85
81. Donny was in college when the Vietnam War broke out. College allowed Donny to get four deferments for being a student.
82. The local draft board declared Trump as fit in the year 1968. In October that year Trump was given a full 1-year deferment.
83. The reason cited for deferment was that Donny had heel spurs, which led to a medical deferment despite that facts Trump was declared fit for service earlier.
84. By the time Donald Trump became a senior, he was raised to the position of captain of A Company.
85. During the time when he served as a captain, he did not have to raise his voice. A mere look from him was enough for others to convey the message that messing with Donny won’t be a great idea.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 86-90
86. When Donny was a captain, one of the sergeants of Donny shoved a plebe. This controversy led to stripping off of captain rank for Trump. He was reassigned as battalion training officer.
87. When Trump became a senior, he became a ladies man. He used to bring gorgeous and stylish women into the campus.
88. Trump was rich, he was athletic, he was handsome and quite charismatic. These features allowed him to get almost any woman he wanted.
89. Donald Trump as a young boy went to the dedication of the famous Verrazano-Narrows Bridge along with his father.
90. In that event, he saw that not even a single person was paying any homage to Swedish designer (at that time 85-year old) who designed the bridge and had traveled from Europe in order to attend the ceremony.
Donald Trump Childhood Facts: 91-94
91. The incident made a long-lasting impression on young Donny’s mind and years later, in an interview, he said that if you let other people treat you in the way they want to treat you, you will invariably be made a fool.
92. When Trump was only 18 years of age, he actually knew that something great awaits him in his future. He even told Jeff Ortenau (one of his fellow cadets in the military academy), “I am going to be very famous one day.”
93. Jeff in turn told Danny, “You know what? You are probably going to be president.” Well, that is exactly what happened.
94. Since his birth, the longest that Donald Trump spent outside New York City was 107 days when he was outside the city because of Presidential duties. Apart from that Donny spent most of his life in and around the New York City.
That concludes our list of 94 Donald Trump childhood facts. If you know something more about his childhood, feel free to share it with us through the comments section.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4