Fred Trump

[[File:Fred Trump in the 1980s (cropped2).jpg|thumb|right|165px|Trump, c. 1986, a man of orange]]
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{{cquote|I asked Fred Trump what his policy was regarding minorities and he said it was absolutely against the law to discriminate. At a later time… Fred Trump told me not to rent to blacks. He also wanted me to get rid of the blacks that were in the building by telling them cheap housing was available for them at only $500 down payment, which Trump would offer to pay himself. Trump didn't tell me where this housing was located.|||A former Trump employee's statement to the [[FBI]].<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-report-trump-housing-discrimination-2017-2 The FBI released hundreds of pages related to a 1970s housing discrimination lawsuit against Trump] by David Choi (Feb 15, 2017, 8:35 PM PST) ''Business Insider''.</ref>}}
'''Frederick Christ "Fred" Trump''' {{lived|1905|1999}} was a [[sociopath]],<ref name=mary>''Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man'' by Mary Trump (2020) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1982141468.</ref>{{rp|24,26,43}} an American real estate developer, and the father of [[Donald Trump]]. As such, Fred is Donald's only known klancestor.<ref>[https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Klancestor Klancestor] ''Urban Dictionary''.</ref> Proving the appropriateness of the "[[Christ]]" part of his name, in the New York State census of 1925 Trump listed his profession as "carpenter".<ref>[https://www.wikitree.com/photo.php/4/41/Trump-67-2.jpg NY State Census, Queens, NY]</ref>

Fred Trump built his fortune by profiteering off US government housing contracts during the post-[[WWII]] building boom. A 1954 US Senate committee investigated Trump and never charged him with a crime, but his tactics are reminiscent of his son's real estate tactics (self-dealing, inflating prices, and shifting risk to other parties while keeping capital).<ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/23/ike-didn-t-like-trump-s-dad-at-all.html Ike Didn't Like Donald Trump's Dad at All: The Donald may love citing President Eisenhower on the campaign trail, but it looks like Ike wasn't a big fan of Trump's father, Fred] by Michael D'Antonio (11.22.15 10:00 PM ET) ''The Daily Beast''.</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-stat/graphics/politics/trump-archive/docs/fha-investigation-1954-part-1.pdf FHA Investigation Hearings Before The Committee On Banking And Currency United States Senate Eighty-Third Congress Second Session Pursuant To S. Res. 229.] Afternoon Session (July 12, 1954) + "Trump, Fred C., Beach Haven Apartments, Jamaica, N.Y.: Statement", pp. 395-420.</ref> Fred's tactics included working the refs (claiming [[bias]] against himself when there was none), [[Deceit|lying]] and cheating, skimming profits at taxpayer expense, and [[tax]] fraud.<ref name=mary/>{{rp|141}}

Before his death in 1999, Fred Trump suffered from Alzheimer's Disease for six years. The disease has a genetic component... and it shows.<ref>John Gartner, [http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/04/09/does-donald-trump-have-dementia-we-need-know-psychologist-column/3404007002/ Trump's cognitive deficits seem worse. We need to know if he has dementia: Psychologist]. ''New York Post'', 9 April 2019.</ref> (which means that his son could be America's second [[Ronald Reagan|Alzheimer president]]). He became sick with pneumonia in June 1999 and was admitted to Long Island [[irony|Jewish]] Medical Center in New Hyde Park, where he died a few weeks later.<ref name=NYP>{{cite news|work= [[New York Post]]|title= Fred Trump, Dad of Donald, Dies at 93|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/item_2h8RN9H4r2EnuTa5v0ARhK |first= Angela|last= Mosconi|date= June 26, 1999}}</ref><ref name=DATDementia>King, Steve (October 1, 2015). [http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/265291/donald-trump-dementia/ "Does Donald Trump have dementia?"]. ''Death and Taxes''.
</ref><ref name=NYTSwedish>
[http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/26/nyregion/fred-c-trump-postwar-master-builder-of-housing-for-middle-class-dies-at-93.html?scp=2&sq=Fred%20C.%20Trump&st=cse Fred C. Trump, Postwar Master Builder of Housing for Middle Class, Dies at 93] by Tracie Rozhon (June 26, 1999) ''[[The New York Times]]''.
</ref>

==Views on race==
His racism re-emerged into public debate when his son launched his presidential campaign, with [[pundit]]s noticing the extent to which "[[biological determinism|like father, like son]]" worked out here.{{efn|Donald himself has frequently claimed "great genes", despite [[biological determinism]] being a [[pseudoscience]]: [https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/statement-on-donald-j.-trump-record-of-health Statement on Donald J. Trump Record of Health], [https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/08/31/donald-trump-says-his-late-uncle-mit-professor-was-proof-family-smart-genes/yoGlj3ESPWxBc7E5nSBlPN/story.html Donald Trump says his late uncle, an MIT professor, was proof of family's smart genes]}}<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dean|first1=Michelle|title=Making the man: to understand Trump, look at his relationship with his dad|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/26/donald-trump-fred-trump-father-relationship-business-real-estate-art-of-deal|accessdate=July 11, 2016|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=March 26, 2016}}</ref> Although it may never be known with certainty what Fred Trump's views on race were, it has been established that the 21-year old Fred was arrested "on a charge of refusing to disperse from a parade when ordered to do so"<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/28/in-1927-donald-trumps-father-was-arrested-after-a-klan-riot-in-queens/ In 1927, Donald Trump's father was arrested after a Klan riot in Queens] by Philip Bump (February 29, 2016) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> at a 1927 [[Ku Klux Klan]] rally-cum-riot in Queens, [[New York]].<ref>[http://boingboing.net/2015/09/09/1927-news-report-donald-trump.html 1927 news report: Donald Trump's dad arrested in KKK brawl with cops] by Matt Blum (9:26 am Wed Sep 9, 2015) ''Boing Boing''.</ref><ref name=fredvice>[http://www.vice.com/read/all-the-evidence-we-could-find-about-fred-trumps-alleged-involvement-with-the-kkk All the Evidence We Could Find About Fred Trump's Alleged Involvement with the KKK] by Mike Pearl (March 10, 2016) ''Vice''.</ref> What is not known about this arrest is whether Fred was a Klansman, a [[fellow traveller]] or an innocent bystander. However, it is relatively certain that he was '''not''' the sort to walk into the hood, shake hands with the Bloods and the Crips, then bust into a soulful, powerful rhythm and funk solo. When Donald Trump was asked by the “New York Times” about the veracity of his father's arrest, Donald flat-out [[denial|denied]] it, claiming that his father never lived at 175-24 Devonshire Road as Fred's residence was listed in the original 1927 news report.<ref name=fredvice/> It has, however, been established that Fred did indeed reside at that address at the time of his arrest.<ref name=fredvice/> One article on the riot, however, stated that all seven arrestees were all wearing Klan attire (''Long Island Daily Press'' on June 2, 1927).<ref name=fredvice/>

[[Roger Stone]], a generally unreliable source due to his being a well-known [[ratfucker]], quite plausibly claimed that in the 1960s Trump was "a quiet funder of the [[John Birch Society]], … a personal friend of [[Billy Graham]], a personal friend of [JBS founder] Robert Welch, a supporter of Dr. Fred Schwarz’s [Christian] Anti-Communism Crusade, and had been a major, major fundraiser and donor for [[Barry Goldwater]]."<ref>[https://thenewamerican.com/deep-state-plan-c-is-to-kill-trump-advisor-roger-stone-warns/ Deep State “Plan C” Is to Kill Trump, Advisor Roger Stone Warns] by Alex Newman (January 2, 2018) ''The New American''.</ref>

This might all have been an unimportant footnote in the Trump family history if Fred wasn't a racist, or if Donald had been courageous and repudiated his father's alleged racism, or even if Donald wasn't a racist. Alas, there are some serious doubts.

Fred lied about his [[Germany|German]] ethnicity to his [[Judaism|Jewish]] tenants and clients by claiming he was of [[Sweden|Swedish]] ancestry<ref name=NYTSwedish /> &mdash; a lie that Donald repeated in 
his autobiography
 Tony Schwarz's 
biography
 "nonfiction work of fiction" ''Trump: The Art of the Deal''.<ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/25/donald-trump-even-lies-about-being-swedish-he-s-actually-german.html Donald Trump Even Lies About Being Swedish (He's Actually German): A Swedish website teases the world's most famous comb-over for continuing to peddle his grandfather's fake origin story] by Michael Daly (03.24.16 10:02 PM ET) ''The Daily Beast''.</ref><ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All: ''The Art of the Deal'' made America see Trump as a charmer with an unfailing knack for business. Tony Schwartz helped create that myth—and regrets it] by Jane Mayer (July 25, 2016) ''The New Yorker''.</ref> (''[[Birtherism|Where's the birth certificate]], Donald?'')

In the 1950s, {{wpl|Woody Guthrie}} lived as a tenant in one of Fred's buildings (named Beach Haven) and wrote some heretofore unpublished songs about Fred:<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/25/woody-guthrie-sang-of-his-contempt-for-his-landlord-donald-trumps-father/ Woody Guthrie Wrote of His Contempt for His Landlord, Donald Trump's Father] by Thomas Kaplan (January 25, 2016) ''New York Times''.</ref> This:
{{QuoteBox|
I suppose<br>
Old Man Trump knows<br>
Just how much<br>
Racial Hate<br>
he stirred up<br>
In the bloodpot of human hearts<br>
When he drawed<br>
That color line<br>
Here at his<br>
Eighteen hundred family project}}
and a rework of his song "I Ain't Got No Home":
{{QuoteBox|
Beach Haven ain't my home!<br>
I just can't pay this rent!<br>
My money's down the drain!<br>
And my soul is badly bent!<br>
Beach Haven looks like heaven<br>
Where no black ones come to roam!<br>
No, no, no! Old Man Trump!<br>
Old Beach Haven ain't my home!}}

Fred continued his racist housing policies for several years after the Fair Housing Act of 1968 made discrimination in housing illegal.<ref name=fredvice/> The Trump Management Corporation (TMC) was sued by the federal government in 1973 for refusing to rent to [[African American]]s.<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2186612-major-landlord-accuse-of-antiblack-bias-in-city.html Major Landlord Accused of Antiblack Bias in City] by Morris Kaplan (October 16, 1973) ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref><ref name=fredvice/> His son, Donald, joined attorney [[Roy Cohn]] in filing a $100 million countersuit in Brooklyn, claiming that the government not only failed to provide evidence of racial discrimination at the Trump properties, but had also smeared the family name by spreading "untrue and unfair statements to the communications media prior to any formal action on its part."<ref>[https://nydailynews.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-landlord-trump-retaliates-su/164050750/ Landlord Trump Retaliates, Sues U.S. for $100 Million] by Jesse Brodey (December 13, 1973) New York ''Daily News''.</ref> The lawsuit was initially resolved in 1975 without an admission of guilt.<ref name=fredvice/> Fred was in charge of TMC until 1971, when Donald took control, which meant that both Fred ''and'' Donald were being accused of racial discrimination. In 1978, TMC was again charged with a discrimination lawsuit for violating the original terms of the 1975 agreement.<ref name=fredvice/> In 1983, the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal found that two "Trump Village" residences were 95% white.<ref name=fredvice/> Donald has dismissed this Fair Housing litigation against him as just one of many such cases. However, according to one of the prosecuting attorneys, Elyse Goldweber, "It was an important, significant step for enforcement of the Fair Housing Act. It was a big deal."<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-governments-racial-bias-case-against-donald-trumps-company-and-how-he-fought-it/2016/01/23/fb90163e-bfbe-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html?utm_term=.e3e2b614d2f4 Inside the government's racial bias case against Donald Trump's company, and how he fought it] by Michael Kranish and Robert O'Harrow Jr. (January 23, 2016) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Troublingly, Donald continued his fight for the right to discriminate by tapping the completely unqualified [[Ben Carson]] to be the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from March 2, 2017 until his succession by Biden nominee Marcia Fudge on January 20, 2021. Carson, who is [[irony|African American]], once referred to fair housing as a "mandated social-engineering scheme" and equated it with [[communism]].<ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/28/ben-carson-trump-s-hud-pick-once-called-fair-housing-communism.html Ben Carson, Trump's HUD Pick, Once Called Fair Housing 'Communism': The retired neurosurgeon turned Trump adviser has little direct experience with fair-housing issues, but that didn't stop him from once likening the discrimination laws to communism] by Gideon Resnick (11.27.16 10:05 PM ET) ''The Daily Beast''.</ref>

==Notes==
<references group="note"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trump, Fred}}
[[Category:Business]]
[[Category:Criminals]]
[[Category:Trumpism]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:right-wing activists]]
[[Category:United States politics]]

Categories: Business, Criminals, Trumpism, Fascists, New York, Racists, right-wing activists, United States politics