Donald Trump’s dark secret: How baby scandal on a Scottish island haunts president’s family
A SECRET family scandal led to US president Donald Trump’s mum leaving Scotland and setting up home in the United States.
The Sun can reveal the billionaire’s unmarried aunt Catherine Ann Macleod — the sister of Trump’s mother Mary Anne — fell pregnant with an illegitimate child in the early 1900s.
She fled Lewis in the Outer Hebrides to the mainland to have baby Annie in Lanarkshire before later returning to the tiny village of Tong.
But less than a year later Catherine — also known as Katie and Kate — abandoned her daughter and emigrated to America to start a new life.
And the controversy led to 18-year-old Mary Anne moving to live with Catherine in New York, where she later met Trump’s father Fred.
Trump, 74, regularly speaks about how proud he is of his Scots roots but has never mentioned the scandal.
Dr Gayle Davis, senior history lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, said: “It’s hard to comprehend how much shame and stigma accompanied the label of illegitimacy in those times.”
In 2008 Trump visited his cousins on Lewis, including Annie’s sons William and Calum Murray.
During the visit he said: “I feel very comfortable here. I think I do feel Scottish.” But the revelation means William and Calum are in fact Trump’s
first cousins once removed.
Annie’s eldest son William, 76, still lives in the family home in Tong, four miles from Stornoway.
But he didn’t want to discuss the family’s chequered past.
William said: “It’s not something I want to talk about, especially now.”
Calum, 68, who also lives in the house with his wife Christina, 64, said: “I’m not allowed to make a comment. I’m not going to say anything about it.”
Catherine’s birth certificate shows she was born on Lewis on July 20, 1897, and was 15 years older than Trump’s mum.
At the age of 22 unmarried Catherine fell pregnant.
Documents show she left the island to finish her pregnancy in Airdrie — likely under orders from her religious parents Malcolm and Mary Macleod.
She then gave birth to Annie on December 5, 1920, before returning to Tong.
The child’s real father was never officially revealed.
Just ten months later Catherine paid £14 for a ticket onboard the S.S. Columbia in Glasgow and sailed to America to start a new life without her
baby girl.
Her parents — Trump’s grandparents — then raised Annie as their own.
Shipping documents state Catherine was 5ft 6in, had a “fresh” complexion, light brown hair and brown eyes.
She arrived in the States on October 3, 1921, and stated her final destination as Long Island, New York.
US documents show she married Scots-born butler George A Reid in Manhattan on March 26, 1926.
Catherine kept in regular contact with her family in Lewis by letter.
At the age of just 18 — according to shipping records — Mary Anne then emigrated to America to join her.
Trump previously said his mother was 20 when she left. The teenager’s passenger documentation confirms she arrived on May 11, 1930, and planned to live with her sister Catherine in the Astoria area of Queens, New York.
Mary Anne then met Trump’s father Fred and the couple married in 1936.
They had five children, including the controversial property tycoon.
Despite emigrating to America Mary Anne used to make regular trips home to Lewis on holiday.
On one of her visits she was pictured sitting on a Birmingham Small Arms motorcycle. Her father Malcolm was also snapped on the bike.
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The 1940 US Federal Census listed Catherine and hubby George as living in Queens with two children, Malcolm, 11, and Ruth, seven.
Back on Lewis, her daughter Annie grew up and wed school headmaster Malcolm Murray on May 11, 1939.
But her marriage certificate mistakenly stated that her parents were her grandparents Malcolm and Mary. She also fibbed that she was 22 instead of
18. There was no mention at all of her real mum Catherine.
Dr Davis said: “The Scottish islands are much more traditional societies and it would have been more difficult to hide the realities of family life such
as pregnancies.
“That’s why women would be sent away to the mainland for anonymity.
“The act that got girls pregnant might not even have been consensual but often the girls would effectively be punished for what happened to them by being sent away.
“Families thought they were doing the right thing by lying to children that their grandparents were their parents. Illegitimacy was a social taboo and
never discussed.
“However, programmes like ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ show that this is a skeleton in many people’s closets. We are no longer embarrassed about this but it would have been a major issue at the time.”
Annie appears to have spent her whole life in Tong and helped the family tend their croft.
They would have grown their own potatoes and veg while producing chickens and
eggs. Fishing was also a big part of island life.
Peat was used for fires and huge loads would also be taken by horse and cart and sold in Stornoway.
Grandad Malcolm was also the postmaster at Tong while old photos show his wife Mary collecting seaweed.
Annie died aged 66 in Lewis Hospital on September 5, 1987. Her death certificate correctly stated her mum as being Catherine. In recent years
Trump has invested in Scottish golf courses, owning complexes at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire and Turnberry, Ayrshire.
He also spoke of his desire to create a “Mary Anne Macleod links” in memory of his mum.
But he shelved the plans after a bitter bust-up with the Scottish Government over the creation of nearby wind farms.
Trump has now set his sights on becoming US president and is in pole position to be the Republican candidate in November’s poll.
But he has been criticised for a series of headline-grabbing outbursts, including his vow of a “total and complete shutdown” of America’s borders to
Muslims.
That led to a Westminster debate over a petition calling for him to be banned entry to the UK.
He has described his late mother Mary Anne as a “terrific woman” and admitted inheriting her desire to be in the limelight. In his biography he said:
“Looking back, I realise now that I got some of my sense of showmanship from my mother.
“She always had a flair for the dramatic and the grand. She was a very traditional housewife, but she also had a sense of the world beyond her.”
But like his aunt Catherine, Trump has not stuck to traditional family values.
He’s been married three times and has five kids. In 1977 he wed the former Czech model Ivana Zelnícková, 66, before divorcing her in 1991. They had
three children, Donald, 38, Ivanka, 34, and Eric, 32.
In 1993 he married actress Marla Maples, 52, but they divorced six years later. They had daughter Tiffany, 22
And in 2005 Trump wed Slovenian model Melania Knavs, 45, the mum of his nine-year-old son Barron.
Last night Miriam Silverman, UK Content Manager at Ancestry, said: “When you start to look into your family tree, the real life stories of your ancestors often hold fascinating truths that even the most creative authors could only dream of.
“Millions of records are now available online to help uncover these tales, including records of criminal trials, the medals entitlement of war heroes and even young elopers getting hitched at Gretna Green.” Trump refused to comment.
BILLIONAIRE tycoon Donald Trump has always been proud of his Scots roots.
The 69-year-old declared he felt “at home” when he visited the birthplace of his mother in 2008.
Talking about the village of Tong on the Isle of Lewis, Trump said: “I like it. I feel very comfortable here.
“It’s interesting when your mother, who was such a terrific woman, comes from a specific location — you tend to like that location. I think I do feel
Scottish.”
Here we take a look at the Scottish side of Trump’s family tree.
Donald’s maternal grandparents: Malcolm and Mary Macleod. Trump’s maternal grandfather Malcolm was born on Lewis in 1866. He worked as a
crofter and fisherman. His grandmother Mary Macleod (nee Smith) was also born there in 1867.
The pair married in 1891 and went on to have six children, including Mary Anne and Catherine.
Donald’s mother: Mary Anne was born in Stornoway, Lewis, in 1912. She emigrated to the US and married Trump’s father Fred in 1936.
They went on to have five children, Donald, Maryanne, Robert, Fred Jr and Elizabeth. Trump’s mum Mary Anne died in Queens, New York, in 2000. lDonald’s aunt: Catherine Ann was born in 1897 on Lewis.
She became pregnant in 1920 and swapped Scotland for the US in 1921, leaving behind her daughter Annie to be raised by her parents Mary and Malcolm.
In America, she met and married Scots-born butler George Reid in Manhattan in 1926.
Donald’s first cousin Annie: She was born in December 1920 in Airdrie.
She was raised by her grandparents Malcolm and Mary on Lewis.
She married headmaster Malcolm Murray in 1939. And she went on to have two sons William and Calum, who are both still alive today.
Donald’s first cousins, once removed: William and Calum Murray. William, 76, still lives in the family home in Tong, Lewis. Calum, 68, also lives in the house with wife Christina