Family
A 1927 arrest, a “small loan” and bone spurs
RECORD / AT A GLANCE
Arrest documented / Klan membership unproven / inheritance much larger than claimed / bone-spur favor unproven
The records support the arrest and the large inheritance. They do not prove Klan membership or a fake diagnosis.
THE EVENTS / THE INVESTIGATION / THE STORY
30 May 1927
Fred Trump, 21, is among seven men arrested after a Klan march turns violent; he is discharged.
1964–1968
Four student deferments, then a medical deferment in 1968.
2 Oct 2018
Reports he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s empire.
READ THE FILE
Arrested at the scene, yes. A member, unknown.
Much more than a million dollars. A deferment that is real; a favor that is family lore.
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WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE
4 claims people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.
He received four student deferments and a medical deferment.
Who says it: Reporting.
A Fred Trump at his address was among seven arrested after a 1927 Klan march turned violent; charges were dismissed. Membership is not shown.
Who says it: Critics.
The deferment is real; the favor story is a podiatrist’s family lore with no records.
Who says it: The New York Times.
The Times traced at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s empire.
Who says it: Trump.
OPEN THE RECORD
Numbered citations in each article identify the relevant sources. These records have different purposes and evidentiary weight.
The original report listing a Fred Trump among those arrested and later discharged.
Reviews the 1927 newspaper reports.
Reviews what the records show and what they don’t.
Investigation based on tax returns and financial records. Paywalled; the Trump family denied fraud.
The doctor’s daughters’ account, which they call family lore.
Summary, including the draft-record history of four student deferments and a medical one.
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Arrested at the scene, yes. A member, unknown.
On Memorial Day 1927 about 1,000 Klansmen marched in Queens and fought with police. The New York Times listed a Fred Trump of Devonshire Road, the address where Trump’s father lived, among seven men arrested; his charges were dismissed. [1]
The reports do not say whether he was a Klansman, a bystander or a marcher. When asked in 2015, Trump denied the story; there is no record establishing membership. [2][3]
The original report listing a Fred Trump among those arrested and later discharged.
Reviews the 1927 newspaper reports.
Reviews what the records show and what they don’t.
Much more than a million dollars. A deferment that is real; a favor that is family lore.
Trump has said his father gave him “a small loan of a million dollars.” A 2018 New York Times investigation based on tax records found he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real-estate empire, much of it through tax schemes, including some the paper called outright fraud. The Trump family denied wrongdoing, and no charges followed. [1]
Trump received four student deferments and, in 1968, a medical deferment for bone spurs in his heels. In 2018 the daughters of Queens podiatrist Larry Braunstein, who died in 2007, told the Times their father had said he diagnosed Trump as a favor to Fred Trump, his landlord. They acknowledged it was family lore and that there are no records. [2][3]
Investigation based on tax returns and financial records. Paywalled; the Trump family denied fraud.
The doctor’s daughters’ account, which they call family lore.
Summary, including the draft-record history of four student deferments and a medical one.
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