Fred Trump was a person.
Frederick Christ Trump ( October 11 , 1905 -- June 25 , 1999 ) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist , primarily in New York City , and father of Donald Trump , the 45th President of the United States , and Maryanne Trump Barry , a United States Court of Appeals judge . Trump 's father , Frederick , died when Trump was 13 years old . By 15 , in partnership with his mother , Elizabeth Christ Trump , and non-family investors , Trump had begun a career in home construction and sales . Trump was investigated by a U.S. Senate committee for wartime profiteering ( 1954 ) , and by the U.S. Justice Department 's Civil Rights Division for civil rights violations ( 1973 ) .