Fred Trump's dad was a German-American.
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 . Frederick Trump ( born Friedrich Trump ; March 14 , 1869 -- May 27 , 1918 ) was a German American businessman . Born in Kallstadt , in the Kingdom of Bavaria ( now in Rhineland-Palatinate , Germany ) , he emigrated to the United States at the age of 16 and started working as a barber .