Meet the Americans called Trump ... who aren't related to the president
On the first day of class each semester, Kris-Stella Trump is sure to tell her students at the University of Memphis one thing about herself: “Dr Trump is not related to the president. It’s a complete coincidence.”
For Kris-Stella, who grew up in Estonia, the need for clarification is not just in the classroom – it’s everywhere. In hotels, restaurants, bars, conferences and the airport.
The questions from strangers are frequent and can lead to awkward interactions. “I’ve learned to say that [I’m not related] in a way that essentially avoids what I think about the president,” Kris-Stella said.
As a professor of political science, Kris-Stella is keenly aware of how her last name has affected her life. “It’s like the polarizing nature of politics follow me around,” Kris-Stella said. “I spend my life thinking about politics but it’s another aspect of what would otherwise be a private sphere.”
In 2016, Vox reported that there are over 4,700 Trumps in the US – almost all unrelated to the president. They come from across the country and different walks of life, but they share a last name that has become synonymous with a divisive age of politics.
A frequent traveler, Ken Trump, a school security expert based in Cleveland, Ohio, has noticed people react differently to his name depending on where he is in America. When he told a school police officer in Texas that his name was Ken Trump, the officer responded: “I ain’t got a problem with that, boy.” In Los Angeles, the name can create tenser interactions.
“These are daily interactions that have become a part of my life,” Ken said. He often says “no relation” when introducing himself as a fun icebreaker and conversation starter, helping him develop inside jokes with strangers.
When Ken went to Puerto Rico with his children and wife, who is Puerto Rican, the staff members of his hotel told him: “This week, so you have a good week in Puerto Rico, you’re Mr Rodriguez,” citing his wife’s maiden name. All week, the staff would jokingly call him Mr Rodriguez whenever he passed by. “It was an uplifting part of the experience,” he said.
But there’s a downside to the last name: Ken has gone to restaurants with his kids when they are are wearing red sweatpants and hoodies – part of their sports team attire – with their last name emblazoned on the back. Seeing the name “Trump” on red clothing made people’s heads turn.
“That’s why I’m comfortable putting the ‘Ken Trump, no relation’ out there, because it’s such a polarizing name … you remove the intensity of that polarization that we have in this country,” he said.
Having the last name Trump once primed jokes about potentially being related to a millionaire. Lindsay Trump, a project manager for a construction company in Orange county, California, used to get questions when she was younger of whether she was related to the publicity-hungry real estate developer and New York gossip circuit fixture. “People would always be like, ‘Oh, are you related to Donald Trump? Like, you can have all the money,’” Lindsay said. “Now it’s like they don’t know what to say.”
Lindsay can tell people struggle to betray their political beliefs when her name comes up.When people see her in person, she said it is pretty clear that she is unrelated to the president: she is part Hispanic.
“I don’t obviously look like I’m related to him, so I don’t think people assume that [I am],” Lindsay said.
People assume differently when it comes to Maxine Trump, a documentary film-maker, despite her British accent. “I’m white, blonde, I live in New York City,” Maxine said. The president’s two daughters, Ivanka and Tiffany, are both currently located in Washington but the family has traditionally been associated with living and working in New York, where the Donald was born in the borough of Queens and began working for his father.
Maxine, who was born and raised in the UK, has been getting grief about her last name since she was in elementary school because “to trump” means “to fart” in British slang. “When I stood up and had to give me last name at school, everyone made farting noises,” she said.
When the president entered politics, the questions started to come and have not stopped for Maxine. Like KrisStella, Maxine tries to politely answer questions without dragging things into the political arena. “This has been going most of my adult life. It used to be fine, and now it’s always mentioned,” she said.
If the conversation continues past the “are you related?” question, Maxine says she often mentions a documentary she made in 2017 called Trump Against Trumps. The video signals that people who share the last name Trump might not agree with the president.
“I say, ‘Actually, I even made a short film about it. You should watch it because I think it’d make you chuckle,’” Maxine said.