Trump tweeted a Mother's Day video paying tribute to his own late mother - here's what else he's said about the life and lasting influence of Mary Trump
- President Donald Trump tweeted a video Sunday in honor of Mother's Day, in which he gave a touching tribute to his own late mother.
- Mary MacLeod Trump passed away in 2000 but has had a lasting presence in Trump's public image, campaign and statements.
President Donald Trump tweeted a video in honor of Mother's Day Sunday morning, in which he praised mothers across the country and gave a touching tribute to his own, who passed away in 2000.
"Since the earliest days of our republic, America's strength has come from the love and courage and devotion of our mothers," Trump said. "They helped us gain our independence."
Trump made no mention of his current wife and mother of his youngest son, Melania Trump, but reflected on his late mother Mary, who he called "a great person" who was "warm, loving, smart, and could be tough if she had to be." He also credited her for "so much of what I've done and so much of what I've become."
Trump's 40-second reflection is the latest in his occasional public words of praise that he's mentioned before in books, interviews and statements about the woman who has influenced him most.
Mary Macleod was born in 1912 in Scotland to a fisherman before she moved to the US in 1930, turning 18 during the ship's voyage and moving in with her sister in the New York City neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, when she arrived.
It is said she met Fred Trump at a party in Queens sometime before they had a hasty courtship and got married in 1936, when Mary was 24 before they had five children. Donald is the second youngest of the Trumps' children.
She famously asked Donald's first wife Ivana, with whom he had a very public divorce after he was caught having an affair with model Marla Maples, "what kind of son have I created?"
Though she was less of a public figure than her boisterous real-estate developer husband Fred, Donald has painted a glowing picture of his mother in various interviews through the years, describing her as "warm," "loving" and "tremendous."
He has also tweeted numerous times her signature advice: "Trust in God and be true to yourself." The motto is one that Donald admitted in his 2004 book, "How to Get Rich," that he "didn't really get at first, but stuck to it."
But Mary's personal charisma isn't the only characteristic he's praised. In his 1987 book "The Art of the Deal" Donald credited her "flair for the dramatic and grand" as the source of his own "sense of showmanship."
Mentioning his mother as part of his ventures continued from books to Donald's purchase of a golf course in Scotland, which he opened in 2012 and explained to reporters in 2008 the course's location was attractive because he "wanted to do something special for my mother."
Though she didn't live to see her son run for or be elected US president, Mary also had a lasting influence as somewhat of a device in Donald's public persona on the presidential campaign trail and during his turn in office.
The Republican presidential candidate thrilled evangelical voters at a Florida campaign stop with a bible his mother gave him, the same one with which he later took the Oath of Office.
He also reflected on his memory of Mary to comment on his problematic image as it relates to women, saying "no one respects women more than me," at a campaign rally in 2015, continuing to state that he believed the "greatest person ever was my mother. Believe me, the greatest."