US President Donald Trump boasts profound ancestral ties to Scotland through his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod. Brought up on the Hebridean Isle of Lewis, MacLeod departed for New York in 1930, aged 18, seeking employment as a domestic worker.
Born in 1912 in the hamlet of Tong, roughly three miles from Stornoway, she abandoned the island at 18 to pursue employment in New York. Like countless Scots during the early 20th century, Mary Anne journeyed to America in pursuit of a better life. In 1936, she wed Frederick Trump, a prosperous property magnate and the offspring of German immigrants.
Together they bore five children, with President Trump, recognised on the island as Donald John, being their fourth. Mary Anne obtained US citizenship in 1942 and passed away in 2000, aged 88.
Despite his regular mentions of his Scottish heritage, the president hasn’t always received a warm welcome from inhabitants of his mother’s native hamlet. Her relatives originated from the neighbouring region, with the MacLeods on her paternal side stemming from Vatisker, situated just north of Tong.
Tong itself possesses a distinctive heritage of political and cultural identity. According to VisitScotland: “With dramatic landscapes, a unique Gaelic culture and fascinating history, Lewis and Harris are a great place to start your Hebridean adventure. You will be blown away by wild mountains, immense white beaches, rugged coastlines and lunar landscapes.”
Between 1919 and 1921, the village, alongside neighbouring Coll and Gress, became the centre of a sequence of land raids. During these raids, local men confronted absent landlords by sowing crops and splitting sheep-grazing estates into agricultural plots.
Tong’s inhabitants were considered amongst the island’s most radical. In a 1990s compilation of Stornoway slang, Tong’s residents were still branded as “Bolshiveeks.”
Local people in Tong have previously expressed disappointment over Trump’s lack of support for the community, comparing his contributions to those of his sister and mother.
“He never gave a penny,” locals previously said, highlighting that Mary Anne MacLeod Trump helped finance the building of the village hall in the 1970s.
His elder sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, also provided a substantial donation of £155,000 to a local care home and the Bethesda hospice.
Inhabitants have claimed the president is “feeding off” his mother and sister’s legacy without contributing to the island that influenced their formative years.
Tong continues as a conventional crofting settlement, located approximately four miles northeast of Stornoway. Crofting, Harris Tweed weaving and peat harvesting remain integral to island life.
The region is also recognised for staging the annual Lewis Highland Games and the Western Isles Strongman competition.
In historical terms, Lewis belonged to Norway until the 13th century, and by the 1800s, Tong’s economy depended largely on fishing, agriculture and textile production.
However, extensive land clearances in the late 19th century resulted in many tenants being displaced to make way for large-scale sheep farms and deer forests.
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