With all the brouhaha regarding Ted Cruz’s dual citizenship at birth, no one seems to be paying attention to the fact that Donald Trump was also a very likely to have been a dual citizen at birth and is to this day entitled to take up his British nationality with a simple application and nominal fee.
Here are the relevant facts:
Donald Trump’s mother was born Mary Anne MacCleod on May 10, 1912 in Stornoway, Eilean Siar, Scotland, UK and was a subject of the United Kingdom from birth.
In 1936 Mary Anne MacCleod married Fred Trump, a US citizen born in the Bronx, NY.
Mary Trump became a naturalized citizen of the United States on March 10, 1942.
Fred and Mary Trump had a son, Donald, born on June 14, 1946.
The above set of facts make Donald Trump a citizen of the United States at birth, just as the circumstances of Ted Cruz’s birth make him a citizen of the United States at birth.
The above set of facts also make Donald Trump a subject at birth of the United Kingdom, just as the set of facts surrounding the birth of Ted Cruz made him a citizen of Canada at birth. Both men were arguably dual citizens at birth and into adulthood.
The difference is that Ted Cruz has renounced his Canadian citizenship, but I have seen no evidence that Donald Trump, or for that matter his mother, Mary Trump ever renounced their British nationality.
Some might argue that Mary Trump’s US citizenship ceremony of March 10, 1942 would have sufficed to accomplish that. Those making this argument would be wrong as a matter of law.
A person may renounce British nationality by making a specific renunciation to the Home Secretary. Renunciations made to other authorities (such as the general renunciation made as part of the US naturalization ceremony) are not recognized by the UK.
I have been unable to discover any evidence, nor in fact any reference at all to Mary Anne Trump ever renouncing her British nationality in the manner required by UK law.
Under British law, children of British mothers and children of British fathers born abroad before 1983 can acquire a UK passport. Children of British mothers born before 1983 may require a nationality registration fee, which is free as of 22 November 2010, although any such child must pay 80 pounds for a citizenship ceremony. They also must undergo a background check into their eligibility and be of “good character” and attend the citizenship ceremony.
On its face, according to UK law and practice, Donald Trump is entitled to a UK passport merely for the asking and payment of a nominal registration fee, even today.
Does that not make Trump himself a dual citizen?
I’d hate for this eligibility issue to come back on Trump should he become the eventual nominee. Perhaps Trump ought to renounce his UK nationality as Ted Cruz did his Canadian nationality before this becomes a big issue.
Frankly, I don’t understand why this has not been made more of that it has. Folks don’t seem to have any problem making a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to Ted Cruz. Why is Donald Trump’s dual citizenship seemingly off limits?
Trump's mother became a NATURALIZED AMERICAN CITIZEN four years before Donald was born. She did NOT attain citizenship by marrying Trump's father. And in becoming a citizen, she had to renounce her allegiance to the King, renounce he UK citizenship, taking an oath of allegiance to THIS NATION!
Trump was born to TWO American citizens on American soil and does NOT have dual citizenship.
Trump's mother became a NATURALIZED AMERICAN CITIZEN four years before Donald was born. She did NOT attain citizenship by marrying Trump's father. And in becoming a citizen, she had to renounce her allegiance to the King, renounce he UK citizenship, taking an oath of allegiance to THIS NATION!
Trump was born to TWO American citizens on American soil and does NOT have dual citizenship.
Why is dual citizenship a problem for any candidate so long as they qualify as a natural born citizen of United States?
There is nothing in the constitutional requirement to be president that the candidate be only an American. Citizenship is a national perogative and only matters to the nation that bestows/defines it. This is a non-issue for the purposes of his qualification to be President of the United States. You as the voter may question the candidate’s allegiance to our nation and not voting for him is your perogative, but he is qualified to run for that office in the eyes of our nation’s laws.
That is without a doubt one of the silliest things I have read in defense of Cruz.
In a word. No.
The father determines the citizenship in Europe. England liked to proclaim that people born of English blood were Subjects of the Crown. in the thirties women in England couldn’t pass anything but gas.
What if Venezuela passed a law declaring that everyone born in North America would be considered as Venezuelan citizens, subject to laws of Venezuela. Would they actually be citizens of Venezuela?