Donald Trump’s ‘bizarre’ questions on George Washington tour
President reportedly asked if the founding father was ‘really rich’ and why he didn’t name mansion after himself

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Donald Trump baffled a tour guide at George Washington’s house by suggesting that if the founding father was “smart”, he would have named the mansion after himself, it has emerged.
Former history professor Doug Bradburn, who now manages Mount Vernon, was enlisted to give Trump and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron a VIP tour of the former plantation in Virginia in April last year.
According to Politico, Bradburn has since told several people that the president’s comments during the tour were “truly bizarre”, and that Macron and his wife, Brigitte, appeared far more knowledgeable about America’s first president.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A source briefed on Trump’s visit told the news site that the president seemed most interested in Washington’s real-estate ventures, and asked Bradburn whether the 18th century political titan was “really rich”.
Multiple sources told Politico that Trump did not seem overly impressed with the 11,000-sq-ft colonial mansion, commenting that the rooms were “too small”, the staircases “too narrow” and the floorboards “uneven”. The president is said to have boasted that he could have built a better and cheaper mansion.
Trump, whose name adorns hotels, casinos and resorts around the world, also “marvelled at the first president’s failure to name his historic compound after himself”, says Politico.
“If he was smart, he would’ve put his name on it,” Trump reportedly said. “You’ve got to put your name on stuff or no one remembers you.”
Politico reports that Bardburn responded “that Washington did, after all, succeed in getting the nation’s capital named after him”, prompting a laugh from Trump.
The surreal exchange inspired feminist news blog Jezebel to run an account of the visit under the tongue-in-cheek headline: “Donald Trump regrets that George Washington was lost to history.”
A spokesperson for Mount Vernon initially refused to comment on the claims.
However, in a later statement, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association “said it was breaking traditional protocol” in order to correct media accounts of the Trump-Macron visit, CNN reports.
The association insisted that, contrary to reports, “all parties were interested and engaged” in tour and that “questions were asked by both leaders with curiosity and respect”.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Should you fire your financial adviser? 4 signs it's time to say goodbye.
The Explainer Breakups are never fun, but you have to protect your wallet
By Becca Stanek Published
-
The daily gossip: Man arrested in connection with shooting of Tupac Shakur, an OceanGate movie is in the works, and more
Feature The daily gossip: September 29, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
What to expect from an El Niño winter
The Explainer Things might be different thanks to this well-known weather phenomenon
By Devika Rao Published
-
'A teetering democracy of gerontocrats?'
Instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass Published
-
'Labour risks making private schools a conclave for the super-rich'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Companies can't make a profit and can't keep employees safe'
Instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass Published
-
'America's conservative party has collapsed'
Instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass Published
-
'Biden must be embarrassed he didn't think of this first'
Instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass Published
-
Why is the UK pushing Germany on fighter jets for Saudi Arabia?
Today's big question Berlin has opposed the sale of weapons to Riyadh on humanitarian grounds
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Is it time the world re-evaluated the rules on migration?
Today's Big Question Home Secretary Suella Braverman questions whether 1951 UN Refugee Convention is 'fit for our modern age'
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Firearm officers need to know the law is on their side'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week Staff Published