Why Donald Trump supporters are being urged to buy his $3m childhood home
Current owner of the New York City property hoping to cash in on devotion of the president’s following

The owner of Donald Trump’s childhood home in Queens has launched an online campaign that may see the president and his family reclaim the five-bedroom property.
Trump’s supporters are being urged to contribute to a crowdfunding drive aimed at giving him the Tudor-style house in Jamaica Estates “as a gift - once the $3m price tag is met”, The New York Times reports.
The “unusual” real estate manoeuvre is a clear bid to“capitalise on the devotion of some of Mr Trump’s supporters”, with the hope that “the same commitment that has driven them to attend his large rallies in the middle of a pandemic will also induce them to open their wallets”, says the newspaper.
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.
The fundraiser, hosted on the GoFundMe platform, is called: “Love Trump? Thank President Trump by contributing to this campaign to buy his childhood home in his honour!”
The house - built by Trump’s father, Fred C. Trump, in 1940 - was put up for auction last autumn, but failed to meet the reserve price.
The property had previous sold for about $1.4m in 2016, before being snapped for $2.14m at an auction the following year by the current owner, whose identity reportedly “remains obscured behind a limited liability corporation called Trump Birth House”.
The home was then offered as an Airbnb rental for a few years, during which Oxfam booked in for a night and invited four refugees over to talk to journalists. The international aid charity staged the publicity stunt after “the Republican president’s administration issued travel bans on people from six Muslim-majority countries and all refugees”, as The Independent reported at the time.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
In more recent years, the Queens property has stood empty, however.
The White House has yet to comment on the newly launched fundraiser. But Misha Haghani of Paramount Realty USA, which has represented the property in three past auctions, said: “I believe if the president were to accept the property, he would do something with it in honour of his presidency.
“It’s either that or he’ll just donate it to some charity.”
-
October 6 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include bad news overload, Donald Trump repeatedly crossing a red line, and the Statue of Liberty fallen on hard times
-
Scorching hot sauces that pack a punch
The Week Recommends The best sauces to tingle your lips and add a fiery kick to your food
-
Syria’s strange post-Assad election
The Explainer Sunday’s limited vote ‘suited the phase Syria is undergoing’, says interim president
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of Taiwan
In the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdown
IN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American cities
Under the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations