From gold to real estate: The origins of Trump's fortune
In Bennett, in the north of Canada, stands the Arctic Restaurant and Hotel. At the end of the 19th century, the ancestor of American President-elect Donald Trump began to accumulate wealth. This establishment included a restaurant and hotel.
On an archived Facebook page—"The Trump White House Archived"—there is a photograph from 9 June 2018, taken during the G7 summit in Charlevoix, Canada, by White House official photographer Shealah Craighead. The image shows Trump seated next to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, holding a photo of the "Arctic Restaurant and Hotel" presented to him by Trudeau. Another photograph of the building can be found in the provincial archives of Alberta, showing three adjacent buildings with signs: "Grand Hotel", "White Horse Hotel", and "Arctic Restaurant".
This business marked the beginning of the Trump's wealth
Donald Trump's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, left Germany in 1885 at the age of 16, when he was a barber apprentice, and sailed to New York. After a few years, he anglicised his name to Frederick and moved to Seattle. There, he saved money for restaurant equipment, opened a diner, and was inspired by the front page of the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" newspaper, which, on 17 July 1897, featured the headline "Gold! Gold! Gold!"—as mentioned by the CBC, the public broadcaster. Trump sold everything he owned and moved to the gold rush areas.
A German emigrant and his partner Ernest Levin opened the "Arctic Restaurant and Hotel" at the end of the 19th century in Bennett, British Columbia, within the territory of the Tlingit people. Bennett was a significant town during the Klondike Gold Rush. Columbia University journalism professor Gwenda Blair, author of "The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire," detailed this story.
As she explained to the CBC after Trump's first victory in 2016, it was this business, that enabled the Trump family to build the capital for further investments. According to experts of the era, it was common for restaurant or hotel owners in mining towns of the early 20th century to facilitate such activities.
"The best-equipped place"
The HuffPost Canada portal highlighted an advertisement from the local newspaper "Bennett Sun", describing the "Arctic Restaurant" as the "best-equipped place" in Bennett, with "every delicacy in the market," including "oysters in every style" and "elegantly furnished private boxes for ladies and parties".
Blair noted that men could pay hired women with gold they found, which could be weighed in the room before the "service". Meanwhile, "respectable women" were advised not to stay in this hotel as they were "liable to hear that which would be repugnant to their feelings and uttered, too, by the depraved of their own sex", according to an April 1900 article in the "Yukon Sun" quoted by Blair.
Canadian magazine "Maclean's" reported that Friedrich Trump was already searching for another business location in Whitehorse six weeks after opening the hotel in Bennett.
However, with the gold rush winding down, the Canadian police sought to prohibit some activities and limit gambling and alcohol sales. Trump's grandfather anticipated this and returned to Germany with, in today's terms, over £390,000 and married Elizabeth Christ there.
Yet in Germany, he was labelled a deserter for emigrating during his required military service period. As CBC recalled, Frederick Trump was deported from Germany while his wife was pregnant, and the couple moved to New York, where they had three children. At this time, Trump began investing in real estate on the West Coast of the USA.
The "Arctic Restaurant" building still stands and is maintained by Parks Canada, the agency responsible for Canada's national parks.
