Fact Check: Trump Claims His Uncle Was 'Longest Serving Professor' at MIT

Donald Trump has been spending time again recently defending his mental competency, amid claims the former president is not fit enough to run for the White House.

During a rally in Nevada on Saturday, Trump repeated results from a cognitive decline test he took while in office, as Republican rival Nikki Haley continues to target his aptitude.

Trump told the crowd he shared genes with "smart people" including his uncle, Professor. John Trump, who he claimed was the longest-serving professor in the history of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The Claim

During a rally in Nevada, held on January 27, 2024, Donald Trump claimed that he had an uncle who's "the longest serving professor" in the history of MIT.

"You know, I had an uncle. He's the longest serving professor, Doctor John Trump, in the history of MIT, with same genes, we have genes, we're smart people, we're smart people," Trump said.

"We're like race, Mr. Lieutenant Governor, we're like racehorses, too. You know, the fast ones produce the fast ones, and the slow ones doesn't work out so well, right? But we're no different in that sense."

The Facts

An obituary by The New York Times published in February 1985 describes Professor John Trump's family tree, stating he was the brother of Frederick C. Trump and the uncle of Donald Trump, who it called "New York real estate developers." Further reporting by the BBC, The Washington Post, and The New Yorker, among others, confirms this lineage and his career at MIT.

Professor Trump died in 1985; video interviews with him are available online.

However, while he had a decades-long career at MIT, he was not the university's longest-serving professor.

An MIT spokesperson told Newsweek, based on information from MIT Institutional Research and Human Resources and an obituary, he was not the "longest-serving faculty member in the history of MIT."

The spokesperson confirmed Trump began working as a research associate after gaining his doctorate from the university in 1933, became an assistant professor in electrical engineering in 1936, was a full professor until 1973, and a senior lecturer/professor emeritus until he died in 1985. Another obituary in the National Academy of Engineering largely matches these details, adding that Trump was promoted to professor in 1952.

It would mean that Trump held the title of MIT professor in some capacity for 49 years, and had a staff or honorary role at MIT for 52 years. However, it does not make him its longest-serving academic.

MIT's spokesperson added: "From the records we've kept since 1990, we do know that at least 10 people have been (or continue to be) professors at MIT for at least 53 years, so although Prof. Trump would not be the longest-serving faculty member in the history of MIT, he was certainly a valued member of the community for many decades and among the longest-serving faculty."

Newsweek has contacted media representatives for Donald Trump via email for comment.

While MIT did not say which of its professors worked longer, Newsweek was able to find two such faculty members online. Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton credited with developing the electronic flash, was made professor of electrical engineering at the university in 1928, later becoming an institute professor and professor emeritus at MIT until his death in 1990.

World-renowned mathematician Gilbert Strang, who gave his last lecture at MIT in 2023, was made assistant professor at the university in 1962, associate professor in 1964, and professor in 1970. Newsweek has contacted MIT to ask about other staff.

So, while Trump could credit his uncle as one of the longest-serving members of faculty, his claim that he holds the university's all-time record is false.

Donald Trump has previously boasted about his uncle's achievements claiming that he "used to discuss nuclear with him all the time."

He became regarded as a "pioneer in the field of high voltage engineering, high voltage machinery and in the medical application of his energy radiation" to treat tumors, as his obituary in the National Academy of Engineering reads.

The Ruling

False.

Professor John Trump, Donald Trump's uncle, had a staff or honorary role at MIT for 52 years from 1933 to 1985, holding the title of MIT professor in some capacity for 49 years. However, as confirmed by the university, there are at least 10 people who have been professors at MIT for at least 53 years. The university said Professor Trump was "a valued member of the community for many decades and among the longest-serving faculty."

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team