September 9, 2016

The Trump Files: Donald Claimed “More Indian Blood” Than the Native Americans Competing With His Casinos

It wasn’t the last time he questioned Native Americans’ legitimacy.

Ivylise Simones

For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.


Until the election, we’re bringing you “The Trump Files,” a daily dose of telling episodes, strange but true stories, or curious scenes from the life of GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Donald Trump has found no shortage of groups to offend this election cycle: Mexicans, Muslims, women, reporters, veterans, the disabled. But back in 1993, it was Native Americans who bore the brunt of Trump’s ridicule.

According to a transcript published by the Los Angeles Times, in a radio interview with disgraced host Don Imus, Trump mocked Native American communities that had opened or wanted to open casinos in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey—all in the vicinity of Trump’s own competing properties in Atlantic City.  

Trump questioned the legitimacy of the Native Americans’ heritage, telling Imus, “I would perhaps become an Indian myself.” He added, “I think I might have more Indian blood than a lot of the so-called Indians that are trying to open up the reservations.”

Trump made similar comments while testifying before a House subcommittee later that same year, saying that the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in Connecticut didn’t “look like Indians to me.” At the hearing, he also complained that “the Indians don’t have to pay tax.”

Trump’s vendetta didn’t stop there. The New York Times reported that in 2000, Trump financed ads portraying members of a Native American tribe as menacing criminals in an effort to stop construction on a casino that was planned in upstate New York.

This election season, as Trump doled out nicknames to “Little Marco,” “Lyin’ Ted”, and “Crooked Hillary,” he reserved a special one for Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “Pocahontas.”

Read the rest of “The Trump Files”:

DOES IT FEEL LIKE POLITICS IS AT A BREAKING POINT?

Headshot of Editor in Chief of Mother Jones, Clara Jeffery

It sure feels that way to me, and here at Mother Jones, we’ve been thinking a lot about what journalism needs to do differently, and how we can have the biggest impact.

We kept coming back to one word: corruption. Democracy and the rule of law being undermined by those with wealth and power for their own gain. So we're launching an ambitious Mother Jones Corruption Project to do deep, time-intensive reporting on systemic corruption, and asking the MoJo community to help crowdfund it.

We aim to hire, build a team, and give them the time and space needed to understand how we got here and how we might get out. We want to dig into the forces and decisions that have allowed massive conflicts of interest, influence peddling, and win-at-all-costs politics to flourish.

It's unlike anything we've done, and we have seed funding to get started, but we're looking to raise $500,000 from readers by July when we'll be making key budgeting decisions—and the more resources we have by then, the deeper we can dig. If our plan sounds good to you, please help kickstart it with a tax-deductible donation today.

Thanks for reading—whether or not you can pitch in today, or ever, I'm glad you're with us.

Signed by Clara Jeffery

Clara Jeffery, Editor-in-Chief

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest