It's being called a document that "changed world history," at least as of Nov. 8. Germany's Bild reports historian Roland Paul has uncovered the 1905 decree that banished Donald Trump's grandfather from Germany. The Guardian has the timeline: In 1885, a then 16-year-old Friedrich Trump left Germany for the US and ended up finding a fortune among the Alaska gold rush (as Bloomberg explains, it wasn't gold, but a restaurant/brothel that brought him riches). He returned to his hometown of Kallstadt in 1901, where he a year later married Elisabeth Christ. The couple's subsequent time in New York City was short-lived: Elisabeth pined for Germany, but Trump found himself unable to return permanently, done in by his having not performed mandatory military service or alerted officials to his 1885 emigration.
The February 1905 decree gave Trump eight weeks to leave the Kingdom of Bavaria or else face deportation. On the 27th of that month, Trump appealed to Prince Regent Luitpold, sending the "much-loved, noble, wise and righteous sovereign and sublime ruler" a "most modest plea," reports Deutsche Welle, to no avail. In the letter, Trump explained he originally left for America after being unable to find work as a barber in his homeland. The Wall Street Journal, which obtained a copy of the letter, reports that Trump should have in 1885 left a security deposit behind; such deposits were meant to ensure people would return for their mandatory military service, and he would have had it returned upon doing his military duty. On July 1, 1905, a three-months-pregnant Elisabeth, Trump, and their daughter sailed for New York. That unborn child would be Fred, Donald Trump's father. (More President Trump stories.)