Trump’s Radar Invention Claim Disputed
President Trump’s Remarks
On October 24, President Trump claimed that his uncle, Dr. John Trump, had “invented radar” while speaking to reporters after early voting in Palm Beach, Florida. This statement drew attention when journalist Aaron Rupar shared a clip of it on X. It received a community note clarifying that Dr. John Trump did not invent radar.
The note explained that the “first practical radar system” was patented by Sir Robert Watson-Watt. He built on the contributions of Heinrich Hertz and Christian Huelsmeyer. Newsweek sought comments from the White House press office on the matter on Sunday.
Trump’s Statement
During his remarks, Trump discussed the destruction of Iranian equipment by U.S. forces during a conflict initiated in February. He mentioned the U.S. military’s achievements and claimed, “They’ve knocked out all of the, actually some of the things my uncle invented, the radar. My uncle invented radar can you believe it. From MIT Dr. John Trump.” He expressed that while his uncle might be upset, all of Iran’s radars were destroyed.
Origin of Radar
Radar’s invention involved numerous contributors, acknowledged by Sir Robert Watson-Watt, a key figure in its development. In his 1958 memoirs, ‘Three Steps to Victory,’ Watson-Watt acknowledged the contributions of many “legitimate grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great grandparents of radar.” The groundwork for radar began with Heinrich Hertz’s experiments proving the existence of electromagnetic waves between 1886 and 1889. Later, in 1904, Christian Hulsmeyer patented a device capable of detecting ships via radio waves, seen as an early radar form.
In 1935, Watson-Watt, at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, produced a device consistently locating aircraft. This resulted in Chain Home, a network of radars crucial during the 1940 Battle of Britain, defending against the German air force.
Dr. John Trump’s Role
Though not the inventor of radar, Dr. John Trump significantly contributed to U.S. radar research during World War II. After becoming an assistant professor of electrical engineering at MIT in 1936, he worked on radar research. By 1942, he was the secretary of the US National Defense Research Committee’s Microwave Committee.
From February 1944, he collaborated with Watson-Watt and other UK scientists while leading MIT’s Radiation Laboratory’s British Branch, playing a pivotal role in American radar development.
Previous Claims by President Trump
President Trump has previously made unsubstantiated claims about his uncle. In Pennsylvania last year, he claimed that John Trump taught Ted Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber, at MIT. MIT clarified it had no enrollment records for Kaczynski. Moreover, Dr. John Trump passed away in 1985, decades before Kaczynski’s public identification in 1996.