Trump honors his late uncle Dr. John G. Trump, the MIT physicist

Trump the president posted photos of his uncle, a pioneer in high-voltage engineering and radiation therapy who died in 1985, on Truth Social.

First Published: July 5, 2026, 8:37 PM EST

WHITE HOUSE — Donald Trump paid tribute to his late uncle, Dr. John G. Trump, the renowned MIT physicist and electrical engineer, in a Truth Social post on July 5, 2026 at 3:22 PM EST.

Here is the full post on [truthsocial]: “Dr. John G. Trump, of MIT! Dr. John G. Trump”

The brief post was accompanied by multiple photographs, including a black-and-white image showing Dr. John G. Trump in a laboratory setting alongside what appears to be a Van de Graaff generator or high-voltage electrostatic accelerator, equipment central to his decades of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. John G. Trump served as a professor of electrical engineering at MIT for more than 40 years, specializing in high-voltage phenomena, electron acceleration and radiation (see wikipedia.org). He designed X-ray generators for cancer therapy and co-founded High Voltage Engineering, one of the first venture capital-backed technology companies in Greater Boston, alongside Robert J. Van de Graaff in 1946 (see town.news). His cancer research is still memorialized in the name of the John G. Trump building at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Dr. John G. Trump also played a significant role during World War II, contributing to Allied radar research and earning the trust of the FBI to examine the papers and equipment of inventor Nikola Tesla after Tesla’s death in 1943 (see hindustantimes.com). He received the National Medal of Science for his contributions to engineering and physics (see nationalmedals.org). He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his pioneering work (see nae.edu). Dr. John G. Trump died in 1985.

Trump has frequently cited his uncle’s achievements and scientific credentials in public remarks, often referencing Dr. John G. Trump’s expertise as evidence of the family’s intellectual pedigree (see hindustantimes.com). At a 2024 rally in New Hampshire, Trump called his uncle “a great professor and scientist and engineer” who explained the power of nuclear energy to him “many, many years ago.”

The post is one of the few times in recent weeks that Trump has focused on his family. In the last 30 days, 3 of 528 Trump posts were on the topic of “Trump Family.”