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The life story of the little-known mother of former US president Donald Trump, Mary Anne MacLeod. Journalist Torcuil Crichton follows Mary Anne’s journey from a poverty-stricken upbringing on the Isle of Lewis to her marriage into one of the wealthiest property development families in New York, the Trumps.

Criss-crossing the Atlantic, we get a personal portrait of the woman who was to be the mother of a future president, Donald John Trump, who made few mentions of his late mother while he was a property and media mogul. But once he became president, Trump often referenced his Scottish roots and, as sequences filmed at anti-Trump demonstrations in Edinburgh show, the tables are often turned on him as a result. The influence of his mother, how she was part of the great wave of American immigration and where this left the forty-fifth president of the United States are all explored in the film.

Running like a thread through the documentary is the story of Mary Anne and Agnes Stiven, a teenage pen-pal who in later life wrote a beautiful memoir of their relationship. Interrupted by a brutal war and the tides of history, the two friends lost contact with each other for 60 years. The strong bond, the separation and the reunion of two friends as they each approached their final furlong are told by Cathy Brett, an artist and illustrator who has been inspired by the life her grandmother Agnes lived. The enduring power of this friendship provides a powerful emotional spine that gives viewers a direct insight into the great European migration of the early 20th century and the modern-day America that Mary Anne played such an important part in shaping.

Tha am fear-naidheachd, Torcuil Crichton a’ leantainn turas Mairi Anna a chaidh a togail ann am bochdainn air Eilean Leòdhais ach a’ phòs a-steach gu aon de na teaghlaichean às beartaiche ann an New York. Teaghlach Trump. Bho gach taobh dhan a’ Chuain Shiair tha sinn a’ faighinn dealbh dhan a’ bhoireannach a bha na màthair dhan fhear a bhiodh na Cheann-suidhe san àm ri teachd, Dòmhnall Iain Trump – an duine às cumhachdaich anns an t-saoghal.

Cha tuirt Dòmhnall Trump mòran mu a’ mhàthair nuair a bha e an sàs anns na meadhanan agus ann an obair thogail ach mar Cheann-suidhe tha e tric a’ toirt iomradh air na freumhan Albannach aige. Ach, mar a tha sreathan a chaidh fhiolmadh aig fianaisean na aghaidh ann an Dùn Èideann a’ sealltainn, tha seo tric ag obrachadh na aghaidh. Tha am fiolm seo a’ rannsachadh a’ bhuaidh a thug a’ mhàthair air, mar a bha i a-measg an t-sluagh mòr a rinn inimreachd a dh’Ameireagaidh agus far a bheil seo a’ fàgail an 45mh Ceann-suidhe air na Stàitean Aonaichte.
A’ ruith mar shnàithlean tron phrogram, tha sgeulachd dàimh shònraichte eadar Mairi Anna NicLeòid agus Agnes Stiven, tè gu am biodh Mairi Anna a’ sgrìobhadh cunbhalach nuair a bha iad nan deugairean. Nuair a bha i na bu shine, sgrìobh Agnes eachdraidh-beatha àlainn mun dàimh a bha eadar iad. Thug cogadh brùideil agus slighe eachdraidh orra dealachadh o chèile fad 60 bliadhna.

Tha sgeulachd na caraidean – an daimh làidir a bha eatorra, mar a chaidh iad bliadhnaichean gun bruidhinn ri chèile agus an ath-choinneachadh nan seann aois – air innse le Cathy Brett, neach-ealain agus dealbhadair a fhuair misneachd o bheatha iongantach a seanmhair, Agnes.

Tha cumhachd a’ chàirdeis shònraichte seo a’ toirt sealladh dhan luchd-amhairc air imrich mhòr na Roinn Eòrpa tràth san 20mh linn agus Ameireagaidh an là an-diugh, far an robh pàirt cho cudromach aig Màiri Anna NicLeòid ri chluich.

In Gaelic with English subtitles