A bizarre conspiracy theory circulating online claims that Donald Trump may somehow be linked to time travel, with supposed clues hidden in art and literature dating back more than a century.
A bizarre conspiracy theory circulating online claims that Donald Trump may somehow be linked to time travel, with supposed clues hidden in art and literature dating back more than a century. The theory gained momentum after enthusiasts pointed to mysterious sketches by Charles Dellschau, a Prussian immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1850 and died in 1923. Dellschau’s drawings of futuristic flying machines which he called “aeros”, allegedly contain the word “TRUMP” and even reference the number 47, which conspiracy theorists say aligns with the total number of US presidents.
Before his death, Dellschau produced hundreds of imaginative depictions of strange aircraft that resembled hybrids of early airships, balloons and primitive airplanes. While historians view the artwork as visionary fantasy, conspiracy theorists have seized on the repeated appearance of Trump’s name and numbers tied to his presidential terms as the 45th and 47th commander-in-chief.
The strange narrative has also drawn connections to novels written in the late 1800s by American author Ingersoll Lockwood. In his children’s stories, a young aristocratic character named Baron Trump embarks on extraordinary adventures guided by a mentor named Don.
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In Lockwood’s fictional world, Baron lives in a lavish estate known as Castle Trump, a detail that conspiracy theorists claim eerily mirrors the modern-day Trump family. To believers of the theory, such similarities suggest the Trump dynasty might somehow have been foretold decades before the president’s birth.
According to the American Visionary Art Museum in Maryland, Dellschau’s fictional flying machines were imagined to run on an anti-gravity substance he called “NB Gas” or “supe,” enabling them to soar without conventional fuel. Conspiracy enthusiasts say the concept sounds strikingly similar to descriptions of UFO propulsion systems - phenomena now referred to by the government as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs).
Dellschau’s sketches also include a curious image showing a golden-haired figure piloting a machine marked with the number 45, another detail theorists claim hints at Trump’s presidency.
The speculation has prompted online sleuths to scour historical texts and illustrations for more hints that Trump or his youngest son Barron Trump may somehow be tied to time travel.
Fueling the intrigue is a remark Trump himself made during the 2016 campaign and again after winning the White House: “I know things that other people don’t know.”
Trump’s past references to his uncle, scientist John G. Trump, have also been cited by conspiracy theorists. The president once suggested his uncle discussed future scientific developments with him, saying the physicist “would explain the power of what's going to happen, and he was right.”
The topic even surfaced during a conversation involving internet personality Logan Paul, who asked Trump’s granddaughter Kai about the Lockwood books and whether they hinted that humanity might be living inside a simulation. The teenager dismissed the idea, saying: “I don't go down those rabbit holes. I don't want to go down those rabbit holes.”
Lockwood’s works include the children’s books Baron Trump's Marvelous Underground Journey and Little Baron Trump and His Wonderful Dog Bulgar, both featuring the adventurous young Baron. The boy travels to Russia during one of his extraordinary quests, guided by the mysterious Don, described in the book as “the master of all masters.”
Lockwood also penned a darker political novel, The Last President, which begins in New York City following the election of an extremely unpopular leader. In the story, social unrest erupts across the city, with police warning that “mobs of vast size are organizing under the lead of anarchists and socialists, and threaten to plunder and despoil the houses of the rich who have wronged and oppressed them for so many years.”
Illustrations from Lockwood’s Baron Trump stories depict the young noble dressed in lavish garments and jewels as he leaves Castle Trump on a quest to Russia, searching for portals to alternate dimensions.
While some theoretical physics research has explored the possibility of time travel — including studies published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity suggesting certain forms of backward time travel might be mathematically possible — there is no evidence it has ever occurred.
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking famously dismissed the idea in his 1994 work Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays, writing: “The best evidence we have that time travel is not possible, and never will be, is that we have not been invaded by hordes of tourists from the future.”
