Trump wondered why Mount Vernon isn’t named after George Washington. Here’s why.

By Gillian Brockell April 10 at 5:20 PM

President Trump was not impressed with a tour of the first commander in chief’s home last year, Politico reported Wednesday, describing his visit to Mount Vernon with French President Emmanuel Macron and their wives as “truly bizarre."

“If he was smart, he would’ve put his name on it,” Trump reportedly said. “You’ve got to put your name on stuff or no one remembers you.”

-snip-

Anyway, the “Vernon” of Mount Vernon is British Admiral Edward Vernon. He was the commanding officer of George’s older half brother Lawrence Washington, who fought in a conflict between England and Spain in the West Indies called the War of Jenkins’ Ear.

(Yes, that is really what it was called, but Jenkins and his ear is a story for another day. Just know that rumors of the ear being exhibited before Parliament are false.)

In any case, Lawrence inherited a small house and the land surrounding it from his and George’s father, who died when George was 10 and Lawrence was about 25. Admiral Vernon had the unique distinction among British officers of treating colonial soldiers with some respect; hence, Lawrence renamed the property, previously called Little Hunting Creek, after him.

Lawrence became something of a surrogate father to young George, and some of the future president’s happiest childhood memories occurred during his frequent trips to Mount Vernon.

-snip-