A Republican senator has accidentally roped in Donald Trump’s wife and son into a radical plan to force U.S. citizens to renounce their foreign citizenship.
Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio plans to introduce legislation that would end dual citizenship by requiring citizens to declare their “exclusive allegiance” to the U.S.
The senator was born in Colombia, but has renounced his Colombian citizenship.
“One of the greatest honors of my life was when I became an American citizen at 18, the first opportunity I could do so,” he told Fox News Digital on Monday.
“It was an honor to pledge an Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America and only to the United States of America,” Moreno said. “Being an American citizen is an honor and a privilege—and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing. It’s time to end dual citizenship for good.”
Both Melania and Barron Trump remain dual citizens of the U.S. and Slovenia, and would potentially be impacted by Moreno’s planned legislation.
Melania, who was born in Slovenia, is only the second first lady born outside of America, after Louisa Adams, the wife of President John Quincy Adams. She was born in London in 1775.
Melania is the only first lady to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. She obtained her citizenship in July 2006, on an EB-1 visa, which is reserved for immigrants with “extraordinary ability” and “sustained national and international acclaim.”
In her 2024 book The Art of Her Deal, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan said Melania, 55, and Barron Trump, 19, remain dual citizens.
Jordan said Melania would have had to file the paperwork for Barron’s dual citizenship, as his Slovenian citizenship was not automatic. The author also noted that Barron and Melania have kept their Slovenian passports.
“She did that to give her son options,” Jordan said in an interview to promote the book last year.
“If you have a Slovenian citizenship, which Barron is entitled to, the passport makes a lot of things easier,” Jordan said.
“First of all he can work freely in all of Europe much more easily... so if he wants to go start a Paris bureau of Trump.org, or a Slovenian bureau, it’s much easier for him and it just gives him more options. And I think she also likes that he speaks Slovenian, he has a Slovenian passport.”
“By getting him the citizenship and the passport it’s easier for him to get a job, it’s easier for him to set up a business, it’s easier for him to inherit land,” she added. “It’s mama bear just giving options to her son.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Currently, Americans can hold U.S. citizenship and also citizenship in their home country without having to make the “allegiance” choice that Moreno is pushing.
Commenting on his proposed legislation, titled the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, Moreno said that dual citizenship creates “conflicts of interest and divided loyalties.”
The legislation would change the current immigration law and require dual citizens to choose one citizenship.
Moreno’s proposed law would be enforced by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which would set up a system to track dual citizens.
Those flagged by the system would have a year to either renounce their foreign citizenship or forfeit their U.S. citizenship. After a year, anyone who did not comply would automatically lose their U.S. citizenship. Those who give up their U.S. citizenship, voluntary or otherwise, would be treated under immigration law as foreigners and recorded as non-citizens.
