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Pocahontas
Donald Trump, like most of the playground bullies you remember from grade school, likes to make up mocking, insulting nicknames for anybody who doesn't worship him. One of the best-known of these is "Pocahontas" for Senator Elizabeth Warren; the nickname is shorthand for the dog-whistle accusation that she lied about or exaggerated her 1/32 or whatever Native American ancestry in order to get, through affirmative-action preferences, educational and professional opportunities that she wouldn't have gotten based solely on her own merits. To evaluate the truth of this accusation, you would need to check whether (a) Warren lied about or exaggerated her Native American ancestry, and (b) Warren actually got substantial advantages through affirmative-action programs for Native Americans that she wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I don't know of any evidence for either of these, but I haven't looked into it particularly closely. (The Washington Post has.) And as always with Trump, the facts are fairly irrelevant.
I'm more interested in a different question. Whenever Trump utters a wild story, one is forced to wonder whether he actually believes it or is just saying whatever is advantageous to him regardless of belief. In most cases I conclude the latter, but on the Pocahontas story I think he may actually believe it, for the simple reason that it's exactly what he would do in her situation. Trump's philosophy of life has always been to amass as many advantages as possible, as much leverage as possible, before going into any negotiation. So you can bet that if he had a drop of Native American blood, he would take every opportunity to use it to his advantage: only a fool leaves an advantage on the table. We've seen his monumental sense of victim-hood, which would thrive and blossom on even the tiniest bit of racial-minority blood. And, as we've seen over decades, he's never been a stickler for the truth when it comes to saying things that could reflect to his advantage (whether the size of his crowds, the height of his buildings, the extent of his wealth...)
I'm more interested in a different question. Whenever Trump utters a wild story, one is forced to wonder whether he actually believes it or is just saying whatever is advantageous to him regardless of belief. In most cases I conclude the latter, but on the Pocahontas story I think he may actually believe it, for the simple reason that it's exactly what he would do in her situation. Trump's philosophy of life has always been to amass as many advantages as possible, as much leverage as possible, before going into any negotiation. So you can bet that if he had a drop of Native American blood, he would take every opportunity to use it to his advantage: only a fool leaves an advantage on the table. We've seen his monumental sense of victim-hood, which would thrive and blossom on even the tiniest bit of racial-minority blood. And, as we've seen over decades, he's never been a stickler for the truth when it comes to saying things that could reflect to his advantage (whether the size of his crowds, the height of his buildings, the extent of his wealth...)