What specific passages in Ingersoll Lockwood’s Baron Trump books are cited by proponents of the prediction theory?
Executive summary
Proponents of the “prediction” theory point to three recurring passages or motifs in Ingersoll Lockwood’s works: a boy named Baron Trump who lives in “Castle Trump,” a mentor called “Don,” and a separate Lockwood novella—1900; or, The Last President—that describes an outsider from New York winning the presidency and unleashing street chaos in Manhattan [1][2][3].
1. The name “Baron Trump” and “Castle Trump” — literal echoes that circulate online
The most-cited textual detail is the protagonist’s name, Baron Trump, and his residence described as “Castle Trump,” drawn from Lockwood’s Baron Trump children’s tales; social-media posts emphasize the identical surname and the castle/home image as a parallel to the modern Trump family and Trump Tower [1][4][5].
2. The mentor “Don” — a short line that fuels big leaps
Another specific passage proponents highlight is Baron’s guide or mentor named “Don” (often called the “master of masters” in summaries), which viral clips connect to the first name of Donald Trump and present as an uncanny match used to suggest foreknowledge [1][2].
3. The Russian portal and underground journey — used to flirt with time‑travel theories
Lockwood’s Baron Trump books include a plot element in which Baron, guided by Don, discovers a portal accessed via Russia that leads to other worlds or underground voyages; conspiracy-minded readings have seized that Russian link and the portal motif to speculate about time travel or clandestine knowledge [1][4][6].
4. 1900; or, The Last President — the separate political fable that social posts conflate with the Baron tales
Advocates of the prediction framing also cite passages from Lockwood’s 1896 novella 1900; or, The Last President, which describes an unexpected outsider from New York winning a presidential election and New York City erupting into protests and “frenzied chaos”; that narrative is repeatedly quoted as a quasi‑prophecy of a modern populist victory [3][7][8].
5. How proponents stitch these pieces together — motifs become a stitched “prediction”
Online compilations and viral videos combine the Baron name, Castle Trump, the Don mentor, the Russian portal, and the Last President’s chaotic Manhattan vignette as if they are contiguous evidence of a single prophecy, treating these separate elements from different Lockwood books as mutually reinforcing “passages” [4][2][6].
6. Limits, counterpoints and context that skeptics emphasize
Close readings and reporting note key limitations: Baron in the books is of German stock and the stories are late‑19th‑century children’s fantasy, not political forecasting; the texts were obscure until internet rediscovery and there is no evidence Donald Trump or his family engaged with Lockwood’s books, which makes influence or foreknowledge implausible [3][9][8].
7. The role of coincidence, selective quotation and virality
Journalists and librarians point out that the items cited are small, diffuse motifs—names, a “castle,” a mentor named Don, and a separate political fable—and that viral creators often perform selective quotation and conflation across four different works to amplify an impression of prophecy rather than relying on a contiguous prophetic passage in a single text [5][10][2].
8. Bottom line: the specific passages most often cited — and what they actually are
In short, proponents repeatedly point to: (a) the Baron Trump character name and his “Castle Trump” residence from the Baron Trump novels, (b) the mentor figure called Don who guides Baron, (c) the portal/ Russia element in the Baron adventures, and (d) the depiction in 1900; or, The Last President of an outsider from New York whose election sparks chaos in Manhattan; each of these appears in Lockwood’s texts but in different contexts and different books, a fact that sceptical reporting highlights [1][4][6][3].