A Republican senator has introduced a bill that would force dual citizens to renounce their foreign citizenship and pledge “absolute allegiance” to the United States — a bill that would strip first lady Melania Trump and son Barron of their Slovenian passports.
Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno on Monday shared his radical plan, called the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, that would force anyone with dual citizenship to choose between the two countries.
“A person shall not become a citizen or national of the United States while holding the citizenship of any foreign country,” Moreno’s bill reads. “A citizen of the United States who voluntarily acquires citizenship of a foreign country after the date of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed to have renounced citizenship of the United States.”
Moreno was born in Colombia and became a U.S. citizen at age 18.
“I am honored to pledge allegiance to the United States of America and the United States of America alone,” Moreno said in a press release. “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.”
Proposed legislation would strip First Lady Melania Trump and son Barron of their Slovenian citizenship (Getty)
Moreno’s plan may hit a snag — under the Fourteenth Amendment, a U.S. citizen “cannot lose his or her citizenship unless he or she voluntarily renounces it.”
Melania immigrated to the United States in 1996 and is the only first lady to be a naturalized American citizen. According to Mary Jordan’s 2020 book, she obtained citizenship in 2006 and maintains dual U.S. and Slovenian citizenship with her 19-year-old son, Barron, Her art of trading, Regarding the previous model.
Jordan wrote that it was crucial for the first lady that Barron speak Slovenian and hold a Slovenian passport in addition to holding a U.S. passport.
“[Donald] Trump complained to others that he didn’t know what they were talking about,” one passage in the book reads.
Moreno, who was born in Colombia and became a U.S. citizen at 18, said “it’s time to end dual citizenship for good” (Getty Images)
In an interview last year, Jordan said dual citizenship made it “easier to work freely throughout Europe.”
“So if he wanted to start a Paris bureau or a Slovenia bureau of Trump.org, that would be much easier for him and would just give him more options,” the author said.
Under Moreno’s bill, which would be enforced by the Departments of Homeland Security and State, dual citizens would be flagged in the system and given one year to renounce their foreign citizenship or renounce their U.S. citizenship.
Anyone who fails to comply after one year will automatically lose their U.S. citizenship and be recorded as a noncitizen.
The Trump administration this year made an unprecedented attempt to end birthright citizenship, a move that has been challenged in court.
