Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) has put forward the “Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025,” a bill that would bar Americans from holding more than one nationality. If enacted, the measure would require dual citizens — including First Lady Melania Trump and her son Barron — to give up any foreign citizenship or forfeit their U.S. status.
Melania, who was born in Slovenia in 1970, moved to New York in 1996 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006. Her son Barron, born in the United States later that year, is widely believed to also have Slovenian citizenship through his mother.
Mary Jordan’s 2020 book The Art of Her Deal, which profiles Melania, notes that it was very important to her that Barron both speak Slovenian and hold a Slovenian passport in addition to his American one, as highlighted by The Independent. The book also describes Donald Trump jokingly complaining that he sometimes has “no idea” what Melania and Barron are saying when they speak in Slovenian.
In an interview last year, Jordan said that dual citizenship gives Barron more flexibility for his future, including the ability to live and work across Europe with fewer obstacles — whether that meant launching a Paris office or a venture in Slovenia.
Under Moreno’s proposal, dual citizens would have one year from the law’s enactment to file a written renunciation of their foreign nationality with the Secretary of State, or, alternatively, to give up U.S. citizenship through the Department of Homeland Security. Those who do nothing within that window would be treated as if they had voluntarily relinquished their U.S. citizenship under immigration law, according to reporting by The Hill. The bill is written to take effect 180 days after being signed into law.
Moreno argues that having more than one citizenship undercuts full allegiance to the United States. “Being an American citizen is an honor and a privilege — and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing,” he said when unveiling the bill, adding that it is “time to end dual citizenship for good.”
The legislation would mark a sharp break from longstanding U.S. legal practice. Supreme Court rulings such as Afroyim v. Rusk have held that Americans cannot be stripped of their citizenship unless they willingly surrender it. Legal scholars estimate that tens of millions of Americans are currently eligible for, or already hold, dual nationality across a wide range of communities in the country.
