A representation π of a locally compact group G is called \e{trace
class}, if for every test function f the induced operator π(f) is a trace
class operator. The group G is called \e{trace class}, if every π∈G is
trace class. We show that trace class groups are type I and give a criterion
for semi-direct products to be trace class and show that a representation π
is trace class if and only if π⊗π′ can be realized in the space of
distributions