During New Year celebrations in Cologne, Germany, there were more than 500 reported attacks against women, including robbery and sexual assault. Most of the suspects are of North African origin, and some are thought to have entered the country illegally or as asylum seekers. The news was welcome campaign fodder for US presidential hopeful Donald Trump. He went on to say that he did not want to have “people coming in from migration from Syria” as these were aggressive young men who “look like they should be on the wrestling team.” Trump’s comments are in line with his vicious verbal attacks on Mexicans and other immigrant groups in the United States. But they betray his own family background. His grandfather, Friedrich Trump, a German, lived a migrant life in the US on the edge of illegality and rejection. During World War I, he belonged to an immigrant group which was sweepingly labelled the “enemy within,” or – in his grandson’s parlance – a Trojan horse.

“So, what do you want me to say? You’re trying to get me to lie about my family history and my grandfather’s background? Well, let me tell you something, that’s not going to happen,” Trump said, commenting on the allegations. “You act as if you’ve uncovered something that I’ve been trying to keep away from the public, and that’s not the case. Let me tell you, I have always been completely open about my family history and my roots. And I can tell you, everything that’s out there about my family, especially my grandfather, is true. I’m not going to pretend like that’s not the case, because it is. And I don’t want people saying that Trump is a liar, because I’m not. The people should know everything about each and every one of their presidential candidates, and I’m disclosing everything I know about my family.”

The billionaire businessman also stated that he justifies the actions of his grandfather, “because anyone would have done the same if they were living in times as difficult as those.” “We’re talking a worldwide economic crisis, a time when many countries of the world were engaged in war, a time when technology was as sophisticated as two horses pulling a chariot, that’s the level of technology you had back then. What I’m saying is, you’re looking at a time when people didn’t have the benefits of today’s time, they didn’t have the opportunities that we have today. So, my grandfather did the best that he could and he fought for a nice life with any means he could. Some will say that he was an illegal immigrant and a pimp. I’m going to respond to that by saying that back then, everybody were. He did nothing illegal despite having gone through unthinkable trials that would have corrupted even the most principled and ethical of men. So, you can say what you want, but my grandfather is one of my heroes.”

“I don’t think I could have succeeded what he had,” the media mogul added. “He did some things that were questionable, I agree, but I underline that he also lived at a time when you had to fight much harder and be much smarter than you have to be today in order to succeed. So, he became a pimp not because he was cruel or exploitative, but because he was a true businessman. And why do I say that? Because he found the one resource that can never be depleted – the female vagina. So, if anyone out there is wondering who I got my business wits after, the answer is my grandfather. I’d also like to add that he was not arrested for anything he had done, not once. That means that he stayed within the law after coming to America. He was not a criminal, he was just a businessman with unorthodox methods.”