How Trump got Drumpf-ed: the truth behind John Oliver’s epic takedown of the Donald
While visiting in New York, try staying at the ‘Drumpf’ hotel?
As Super Tuesday results were reported, it was unsurprising that Donald Trump was the most searched candidate on Google on Wednesday morning. But the runner-up was neither Marco Rubio nor Ted Cruz.
The second-most Google-searched candidate was “Donald Drumpf”.
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On his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the comedian described Trump as the “cornerstone of his brand” but Drumpf as “much less magical”, though magical in an ironic sense.
While it is certain his family came from a line of Drumpfs, it is unclear when the name change took place.
Biographer Gwenda Blair initially traced the switch to the 1600s, but later contradicted that conclusion during an interview last year with German news outlet Deutsche Welle, saying “Friedrich Drumpf” emigrated to the US in 1885.
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Donald Trump himself seemed to have accepted Drumpf as his ancestral name, as noted in his 2004 book Trump: Think like a Billionaire. He reiterated Blair’s research that a German lawyer named Hanns Drumpf settled in Kallstadt in 1608 and one of his wine-making ancestors changed the family name to Trump at the end of the 1600s.
“A good move, I think, since Drumpf Tower doesn’t sound nearly as catchy,” wrote Trump.
Trump’s current investments also include Trump Ice (bottled water), Trump Classic Cars, Trump Drinks Israel, Trump Education, Trump Identity, Trump Marks Fine Foods, Trump Marks Mortgage Corp., Trump Follies, and Trump on the Ocean.
Forbes lists Trump’s net worth at US$4.5 billion. China’s Wang Jianlin is worth US$28.2 billion, while former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, reportedly still contemplating a presidential run this year, is worth US$40 billion.
The tycoon caused an uproar in 2011 when he said he believed President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and technically ineligible to the presidency. The International Business Times then turned on the businessman, reporting that “Trump” was not his real name.
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Consistent with Blair’s statement in Deutsche Welle, the report stated that grandpa Drumpf emigrated in 1885 and started calling himself “Fredrick Trump”.
“It is unclear if he ever changed his name officially,” it said.
If so, the former Apprentice star would indeed be “Donald Drumpf”.
The New York Daily News last September profiling the presidential candidate also reported that Ancestry.com records showed Friedrich Drumpf from Kallstadt had changed his name after moving to New York in 1875.
A New York Times profile of Trump at the same time reported the forebear had used Drumpf while emigrating.
Regardless of when the name change happened, the Oliver might be sad to learn the tycoon’s real name was unlikely ever “Donald Drumpf”.
The Sunday night show has been viewed more than 48.9 million times on Facebook alone.
The presidential candidate has yet to respond publicly to the monologue.
