How Donald Trump’s German immigrant grandfather Friedrick found his fortune running brothel hotels for miners on America’s brutal gold rush frontier
German Fred Trump arrived in New York as a 16-year-old but would lay the foundations for a family business empire that led grandson Donald to the White House
DONALD Trump's decision to ban the entry of migrants from several Muslim-majority countries provoked outcry this weekend.
Yet Trump's own family history is one defined by the success of migration to the US.
Indeed it was the President's own liquor-selling, brothel-keeping grandfather who laid the foundation for the Trump dynasty in the late 19th Century.
German-born Friedrick Trump came to exemplify the American dream, arriving in Manhattan from his Bavarian home aged 16 in 1885.
But, like many of the millions of European migrants seeking a better life across The Pond, Trump did not find his riches came quickly or easily.
The youngster worked in some of New York's seediest areas as a barber for six years, saving as much money as he could to seek his fortune elsewhere.
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And in 1891 that opportunity arose.
The newly-declared state of Washington on American's north-west coast was fast developing a reputation for gold mining.
Thousands of miners would flock to the remote outpost of Seattle in a bid to find their fortune - and Trump would provide them with all the food and booze they could consume.
With $400 in his pocket he bought a restaurant in a notorious Red Light District of the town.
But along with the steak and beer it is also believed to have a provided a rather less noble service.
The joint carried adverts for "Rooms for Ladies" — a common term used by brothels in the area.
Trump's business thrived, yet when profits began to falter, he would quickly make the decision to follow the money.
One friend described Trump as the man who "mined the miners".
And indeed wherever the latest mine sprung up, Trump would be with his latest bar catering to all the men's needs.
By 1897, Trump was able to open his latest Seattle restaurant and pay off the mortgage within four weeks.
During the Yukon Gold Rush across the border in Canada - during which hundreds of horses died in the arduous winter conditions - quick-thinking Trump set up a tent and flogged horse meat to famished workers.
A year later he had his own two-floor hotel and restaurant named The Arctic.
Like many of Trump's other joints, it provided beer, food and, of course, "Rooms for Ladies".
A second incarnation of the Arctic, named The Whitehorse Restaurant and Inn, would soon make more than 3,000 meals a day while providing drink and gambling for local miners.
Yet the tide was quickly turning against Trump's get-rich-quick schemes.
The US Government was now cracking down on drinking and gambling dens and within months mounted soldiers were raiding the bars of Washington.
But by now Trump was a rich man and returned to Germany.
Back in his hometown of Kallstadt he met and married Elisabeth Christ - five years his junior.
Soon after, Bavarian authorities ruled Trump had dodged his military service when he fled to America and expelled him from his own country in 1904.
America again gave him sanctuary.
Within weeks he was back in New York with Elisabeth and $500,000 in his bank account.
His decision to remain in the Big Apple would set a course that saw his son, Fred, become one of the richest men in the city.
The future property tycoon would grow up to become Donald's father.
Friedrick revisited his youth in 1907, opening a barbers on Wall Street while living in a plush seven bed home in Queen's.
He would also work as a hotel manager in the city, but his business ventures never again reached those heady heights of his early years in Washington.
It was while he walked along the street with Fred Jr in 1918 that he fell ill.
Aged just 49, Friedrick died of the Spanish flu outbreak that killed tens of millions worldwide, leaving behind an inheritance of nearly $500,000.
Eldest son Fred would use that money to build a New York property empire that made him one of America's most famous entrepreneurs.
His son would go on to become the President - Donald Trump.
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