Trump’s relatives in his ancestral German hometown are trying to hide their ties to him

In southwest Germany, among the country's winemaking region, the Trump family tries to distance itself from their infamous relative.

The New York Times reported Monday that in the village of Kallstadt, the American president is referred to simply as "Donald" by his distant cousins.

"You can’t choose your relatives, can you?" Ursula Trump, a bakery owner in a nearby town, told the newspaper.

Her husband is the seventh cousin of the American president, and she was one of the only German Trumps willing to speak about him — but others who share different last names are also related to him.

"Practically half the village is," Kallstadt's mayor, Thomas Jaworek, told the Times — before adding that he himself is not.

Trump's paternal grandparents, Friedrich and Elisabeth, were both born in the town and married there before emigrating to the US. Though he allegedly ran a brothel after making his fortune in America, the report noted that Friedrich was well-liked and respected in his hometown.

Though Friedrich was popular in Kallstadt, his grandson is so disliked that the town purposefully leaves him out of its marketing materials and the Trump family home is not commemorated with a plaque.

“We don’t use the name in any way in touristic marketing,” Jörg Dörr, an official with the town's tourism office, told the Times. “The topic is too controversial.”