Comic Yakov Smirnoff says his relatives in Ukraine slightly exaggerated his fame in the United States.
"They thought Donald Trump was my driver," said Smirnoff, who performs at Trump's Castle this weekend.The comedian - whose signature line is "What a country!" - returned to his homeland last month at the request of the State Department to accompany an airlift of food and medical supplies for children's hospitals.
The State Department and Smirnoff felt the media attention his trip would attract would make it less likely the supplies would end up on the black market.
"The medical situation is so bad there some doctors are using razor blades to perform surgery," he said. "These supplies are the difference between life and death."
Smirnoff emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1978.