Donald Trump

What Was Donald Trump's Childhood Like?

Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the New York City borough of Queens, as the fourth child of Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. He is of German and Scottish descent. Growing up with his siblings in a mansion in Jamaica Estates, his father paid each child around $20,000 per year, equivalent to approximately $265,000 today. By age eight, Trump was considered a millionaire. Trump attended the private Kew-Forest School through seventh grade before enrolling in New York Military Academy for secondary school. He showed an early interest in his father's business and was enrolled by his father at this boarding school. After considering a show business career, Trump enrolled at Fordham University in 1964, later transferring to Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania two years later. Trump graduated with a bachelor of science in economics from Wharton in May 1968. Due to bone spurs in his heels, he was exempted from serving in the Vietnam War during that time period.

What was the scope of Donald Trump's business endeavors before entering politics?

What was Donald Trump's most successful foray into real estate?

Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned racially segregated middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, his father made him president of the company and he began using the Trump Organization as an umbrella brand. Roy Cohn was Trump's fixer, lawyer, and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the U.S. government for $100 million over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump's counterclaims were dismissed, and the government's case was settled with the Trumps signing a consent decree agreeing to desegregate. Before age thirty, Trump showed his propensity for litigation, no matter the outcome and cost; even when he lost, he described the case as a win. Helping Trump projects, Cohn was a consigliere whose Mafia connections controlled construction unions. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government. Between 1991 and 2009, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six of his businesses: the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company. In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more.

Can He Make It Pay: The Challenges of Licensing the Trump Name?

The Trump Organization has licensed the Trump name for a range of consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, learning courses, and home furnishings. Over 50 licensing or management deals have been made, generating at least $59 million for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.

What Other Business Ventures Has Donald Trump Pursued?

In 1970, Trump invested $70,000 to receive billing as coproducer of a Broadway comedy. In September 1983, he purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to his attempt to move to a fall schedule and trying to force a merger with the National Football League (NFL) by bringing an antitrust suit. Trump hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall and lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race in 1989 and 1990. From 1986 to 1988, he purchased significant blocks of shares in various public companies while suggesting that he intended to take over the company and then sold his shares for a profit. In 1988, Trump purchased the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle, financing the purchase with $380 million in loans from a syndicate of 22 banks. He renamed the airline Trump Shuttle and operated it until 1992. He defaulted on his loans in 1991, and ownership passed to the banks. Trump purchased the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, in 1996. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. In 2005, Trump cofounded Trump University, a company that sold real estate seminars for up to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of "university" violated state law, its name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010. The State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. Additionally, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies.

What Lies Beneath: The Foundations of Trump's Rise to Power?

The Donald J. Trump Foundation was established in 1988 and operated from 1987 to 2006, with Trump personally donating $5.4 million during that time. After a five-year hiatus, he donated an additional $65,000 in 2007-2008 before ceasing personal contributions altogether. The foundation received millions of dollars from other donors, including a $5 million gift from Vince McMahon. It primarily supported health- and sports-related charities, conservative groups, and organizations that held events at Trump properties. In 2016, The Washington Post reported potential legal and ethical violations by the charity, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion. That same year, New York's attorney general determined the foundation was violating state law by soliciting donations without submitting to required annual audits and ordered it to cease fundraising activities in the state. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved. In June 2018, the attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. The foundation ceased operation and disbursed its assets to other charities in December 2018. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, including using them to finance his presidential campaign.

Has Donald Trump's Business Empire Been Tainted by Controversies in His Legal Affairs and Bankruptcies?

According to a review of state and federal court files conducted by USA Today in 2018, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions. While he has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced his shares in the properties. During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion. After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him.

What is the Real Value of Donald Trump's Fortune?

Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of a million dollars" from his father and that he had to pay it back with interest. He borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely did not repay the loans, and received another $413 million (2018 equivalent, adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. Posing as a Trump Organization official named "John Barron", Trump called journalist Jonathan Greenberg in 1984, trying to get a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. He self-reported his net worth over a wide range: from a low of minus $900 million in 1990, to a high of $10 billion in 2015. In 2024, Forbes estimated his net worth at $2.3 billion and ranked him the 1,438th wealthiest person in the world.

What was Donald Trump's path to becoming a household name in media?

Trump has produced 19 books under his name, with most written or co-written by ghostwriters. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller and credited by The New Yorker with making Trump famous as an "emblem of the successful tycoon." Tony Schwartz, who is credited as a coauthor, wrote the book. Trump had cameos in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001. He appeared as a guest on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show 24 times starting in the 1990s. From 2004 to 2008, Trump hosted his own short-form talk radio program, Trumped!. He was a guest commentator on Fox & Friends from 2011 until 2015. In 2021, Trump resigned from SAG-AFTRA after being summoned for a disciplinary hearing regarding the January 6 attack. The union permanently barred him just two days later.

Will His Reality TV Legacy Come Back to Haunt Him?

Producer Mark Burnett made Trump a television star when he created The Apprentice, which Trump hosted from 2004 to 2015, including variant The Celebrity Apprentice. On the shows, he was portrayed as a superrich chief executive who eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "you're fired". The New York Times described his portrayal as "a highly flattering, highly fictionalized version" of himself.

What were Donald Trump's earliest ambitions in politics?

Trump registered as a Republican in 1987; a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999; a Democrat in 2001; a Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012. In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, expressing his views on foreign policy and how to eliminate the federal budget deficit. In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater, asking to be put into consideration to be Republican nominee George H. W. Bush's running mate. Bush found the request "strange and unbelievable". Trump was a candidate in the 2000 Reform Party presidential primaries for three months before withdrawing from the race in February 2000. In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run.

Did He Steal the Spotlight in the 2016 Presidential Election?

Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. He became the Republican front-runner in March 2016 and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee in May. His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive, and a record number were false. He was highly critical of media coverage and frequently made claims of media bias. Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign, but, in early July, her lead narrowed. In mid-July, he selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate, and the two were officially nominated at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. He twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election. Trump described NATO as "obsolete" and espoused views that were described as noninterventionist and protectionist. His campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and strongly enforcing immigration laws. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations, modernizing services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated increasing military spending and extreme vetting or banning of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter debate during the 2016 campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–U.S. border to restrict illegal movement and vowed that Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million. He did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office. On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. After elector defections on both sides, the official count was 304 to 227. The fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote, he received nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Clinton, 46.3% to her 48.25%.

What was his first term in office, spanning from 2017 to 2021?

What Were His First Moves in Office?

Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. The day after his inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including a half million in Washington, D.C., protested against him in the Women's Marches. During his first week in office, Trump signed six executive orders, including authorizing procedures for repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, advancing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline projects, and planning for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Did Donald Trump's Business Ties Create Unavoidable Conflicts of Interest?

Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust, rather than a blind trust or equivalent arrangement to cleanly sever himself from his business interests. He continued to profit from his businesses and knew how his administration's policies affected them. Although he said he would eschew new foreign deals, the Trump Organization pursued operational expansions in Scotland, Dubai, and the Dominican Republic. Lobbyists, foreign government officials, and Trump donors and allies generated hundreds of millions of dollars for his resorts and hotels. Trump was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated.

What Was Donald Trump's Approach to Domestic Policy?

Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, reducing tax rates for businesses and individuals, and set the penalty associated with the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate to $0. The administration claimed that the act would not decrease government revenue, but 2018 revenues were 7.6 percent lower than projected. Under Trump, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1 trillion in 2019. By the end of his term, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75 trillion, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio hit a post-World War II high. Trump is the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce than when he took office, by three million people. He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40 percent and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. He withdrew from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation to not ratify it. He aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels. Trump dismantled many federal regulations on health, labor, and the environment, among others. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended, or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "after requests by the regulated industries". The Institute for Policy Integrity found that 78 percent of his proposals were blocked by courts or did not prevail over litigation. In response to the opioid epidemic, Trump signed legislation in 2018 to increase funding for drug treatments. He barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals from receiving federal funds. He said he supported "traditional marriage", but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage "settled". His administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBTQ people. Trump has said he is opposed to gun control, although his views have shifted over time. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana. He is a long-time advocate of capital punishment, and his administration oversaw the federal government execute 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined, ending a 17-year moratorium. In 2016, he said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding.

Can Donald Trump's Presidency Bridge America's Dividing Racial Fault Lines?

Trump's comments on the 2017 Unite the Right rally were criticized for implying a moral equivalence between white supremacist demonstrators and counter-protesters when he stated that there were "very fine people on both sides". He also referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries" in January 2018, which was condemned as racist. In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen, all minorities, should "go back" to the countries they "came from". The House of Representatives voted to condemn his "racist comments", with white nationalist publications and social media praising his remarks. He continued making similar remarks during his 2020 campaign. In June 2020, federal law-enforcement officials removed a peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square outside the White House, leading Trump to pose with a Bible for a photo-op at St. John's Episcopal Church. Religious leaders condemned both actions. Many retired military leaders and defense officials also criticized his proposal to use the US military against anti-police-brutality protesters.

Did President Trump's Controversial Pardons and Commutations Have a Lasting Impact?

Trump granted 237 requests for clemency, fewer than all presidents since 1900 with the exception of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Only 25 of these had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney; the others were granted to people with personal or political connections to him, his family, and his allies, or recommended by celebrities. In his last full day in office, he granted 73 pardons and commuted 70 sentences. Several Trump allies were not eligible for pardons under Justice Department rules, and in other cases the department had opposed clemency. The pardons of three military service members convicted of or charged with violent crimes were opposed by military leaders.

Will his immigration policies shape America's future?

As president, Trump described illegal immigration as an "invasion" of the United States and drastically escalated immigration enforcement. He implemented harsh policies against asylum seekers and deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border to stop illegal crossings. He reduced the number of refugees admitted to record lows, from an annual limit of 110,000 before he took office to 15,000 in 2021. Trump also increased restrictions on granting permanent residency to immigrants needing public benefits. One of his central campaign promises was to build a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border; during his first term, the U.S. built 73 miles (117 km) of wall in areas without barriers and 365 miles (587 km) to replace older barriers. In 2018, Trump's refusal to sign any congressional spending bill unless it allocated funding for the border wall resulted in the longest-ever federal government shutdown, for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019. The shutdown ended after he agreed to fund the government without any funds for the wall. To avoid another shutdown, Congress passed a funding bill with $1.4 billion for border fencing in February. Trump later declared a national emergency on the southern border to divert $6.1 billion of funding to the border wall despite congressional disagreement. In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order that temporarily denied entry to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. The order caused many protests and legal challenges that resulted in nationwide injunctions. A revised order giving some exceptions was also blocked by courts, but the Supreme Court ruled in June that the ban could be enforced on those lacking "a bona fide relationship with a person or entity" in the U.S. Trump replaced the ban in September with a presidential proclamation extending travel bans to North Koreans, Chadians, and some Venezuelan officials, but excluded Iraq and Sudan. The Supreme Court allowed that version to go into effect in December 2017, and ultimately upheld the ban in 2019. From 2017 to 2018, the Trump administration had a policy of family separation that separated over 4,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border, an unprecedented policy sparked public outrage in the country. Despite Trump initially blaming Democrats and insisting he could not stop the policy with an executive order, he acceded to public pressure in June 2018 and mandated that migrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" of risk for the child. A judge later ordered that the families be reunited and further separations stopped except in limited circumstances, though over 1,000 additional children were separated from their families after the order.

Will Donald Trump's Unconventional Approach to Foreign Policy Reshape Global Relations?

Trump described himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He supported populist, neo-nationalist, and authoritarian governments. His tenure was marked by unpredictability, uncertainty, and inconsistency in foreign relations. Tensions between the U.S. and its European allies were strained under Trump, with criticism of NATO allies and private suggestions that the U.S. should withdraw from NATO. Trump backed many policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2020, the White House hosted the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize their foreign relations. A long-standing economic conflict with China began in January 2018, when Trump introduced tariffs and trade barriers aiming to force changes to what he deemed unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft. The administration cited these practices as contributing to the U.S.–China trade deficit and requiring the transfer of American technology to China. The Trump administration weakened sanctions imposed on Russia after its annexation of Crimea in 2014. He withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing Russian noncompliance, and supported Russia's potential return to the G7. While praising Vladimir Putin, Trump opposed some actions by the Russian government. In 2017, as North Korea's nuclear capabilities became a serious threat, Trump met Kim Jong-un three times: in Singapore in June 2018, Hanoi in February 2019, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone in June 2019. However, no denuclearization agreement was reached, and talks broke down after one day in October 2019.

Who's Still Working for Him?

Trump made daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner unpaid advisors. The Trump administration experienced a high turnover rate among White House staff. By the end of his first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or reassigned. As of early July 2018, 61 percent of his senior aides had left and 141 staffers had departed in the previous year. Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Trump publicly disparaged several former top officials. He had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. Reince Priebus was replaced by John F. Kelly after seven months, who resigned in December 2018 following a tumultuous tenure. Trump subsequently disparaged him, and Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff. Trump dismissed FBI Director James Comey in May 2017, initially citing concerns over his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation but later stating he was concerned with Comey's role in ongoing investigations into Trump-Russia connections. Three original cabinet members left within Trump's first year. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, while Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke both resigned amid multiple investigations into their conduct in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, stating that many positions were unnecessary. As of January 8, 2019, only 433 of 706 key positions had been filled, with no nominee for 264.

Can His History of Conflict with the Judiciary Impact His Presidency?

Trump appointed 226 Article III judges, including 54 to the courts of appeals and three to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. His Supreme Court nominees were noted for having politically shifted the Court to the right. In the 2016 campaign, he pledged that Roe v. Wade would be overturned "automatically" if he were elected and provided the opportunity to appoint two or three anti-abortion justices. He later took credit when Roe was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization; all three of his Supreme Court nominees voted with the majority. Trump disparaged courts and judges he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. His attacks on the courts drew rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, concerned about the effect of his statements on judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.

Can Donald Trump's Presidency be Held Accountable for the Nation's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Trump initially ignored public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Azar, focusing on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. He established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29. Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid. On March 27, he signed into law the CARES Act—a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill—the largest stimulus in U.S. history. In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic; Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter, although the targeted states did not meet his administration's guidelines for reopening. He repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments. On October 2, 2020, he tweeted that he had tested positive for COVID-19, part of a White House outbreak. By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue in the presidential election.

Are Investigations Still Pursuing Donald Trump?

After assuming office, Donald Trump faced increasing scrutiny from the Justice Department and Congress, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, inauguration, presidential actions, private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation. There were ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve congressional investigations. In July 2016, the FBI launched Crossfire Hurricane, an investigation into possible links between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. Following Trump's firing of Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a second investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. In January 2017, three U.S. intelligence agencies jointly stated that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor Trump. Many suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials were discovered. Trump told Russian officials he was unconcerned about Russia's election interference. Crossfire Hurricane was later transferred to Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation; the investigation into Trump's ties to Russia was ended by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after he informed the FBI that Mueller would pursue the matter. At the request of Rosenstein, the Mueller investigation examined criminal matters connected with Russia's 2016 election interference. Mueller submitted his final report in March 2019. The report found that Russia did interfere in 2016 to favor Trump and that Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged the effort, but that there was no evidence to establish that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russia. Trump claimed the report exonerated him despite Mueller writing that it did not. The report also detailed potential obstruction of justice by Trump but did not draw ultimate conclusions, leaving the decision to charge the laws to Congress. In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. He sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chair Elijah Cummings to prevent disclosures. In May, two judges ruled that both Mazars and the banks must comply with the subpoenas; Trump's attorneys appealed. In September 2022, Trump and the committee agreed to a settlement regarding Mazars, and the firm began turning over documents.

Will History Repeat Itself: Has Donald Trump's Presidency Led to His Impeachment?

Trump was impeached twice by the House of Representatives during his first presidential term. On each occasion, he was acquitted by the Senate. The first impeachment arose from a whistleblower complaint that in 2019 Trump had pressured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, in an attempt to gain an advantage in the 2020 presidential election. The House voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on December 18, 2019, and he was acquitted by the Senate on February 5, 2020. The second impeachment came after the Capitol riot, over which the House charged Trump with incitement of insurrection on January 13, 2021. Trump left office on January 20, and he was again acquitted by the Senate on February 13.

Will He Run Again in the 2020 Presidential Election?

What Was Donald Trump's Most Controversial Presidential Campaign?

Trump filed to run for reelection just hours after becoming president in 2017. His first reelection rally took place less than a month later. He officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020. The campaign focused on crime, warning that cities would plunge into chaos if Democratic nominee Joe Biden won. Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions and exploited racial divisions. Starting in early 2020, Trump raised doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that it would be rigged and that widespread use of mail-in balloting would lead to massive fraud. He blocked funding for the U.S. Postal Service, citing a desire to prevent increased voting by mail. Trump repeatedly refused to commit to accepting the results if he lost or to a peaceful transition of power.

Was His Defeat at Hands of Biden and Rejection of Results the Low Point in Trump's Presidency?

Biden won the November 2020 election, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14. Even before the results were known, Trump declared victory. When Biden was projected the winner, Trump alleged election fraud without basis. He filed many legal challenges, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both state and federal courts for having no factual or legal basis. Trump's allegations were refuted by state election officials, and the Supreme Court declined to hear a case asking it to overturn the results in four states won by Biden. Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results, personally pressuring Republican local and state office-holders, Republican legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence. In the weeks after the election, Trump withdrew from public activities. He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition. After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team. While Trump said he recommended that the GSA begin transition protocols, he still did not formally concede. Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration on January 20.

Was the January 6 Capitol Attack a Turning Point in Donald Trump's Legacy?

In December 2020, reports emerged that the U.S. military was on "red alert", and ranking officers had discussed what to do if Trump declared martial law. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel grew concerned that Trump would attempt a coup or military action against China or Iran. Milley insisted that he be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons. On January 6, 2021, while Congress was certifying presidential election results at the U.S. Capitol, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., where he called for the election to be overturned and urged his supporters to "fight like hell" and "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol. His supporters then formed a mob that broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. During the attack, Trump posted on social media but did not ask the rioters to disperse until 6 p.m., when he told them in a tweet to "go home with love & in peace" while calling them "great patriots" and restating that he had won the election. Congress later reconvened and confirmed Biden's victory in the early hours of January 7. More than 140 police officers were injured, and five people died either during or after the attack.

Will He Stay in Office: Between Terms (2021-2025)?

Upon leaving the White House, Trump began living at Mar-a-Lago, establishing an office there as provided for by the Former Presidents Act. His continuing false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics, although in May 2021, with his supporters he began using the term to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used his election narrative to justify imposing new voting restrictions in its favor. As of July 2022, he continued to pressure state legislators to overturn the election. Unlike other former presidents, Trump continued to dominate his party; a 2022 profile in The New York Times described him as a modern party boss. He continued fundraising, raising a war chest containing more than twice that of the Republican Party, and profited from fundraisers many Republican candidates held at Mar-a-Lago. In February 2021, he registered a new company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to U.S. customers. In March 2024, TMTG merged with special-purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition and became a public company. In February 2022, TMTG launched Truth Social, a social media platform. In 2019, journalist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s and sued him for defamation over his denial. Carroll sued him again in 2022 for battery and more defamation. He was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation and ordered to pay $5 million in one case and $83.3 million in the other. In 2022, New York filed a civil lawsuit against Trump accusing him of inflating The Trump Organization's value to gain an advantage with lenders and banks; He was found liable and ordered to pay $350 million plus interest. In connection with Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his involvement in the January 6 attack, in December 2022 the U.S. House committee on the attack recommended criminal charges against him for obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and inciting or assisting an insurrection. In August 2023, he was indicted on 13 charges, including racketeering, by a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election in the state. In January 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved 15 boxes of documents Trump had taken to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, some of which were classified. In the ensuing Justice Department investigation, officials retrieved more classified documents from his lawyers. On August 8, 2022, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago for illegally held documents, including those in breach of the Espionage Act, collecting 11 sets of classified documents, some marked top secret. A federal grand jury constituted by Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump in June 2023 on 31 counts of "willfully retaining national defense information" under the Espionage Act, among other charges. Trump pleaded not guilty. In July 2024, judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case, ruling Smith's appointment as special prosecutor was unconstitutional. In May 2024, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The case stemmed from evidence that he booked Michael Cohen's hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels as business expenses to cover up his alleged 2006–2007 affair with Daniels during the 2016 election. On January 10, 2025, the judge gave Trump a no-penalty sentence known as an unconditional discharge, saying that punitive requirements would have interfered with presidential immunity.

Will He Run Again? A Look at Donald Trump's Potential in the 2024 Presidential Election

On November 15, 2022, Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election and set up a fundraising account. By March 2023, his campaign had begun diverting 10 percent of donations to his leadership PAC. By March 2024, the campaign had paid $100 million towards his legal bills. In December 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Trump disqualified for the state's Republican primary due to his role in inciting the January 6, 2021 attack on Congress. However, in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court restored his name to the ballot in March 2024, ruling that Colorado lacks the authority to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. During the campaign, Trump made increasingly violent and authoritarian statements. He threatened to weaponize government agencies against political opponents and use the military to target those who didn't support him. His rhetoric became harsher, with some historians describing it as fascist and unlike anything seen in American history. Age and health concerns also emerged during the campaign, with medical experts noting an increase in rambling speech and behavioral disinhibition. Trump repeatedly mentioned "rigged election" and refused to commit to accepting the 2024 election results. On July 13, 2024, Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally. Two days later, he was nominated as the Republican presidential candidate alongside Senator JD Vance as his running mate. In September, he survived another assassination attempt in Florida. Trump won the election in November 2024 with 312 electoral votes to incumbent vice president Kamala Harris's 226. He also won the popular vote with 49.8% to Harris's 48.3%. His victory was part of a global backlash against incumbent parties, driven in part by the 2021–2023 inflation surge.

Will He Make Another Comeback: A Possible Second Presidency?

Trump began his second term when he was inaugurated on January 20, 2025. He is the oldest individual to assume the presidency and the first president with a felony conviction.

What were his early actions from 2025 to present?

Upon taking office, Trump signed a series of executive orders, described as a "shock and awe" campaign, that tested the limits of executive authority, with many drawing immediate legal challenges. He issued more executive orders on his first day than any other president. Four days into his second term, analysis found that nearly two-thirds of his executive actions "mirror or partially mirror" proposals from Project 2025. He pardoned around 1,500 January 6 rioters, including those who violently attacked police, and commuted the sentences of 14. In his first weeks, several of his actions ignored or violated federal laws, regulations, and the Constitution. In his administration's first month, Trump issued ninety executive orders, memorandums and directives, and his orders and the efforts to downsize the federal government were challenged by about seventy lawsuits nationwide.

Will Trump's Reforms Lead to a Purge of Federal Employees?

Trump implemented a hiring freeze across the federal government, ordered telework of federal employees to be discontinued within 30 days, and created the at-will Schedule Policy/Career classification of employees. He initiated mass firings of employees with the intent of replacing them with workers more aligned with his agenda. This was described by many as unprecedented or in violation of federal law. Trump also ordered an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) projects in the federal government and placed employees in DEI offices on leave. He rescinded Executive Order 11246, which mandated affirmative action and nondiscrimination practices for federal contractors. Trump, along with Musk, attempted to dismantle most of USAID. A federal judge delayed the placing of 2,200 employees on administrative leave pending a hearing, which took place on February 7.

What has been the impact of Donald Trump's domestic policies since 2025?

Trump appointed oil, gas, and chemical lobbyists to the EPA to reverse climate regulations and pollution controls. He declared a national energy emergency, allowing the suspension of environmental regulations, loosening the rules for fossil fuel extraction and limiting renewable energy projects. He initiated a review of the "legality and continued applicability" of the EPA endangerment finding, which is the basis of most federal regulations on greenhouse gases, and again withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change. He frequently blamed diversity, equity, and inclusion and "wokeness" for problems in government and society, and equated diversity with incompetence. He repealed and reversed pro-diversity policies in the federal government. The administration took an aggressive approach against what it called "gender ideology", ending the ability to change the gender listed on passports, halting federal funding to entities providing gender-affirming care to individuals under 19, banning trans people from the military, and preventing trans women from competing in women's sports programs at institutions that receive federal funding.

What was Donald Trump's approach to immigration from 2025 to present?

In his first days in office, Trump instructed border patrol agents to summarily deport migrants crossing the border illegally, disabled the CBP One app that was being used to schedule border crossings, resumed the remain in Mexico policy, designated drug cartels as terrorist groups, deployed soldiers to the border, and ordered construction to be resumed on a border wall. He indefinitely paused the refugee admissions program. Trump sought to implement mass deportations, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) setting a goal of 1,200 to 1,500 daily arrests. Removals were initially focused in sanctuary cities and against individuals on "target lists" of criminals formed prior to the Trump administration. Expedited removals were also conducted for asylum applicants who failed to meet requirements. Trump suspended refugee processing for four months and revoked the parole status of migrants who entered the U.S. under CBP One and CHNV humanitarian parole. He attempted to remove birthright citizenship. On January 29, 2025, he signed the Laken Riley Act into law.

What has been the course of Donald Trump's foreign policy efforts from 2025 to present?

Trump's second term foreign policy has been described as imperialist and expansionist. He ordered the U.S. government to stop funding and working with the WHO, announcing the country's intention to formally leave the organization. Trump and his incoming administration helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas alongside the Biden administration, which took effect a day prior to his inauguration. Trump further rejected Ukraine's position on the Russian invasion, calling for new Ukrainian elections in order to test Zelenskyy's suitability as future leadership and negotiating partner for Ukrainian peace talks with Russia.

Has Donald Trump's Team Remained Consistent Since 2025?

On February 3, 2025, the White House announced that Elon Musk was a special government employee. This gave Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to many federal government agencies. By early February, Musk teams were operating in eleven agencies, including the Treasury Department's $5 trillion payment system, the Small Business Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services Administration.

Can His Style of Political Practice and Rhetoric Endure Beyond His Presidency?

Beginning with his 2016 campaign, Trump's politics and rhetoric led to the creation of a political movement known as Trumpism. His political positions are populist, more specifically described as right-wing populist. He helped bring far-right fringe ideas and organizations into the mainstream. Many of his actions and rhetoric have been described as authoritarian, contributing to democratic backsliding. His political base has been compared to a cult of personality. Trump's rhetoric and actions inflame anger and exacerbate distrust through an "us" versus "them" narrative. He explicitly and routinely disparages racial, religious, and ethnic minorities. Scholars consistently find that racial animus regarding blacks, immigrants, and Muslims are the best predictors of support for Trump. His rhetoric has been described as using fearmongering and demagogy. The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported his candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. He has a strong appeal to evangelical Christian voters and Christian nationalists, and his rallies take on the symbols, rhetoric, and agenda of Christian nationalism.

What kind of racial and gender views has Donald Trump expressed throughout his career?

Many of Trump's comments and actions have been described as racist. National polling shows about half of respondents consider him racist, while a greater proportion believe he emboldened racists. Studies and surveys indicate that racist attitudes fueled his political ascent, with many more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a powerful indicator of support for Trump. He has been accused of racism for insisting a group of five black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated in 2002 when the actual rapist confessed and his DNA matched the evidence. The men sued Trump for defamation in 2024 after he repeated their alleged guilt during a televised debate. In 2011, Trump became the leading proponent of the racist "birther" conspiracy theory, alleging that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. He later acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S., but reportedly expressed birther views privately in 2017. During his 2024 presidential campaign, he made false attacks against Kamala Harris's racial identity. Trump has a history of belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media. At least 25 women publicly accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape, kissing without consent, groping, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants. He denied the allegations. In October 2016, a "hot mic" recording surfaced featuring Trump bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying that, "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything... Grab 'em by the pussy." He characterized the comments as "locker-room talk," leading to his first public apology during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Has Donald Trump's Rhetoric Incited Violence and Hate Crimes Across America?

Trump has been identified as a key figure in increasing political violence in America, both for and against him. He is described as embracing extremism, conspiracy theories such as Q-Anon, and far-right militia movements to a greater extent than any modern American president, and engaging in stochastic terrorism. Research suggests that Trump's rhetoric is associated with an increased incidence of hate crimes, and that he has an emboldening effect on expressing prejudicial attitudes due to his normalization of explicit racial rhetoric. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes, including participants in the storming of the U.S. Capitol, cited Trump's rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive leniency. A nationwide review by ABC News identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence, mostly committed by white men and primarily against minorities. Trump's normalization and revisionist history of the January 6 Capitol attack, and grant of clemency to all January 6 rioters, were described as encouraging future political violence.

Are conspiracy theories surrounding Donald Trump a product of his presidency?

Before and throughout his presidency, Trump promoted numerous conspiracy theories. He also did so during and since the 2020 presidential election, promoting various theories explaining his defeat which were characterized as "the big lie." These theories included Obama birtherism, global warming being a hoax, and alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections.

Is Honesty Always His Policy?

As a candidate and president, Trump frequently made false statements in public remarks to an unprecedented extent in American politics. His falsehoods are a distinctive part of his political identity and have been described as firehosing. Fact-checkers documented his false and misleading statements, with The Washington Post tallying 30,573 during his first presidency, increasing in frequency over time. Some falsehoods were inconsequential, such as repeated claims of the "biggest inaugural crowd ever". Others had far-reaching effects, like promoting antimalarial drugs as an unproven treatment for COVID-19, causing a U.S. shortage and panic-buying in Africa and South Asia. Misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served his domestic political purposes. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices weakened public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response. He habitually does not apologize for his falsehoods. Until 2018, the media rarely referred to his falsehoods as lies, even when he repeated demonstrably false statements.

Does Donald Trump's Social Media Use Reflect His Unconventional Presidential Style?

Trump's social media presence attracted worldwide attention after he joined Twitter in 2009. He tweeted frequently during his 2016 campaign and as president until Twitter banned him after the January 6 attack. He often used Twitter to communicate directly with the public and sideline the press, with the White House press secretary stating in June 2017 that his tweets were official presidential statements. After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checks in May 2020. In response, he tweeted that social media platforms "totally silence" conservatives and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down". Following the storming of the Capitol, he was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms. The loss of his social media presence diminished his ability to shape events and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter. In February 2022, he launched social media platform Truth Social, where he only attracted a fraction of his Twitter following. Elon Musk, after acquiring Twitter, reinstated his Twitter account in November 2022. Meta Platforms' two-year ban lapsed in January 2023, allowing him to return to Facebook and Instagram. However, in 2024, he continued to call the company an "enemy of the people". In January 2025, Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit filed by Trump over his suspension.

What Has Been the Nature of Donald Trump's Turbulent Relationship with the Press?

Trump sought media attention throughout his career, maintaining a "love-hate" relationship with the press. During the 2016 campaign, he benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, enthraling the public and creating "must-see TV". As a candidate and as president, he frequently accused the press of bias, labeling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people". Privately, he told journalist Lesley Stahl that he intentionally discredited the media to undermine credibility when negative stories were written about him. The first Trump presidency saw a significant reduction in formal press briefings, from about 100 in 2017 to two in 2019. Additionally, White House reporters' press passes were revoked, only to be restored by the courts. His 2020 presidential campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation over opinion pieces regarding Russian election interference, but all suits were dismissed. Trump repeatedly voiced support for outlawing political dissent and criticism, advocating that reporters should be prosecuted for not divulging confidential sources and media companies could lose broadcast licenses for unfavorable coverage. In 2024, he sued ABC News for defamation after George Stephanopoulos stated on-air that a jury had found him civilly liable for raping E. Jean Carroll. The case was settled in December with Walt Disney apologizing for inaccurate claims about Trump and agreeing to donate $15 million to his future presidential library.

What's the State of His Marital Status: A Look at Donald Trump's Personal Life?

What's in the Bloodline of Donald Trump?

In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They had three children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). The couple divorced in 1990. He then married Marla Maples in 1993, with whom he had one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993). Trump and Maples divorced in 1999. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006).

What's the State of His Health Amid the Turbulent Presidency?

He has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs. He sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise", but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy because he believes the body is "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy", which is depleted by exercise.

Does His Faith Play a Role in His Presidency?

Trump declared that he was a Presbyterian and a Protestant in 2016, though in 2020, he began to identify as a non-denominational Christian.

Have His Controversial Policies and Actions Damaged America's Global Reputation?

What is the True Nature of Donald Trump's Public Image?

A Gallup poll in 134 countries comparing the approval ratings of U.S. leadership between 2016 and 2017 found that Trump led Obama in job approval in 29 countries, most of them non-democracies; approval of U.S. leadership plummeted among allies and G7 countries. By mid-2020, 16 percent of international respondents to a 13-nation Pew Research poll expressed confidence in him, lower than China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin. During his first presidency, research from 2020 found that Trump had a stronger impact on popular assessments towards American political parties and partisan opinions than any president since the Truman administration. In 2021, he was identified as the only president never to reach a 50 percent approval rating in the Gallup poll, which dates to 1938, partially due to a record-high partisan gap in his approval ratings: 88 percent among Republicans and 7 percent among Democrats. His early ratings were unusually stable, ranging between 35 and 49 percent. He finished his term with a rating between 29 and 34 percent—the lowest of any president since modern polling began—and a record-low average of 41 percent throughout his presidency. In Gallup's annual poll asking Americans to name the man they admire the most, Trump placed second to Obama in 2017 and 2018, tied with Obama for first in 2019, and placed first in 2020. Since Gallup started conducting the poll in 1946, he was the first elected president not to be named most admired in his first year in office. Trump began his second term with an approval rating of 47% and a disapproval rating of 48%. His approval rating was extremely politically polarized, being approved by 91% of Republicans, 46% of independents, and 6% of Democrats.

What is the significance of Donald Trump's scholarly rankings?

Historians ranked Trump as the fourth-worst president in C-SPAN's "Presidential Historians Survey 2021", rating lowest in leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills. The Siena College Research Institute's 2022 survey ranked him 43rd out of 45 presidents, near the bottom in all categories except for luck, willingness to take risks, and party leadership, ranking last in several categories. Surveys of members of the American Political Science Association in 2018 and 2024 also ranked him the worst president.

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Have His Favorite Books Influenced Donald Trump's Views?

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