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The 45th and 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump was a celebrity real-estate developer, TV personality, and tabloid fixture before assuming the presidency in 2016.
Born in Queens in 1946, Trump built a real estate empire and gained celebrity status through his three marriages, affairs, and flamboyant presence in the New York social scene. This fame culminated in his reality TV show The Apprentice, which aired from 2004 to 2017.
Trump announced his candidacy for the 2016 Republican nomination while descending an escalator at Trump Tower in New York. Throughout his campaign, he criticized immigrants, minorities, women, and his opponents, yet secured the nomination and narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the general election—although he lost the popular vote.
His first term was marked by right-wing extremism and a rapid erosion of American political norms. Key aspects of his presidency include appointing three Supreme Court justices (leading to the end of federal abortion rights), implementing hardline immigration policies, adopting a nationalistic foreign policy, enduring two impeachments, mishandling the Covid-19 pandemic, and maintaining close ties with authoritarian foreign leaders.
Perhaps the most notorious event of Trump’s first term was his refusal to concede after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. He falsely claimed widespread election fraud, declared victory, and launched numerous legal challenges to overturn the results. This culminated in a mob of his supporters storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to disrupt the Electoral College vote certification.
Despite facing multiple state and federal criminal charges and a felony conviction in New York, Trump continued to assert the 2020 election was stolen. He won reelection in 2024, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden withdrew over concerns about his fitness for office. Trump’s second term has been even more extreme, characterized by a flood of seemingly unconstitutional executive actions—most notably aggressive deportations without due process—an unpredictable tariff regime threatening the U.S. economy, and blatant corruption as Trump and his family use the presidency for personal gain.
