From 2017 until 2021, Donald John Trump served as the 45th President of the United States. He was a successful business entrepreneur and television celebrity before becoming president. Trump, the son of a wealthy real estate developer, attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before taking over his family’s firm. During his career as a businessman and charismatic leader, he built and rebuilt multiple hotels, casinos, and office skyscrapers, amassing a net worth in the billions. He also ran a number of beauty pageants and dabbled in reality television. In the early 2000s, he broadened his objectives by entering national politics and setting his sights on the presidency. His career as a politician was plagued by charges of sexual misbehavior, and he was chastised for his lavish lifestyle and provocative remarks about immigration from Islamic countries. Despite the scandals surrounding him, Trump ran for president as a Republican in 2016 and unexpectedly defeated Democratic contender Hillary Clinton. His presidency was marred by a series of contentious choices, and he was impeached in the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of the legislative process. However, he was cleared of both accusations by the Senate. Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election.
Childhood and Adolescence
Frederick Trump, a builder and real estate entrepreneur, and his wife Mary McLeod had him in New York City. He was one of the five children in the family.
He had his early education at the Kew Forest School in Forest Hills, New York. His parents enrolled him at New York Military Academy (NYMA) in Upstate New York when he was 13 years old, where he excelled socially and academically, eventually becoming a star athlete and student leader by the time he graduated in 1964.
He spent two years at Fordham University before enrolling in the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance, where he received his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1968.
A career in business
While still in college, he joined his father’s firm, ‘Elizabeth Trump and Son.’ In Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, the corporation focused on middle-class rental housing. He became fully involved in the project and, with a $500,000 investment, transformed the 1200 unit apartment complex in Cincinnati from a 66% vacancy rate to 100% occupancy in under two years.
He relocated to a Studio apartment in Manhattan, New York, in 1971 and began working on larger construction projects. The sale of Swifton Village in Cincinnati, Ohio, was his first multi-million dollar real estate transaction the following year.
He purchased Mar-a-lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida in 1985 and refurbished the Barbizon hotel and 100 Central Park South.
He purchased the Plaza Hotel in New York City in 1988.
He formed Trump air shuttle service in 1989 after purchasing a fleet of Boeing 727 planes. Unfortunately, three Trump casino officials were killed in a helicopter crash, causing a major problem.
He was unable to satisfy loan payments by 1989 due to poor business decisions, but he managed to fund the construction of his third casino, the $1 million Taj Mahal, with high-interest trash bonds. His business was shortly insolvent due to his mounting debt.
He regained his previous financial stability and popularity in 1990, when he launched the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Soon after, he received authority for a Riverside south rail yard development on the West Side.
He purchased the Miss Universe Organization, which produces the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Tean USA pageants, in 1996.
In 2003, he formed a joint venture with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), where he served as executive producer and host of the hit NBC reality show “The Apprentice.” Following its success, he co-produced a show with British TV producer Mark Burnett called “The Celebrity Apprentice.” On October 21, 2004, Trump Hotels and Casinos & Resorts announced a debt restructure, reducing his personal ownership from 56 percent to 27 percent. In November, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection, and it emerged from bankruptcy as ‘Trump Entertainment Resorts Holdings.’
He advertised Trump’s name on a variety of items, including ‘Trump Financial,’ ‘Trump Sales and Leasing,’ ‘Trump Entrepreneur initiative,’ ‘Trump Restaurants,’ ‘Go TRUMP,’ and ‘Donald J. Trump signature collection,’ among others. He was also paid $1.5 million for each one-hour presentation he gave for ‘The Learning Annex.’ ‘Donald Trump’s Real Estate Tycoon,’ a business simulation game, is also available.
Career in Politics
Trump had political ambitions as well. He declared his intention to run for President of the United States as a third-party candidate in the 2000 elections. Between 2004 and 2008, he explored running for president of the Republican Party, and in 2006, he pondered running for governor of New York as a Republican Party representative. He re-registered as a Republican in 2009 after previously registering with the Democratic Party and campaigning for them in 2001.
In the years 2010-2012, his political activity grew when he officially proclaimed his intention to run for president again. His affiliation with the ‘Birther problem,’ a group that believes Barack Obama was not born in the United States, however, tarnished his political standing. However, he continued to oppose Obama on a number of political matters.
During the Israeli elections in January 2013, he endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also gave a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2013. (CPAC).
2016 Presidential Election
In June 2015, Trump launched his run for president as a Republican. He immediately established himself as the front-runner for his party’s candidacy, and was formally nominated for president at the 2016 Republican National Convention. He is a flamboyant personality with a successful business career and media presence.
His campaign centered on domestic issues such as illegal immigration, crime, Islamic terrorism, offshore of American jobs, and the national debt of the United States, and his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” resonated with Americans.
While many of his campaign strategies were criticized, they did ensure that he gained unprecedented media attention. During his election speeches, he was accused of lying and embellishing facts, and he received a lot of opposition, with prominent media including as ‘Politico,’ ‘The Washington Post,’ ‘The New York Times,’ and the ‘Los Angeles Times’ calling his claims outright lies. He took a populist political posture as a presidential candidate, supporting a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment. His tax plan, which calls for lowering the corporate tax rate to 15% and repealing the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) in favor of an alternative free-market plan, has received widespread support.
Trump’s campaign, on the other hand, was marred by controversy. He was accused of sexual misbehavior on multiple occasions, and the media chastised him for using vulgar and sexist words. His popularity took a hit after a 2005 recording showed him talking about how he forcibly kissed and molested women. In an attempt to restore his reputation, he quickly issued a public apology.
Despite his critics and the unfavorable media coverage, he won the general election on November 8, 2016, defeating Hillary Clinton to become President of the United States.
On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States of America.
The Presidency of Donald Trump
Several controversial choices were made during Donald Trump’s presidency. He abolished the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, and approved the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border. The economy performed well throughout his tenure, and he decreased corporate tax rates and lowered personal income tax rates. His handling of the COVID-19 outbreak was poor, and a substantial number of Americans died as a result. Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019 after it was discovered that he asked Ukraine to probe his political foe Joe Biden. The Senate, however, acquitted him of the accusation.
Presidential Election in the United States of America in 2020
In a closely fought election, Donald Trump lost his campaign for re-election to Democrat candidate Joe Biden.
Major Projects of Donald Trump
In 1974, he was given the option to purchase two rail yards in New York City, and a few years later, with the support of a 40-year tax break from the government, he purchased and renamed the bankrupt Commodore Hotel the Grand Hyatt, as well as forming the ‘Trump organization.’
In 1980, he embarked on the project of building the Wollman Rink in Central Park, which he completed in six months with $750,000 of the $3 million budget remaining. He restored the Trump Tower in New York City and the Atlantic City casino company in the same year, resulting in massive debt.
He finished the Trump World Tower, a 72-story residential tower across from the United Nations headquarters, in 2001. He also started work on Trump Plaza, which is located along the Hudson River.
He purchased the Menie estate in Balmadie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 2006 with the intention of creating the best golf course in the world on a site of special scientific significance (SSS), but environmentalists and local landowners objected. This year, though, the campaign became more difficult when the Scottish government approved the development of a wind farm near the site.
He has hosted a number of Wrestlemania events in Trump Plaza and has taken part in a number of them. He purchased the WWE RAW show from Vince McMohan on June 15, 2009.
He penned a number of publications that became well-known for their business advice around the world. ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal,’ ‘Think big: Make it happen in Business and Life,’ ‘Think like a champion: An Informal Education in Business and Life,’ ‘Trump 101: The Way to Success,’ ‘Trump: How to Get Rich,’ ‘Trump: Surviving at the Top,’ and others are among the titles included.
Achievements & Awards
In 2005, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in the same category for ‘The Apprentice.’
He was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007 for his contribution to television. Due to his efforts to the promotion of multiple WWE shows, he was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE hall of fame at Madison Square Garden in 2013.
Personal & Family Life
He married Ivana Zelnickova in 1977 and they had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. When Ivana uncovered his extramarital romance with American actress Marla Maples, the couple called it quits in 1992.
He married Marla Maples in 1993, and the couple had one kid, Tiffany, two months after their wedding. He filed for divorce from Maples in 1997, and the divorce was finalized in June 1999. Maples was awarded $2 million in her divorce settlement.
He married Melania Knauss on January 22, 2005, at Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church on the island of Palm Beach, Florida, after proposing to her the year before. Barron William Trump, their son, was born to them.
In an interview in 2011, he claimed to be a Presbyterian within the Protestant denomination after joining the ‘Marble Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church’ in New York City.
Estimated Net Worth
Top 10 Donald Trump Facts You Didn’t Know
- Donald Trump is a teetotaler who has never used drugs or smoked cigarettes.
- He has a phobia of germs and dislikes shaking hands. When presented with the inevitable issue of shaking hands, he has a unique way of avoiding it: he pulls the other person tightly towards his body.
- He served as Mike Tyson’s business advisor and hosted Tyson’s fight against Michael Spinks in Atlantic City at one point.
- Donald Trump epitomizes self-assurance. In fact, his overconfidence borders on braggadocio at times. “All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me—consciously or unintentionally,” he told The Daily News in 2004. “It’s only natural.”
- Trump has been a tremendously successful businessman, but in retrospect, he has squandered some excellent possibilities.
- He was offered the chance to acquire the Patriots, a professional American football team, in 1988, but he declined because he did not believe it was a viable investment. The squad is now valued at over $2 billion.
- Trump: The Game is the only presidential contender who has his own board game.
In 1990, Trump won the Razzie Award for worst supporting actor for the film ‘Ghosts Can’t Do It.’ In the film, he played himself. - He is a golfer and a member of the Mamaroneck, New York-based Winged Foot Golf Club, as well as other courses he owns and operates.
- He was a vocal supporter of the “birther” movement, which questioned President Barack Obama’s origins.
- Trump, a strong critic of Barack Obama, offered Obama the opportunity to play golf on any of his golf courses at any time, with one condition: Obama would leave his term early.