Biography

Donald J. Trump | The White House

Trumps story

Biography of President Trump and past presidents courtesy of the White House Historical Association.

donald john trump was born in queens, new york, on june 14, 1946. his father, fred trump, was a successful real estate developer. trump was educated at the new york military academy and the wharton school of business and finance at the university of pennsylvania.

in 1971, he took over his father’s real estate company and renamed it the trump organization. The company soon became involved in a variety of projects, including hotels, resorts, residential and commercial buildings, casinos, and golf courses. The first of many books was The Art of the Deal, published in 1987. In 2004, he launched the reality television show The Apprentice.

in 2005, donald trump married melania knauss. they have a son, barron. Trump also has four adult children from previous marriages: Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Tiffany.

during the 2016 primaries, trump defeated more than a dozen challengers to win the republican nomination. Although she lost the popular vote, Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the general election by winning a majority of the Electoral College votes. His campaign slogan was “Make America Great Again.”

With no prior elected political experience, President Trump used unconventional methods to communicate his priorities. In particular, he used the social networking platform Twitter as a primary mechanism for direct communication with the American public, other politicians, and the press corps.

As president, he signed a major tax reform bill and oversaw a reduction in federal regulations. his protectionist trade policies included tariffs on aluminum, steel, and other foreign goods. The Trump administration also renegotiated trade agreements with Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, and South Korea. Other national priorities included Supreme Court and federal judiciary appointments, increased military budgets, aggressive border and immigration enforcement, criminal justice reform, and lowering prescription drug prices.

in foreign policy, the trump administration moved the usa embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem and negotiated normalization agreements between israel and various countries. In 2018, President Trump attended a summit with Kim Jong Un, marking the first time a sitting president had met a North Korean leader.

in 2018, there was a partial government shutdown because trump disagreed with congress about funding a us-mexico border wall. the funding window lasted thirty-five days before it was resolved.

in 2019, a federal whistleblower filed a complaint that trump had pressured the president of ukraine, volodymyr zelensky, to investigate the former vice president’s son, joe biden, hunter, who had served on the board of directors of bursima holdings, a natural gas company in ukraine. Later that year, the House of Representatives impeached President Trump based on allegations of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. In 2020, the Senate acquitted Trump of both articles of impeachment.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States on January 20, 2020. The remainder of the Trump presidency was consumed by the coronavirus pandemic. Critics argued that Trump’s response to the pandemic was delayed and did not sufficiently encourage public health practices to reduce the spread of the virus. however, the trump administration’s “operation warp speed” program assisted in the private sector development of two approved vaccines. however, by the time trump left office, more than 400,000 americans had died of covid-19.

trump lost re-election to democratic nominee joe biden, but publicly claimed that widespread voter fraud had affected the result. supporters of president trump traveled to washington, d.c. for a “save america” rally on january 6, 2021. trump addressed the large crowd on the ellipse near the white house and encouraged attendees to protest against the counting of electoral college votes in the congress. The demonstration turned violent when supporters of the president overwhelmed law enforcement, breaching the United States Capitol and disrupting the vote count. five people died as a result of the violence, and the capitol complex suffered millions of dollars in damage.

on january 13, 2021, trump’s actions resulted in the house of representatives passing another article of impeachment: incitement to insurrection. He is the only president in US history to be impeached twice by Congress.

Learn more about Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump.

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