Donald Trump

45th President of the United States

### Political party

Republican (1987–1999, 2009–2011, 2012–present), Reform (1999–2001), Democratic (2001–2009), Independent (2011–2012)

### Spouse

Ivana Zelníčková (m. 1977; div. 1992)​Marla Maples ​(m. 1993; div. 1999)​Melania Knauss ​(m. 2005)

### Children

Donald Trump Jr. (son), Ivanka Trump (daughter), Eric Trump (son), Tiffany Trump (daughter), Barron Trump (son)

### Parents

Fred Trump (father)Mary Anne MacLeod (mother)

### Siblings

Maryanne Trump Barry (sister), Fred Trump, Jr. (brother), Elizabeth Trump Grau (sister), Robert Trump (brother)

### Education

Kew-Forest SchoolNew York Military AcademyFordham University

### Occupation

Politician, businessman, media personality

### Hair color

blonde, (white in corner parts)

**Donald Trump,** a popular American businessman and media personality, served as the 45th President of the United States (2017-2021).

*The Presidency of Donald Trump spanned the period in United States history that encompasses the events of the Modern Era and the War on Terror era. President Donald Trump represented the Republican political party which influenced the domestic and foreign policies of his presidency.*

## Biography

Donald John Trump was born in Queens, New York, on June 14, 1946. His father, Fred Trump, was a highly successful real estate developer. The elder Trump was of German heritage, and his wife, Mary McLeod, of Scottish background. Their son Donald was the second youngest of five children. He was educated at the New York Military Academy and the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. Even before he graduated he was drawn to real estate and construction, and as a young man he took over his father’s firm, renaming it the Trump Organization.

The Trump Organization soon became involved in a myriad of projects, including hotels, resorts, residential and commercial buildings, casinos, and golf courses, both in the United States and abroad. His first of many books was The Art of the Deal, published in 1987. In 2004 he launched the Apprentice (later The Celebrity Apprentice), a popular television series that aired until 2015. During the 2016 primary season Trump defeated more than a dozen seasoned rivals to win the Republican nomination and went on to win the election over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. His campaign slogan was “Make America Great Again,” and he moved swiftly to reinvigorate “Buy American and Hire American” policies. He signed a major tax reform bill into law and directed the reduction of federal regulations intended to secure a long-running economic expansion and a historically low unemployment rate. His trade policies encouraged tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel and a series of renegotiations of trade agreements with Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, and South Korea.

Other priorities included Supreme Court and federal judiciary appointments, tackling the opioid crisis, seeking to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, and improving health care for veterans. Trump’s commitment to “America first” abroad shaped not only his trade and tariff policies but his approach to immigration and overseas commitments. At his urging, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states increased their contributions to the alliance. Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and moved the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing the ancient city as Israel’s capital.

His approach to the problem of nuclear proliferation included applying maximum economic pressure on both North Korea and Iran. Trump increased the budget for the U.S. military, and during his administration the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS), which had taken territory in Iraq and Syria and was responsible for inciting terrorist attacks, was defeated.

In foreign policy, the Trump administration moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and brokered normalization agreements between Israel and a number of countries. In 2018, President Trump attended a summit with Kim Jong Un, marking the first time a sitting president met with a North Korean leader.

In 2018, there was a partial government shutdown as Trump disagreed with Congress over funding for a border wall between the United States and Mexico. The funding lapse lasted thirty-five days before it was resolved.

In 2019, a federal whistleblower filed a complaint that Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, who had served on the board of Bursima Holdings, a natural gas company in Ukraine. Later that year, the House of Representatives impeached President Trump based upon allegations of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. In 2020, the Senate acquitted Trump on both articles of impeachment.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States on January 20, 2020. The remainder of Trump’s presidency was consumed with 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 program “Operation Warp Speed” assisted in the private sector development of two approved vaccines. Nonetheless, by the time Trump left office, more than 400,000 Americans had died of COVID-19.

Trump lost reelection to Democratic candidate Joe Biden, but publicly claimed widespread voter fraud had affected the outcome. Supporters of President Trump traveled to Washington, D.C. for a “Save America” rally on January 6, 2021. Trump spoke to the large crowd on the Ellipse near the White House and encouraged attendees to protest the counting of the Electoral College votes in Congress. The rally turned violent when the president’s supporters 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 approving another article of impeachment: the incitement of insurrection. He is the only president in American history to be impeached twice by Congress.

## Personality

Donald Trump is known to have abrasive behavior and was known to often argue with news reporters and journalists during his presidency. There have been a lot of scandals between him and his aides that received significant coverage from news stations. Trump has told many lies during his presidency, the most of any president in U.S. history and has also made many racist and misogynistic remarks that has received backlash. Most noticeably, many famous media figures have made fun of Trump's illiteracy.

## Nicknames

* "The Donald"
* "45, the 45"
* "President Snowflake and Snowflake-in-Chief"

*Meaning: "The Donald" refers to a nickname that has been referred to him by his first wife Ivana Trump as such in a 1989 Spy magazine cover story. "President snowflake was used for his poor reactions to criticism, particularly on Twitter and regarding the Mueller probe and related investigations. 45 references him being the 45th president, and his penchant for wearing monogrammed "45" apparel.*

## Inauguration

The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Donald Trump's term as president and Mike Pence's term as vice president. An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the public ceremony held on Friday, January 20, 2017, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The event was the 58th presidential inauguration. Held in Washington, D.C., from January 17 to 21, 2017, inaugural events included concerts, the swearing-in ceremony, a congressional luncheon, parade, inaugural balls, and the interfaith inaugural prayer service.

Administered by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, the presidential oath was taken by Trump as his first task after becoming president at noon, in keeping with Article Two, Section 1, Clause 8 and the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, with the vice presidential oath taken by Pence and administered by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas immediately preceding it. Trump was sworn in with his left hand on a pair of Bibles: his personal copy and the Lincoln Bible. The inauguration was protested worldwide.

## Famous Films

* **Avengers: Endgame**
* Avengers: Infinity War
* Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
* Parasite (2019)
* Soul (2020)
* Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
* Spider-Man: Homecoming
* Thor: Ragnarok
* Black Panther
* Ant-Man and the Wasp
* Captain Marvel
* Spider-Man: Far From Home
* War for the Planet of the Apes
* The Lego Batman Movie
* Wonder Woman
* Justice League (2017)
* Aquaman
* Shazam
* Birds of Prey
* Wonder Woman 1984
* Star Wars: The Last Jedi
* Solo: A Star Wars Story
* Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
* Logan (2017)
* Deadpool 2
* Dark Phoenix
* The New Mutants
* Creed II
* Venom (2018)
* Coco
* Joker
* Pacific Rim Uprising
* Beauty and the Beast (2017)
* The Lion King (2019)
* Aladdin (2019)
* Mulan (2020)
* Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
* Mary Poppins Return
* Bumblebee (2018)
* Ready Player One
* The Irishman
* Godzilla King of Monsters
* Doctor Sleep
* It (2017)

## Major Events

*The famous, main events that occurred during the time that Donald Trump was president included 2017 Women March. Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Policies of family separations for apprehended migrants. 2018-19 Korean Peace process. His two impeachments. The unraveling of the Covid-19 pandemic. George Floyd protests across America. 2020 Presidential election and its aftermath including the Jan 6. attack on the U.S. Capitol.*

**The Afghanistan War (2001 - 2021)**

Summary: The Afghanistan War (2001 - 2014) in which the United States of America invaded Afghanistan was triggered by the September 11 attacks. On October 7, 2001 the United States and Britain began to bomb terrorist targets, such as the Al-Qaeda camps and the military forces of the Taliban. The war continued throughout Trump's presidency.

**2017 Women's March**

A worldwide protest on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president. It was prompted by Trump's policy positions and rhetoric, which were considered misogynistic and represented a threat to the rights of women.

**Neil Gorsuch Supreme Court nomination**

On January 31, 2017, soon after taking office, President Donald Trump, a Republican, nominated Neil Gorsuch for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to succeed Antonin Scalia, who had died almost one year earlier. Then-president Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated Merrick Garland to succeed Scalia on March 16, 2016, but the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate did not vote on the nomination. Majority leader Mitch McConnell declared that as the presidential election cycle had already commenced, it made the appointment of the next justice a political issue to be decided by voters. The Senate Judiciary Committee refused to consider the Garland nomination, thus keeping the vacancy open through the end of Obama's presidency on January 20, 2017.

**Unite the Right rally**

A white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11–12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and far-right militias. Some groups chanted racist and antisemitic slogans and carried weapons, Nazi and neo-Nazi symbols, the Valknut, Confederate battle flags, *Deus vult* crosses, flags, and other symbols of various past and present antisemitic and anti-Islamic groups. The organizers' stated goals included the unification of the American white nationalist movement and opposing the proposed removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville's former Lee Park. The rally sparked a national debate over Confederate iconography, racial violence, and white supremacy.

**Parkland High School shooting**

On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, United States, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at the school, fled the scene on foot by blending in with other students and was arrested without incident approximately one hour and twenty minutes later in nearby Coral Springs. Police and prosecutors investigated "a pattern of disciplinary issues and unnerving behavior". The incident is the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in United States history. The shooting came at a period of heightened public support for gun control that followed mass shootings in Paradise, Nevada, and in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in October and November 2017.

**Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination**

On July 9, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. When nominated, Kavanaugh was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a position he was appointed to in 2006 by President George W. Bush.

The Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Kavanaugh and heard witness testimonies concerning his nomination to the Supreme Court over the course of a four-day hearing, September 4–7, 2018. Several days later, it was revealed that psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford had written a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein in July accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault while they were both in high school in 1982. The Committee postponed its vote and invited both Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford to appear at a public Senate hearing. In the interim, two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, accused Kavanaugh of separate past instances of sexual assault. Both Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford testified before the Committee on September 27; the following day the nomination was forwarded to the full Senate on an 11–10 vote. Then, on October 6, 2018, following a supplemental FBI investigation into the allegations, the Senate voted 50–48 to confirm Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.

**Avengers: Endgame (2019)**

Summary: ***Avengers: Endgame*** is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the direct sequel to *Avengers: Infinity War* (2018) and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the film features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In the film, the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse Thanos's actions in *Infinity War*.

*Avengers: Endgame* premiered in Los Angeles on April 22, 2019, and was released in the United States on April 26, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The film received praise for its direction, acting, musical score, action sequences, visual effects, and emotional weight, with critics lauding its culmination of the 22-film story. The film grossed $2.799 billion worldwide, surpassing *Infinity War*'s entire theatrical run in just eleven days and breaking numerous box office records, including becoming the highest-grossing film of all time from July 2019 until March 2021. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 92nd Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades.

**2018-19 Korean peace process**

Initiated to resolve the long-running Korean conflict and denuclearize Korea. International concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons came to a head in 2017, when they posed a direct threat to the United States. At the same time, Moon Jae-in was elected president of South Korea with the promise of returning to the Sunshine Policy, favoring good relations with North Korea. A series of summits were held between North Korea's Kim Jong Un, South Korea's Moon, and Donald Trump of the United States. Trump became the first sitting US President to meet a North Korean leader and to enter North Korean territory. Kim became the first North Korean leader to enter South Korean territory. Moon became the first South Korean President to give a speech in North Korea. In parallel to this, a number of cultural exchanges began. Tensions were lowered on both sides of the DMZ. The summits failed to make substantial progress towards denuclearization or a peace treaty. In October 2019, talks in Sweden began between US and North Korean negotiating teams, but broke down after one day. Subsequently, relations deteriorated, though dialogue continued.

**2018-19 Federal Government Shutdown**

The United States federal government shut down from midnight EST on December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019 (35 days) was the longest government shutdown in history.

**Death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi**

On 26–27 October 2019, the United States conducted a military operation code named **Operation Kayla Mueller** that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the then-leader and self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization. The operation took place in the outskirts of Barisha, Idlib Governorate, Syria. According to General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander who oversaw the operation, Baghdadi killed himself along with two children when he detonated a suicide belt while seeking to evade U.S. forces during the raid. The U.S. operation was named for Kayla Mueller, an American aid worker who had been captured by and died whilst in the custody of the Islamic State (IS).

**First Impeachment of Donald Trump**

Trump's impeachment came after a formal House inquiry found that he had solicited foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election to help his re-election bid and then obstructed the inquiry itself by telling his administration officials to ignore subpoenas for documents and testimony. The inquiry reported that Trump withheld military aid and an invitation to the White House to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in order to influence Ukraine to announce an investigation into Trump's political opponent Joe Biden and to promote a discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump was acquitted by the Senate on February 5, 2020.

**Foundation of United States Space Force**

On 20 December 2019, President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 into law, which included legislative provisions for creation of the Space Force, under the United States Space Force Act. The Space Force was established as the sixth armed service branch, with Air Force General John W. Raymond, the commander of Air Force Space Command and U.S. Space Command, becoming the first chief of space operations. On 14 January 2020, Raymond was officially sworn in as chief of space operations by Vice President Mike Pence.

**Covid-19 Pandemic**

In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks. The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020. The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020. Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar. Throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak, and largely ignored the danger. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic.

On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13. That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis. On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources. Trump falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test", despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar.

Throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak, and largely ignored the danger. By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic.
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials, sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments. Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press. On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur. His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.

By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the World Health Organization (WHO). By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
On October 2, 2020, Trump tweeted that he had tested positive for COVID-19. His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected. Later that day Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. He returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease. During and after his treatment he continued to downplay the virus.

**George Floyd Protests and United States racial unrest**

A series of police brutality protests that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of international reactions to the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who was murdered during an arrest after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis Police Department officer, knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds as three other officers looked on and prevented passers-by from intervening. The movement began hours after his murder as bystander video and word of mouth began to spread.

The unrest precipitated a national American cultural reckoning on topics of racial injustice. Public opinion of racism and discrimination quickly shifted in the wake of the protests, with significantly increased support of the Black Lives Matter movement and acknowledgement of institutional racism. The effects of American activism extended internationally and multiple columnists began to refer to it as an international reckoning on racial issues in early June 2020

**Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op**

On June 1, 2020, federal law-enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos. Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt". Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself. Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters

**Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court nomination**

On September 26, 2020, President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to fill in the vacancy left by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. At the time of her nomination, Barrett was a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, Illinois. The Senate received word from the president (when a Supreme Court nomination becomes official) on September 29.

On October 26, the Senate voted to confirm Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court, with 52 of 53 Republicans voting in favor, while Susan Collins and all 47 Democrats voted against; Barrett took the judicial oath on October 27. Democrats rebuked Republicans and accused them of hypocrisy, stating that they had violated their own interpretation of the Biden rule, which they set in 2016 when they refused to consider then-President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland more than nine months before the end of his term. The 35 days between the nomination and the 2020 presidential election marked the shortest period of time between a nomination to the Supreme Court and a presidential election in U.S. history.

**Jan 6. Capitol Attack**

On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob sought to keep Trump in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. According to the House select committee that investigated the incident, the attack was the culmination of a seven-part plan by Trump to overturn the election. Five people died either shortly before, during, or following the event: one was shot by Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes. Many people were injured, including 138 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months.

The event was the most severe assault on the building since the 1814 burning of Washington by British forces during the War of 1812. The last attempt on the life of the vice president was a bomb plot against Thomas Marshall in July 1915. For the first time in U.S. history, a Confederate battle flag was flown inside the Capitol. The Confederate States Army had never reached the Capitol, nor came closer than 6 miles (10 km) from the Capitol at the Battle of Fort Stevens, during the American Civil War.

**Second Impeachment of Donald Trump**

A week after the riot, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection, making him the only U.S. president to have been impeached twice. In February, after Trump had left office, the Senate voted 57–43 in favor of conviction, but as it fell short of a two-thirds majority, he was acquitted for a second time. On August 1, 2023, following a special counsel investigation, Trump was indicted on four charges.

## Post Presidency

At the end of his term, Trump went to live at his Mar-a-Lago club. As provided for by the Former Presidents Act, he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.

Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" in the press and by his critics. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor. As late as July 2022, Trump was still pressuring state legislators to overturn the 2020 election by rescinding the state's electoral votes for Biden. Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention on June 6, 2021. On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.

Unlike other former presidents, Trump continued to dominate his party; he has been compared to a modern-day party boss. He continued fundraising, raising more than twice as much as the Republican Party itself, hinted at a third candidacy, and profited from fundraisers many Republican candidates held at Mar-a-Lago. Much of his focus was on the people in charge of elections and how elections are run. In the 2022 midterm elections he endorsed over 200 candidates for various offices, most of whom supported his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. A majority of candidates endorsed by him won in Republican primary elections.

Trump registered a new company in February 2021. Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) was formed for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States". In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In February 2022, TMTG launched Truth Social, a Twitter-like social-media platform. As of March 2023, Trump Media, which had taken $8 million from Russia-connected entities, was being investigated by federal prosecutors for possible money laundering.

### Investigations, criminal charges, civil lawsuits

Trump is the subject of numerous probes into his actions and business dealings before, during and after his presidency. In February 2021, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, Fani Willis, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting criminal investigations into Trump's business activities in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments. In July 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government". In January 2023, the organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was sentenced to five months in jail and five years probation for tax fraud after a plea deal.

#### FBI investigations

When Trump left the White House in January 2021, he took government documents and material with him to Mar-a-Lago. By May 2021, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the federal agency that preserves government records, realized that important documents had not been turned over to them at the end of Trump's term and asked his office to locate them. In January 2022, they retrieved 15 boxes of White House records from Mar-a-Lago. NARA later informed the Department of Justice that some of the retrieved documents were classified material. The Justice Department began an investigation in April 2022 and convened a grand jury. The Justice Department sent Trump a subpoena for additional material on May 11. On June 3, Justice Department officials visited Mar-a-Lago and received some classified documents from Trump's lawyers. One of the lawyers signed a statement affirming that all material marked as classified had been returned to the government. Later that month an additional subpoena was sent requesting surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago, which was provided.

On August 8, 2022, FBI agents searched Trump's residence, office, and storage areas at Mar-a-Lago to recover government documents and material Trump had taken with him when he left office in violation of the Presidential Records Act, reportedly including some related to nuclear weapons. The search warrant, authorized by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and approved by a federal magistrate judge, and the written inventory of the seized items were made public on August 12. The text of the search warrant indicates an investigation of potential violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice laws. The items taken in the search included 11 sets of classified documents, four of them tagged as "top secret" and one as "top secret/SCI", the highest level of classification.

On November 18, 2022, Garland appointed a special counsel, federal prosecutor Jack Smith, to oversee the federal criminal investigations into Trump retaining government property at Mar-a-Lago and examining Trump's role in the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

#### Criminal referral by the House January 6 Committee

On December 19, 2022, the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack recommended criminal charges against Trump for obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and inciting or assisting an insurrection.

#### Federal and state criminal cases against Trump

##### New York prosecution for falsifying business records

On March 30, 2023, a New York grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. On April 4, he surrendered and was arrested and arraigned; he pleaded not guilty on all counts and was released. The trial is scheduled to begin on March 25, 2024.

##### Government and classified documents case

On June 8, the Justice Department indicted Trump in Miami federal court for 31 counts of "willfully retaining national defense information under the Espionage Act", one count of making false statements, and, jointly with a personal aide, single counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding government documents, corruptly concealing records, concealing a document in a federal investigation and scheming to conceal their efforts. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. In July a superseding indictment added three additional criminal charges, bringing the number of charges in the case to 40. The trial is scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024.

##### Election obstruction case

On August 1, a Washington, D.C., federal grand jury indicted Trump on four counts for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He was charged with conspiring with unnamed co-conspirators to defraud the United States, obstruct the certification of the Electoral College vote, and deprive people of the civil right to have their votes counted, as well as obstructing an official proceeding. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case is slated to go to trial on March 4, 2024.

##### Georgia election interference case

On August 14, a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury indicted Trump and 18 allies for racketeering – among other felonies – after Trump campaign officials accessed voting machines with election officials. On August 24, Trump surrendered, was placed under arrest and processed at Fulton County Jail, and released on bail. He posted the mug shot on Twitter and on his campaign website with a fundraising pitch. On August 31, he pleaded not guilty.

#### Civil lawsuits against Trump

##### Class action lawsuit for fraud

In 2018, four investors filed a federal class action lawsuit against Trump, the Trump Organization, and his three eldest children for not disclosing that they were paid by ACN, Inc., when they recommended the company as a sound investment on *The Apprentice*. In July 2019, a district judge permitted the lawsuit to proceed with state-level claims of fraud, false advertising, and unfair competition. The case is slated to go to trial on January 29, 2024.

##### New York State's civil fraud case

In September 2022, the New York State Attorney General filed a civil fraud case against Trump, his three oldest children, and the Trump Organization. In December 2021, the Attorney General's office had subpoenaed Trump to produce documents related to his business. In April 2022, a New York state judge held Trump in contempt of court for failing to comply with the subpoena and imposed a fine of $10,000 per day until he does. Trump was deposed in August and invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 400 times. The judge presiding over the civil suit ruled in September 2023 that Trump, his adult sons and the Trump Organization repeatedly committed fraud and ordered their New York business certificates canceled and their business entities sent into receivership for dissolution.

##### E. Jean Carroll's lawsuits

In May 2023, a New York jury in a federal lawsuit brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and ordered him to pay her $5 million. Trump asked the district court for a new trial or a reduction of the damage award, arguing that the jury had not found him liable for rape, and also, in a separate lawsuit, countersued Carroll for defamation. The judge for the two lawsuits ruled against Trump in July and August. Trump appealed both decisions to an appeals court. The trial in the defamation case is scheduled to begin on January 15, 2024.

### 2024 presidential campaign

On November 15, 2022, Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 United States presidential election and set up a fundraising account. In March 2023, the campaign began diverting 10 percent of the donations to Trump's leadership PAC which had paid $16 million for his legal bills by June 2023. On December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump was disqualified from holding office and that his name must be removed from the Colorado Republican primary ballot. Trump's campaign said he would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

## Facts and Trivia

* Donald Trump is the first president to be indicted and have a mugshot of him taken.
* Donald Trump was born to Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump in New York
* Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens, and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, and, in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics.
* In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. They had three children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. The couple divorced in 1990, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples. Trump and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993), who was raised by Marla in California. In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (born 2006). Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
* In 1982, Trump made the initial *Forbes* list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth (equivalent to $606 million in 2022). His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing the mandatory financial disclosure report with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities. *Forbes* estimated his net worth dropped by $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2018. In their 2021 billionaires ranking, Trump's net worth was estimated to be $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world).
* Donald Trump is the first president to not have any political or military background.
* He became president of his father's real-estate business in 1971 and renamed it the Trump Organization. He expanded its operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses and later started side ventures, mostly by licensing his name.
* From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series *The Apprentice*. He and his businesses have been plaintiff or defendant in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six business bankruptcies.
* Trump is the only American president to have been impeached twice
* Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.
* Since leaving office, Trump has remained heavily involved in the Republican Party. In November 2022, he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election. In March 2023, a Manhattan grand jury indicted him on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. In June, a Miami federal grand jury indicted him on 37 felonies related to his handling of classified documents (with three charges added in July). In August, a Washington, D.C., federal grand jury indicted him on four felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Later in August, a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury indicted him for racketeering and other felonies committed in an effort to overturn the state's 2020 election results.