New York City real estate developer and reality TV star Donald Trump (1946- ) was elected America’s 45th president in November 2016. The billionaire businessman ran as a Republican and scored an upset victory over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump began his career working for his father’s real estate development firm, taking over its leadership in the 1970s. In the ensuing decades, he acquired and built hotels, office towers, casinos and golf courses and also appeared on 14 seasons of “The Apprentice.” He is the first person ever elected to the U.S. presidency without any previous government or military experience.
Early Life and Education
Donald John Trump, the son of Fred, a real estate developer, and his wife, Mary, a homemaker and Scottish immigrant, was born on June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York. The second youngest of five children, he attended private school in Queens before enrolling in the New York Military Academy for eighth grade through high school. Afterward, Trump studied for two years at New York City’s Fordham University then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1968. During the Vietnam War, he received four student deferments and one medical deferment and wasn’t drafted for military service.
Business Career
After college, Trump joined his father’s company, which developed apartments for the middle-class in New York City’s outer boroughs. He became president of the firm in 1974 and went on to make a name for himself in the Manhattan real estate world with the construction of such high-profile projects as the Grand Hyatt New York hotel, which opened in 1980, and Trump Tower, a luxury high-rise that opened in 1983. Also in the 1980s, Trump opened hotel-casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey; acquired Manhattan’s storied Plaza Hotel; and bought the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, which he renovated and turned into a private club. Among other ventures, he briefly owned an airline and a professional football team in the short-lived United States Football League. In 1987, “The Art of the Deal,” Trump’s memoir and business-advice book, was published and became a best-seller. In 1989, his net worth was $1.5 billion, according to Forbes, and he made his first appearance on the cover of Time magazine.
However, in the early 1990s, following an economic downturn and slump in the real estate market, Trump was deeply in debt and several of his casinos filed for bankruptcy. In 1995, he reported a nearly $1 billion loss on his taxes. Trump eventually made a financial comeback, in part with a business model that involved licensing his name for a wide variety of ventures ranging from condominiums to steaks and neckties. He continued to acquire and develop real estate properties, and in 2016, when he became the first billionaire elected to the White House, his empire included office buildings, hotels and golf courses around the world.
Entertainment Career
In 2004, Trump started hosting a reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” in which contestants vied for a management job at one of his companies. The show featured Trump’s catchphrase “You’re fired” and drew big ratings. The business mogul eventually raked in $1 million per episode and became a household name. He hosted 14 combined seasons of “The Apprentice” and a spinoff show, “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
In addition to starring on “The Apprentice” and making cameo appearances in other TV shows and movies, Trump owned several beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015, including Miss Universe and Miss USA. In 1999, he founded a modeling agency that continues to operate.
Family
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelnickova, with whom he went on to have three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. The pair divorced in 1992 and the following year Trump wed actress Marla Maples, with whom he has a daughter, Tiffany. After Trump’s second marriage ended in 1999, he tied the knot with Slovenian model Melania Knauss in 2005. The couple’s son, Barron, was born in 2006.
2016 Presidential Campaign
Before winning the U.S. presidency, Trump never held any elected or appointed government office. He had considered a presidential bid on at least several earlier occasions prior to the 2016 race but ultimately opted not to run. In 2011, Trump began questioning in TV interviews whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. In the following years, he harnessed rumors about Obama’s birthplace to help grow his audience on social media and gain notice in the world of conservative politics. (The White House released the Hawaiian-born president’s short-form birth certificate in 2008 and his long-form birth certificate in 2011.)
In June 2015, the real estate developer announced his presidential candidacy in a speech at Trump Tower. His ran his campaign on a pledge to “Make America Great Again,” the slogan emblazoned on the baseball hats he often wore at his public rallies, and spoke out against political correctness, illegal immigration and government lobbyists, while promising to cut taxes, renegotiate trade deals and create millions of jobs for American workers. His brash, unapologetic style and sometimes-controversial comments garnered widespread media coverage. In May 2016, he cinched the Republican nomination, beating out a field of 16 other candidates, including Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich.
In the general election, Trump ran against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the first female presidential candidate from a major political party. The race was divisive, in part due to a number of inflammatory remarks and tweets made by Trump. While some members of the Republican establishment distanced themselves from the candidate, Trump’s supporters admired his outspokenness and business success, along with the fact that he wasn’t a politician.
As the election neared, almost all national polls predicted a victory for the Democratic nominee. However, on November 8, 2016, in what was viewed by many people as a stunning upset, Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, defeated Clinton and her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Trump won reliably red states as well as important swing states including Florida and Ohio, and racked up 306 electoral votes to his rival’s 232 votes. Clinton won the popular vote.
