Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media

personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A
member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

Born into a wealthy family in the New York City borough of Queens, Trump graduated
from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics.
He became the president of his family's real estate business in 1971, renamed it
the Trump Organization, and began acquiring and building skyscrapers, hotels,
casinos, and golf courses. He launched side ventures, many licensing the Trump
name, and filed for six business bankruptcies in the 1990s and 2000s. From 2004 to
2015, he hosted the reality television show The Apprentice, bolstering his fame as
a billionaire. Presenting himself as a political outsider, Trump won the 2016
presidential election against the Democratic Party's nominee, Hillary Clinton.

During his first presidency, Trump imposed a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority
countries, expanded the Mexico–United States border wall, and enforced a family
separation policy on the border. He rolled back environmental and business
regulations, signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and appointed three Supreme Court
justices. In foreign policy, Trump withdrew the U.S. from agreements on climate,
trade, and Iran's nuclear program, and initiated a trade war with China. In
response to the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020, he downplayed its severity,
contradicted health officials, and signed the CARES Act. After losing the 2020
presidential election to Joe Biden, Trump attempted to overturn the result,
culminating in the January 6 Capitol attack in 2021. Trump was impeached in 2019
for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and in 2021 for incitement of
insurrection; the Senate acquitted him both times. After his first term, scholars
and historians ranked him as one of the worst presidents in American history.

Trump is the central figure of Trumpism, and his faction is dominant within the
Republican Party. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as
racist or misogynistic, and he has made false and misleading statements and
promoted conspiracy theories to a degree unprecedented in American politics.
Trump's actions, especially in his second term, have been described as
authoritarian and contributing to democratic backsliding. In 2023, Trump was found
liable in civil cases for sexual abuse and defamation and for business fraud, and
in 2024, he was found guilty of falsifying business records, making him the first
U.S. president convicted of a felony. After winning the 2024 presidential election
against Kamala Harris, Trump was sentenced to a penalty-free discharge, and two
felony indictments against him were dismissed.

Trump began his second presidency by pardoning around 1,500 January 6 rioters and
initiating mass layoffs of federal workers. He began a trade war with China and
imposed tariffs on nearly all countries, including Mexico and Canada. Many of his
administration's actions, including deportations of immigrants and his use of
executive orders, have drawn over 220 lawsuits challenging their legality. High-
profile cases have underscored Trump's broad interpretation of a unitary executive
theory of power, and led to significant conflicts with the federal courts.

Early life and education

A black-and-white photograph of Trump as a teenager, smiling, wearing a dark
pseudo-military uniform with three ribbons and a white shoulder strap
At New York Military Academy, 1964
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the New York
City borough of Queens, the fourth child of Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump.
[1] He is of German and Scottish descent.[2] He grew up with his older siblings,
Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and his younger brother, Robert, in a mansion in
the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens.[3] Fred Trump paid his children each
about $20,000 a year, equivalent to $265,000 a year in 2024. Trump was a
millionaire in inflation-adjusted dollars by age eight.[4][a]
Trump attended the private Kew-Forest School through seventh grade. He was a
difficult child and showed an early interest in his father's business. His father
enrolled him in New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, to complete
secondary school.[5] Trump considered a show business career but instead in 1964
enrolled at Fordham University.[6] 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.[7][8] He was exempted from the draft during the Vietnam War
due to a claim of bone spurs in his heels.[9]

Business career
Main article: Business career of Donald Trump
Further information: Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia and Tax returns of
Donald Trump
Real estate
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father's real estate company, Trump
Management, which owned racially segregated middle-class rental housing in New York
City's outer boroughs.[10][11] In 1971, his father made him president of the
company and he began using the Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.[12] Roy
Cohn was Trump's fixer, lawyer, and mentor[13] for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s.
[14] In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the U.S. government for $100 million
(equivalent to $708 million in 2024)[15] over its charges that Trump's properties
had racially discriminatory practices. Trump's counterclaims were dismissed, and
the government's case was settled with the Trumps signing a consent decree agreeing
to desegregate; four years later, Trumps again faced the courts when they were
found in contempt of the decree.[16] Before age thirty, he showed his propensity
for litigation, no matter the outcome and cost; even when he lost, he described the
case as a win.[17] Helping Trump projects,[18] Cohn was a consigliere whose Mafia
connections controlled construction unions.[19] Cohn introduced political
consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the
federal government.[20] Between 1991 and 2009, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection for six of his businesses: the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the casinos in
Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company.[21][22]

In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John
W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply &
Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell
company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental
units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of
20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups.
The increased costs were used to get state approval for increasing the rents of his
rent-stabilized units. In January 1994 the siblings formed Apartment Management
Associates and took over the management fees formerly collected by Trump
Management. As well as inflating rents, the schemes served to transfer assets from
Fred Trump to his children and nephew and lower the tax burden.[23]

Manhattan and Chicago developments

In 1985 with a model of one of his aborted Manhattan development projects[24]

Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first
Manhattan venture: the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to
Grand Central Terminal.[25] The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city
property tax abatement arranged for him by his father who also, jointly with Hyatt,
guaranteed a $70 million bank construction loan.[11][26] The hotel reopened in 1980
as the Grand Hyatt Hotel,[27] and that same year, he obtained rights to develop
Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.[28] The building houses
the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was his primary
residence until 2019.[29] In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel with a loan from
a consortium of 16 banks.[30] The hotel filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992,
and a reorganization plan was approved a month later, with the banks taking control
of the property.[31]

In 1995, he defaulted on over $3 billion of bank loans, and the lenders seized the
Plaza Hotel along with most of his other properties in a "vast and humiliating
restructuring" that allowed him to avoid personal bankruptcy.[32][33] The lead
bank's attorney said of the banks' decision that they "all agreed that he'd be
better alive than dead".[32] In 1996, Trump acquired and renovated the mostly
vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later rebranded as the Trump
Building.[34] In the early 1990s, he won the right to develop a 70-acre (28 ha)
tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with
debt from other ventures in 1994, he sold most of his interest in the project to
Asian investors, who financed the project's completion, Riverside South.[35]
Trump's last major construction project was the 92-story mixed-use Trump
International Hotel and Tower in Chicago which opened in 2008. In 2024, The New
York Times and ProPublica reported that the Internal Revenue Service was
investigating whether he had twice written off losses incurred through construction
cost overruns and lagging sales of residential units in the building he had
declared to be worthless on his 2008 tax return.[36]

Atlantic City casinos

The entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal, a casino in Atlantic City. It has motifs
evocative of the Taj Mahal in India.
Entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino, with financing
and management help from the Holiday Corporation.[37] It was unprofitable, and he
paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control.[38] In 1985, he bought
the unopened Atlantic City Hilton Hotel and renamed it Trump Castle.[39] Both
casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992.[40] Trump bought a
third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675
million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990.[37] He
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991. Under the provisions of the
restructuring agreement, he gave up half his initial stake and personally
guaranteed future performance.[41] To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he
sold the Trump Shuttle airline; his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been
leased to his casinos and kept docked; and other businesses.[42] In 1995, Trump
founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of the Trump
Plaza.[43] THCR purchased the Taj Mahal and the Trump Castle in 1996 and went
bankrupt in 2004 and 2009, leaving him with 10 percent ownership.[37] He remained
chairman until 2009.[44]

Clubs
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.[45] In 1995,
he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues.
He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence.[46] He declared the
club his primary residence in 2019.[29] He began building and buying golf courses
in 1999, owning 17 golf courses by 2016.[47]

Licensing the Trump name

See also: List of things named after Donald Trump
The Trump Organization often licensed the Trump name for consumer products and
services, including foodstuffs, apparel, learning courses, and home furnishings.
[48] Over 50 licensing or management deals involved Trump's name, generating at
least $59 million for his companies.[49] By 2018, only two consumer goods companies
continued to license his name.[48] During the 2000s, Trump licensed his name to
residential property developments worldwide, 40 of which were never built.[50]

Side ventures
Trump, Doug Flutie, and an unnamed official standing behind a lectern with big,
round New Jersey Generals sign, with members of the press seated in the background
With New Jersey Generals quarterback Doug Flutie (second from left) at a 1985 press
conference in Trump Tower
In 1970, Trump invested $70,000 to receive billing as coproducer of a Broadway
comedy.[51] In September 1983, he purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the
United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely
due to his attempt to move to a fall schedule (when it would have competed with the
National Football League [NFL] for audience) and trying to force a merger with the
NFL by bringing an antitrust suit.[52] Trump and his Plaza Hotel hosted several
boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall.[37][53] In 1989 and 1990, he
lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, an attempt to create an
American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro
d'Italia.[54] From 1986 to 1988, he purchased significant blocks of shares in
various public companies while suggesting that he intended to take over the company
and then sold his shares for a profit,[55] leading some observers to think he was
engaged in greenmail.[56] The New York Times found that he initially made millions
of dollars in such stock transactions, but "lost most, if not all, of those gains
after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".[55]

A red star with a bronze outline and "Donald Trump" and a TV icon written on it in
bronze, embedded in a black terrazzo sidewalk
Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In 1988, Trump purchased the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle, financing the purchase with
$380 million (equivalent to $1010 million in 2024)[15] in loans from a syndicate of
22 banks. He renamed the airline Trump Shuttle and operated it until 1992.[57] He
defaulted on his loans in 1991, and ownership passed to the banks.[58] In 1996, he
purchased the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.[59] Due
to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002.
[60][61] In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as
producer of Miss Universe.[62] NBC and Univision dropped the pageants in June 2015
in reaction to his comments about Mexican immigrants.[63]

In 2005, Trump cofounded Trump University, a company that sold real estate seminars
for up to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its
use of "university" violated state law (as it was not an academic institution), its
name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.[64] In 2013, the
State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging
that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. Additionally, two
class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal
documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and
former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its
students.[65] Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, he agreed to pay
a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.[66]

Foundation
Main article: Donald J. Trump Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988.[67]
From 1987 to 2006, Trump gave his foundation $5.4 million which had been spent by
the end of 2006. After donating a total of $65,000 in 2007–2008, he stopped
donating any personal funds to the charity,[68] which received millions from other
donors, including $5 million from Vince McMahon.[69] The foundation gave to health-
and sports-related charities, conservative groups,[70] and charities that held
events at Trump properties.[68] In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the
charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including
self-dealing and tax evasion.[71] Also in 2016, the New York attorney general
stated the foundation had violated state law by soliciting donations without
submitting to required annual external audits and ordered it to cease its
fundraising activities in New York immediately.[72] Trump's team announced in
December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.[73] In June 2018, the New
York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump,
and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional
penalties.[74] In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed its
assets to other charities.[75] In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered
Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's
funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.[76]

Legal affairs and bankruptcies

Main article: Personal and business legal affairs of Donald Trump
According to a review of state and federal court files conducted by USA Today in
2018, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and
federal legal actions.[77] While he has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his
over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009.[22] They
continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced his shares in
the properties.[22] During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion.
[78] After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with
the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him.[79] After the January 6
Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with him or his affiliated
company in the future.[80]

Wealth
Main article: Wealth of Donald Trump
Ivana Trump and King Fahd shake hands, with Ronald Reagan standing next to them
smiling
Trump (rightmost) and wife Ivana at a 1985 state dinner for King Fahd of Saudi
Arabia with President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan
Trump has said he began his career with "a small loan of a million dollars" from
his father and that he had to pay it back with interest.[81] He borrowed at least
$60 million from his father, largely did not repay the loans, and received another
$413 million (2018 equivalent, adjusted for inflation) from his father's company.
[82][23] Posing as a Trump Organization official named "John Barron", Trump called
journalist Jonathan Greenberg in 1984, trying to get a higher ranking on the Forbes
400 list of wealthy Americans.[83] Trump self-reported his net worth over a wide
range: from minus $900 million in 1990,[b] to $10 billion in 2015.[86] In 2015,
Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion, based on interviews with more than
80 sources.[87] In 2025, the magazine estimated his net worth at $5.1 billion and
ranked him the 700th wealthiest person in the world.[88]

Media career
Main article: Media career of Donald Trump
See also: Bibliography of Donald Trump
Trump has published 19 books under his name, most written or cowritten by
ghostwriters.[89] His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times
Best Seller, and was credited by The New Yorker with making Trump famous as an
"emblem of the successful tycoon".[90] The book was ghostwritten by Tony Schwartz,
who is credited as a coauthor. Trump had cameos in many films and television shows
from 1985 to 2001.[91] Trump acquired his style of politics from professional
wrestling—with its staged fights and name-calling.[92] He sporadically appeared for
the professional wrestling company WWE from the late 1980s including Wrestlemania
23 in 2007.[93][94] Starting in the 1990s, Trump appeared 24 times as a guest on
the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show.[95] He had his own short-form talk
radio program, Trumped!, from 2004 to 2008.[96] From 2011 until 2015, he was a
guest commentator on Fox & Friends.[97] In 2021, Trump, who had been a member since
1989, resigned from SAG-AFTRA to avoid a disciplinary hearing regarding the January
6 attack.[98] Two days later, the union permanently barred him.[99]

The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice

Main articles: The Apprentice (American TV series) and The Celebrity Apprentice
Producer Mark Burnett made Trump a television star[100] when he created The
Apprentice, which Trump hosted from 2004 to 2015 (including variant The Celebrity
Apprentice). On the shows, he was a superrich chief executive who eliminated
contestants with the catchphrase "you're fired". The New York Times called his
portrayal "a highly flattering, highly fictionalized version" of himself.[101] The
shows remade Trump's image for millions of viewers nationwide.[101][102] With the
related licensing agreements, they earned him more than $400 million.[103]

Early political aspirations

Further information: Political career of Donald Trump
Trump registered as a Republican in 1987; a member of the Independence Party, the
New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999; a Democrat in 2001; a
Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012.[104]

Trump, leaning heavily onto a lectern, with his mouth open mid-speech and a woman
clapping politely next to him
Speaking at CPAC, 2011
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in major newspapers[105] expressing
his views on foreign policy and how to eliminate the federal budget deficit.[106]
In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater, asking to be put into consideration to be
Republican nominee George H. W. Bush's running mate. Bush found the request
"strange and unbelievable".[107][108] Trump was a candidate in the 2000 Reform
Party presidential primaries for three months before he withdrew in February 2000.
[109][110][111] In 2011, Trump considered challenging President Barack Obama in the
2012 election. He spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February
and gave speeches in states with early primaries.[112][113] In May 2011, he
announced that he would not run.[112]

2016 presidential election

Main article: Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign
Further information: 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016 United
States presidential election, and First presidential transition of Donald Trump
Trump announced his candidacy for the 2016 election in June 2015.[114][115] He
became the Republican front-runner in March 2016[116] and was declared the
presumptive Republican nominee in May.[117] His campaign statements were often
opaque and suggestive,[118] and a record number were false.[119][120][121] He
gained support based on his "outsider" status and lack of political experience,
[122][123][124] and was highly critical of media coverage, frequently making claims
of media bias.[125][126] Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages
throughout the campaign, but her lead narrowed in early July.[127] In mid-July, he
selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate,[128] and the two were
officially nominated at the 2016 Republican National Convention.[129] Trump and
Clinton participated in three presidential debates in September and October 2016.
He twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.[130]

Trump speaking in front of an American flag behind a lectern, wearing a black suit
and red hat. The lectern sports a blue "TRUMP" sign.
Campaigning in Arizona, March 2016
Trump described NATO as "obsolete"[131][132] and espoused views that were described
as noninterventionist and protectionist.[133] His campaign platform emphasized
renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and
strongly enforcing immigration laws. Other campaign positions included pursuing
energy independence while opposing climate change regulations, modernizing services
for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common
Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code
while reducing taxes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore
jobs. He advocated increasing military spending and extreme vetting or banning of
immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.[134] Trump's proposed immigration
policies were a topic of bitter debate during the 2016 campaign. He promised to
build a wall on the Mexico–U.S. border to restrict illegal movement and vowed that
Mexico would pay for it.[135] He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants
residing in the U.S.,[136] and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing
"anchor babies".[137] According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly,
Trump made "explicitly racist and sexist appeals to win over white voters" during
his 2016 presidential campaign.[138] In particular, his campaign launch speech drew
criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing
crime, they're rapists";[139] in response, NBC fired him from Celebrity Apprentice.
[140]

Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts
of at least $315 million.[141][142] He did not release his tax returns, contrary to
the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015
to do so if he ran for office.[143][144] He said his tax returns were being
audited, and that his lawyers had advised him against releasing them.[145] After a
lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the
Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by
Trump to the U.S. Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the
records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.[146][147] In
October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter
from The New York Times. They show that he had declared a loss of $916 million that
year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.[148]

On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for
Clinton. After elector defections on both sides, the official count was 304 to 227.
[149] The fifth person to be elected president despite losing the popular vote,[c]
he received nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Clinton, 46.3% to her 48.25%.[150]
He was the only president who neither served in the military nor held any
government office prior to becoming president.[151] His election marked the return
of a Republican undivided government.[d][152] Trump's victory sparked protests in
major U.S. cities.[153][154]

First presidency (2017–2021)

Main article: First presidency of Donald Trump
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Donald Trump presidencies.
Trump, with his family watching, raises his right hand and places his left hand on
the Bible as he takes the oath of office. Roberts stands opposite him administering
the oath
Taking the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., on
January 20, 2017
A head-and-shoulders portrait of Trump beaming in front of the U.S. flag, wearing a
dark blue suit jacket with American flag lapel pin, white shirt, and light blue
necktie.
Official portrait, 2017
Early actions
See also: First presidential transition of Donald Trump and First 100 days of the
first Donald Trump presidency
Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. The day after his inauguration, an
estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including 500,000 in Washington, D.C.,
protested against him in the Women's Marches.[155] During his first week in office,
Trump signed six executive orders, including authorizing procedures for repealing
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the
Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, advancement of the Keystone XL and Dakota
Access Pipeline projects, and planning for a wall along the U.S. border with
Mexico.[156]

Conflicts of interest
See also: First presidency of Donald Trump § Ethics
Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust,[157]
[158] rather than a blind trust or equivalent arrangement "to cleanly sever himself
from his business interests".[159] He continued to profit from his businesses and
knew how his administration's policies affected them.[158][160] Although he said he
would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued operational
expansions in Scotland, Dubai, and the Dominican Republic.[158][160] Lobbyists,
foreign government officials, and Trump donors and allies generated hundreds of
millions of dollars for his resorts and hotels.[161] Trump was sued for violating
the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the first
time that the clauses had been substantively litigated.[162] One case was dismissed
in lower court.[163] Two were dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court as moot after his
term.[164]

Domestic policy
Main articles: Economic policy of the first Donald Trump administration,
Environmental policy of the first Donald Trump administration, and Social policy of
the first Donald Trump administration
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American
history,[165] which began in 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the
COVID-19 recession began.[166] In December 2017, he signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act of 2017. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals and eliminated the
penalty associated with the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.[167][168] The
Trump administration claimed that the act would not decrease government revenue,
but 2018 revenues were 7.6 percent lower than projected.[169] Under Trump, the
federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1 trillion in
2019.[170] By the end of his term, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent,
reaching $27.75 trillion, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio hit a post-World War II
high.[171] Trump also failed to deliver the $1 trillion infrastructure spending
plan on which he had campaigned.[172]

Trump is the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce
than when he took office, by three million people.[165][173] He rejects the
scientific consensus on climate change.[174][175][176][177] He reduced the budget
for renewable energy research by 40 percent and reversed Obama-era policies
directed at curbing climate change.[178] He withdrew from the Paris Agreement,
making the U.S. the only nation to not ratify it.[179] He aimed to boost the
production and exports of fossil fuels.[180][181] Natural gas expanded under Trump,
but coal continued to decline.[182][183] He rolled back more than 100 federal
environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions,
air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections
for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and
expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing
drilling in the Arctic Refuge.[184]

Trump dismantled federal regulations on health,[185][186] labor,[186] the

environment,[187][186] and other areas, including a bill that made it easier for
severely mentally ill persons to buy guns.[188] During his first six weeks in
office, he delayed, suspended, or reversed ninety federal regulations,[189] often
"after requests by the regulated industries".[190] The Institute for Policy
Integrity found that 78 percent of his proposals were blocked by courts or did not
prevail over litigation.[191] During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and
replace the Affordable Care Act.[192] In office, he scaled back the Act's
implementation through executive orders.[193][194] He expressed a desire to "let
Obamacare fail"; his administration halved the enrollment period and drastically
reduced funding for enrollment promotion.[195][196] In June 2018, the Trump
administration joined 18 Republican-led states in arguing before the Supreme Court
that the elimination of the financial penalties associated with the individual
mandate had rendered the Act unconstitutional.[197][198] Their pleading would have
eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans, but was
unsuccessful.[197] During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for
Medicare and other social safety-net programs. In January 2020, he expressed
willingness to consider cuts to them.[199]

In response to the opioid epidemic, Trump signed legislation in 2018 to increase

funding for drug treatments, but was widely criticized for failing to make a
concrete strategy.[200] He barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion
referrals from receiving federal funds.[201] He said he supported "traditional
marriage", but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage "settled".
[202] His administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's
workplace protections against discrimination of LGBTQ people.[203] His attempted
rollback of anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients in August 2020
was halted by a federal judge after a Supreme Court ruling extended employees'
civil rights protections to gender identity and sexual orientation.[204] Trump has
said he is opposed to gun control, although his views have shifted over time.[205]
His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies
that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.[206] He is a long-
time advocate of capital punishment,[207][208] and his administration oversaw the
federal government execute 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years
combined, ending a 17-year moratorium.[209] In 2016, he said he supported the use
of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding.[210][211]

Race relations
Answering questions about the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville
Trump's comments on the 2017 Unite the Right rally, condemning "this egregious
display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were
"very fine people on both sides", were criticized as implying a moral equivalence
between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.[212] In a
January 2018 discussion of immigration legislation, he reportedly referred to El
Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries".[213] His
remarks were condemned as racist.[214]

With a group of officials and advisors walking from the White House to St. John's
Church, following the forced removal of protesters at Lafayette Square
In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all minorities,
three of whom are native-born Americans—should "go back" to the countries they
"came from".[215] Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly
along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments".[216] White nationalist
publications and social media praised his remarks, which continued over the
following days.[217] He continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.
[218] In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, federal law-enforcement
officials controversially removed a largely peaceful crowd of lawful protesters
from Lafayette Square, outside the White House.[219][220] Trump then posed with a
Bible for a photo-op at the nearby St. John's Episcopal Church,[219][221][222] with
religious leaders condemning both the treatment of protesters and the photo
opportunity itself.[223] Many retired military leaders and defense officials
condemned his proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality
protesters.[224]

Pardons and commutations

Further information: List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump
During his first term, Trump granted 237 requests for clemency, fewer than all
presidents since 1900 with the exception of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.
[225] Only 25 of them had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the
Pardon Attorney; the others were granted to people with personal or political
connections to him, his family, and his allies, or recommended by celebrities.[226]
[227] In his last full day in office, he granted 73 pardons and commuted 70
sentences.[228] Several Trump allies were not eligible for pardons under Justice
Department rules, and in other cases the department had opposed clemency.[226] The
pardons of three military service members convicted of or charged with violent
crimes were opposed by military leaders.[229]

Immigration
Main articles: Immigration policy of the first Donald Trump administration and
Mexico–United States border crisis § First Trump administration (2017–2021)
Further information: Trump travel ban, Trump administration family separation
policy, and Mexico–United States border wall § First Trump administration (2017–
2021)
Trump is speaking with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Behind him are black SUVs, four
short border wall prototype designs, and the current border wall in the background.
Examining border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa, California
As president, Trump described illegal immigration as an "invasion" of the United
States[230] and drastically escalated immigration enforcement.[231][232] He
implemented harsh policies against asylum seekers[232] and deployed nearly 6,000
troops to the U.S.–Mexico border to stop illegal crossings.[233] He reduced the
number of refugees admitted to record lows, from an annual limit of 110,000 before
he took office to 15,000 in 2021.[234][235][236] Trump also increased restrictions
on granting permanent residency to immigrants needing public benefits.[237] One of
his central campaign promises was to build a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border;
[238] during his first term, the U.S. built 73 miles (117 km) of wall in areas
without barriers and 365 miles (587 km) to replace older barriers.[239] In 2018,
Trump's refusal to sign any spending bill unless it allocated funding for the
border wall[240] resulted in the longest-ever federal government shutdown, for 35
days from December 2018 to January 2019.[241][242] The shutdown ended after he
agreed to fund the government without any funds for the wall.[241] To avoid another
shutdown, Congress passed a funding bill with $1.4 billion for border fencing in
February.[243] Trump later declared a national emergency on the southern border to
divert $6.1 billion of funding to the border wall[243] despite congressional
disagreement.[244]

In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order that temporarily denied entry to
citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.[245][246] The order caused many
protests and legal challenges that resulted in nationwide injunctions.[245][246]
[247] A revised order giving some exceptions was also blocked by courts,[248][249]
but the Supreme Court ruled in June that the ban could be enforced on those lacking
"a bona fide relationship with a person or entity" in the U.S.[250] Trump replaced
the ban in September with a presidential proclamation extending travel bans to
North Koreans, Chadians, and some Venezuelan officials, but excluded Iraq and
Sudan.[251] The Supreme Court allowed that version to go into effect in December
2017,[252] and ultimately upheld the ban in 2019.[253] From 2017 to 2018, the Trump
administration had a policy of family separation that separated over 4,400 children
of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border,[254][255] an
unprecedented[256] policy sparked public outrage in the country.[257] Despite Trump
initially blaming Democrats[258][259] and insisting he could not stop the policy
with an executive order, he acceded to public pressure in June 2018 and mandated
that migrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" of risk for
the child.[260][261] A judge later ordered that the families be reunited and
further separations stopped except in limited circumstances,[262][263] though over
1,000 additional children were separated from their families after the order.[255]

Foreign policy
Main articles: Foreign policy of the first Donald Trump administration and Tariffs
in the first Trump administration
Further information: Russia–United States relations § First Trump administration
(2017–2021), China–United States relations § First Trump administration (2017–
2021), 2017–2018 North Korea crisis, and 2018–19 Korean peace process
See also: List of international presidential trips made by Donald Trump § First
presidency (2017–2021)
A group of seven men and one woman, sitting at a round conference table. Trump
wears a dark blue suit, white dress shirt, and light blue necktie. A small sign
reading "G7 France Biarritz 2019" hangs on the wall behind them.
With the other G7 leaders at the 45th summit in France, 2019
Trump described himself as a "nationalist"[264] and his foreign policy as "America
First".[265] He supported populist, neo-nationalist, and authoritarian governments.
[266] Unpredictability, uncertainty, and inconsistency characterized foreign
relations during his tenure.[265][267] Relations between the U.S. and its European
allies were strained under Trump.[268] He criticized NATO allies and privately
suggested that the U.S. should withdraw from NATO.[269][270] Trump supported many
of the policies of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[271] In 2020, Trump
hosted the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the United Arab
Emirates and Bahrain to normalize their foreign relations.[272]

Trump shaking hands with Russian president Vladimir Putin during the 2018 summit in
Helsinki, Finland
Trump began a trade war with China in 2018 after imposing tariffs and other trade
barriers he said would force China to end longstanding unfair trade practice and
intellectual property infringement.[273] Trump weakened the toughest U.S. sanctions
imposed after the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.[274][275] Trump praised and,
according to some critics, rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin,[276]
[277] though he opposed some actions of Russia's government.[278] He withdrew the
U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian
noncompliance,[279] and supported Russia's possible return to the G7.[280] As North
Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat,[281] Trump
became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader, meeting Kim
Jong Un three times: in Singapore in June 2018, in Hanoi in February 2019, and in
the Korean Demilitarized Zone in June 2019.[282] Talks in October 2019 broke down
and no denuclearization agreement was reached.[283][284]

Personnel
Main articles: Political appointments of the first Trump administration and First
cabinet of Donald Trump
Further information: Hiring and personnel of Donald Trump
By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had
resigned, been fired, or been reassigned.[285] As of early July 2018, 61 percent of
his senior aides had left[286] and 141 staffers had left in the previous year.[287]
Both figures set a record for recent presidents.[288] Close personal aides to Trump
quit or were forced out.[289] He publicly disparaged several of his former top
officials.[290]

Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several.
[291] In May 2017, he dismissed FBI director James Comey, saying a few days later
that he was concerned about Comey's role in the Trump–Russia investigations.[292]
[293] Three of Trump's 15 original cabinet members left or were forced to resign
within his first year.[294][289] Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in
the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October
2017, there were hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee.[295] By
January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled and he had no nominee
for 264.[296]

Judiciary
Further information: List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump and Donald
Trump judicial appointment controversies
Trump appointed 226 federal judges, including 54 to the courts of appeals and three
to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.[297]
His Supreme Court appointments politically shifted the Court to the right.[298]
[299][300] In the 2016 campaign, he pledged that Roe v. Wade would be overturned
"automatically" if he were elected and given the opportunity to appoint two or
three anti-abortion justices. He later took credit when Roe was overturned by Dobbs
v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022; all three of his Supreme Court
nominees voted with the majority.[301][302] Trump disparaged courts and judges he
disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's
constitutional authority. His attacks on courts drew rebukes from observers,
including sitting federal judges, concerned about the effect of his statements on
the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.[303][304]

COVID-19 pandemic
Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
Further information: U.S. federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and
Communication of the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic
See also: Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
Trump speaks in the West Wing briefing room with various officials standing behind
him, all in formal attire and without face masks
Conducting a COVID-19 press briefing with members of the White House Coronavirus
Task Force on March 15, 2020
Trump initially ignored public health warnings and calls for action from health
officials within his administration.[305] Trump established the White House
Coronavirus Task Force on January 29.[306] On March 27, he signed into law the
CARES Act—a $2.2 trillion bipartisan economic stimulus bill—the largest stimulus in
U.S. history.[307][308] After weeks of attacks to draw attention away from his slow
response, Trump halted funding of the World Health Organization in April.[309] In
April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against
the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic;[310][311] Trump
encouraged the protests on Twitter,[312] although the targeted states did not meet
his administration's guidelines for reopening.[313] He repeatedly pressured federal
health agencies to take actions he favored,[314] such as approving unproven
treatments.[315][316] In October, Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center for three days with a severe case of COVID-19.[317]

Investigations
Further information: Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections,
Mueller special counsel investigation, and Mueller report
After he assumed office, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and
congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign,
transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, his private
businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation.[318] There were ten federal
criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve
congressional investigations.[319]

In July 2016, the FBI launched Crossfire Hurricane, an investigation into possible
links between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign.[320] After Trump fired Comey in May
2017, the FBI opened a second investigation into Trump's personal and business
dealings with Russia.[321] In January 2017, three U.S. intelligence agencies
jointly stated with "high confidence" that Russia interfered in the 2016
presidential election to favor Trump.[322][323] Many suspicious[324] links between
Trump associates and Russian officials were discovered.[325][326][327] Trump told
Russian officials he was unconcerned about Russia's election interference.[328]
Crossfire Hurricane was later transferred to Robert Mueller's special counsel
investigation;[329] the investigation into Trump's ties to Russia was ended by
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after he told the FBI that Mueller would
pursue the matter.[330][331] At the request of Rosenstein, the Mueller
investigation examined criminal matters "in connection with Russia's 2016 election
interference".[330] Mueller submitted his final report in March 2019.[332] The
report found that Russia did interfere in 2016 to favor Trump[333] and that Trump
and his campaign welcomed and encouraged the effort,[334][335][336] but that the
evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated
with Russia.[337][338] Trump claimed the report exonerated him despite Mueller
writing that it did not.[339] The report also detailed potential obstruction of
justice by Trump but "did not draw ultimate conclusions"[340][341] and left the
decision to charge the laws to Congress.[342]

In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial
details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm,
Mazars USA. He sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chair Elijah Cummings to
prevent the disclosures.[343] In May, two judges ruled that both Mazars and the
banks must comply with the subpoenas;[344][345][346] Trump's attorneys appealed.
[347] In September 2022, Trump and the committee agreed to a settlement regarding
Mazars, and the firm began turning over documents.[348]

Impeachments
Main articles: First impeachment of Donald Trump and Second impeachment of Donald
Trump

Displaying the headline "Trump acquitted" in 2020

Trump was impeached twice by the House of Representatives during his first
presidential term, though acquitted by the Senate on both occasions. The first
impeachment arose from a whistleblower complaint that in 2019 Trump had pressured
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden,[349]
in an attempt to gain an advantage in the 2020 presidential election.[350] In
December 2019, the House voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction
of Congress,[351] and the Senate acquitted him in February 2020.[352]

The second impeachment came after the January 6 attack, for which the House charged
Trump with incitement of insurrection on January 13, 2021.[353] Trump left office
on January 20 and was acquitted on February 13. Seven Republican senators voted for
conviction.[354]

2020 presidential election

Further information: 2020 United States presidential election and Donald Trump 2020
presidential campaign
Trump filed to run for reelection only a few hours after becoming president in
2017.[355] He held his first reelection rally less than a month after taking
office[356] and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.[357]
Trump's campaign focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into
lawlessness if Democratic nominee Joe Biden won.[358] He repeatedly misrepresented
Biden's positions[359][360] and appealed to racism.[361] Starting in early 2020,
Trump sowed doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that it would be
rigged and that widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election
fraud.[362][363] He blocked funding for the U.S. Postal Service, saying he wanted
to prevent any increase in voting by mail.[364] He repeatedly refused to say
whether he would accept the results if he lost and commit to a peaceful transition
of power.[365][366]

Loss to Biden and rejection of outcome

Further information: Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential
election and 2020–21 United States election protests
Biden won the November 2020 election, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent)
to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent)[367][368] and 306 electoral votes to Trump's
232.[369] The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14.[369]
Even before the results were known on the morning after the election, Trump
declared victory.[370] Days later, when Biden was projected the winner, Trump
baselessly alleged election fraud.[371] As part of an effort to overturn the
results, Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which
were rejected by at least 86 judges in both state and federal courts for having no
factual or legal basis.[372][373]
Trump's allegations were also refuted by state election officials,[374] and the
Supreme Court declined to hear a case asking it to overturn the results in four
states won by Biden.[375] Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results,
personally pressuring Republican local and state office-holders,[376] Republican
legislators,[377] the Justice Department,[378] and Vice President Pence,[379]
urging actions such as replacing presidential electors,[377] or that Georgia
officials "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result.[376] In the weeks
after the election, Trump withdrew from public activities.[380] He initially
blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition.
[381][382] After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services
Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the
disbursement of transition resources to his team.[383] While Trump said he
recommended that the GSA begin transition protocols, he still did not formally
concede.[384][385] Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration on January 20.[386]

January 6 Capitol attack

Main article: January 6 United States Capitol attack
In December 2020, reports emerged that the U.S. military was on "red alert", and
ranking officers had discussed what to do if Trump declared martial law.[387] CIA
director Gina Haspel and Army general Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, grew concerned that Trump might attempt a coup or military action against
China or Iran.[388][389] Milley insisted that he be consulted about any military
orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons.[390][391]

A crowd of Trump supporters during the attack

At noon on January 6, 2021, while Congress was certifying the presidential election
results in the U.S. Capitol, Trump held a rally at the nearby Ellipse. Speaking
from behind a glass barrier,[392] he called for the election to be overturned and
urged his supporters to "fight like hell" and "take back our country" by marching
to the Capitol.[393] His supporters then formed a mob that broke into the building,
disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress.[394] During the
attack, Trump posted on social media but did not ask the rioters to disperse. In a
tweet at 6 p.m., he told them to "go home with love & in peace", called them "great
patriots", and restated that he had won the election.[395] Congress later
reconvened and confirmed Biden's victory in the early hours of January 7.[396]

More than 140 police officers were injured, and five people died during or after
the attack.[397][398] The event has been described as an attempted self-coup by
Trump.[e]

Between terms (2021–2025)

Upon leaving the White House, Trump began living at Mar-a-Lago, establishing an
office there as provided for by the Former Presidents Act.[402] His continuing
false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big
lie" by his critics, although in May 2021, with his supporters he began using the
term to refer to the election itself.[403][404] The Republican Party used his
election narrative to justify imposing new voting restrictions in its favor.[405]
[406][407] As of July 2022, he continued to pressure state legislators to overturn
the election.[408] Unlike other former presidents, Trump continued to dominate his
party; a 2022 profile in The New York Times described him as a modern party boss.
[409] He continued fundraising, raising a war chest containing more than twice that
of the Republican Party, and profited from fundraisers many Republican candidates
held at Mar-a-Lago. Much of his focus was on party governance and installing in key
posts officials loyal to him.[409] In the 2022 midterm elections, he endorsed over
200 candidates for various offices.[410] In February 2021, he registered a new
company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), for providing "social networking
services" to U.S. customers.[411][412] In March 2024, TMTG merged with special-
purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition and became a public company.
[413] In February 2022, TMTG launched Truth Social, a social media platform.[414]

Legal issues
See also: Personal and business legal affairs of Donald Trump and Legal affairs of
the first Donald Trump presidency
In 2019, journalist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s and
sued him for defamation over his denial.[415] Carroll sued him again in 2022 for
battery and more defamation.[416] He was found liable for sexual abuse and
defamation and ordered to pay $5 million in one case[417] and $83.3 million in the
other.[417][418] In 2022, New York filed a civil lawsuit against Trump accusing him
of inflating the Trump Organization's value to gain an advantage with lenders and
banks;[419][420] He was found liable and ordered to pay $350 million plus interest.
[420]

Classified intelligence material found during search of Mar-a-Lago

In connection with Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his
involvement in the January 6 attack, in December 2022 the U.S. House committee on
the attack recommended criminal charges against him for obstructing an official
proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and inciting or assisting an
insurrection.[421] In August 2023, he was indicted on 13 charges, including
racketeering, by a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia for his efforts to subvert
the 2020 election in the state.[422][423]

In January 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved 15

boxes of documents Trump had taken to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House,
some of which were classified.[424] In the ensuing Justice Department
investigation, officials retrieved more classified documents from his lawyers.[424]
On August 8, 2022, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago for illegally held documents,
including those in breach of the Espionage Act, collecting 11 sets of classified
documents, some marked top secret.[425][426] A federal grand jury constituted by
Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump in June 2023 on 31 counts of "willfully
retaining national defense information" under the Espionage Act, among other
charges.[424][427][428] Trump pleaded not guilty.[429] In July 2024, judge Aileen
Cannon dismissed the case, ruling Smith's appointment as special prosecutor was
unconstitutional.[430]

In May 2024, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business

records.[431] The case stemmed from evidence that he booked Michael Cohen's hush-
money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels as business expenses to cover
up his alleged 2006–2007 affair with Daniels during the 2016 election.[431][432] On
January 10, 2025, the judge gave Trump a no-penalty sentence known as an
unconditional discharge, saying that punitive requirements would have interfered
with presidential immunity.[433] After his reelection, the 2020 election
obstruction case and the classified documents case were dismissed without prejudice
due to Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.[434]

2024 presidential election

Main article: Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign
Further information: 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries, 2024 United
States presidential election, and Second presidential transition of Donald Trump

At a rally in Arizona, August 2024

In November 2022, Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election
and created a fundraising account.[435][436]

In March 2023, the campaign began diverting 10 percent of the donations to his
leadership PAC. His campaign had paid $100 million towards his legal bills by March
2024.[437][438] In December 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled him disqualified
for the Colorado Republican primary for his role in inciting the January 6, 2021,
attack on Congress. In March 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court restored his name to the
ballot in a unanimous decision, ruling that Colorado lacks the authority to enforce
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars insurrectionists from holding federal
office.[439]

During the campaign, Trump made increasingly violent and authoritarian statements.
[440][441][442][443] He said that he would weaponize the FBI and the Justice
Department against his political opponents[444][445] and use the military to target
Democratic politicians and those that do not support his candidacy.[446][447] He
used harsher, more dehumanizing anti-immigrant rhetoric than during his presidency.
[448][449][450][451] His harsher rhetoric against his political enemies has been
described by some historians and scholars as authoritarian, fascist,[f] and unlike
anything a political candidate has ever said in American history.[456][447][457]
Age and health concerns also arose during the campaign, with several medical
experts highlighting an increase in rambling, tangential speech and behavioral
disinhibition.[458]

Trump mentioned "rigged election" and "election interference" earlier and more
frequently than in the 2016 and 2020 campaigns and refused to commit to accepting
the 2024 election results.[459][460] Analysts for The New York Times described this
as an intensification of his "heads I win; tails you cheated" rhetorical strategy;
the newspaper stated that the claim of a rigged election had become the backbone of
the campaign.[460]

On July 13, 2024, Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt at a
campaign rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania.[461][462][463] Two days later, the
2024 Republican National Convention nominated him as their presidential candidate,
with Senator JD Vance as his running mate.[464] In September, he was targeted in
another assassination attempt in Florida.[465]

Trump won the election in November 2024 with 312 electoral votes to incumbent vice
president Kamala Harris's 226,[466] making him the second president in U.S. history
to be elected to a nonconsecutive second term.[467] He also won the popular vote
with 49.8% to Harris's 48.3%.[468] His victory in 2024 was part of a global
backlash against incumbent parties,[469][470] in part due to the 2021–2023
inflation surge.[471][472] Several outlets described his reelection as an
extraordinary comeback.[473][474]

Second presidency (2025–present)

Main article: Second presidency of Donald Trump
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Donald Trump presidencies.

Taking the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, January 20,
2025
Trump began his second term upon his inauguration on January 20, 2025.[475] He
became the oldest individual to assume the presidency[476] and the first president
with a felony conviction.[477]

Early actions, 2025–present

See also: Second presidential transition of Donald Trump and First 100 days of the
second Donald Trump presidency
Upon taking office, Trump signed a series of executive orders. Many of these tested
his legal authority, and drew immediate legal action.[478] He issued more executive
orders on his first day than any other president;[479] he also granted clemency to
all January 6 rioters convicted or charged, including those who violently attacked
police, by pardoning more than 1,500 and commuting the sentences of 14.[480][481]
Four days into his second term, analysis conducted by Time found that nearly two-
thirds of his executive actions "mirror or partially mirror" proposals from Project
2025.[482] In his first weeks, several of his actions have ignored or violated
federal laws, regulations, and the Constitution according to American legal
scholars.[483][484][485] In his administration's first month, Trump issued ninety
executive orders, memorandums, and directives.[486] His actions against civil
society were described by legal experts and hundreds of political scientists as
authoritarian and contributing to democratic backsliding.[487][488] By the end of
April, his orders and actions had been challenged by over 200 lawsuits nationwide,
with most of them still moving through the courts.[489]

Conflicts of interest, 2025–present

Further information: Second presidency of Donald Trump § Ethics
Trump's second presidency was described as having less guardrails against conflicts
of interest than his first,[490] and breaking with decades of ethical norms.[491]
He maintained a publicly traded company in Truth Social, pursued new overseas real
estate deals involving state-affiliated entities, and had several branding and
licensing deals selling Trump-branded merchandise.[490] He did not place his assets
in a blind trust,[492] did not adopt formal ethics guidelines,[493] and profited
from events held at his hotels and golf courses.[492] He noted that conflict of
interest laws did not apply to him and that he was protected by broad immunity for
his official actions as president.[494] He repealed ethics guidelines and
enforcement of laws prohibiting bribery,[495][496] dropped corruption charges
against political figures with ties to him,[497] and granted thousands of shares of
stock to his cabinet officials.[498] He launched, promoted, and personally
benefited from a cryptocurrency memecoin, $Trump.[495] He also directly benefited
from his family's cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial which engaged in
an unprecedented mixing of private enterprise and government policy.[494]

Mass terminations of federal employees

Main article: 2025 United States federal mass layoffs
Trump implemented a hiring freeze across the federal government and ordered
telework of federal employees to be discontinued within 30 days.[499][500] He
ordered a review of many career civil service positions with the intention of
reclassifying them into at-will positions without job protections.[500][501][502]
He initiated mass job terminations of federal employees,[503] which were described
by legal experts as unprecedented or in violation of federal law,[504] with the
intent of replacing them with workers more aligned with his agenda.[505] By late
February, the administration had fired more than 30,000 people.[506] To facilitate
further terminations, it adopted a novel legal interpretation that vastly expands
the range of departments and agencies considered as having national security for
their primary function,[507][508][509] declaring various federal workers' unions
"hostile".[510][511] A late March executive order based on this interpretation
excluded dozens of departments and agencies from federal labor-management relations
programs, prompting them to sue to invalidate their collective bargaining
agreements,[512][509] which could remove union protections from 1 million federal
employees.[510][513] He ordered an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
projects in the federal government and placed employees in DEI offices on leave. He
rescinded Executive Order 11246, which mandated affirmative action and
nondiscrimination practices for federal contractors.[514][515]

Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency largely dismantled

several federal agencies including USAID and the Department of Education,
unilaterally fired several thousand staff, and reduced administrative functions to
statutory minimums.[516][517][518] Some actions, such as attempts to dismantle the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, were paused by federal courts.[519] Many of
his actions attempted to bring historically independent institutions under direct
executive branch control in diminished forms.[520]

Domestic policy, 2025–present

Main articles: Economic policy of the second Donald Trump administration, Education
policy of the second Donald Trump administration, and Science policy of the second
Donald Trump administration
Trump inherited a resilient economy from the Biden administration, with increasing
economic growth, low unemployment, and declining inflation.[g] Large drops in
consumer sentiment and increased expectations of higher inflation rates among
consumers and Wall Street economists emerged due to his tariff policies,[527]
ultimately triggering a stock market crash in April following his global tariff
announcement.[528]

Trump canceled and paused federal grants and made large cuts to scientific
research.[529] Trump appointed oil, gas, and chemical lobbyists to the EPA to
reverse climate regulations and pollution controls.[530] He declared a national
energy emergency, allowing the suspension of environmental regulations, loosening
the rules for fossil fuel extraction and limiting renewable energy projects.[531]
[532] He initiated a review of the "legality and continued applicability" of the
EPA endangerment finding, which is the basis of most federal regulations on
greenhouse gases,[533] and again withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on
climate change.[534]

Trump blamed DEI and wokeness for problems in society, and, equating diversity with
incompetence,[535] he reversed pro-diversity policies in the federal government.
[536][537] His administration aggressively moved against the rights of transgender
people and what it termed "gender ideology".[538][539] Trump sought to remake civil
society to his preferences by executive order.[540] On DEI and antisemitism
grounds, he threatened cultural institutions[541] and sixty universities,[542] and
forced law firms to capitulate to his political agenda.[540]

Immigration, 2025–present
Main articles: Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration and
Mexico–United States border crisis § Second Trump administration (2025–present)
Further information: Deportation in the second presidency of Donald Trump and
Mexico–United States border wall § Second Trump administration (2025–present)
In his first days in office, Trump instructed border patrol agents to summarily
deport migrants crossing the border, disabled the CBP One app that was being used
to schedule border crossings, resumed the remain in Mexico policy, designated drug
cartels as terrorist groups, and ordered construction to be resumed on a border
wall.[543][544] Rates of arrests lagged behind the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement goal of 1,200 to 1,500 daily arrests.[545]

Deportation operations first focused on "target lists" of criminals formed prior to

Trump's second term.[546] Then his administration removed asylum applicants who
failed to meet requirements,[547] revoked the parole status of migrants who entered
the U.S. under CBP One and CHNV humanitarian parole,[544] attempted to remove
birthright citizenship,[548] and suspended the Refugee Admissions Program.[549] In
March, he used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to imprison migrants without trial—one
by "administrative error"[550] and most without criminal records[h]—at the
Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador[552] He targeted activists, legal
immigrants, tourists, and students with visas who expressed criticism of his
policies or pro-Palestinian advocacy.[553] In April, the administration and DOGE
declared dead in Social Security's Death Master File about 6,300 living immigrants—
hoping they would "self deport".[i][554]

Foreign policy, 2025–present

Main article: Foreign policy of the second Donald Trump administration
Further information: Tariffs in the second Trump administration, China–United
States trade war, 2025 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico, and American
expansionism under Donald Trump
Trump's second term foreign policy has been variously described as imperialist,
expansionist,[555][556] isolationist, and autarkist, employing the "America First"
ideology as its cornerstone.[557] His relations with allies were transactional and
ranged from indifference to hostility, including threats of annexation.[558][559]
He ordered the U.S. government to stop funding and working with the WHO and
announced the U.S.'s intention to formally leave the WHO.[560][561][562]

Trump and his incoming administration helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and
Hamas alongside the Biden administration, enacted a day prior to his inauguration.
[563][564][565] In March, Israel broke the ceasefire.[565]

Trump and Vance in the meeting with Zelenskyy

In February 2025, Trump and Vice President Vance met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the
president of Ukraine, in the Oval Office. The meeting, which was televised live,
was highly contentious as Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy. Media outlets
described it as an unprecedented public confrontation between an American president
and a foreign head of state.[566][567]

Trump's economic policies have been described as protectionist,[568] with Trump

imposing tariffs on most countries, including large tariffs on major trading
partners China, Canada, and Mexico.[569] He suspended American financial
contributions to the World Trade Organization.[570] Economists argued that the
administration misunderstood the relationship between trade deficits and tariffs,
using flawed assumptions.[571]

Personnel, 2025–present
Main articles: Political appointments of the second Trump administration and Second
cabinet of Donald Trump
Further information: Hiring and personnel of Donald Trump
In his second term, Trump selected cabinet members with personal loyalty to him,
[572][573] with the "focus on loyalty over subject-matter expertise".[573] In
February 2025, the White House stated that Elon Musk was a special government
employee.[574] Trump gave Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access
to many federal government agencies.[574] Musk's teams operated in eighteen
departments and agencies in the administration's first month,[575] including in the
Treasury Department's $5 trillion payment system,[576] the Small Business
Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services
Administration.[577]

Judiciary, 2025–present
See also: List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump
Following legal setbacks, Trump increased his criticism of the judiciary and called
for impeachment of federal judges who ruled against him.[578] He threatened, signed
executive actions, and ordered investigations into his political opponents,
critics, and organizations aligned with the Democratic Party.[579] His defiance of
court orders and a claimed right to disobey the courts raised fears among legal
experts of a constitutional crisis.[580] He engaged in an unprecedented targeting
of law firms and lawyers that previously represented positions adverse to himself.
[581][582]

Political practice and rhetoric

Further information: Trumpism, Political positions of Donald Trump, and Rhetoric of
Donald Trump
Beginning with his 2016 campaign, Trump's politics and rhetoric led to the creation
of a political movement known as Trumpism.[583] His political positions are
populist,[584][585] more specifically described as right-wing populist.[586][587]
He helped bring far-right fringe ideas and organizations into the mainstream.[588]
Many of his actions and rhetoric have been described as authoritarian and
contributing to democratic backsliding.[589][590] Trump pushed for an expansion of
presidential power under a maximalist interpretation of the unitary executive
theory.[591][592] His political base has been compared to a cult of personality.[j]

Trump's rhetoric and actions inflame anger and exacerbate distrust through an "us"
versus "them" narrative.[600] He explicitly and routinely disparages racial,
religious, and ethnic minorities,[601] and scholars consistently find that racial
animus regarding blacks, immigrants, and Muslims are the best predictors of support
for Trump.[602] His rhetoric has been described as using fearmongering and
demagogy,[603] and he has said that he believes real power comes from fear.[604]
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported his candidacy, due in part to
its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[605][606][607] He has a strong
appeal to evangelical Christian voters and Christian nationalists,[608] and his
rallies take on the symbols, rhetoric, and agenda of Christian nationalism.[609]
Trump has also used anti-communist sentiment in his rhetoric, regularly calling his
opponents "communists" and "Marxists".[610][611]

Racial and gender views

Many of Trump's comments and actions have been characterized as racist.[612] In a
2018 national poll, about half of respondents said he is racist; a greater
proportion believed that he emboldened racists.[613] Several studies and surveys
found that racist attitudes fueled his political ascent and were more important
than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters.[614] Racist
and Islamophobic attitudes are strong indicators of support for Trump.[615] He has
also been accused of racism for insisting a group of five black and Latino
teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case,
even after they were exonerated in 2002 when the actual rapist confessed and his
DNA matched the evidence. In 2024, the men sued Trump for defamation after he said
in a televised debate that they had committed the crime and killed the woman.[616]

In 2011, Trump became the leading proponent of the racist "birther" conspiracy
theory that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the
United States.[617] He claimed credit for pressuring the government to publish
Obama's birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent.[618] He acknowledged
that Obama was born in the U.S. in September 2016,[619] though reportedly expressed
birther views privately in 2017.[620] During the 2024 presidential campaign, he
made false attacks against the racial identity of his opponent, Kamala Harris, that
were described as reminiscent of the birther conspiracy theory.[621]

Trump has a history of belittling women when speaking to the media and on social
media.[622][623] He made lewd comments, disparaged women's physical appearances,
and referred to them using derogatory epithets.[623] At least 25 women publicly
accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape, kissing without consent, groping,
looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants.
He has denied the allegations.[624] In October 2016, a 2005 "hot mic" recording
surfaced in which he bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent,
saying that, "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab
'em by the pussy."[625] He characterized the comments as "locker-room talk".[626]
[627] The incident's widespread media exposure led to his first public apology,
videotaped during his 2016 presidential campaign.[628]

Link to violence and hate crimes

Further information: Rhetoric of Donald Trump § Violence and dehumanization
Trump has been identified as a key figure in increasing political violence in the
U.S., both for and against him.[629][630][631] He is described as embracing
extremism, conspiracy theories such as Q-Anon, and far-right militia movements to a
greater extent than any modern American president,[632][633] and engaging in
stochastic terrorism.[634][635]

Research suggests Trump's rhetoric is associated with an increased incidence of

hate crimes,[636][637] and that he has an emboldening effect on expressing
prejudicial attitudes due to his normalization of explicit racial rhetoric.[638]
During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters
or reporters.[639][640] Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent
acts and hate crimes cited his rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or
should receive leniency.[641][642] A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020
identified at least 54 criminal cases, from August 2015 to April 2020, in which he
was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by
white men and primarily against minorities.[643] Trump's refusal to condemn the
white supremacist Proud Boys during a 2020 presidential debate[644] and his
comment, "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by", were said to have led to increased
recruitment for the pro-Trump group.[645] His normalization and revisionist history
of the January 6 Capitol attack, and grant of clemency to all January 6 rioters,
were described, by counterterrorism researchers, as encouraging future political
violence.[646][647]

Conspiracy theories
Main article: List of conspiracy theories promoted by Donald Trump
Since before his first presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories,
including Obama "birtherism", global warming being a hoax, and alleged Ukrainian
interference in U.S. elections.[648][649][650] After the 2020 presidential
election, he promoted conspiracy theories for his defeat that were characterized as
"the big lie".[651][652]

False or misleading statements

Main article: False or misleading statements by Donald Trump
Chart depicting false or misleading claims made by Trump
Fact-checkers from The Washington Post,[653] the Toronto Star,[654] and CNN[655]
compiled data on "false or misleading claims" (orange background) and "false
claims" (violet foreground).
Trump frequently makes false statements in public remarks[656][119] to an extent
unprecedented in American politics.[656][657][658] His falsehoods are a distinctive
part of his political identity[657] and have been described as firehosing.[659] His
false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The
Washington Post, which tallied 30,573 false or misleading statements made by him
during his first presidency,[653] increasing in frequency over time.[660]

Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential,[661][662] while others had more

far-reaching effects, such as his unproven promotion of antimalarial drugs as a
treatment for COVID-19,[663][664] causing a U.S. shortage of these drugs and panic-
buying in Africa and South Asia.[665][666] Other misinformation, such as
misattributing a rise in crime in England and Wales to the "spread of radical
Islamic terror", served his domestic political purposes.[667] His attacks on mail-
in ballots and other election practices weakened public faith in the integrity of
the 2020 presidential election,[668][669] while his disinformation about the
pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.[670][671][672] He
habitually does not apologize for his falsehoods.[673] Until 2018, the media rarely
referred to his falsehoods as lies, including when he repeated demonstrably false
statements.[674][675][676]