Donald Trump, in full Donald John Trump, (born June 14, 1946, New York, N.Y., U.S.), 45th president of the United States (2017–21); elected 47th president in 2024. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce in 1968, and he then joined his father’s real-estate company, the Trump Organization, where he helped to manage its holdings of rental housing. In the late 1970s and the 1980s, Trump expanded his father’s business by investing in luxury hotels and residential properties. He also invested in the casino business in Atlantic City, N.J., in the 1980s. An economic slump in the late 1980s forced him to cede partial control of his properties to creditors, but his fortunes rebounded in the 1990s, and he embarked on a number of building projects in New York City and later around the world.
A highly public figure, Trump began hosting in 2004 the reality TV series The Apprentice, in which he popularized the phrase “You’re fired.” It was revamped as The Celebrity Apprentice in 2008. Long active in politics, Trump sought the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2016, and his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” became popular with many voters. Trump became the party’s official nominee in July 2016, with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate. On Nov. 8, 2016, he was elected president, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton. After taking office in 2017, Trump oversaw the passage of tax-reform legislation, instituted various measures to limit immigration, and had numerous conservative judges and U.S. Supreme Court justices confirmed. He also began construction of a security wall at the southern border. There were allegations that Russia interfered on Trump’s behalf in the 2016 election, and in 2019 he became the third U.S. president to be impeached, accused of withholding aid to Ukraine in order to pressure that country into opening a corruption investigation into Joe Biden, a political rival; the Senate, however, acquitted him. Trump later drew criticism for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. After losing to Biden in the 2020 election, Trump made unfounded claims of voter fraud and sought to overturn the election results. On Jan. 6, 2021, his supporters stormed the Capitol as Congress was certifying Biden’s win. Several people died during the attack, but the election results were ultimately certified. Many accused Trump of encouraging the siege, and on January 13 the House impeached Trump again, charging him with “incitement of insurrection.” He thus became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. He left office when his term ended on January 20, 2021.
In 2022 Trump announced his intention to run for president again, and by early 2024 Trump had won numerous primary elections and secured enough delegates to become the Republican nominee. In March 2023 Trump became the first current or former U.S. president to be charged with a crime, and three more criminal indictments were later filed against him. He was found liable in a civil sexual-abuse and defamation case in May 2023, and in early 2024 he was found liable in a civil business-fraud case and another defamation case. He continued campaigning during his trials. On May 30, 2024, a jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, making Trump the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime. Trump was injured during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. Soon afterward, he was officially named the Republican presidential nominee. In November he won the presidency, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris and becoming the first president since Grover Cleveland to be elected to nonconsecutive terms.
Trump married Ivana Zelníčková Winklmayr in 1977 (divorced 1992), Marla Maples in 1993 (divorced 1999), and Melania Knauss in 2005. He has five children, including Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., who played key roles during his first presidency.
