Here’s a look at the life of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States.
Personal:
Birth date: June 14, 1946
Birth place: New York, New York
Birth name: Donald John Trump
Father: Fred Trump, real estate developer
Mother: Mary (Macleod) Trump
Marriages: Melania (Knauss) Trump (January 22, 2005-present); Marla (Maples) Trump (December 1993-June 1999, divorced); Ivana (Zelnicek) Trump (1977-1990, divorced)
Children: with Melania (Knauss) Trump: Barron, March 20, 2006; with Marla Maples: Tiffany, October 13, 1993; with Ivana (Zelnicek) Trump: Eric, 1984; Ivanka, October 30, 1981; Donald Jr., December 31, 1977
Education: Attended Fordham University; University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance, BS in Economics,1968
Other Facts:
As Trump evolved from real estate developer to reality television star, he turned his name into a brand. Licensed Trump products have included board games, steaks, cologne, vodka, furniture and menswear.
He has portrayed himself in cameo appearances in movies and on television, including “Zoolander,” “Sex and the City” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”
Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” was first used by Ronald Reagan while he was running against President Jimmy Carter.
Timeline:
1970s – After college, works with his father on apartment complexes in Queens and Brooklyn.
1973 – Trump and his father are named in a Justice Department lawsuit alleging Trump property managers violated the Fair Housing Act by turning away potential African-American tenants. The Trumps deny the company discriminates and file a $100 million countersuit, which is later dismissed. The case is settled in 1975, and the Trumps agree to provide weekly lists of vacancies to black community organizations.
1976 – Trump and his father partner with the Hyatt Corporation, purchasing the Commodore Hotel, an aging midtown Manhattan property. The building is revamped and opens four years later as the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The project kickstarts Trump’s career as a Manhattan developer.
1983-1990 – Builds/purchases multiple properties in New York City, including Trump Tower and the Plaza Hotel. Also opens casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, including the Trump Taj Mahal and the Trump Plaza. Also buys the New Jersey Generals football team, part of the United States Football League, which folds after three seasons.
1985 – Purchases Mar-a-Lago, an oceanfront estate in Palm Beach, Florida. It is renovated and opens as a private club in 1995.
1987 – Trump’s first book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal,” is published and becomes a bestseller. The Donald J. Trump Foundation is established in order to donate a portion of profits from book sales to charities.
1990 – Nearly $1 billion in personal debt, Trump reaches an agreement with bankers allowing him to avoid declaring bankruptcy.
1991 – The Trump Taj Mahal files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
1992 – The Trump Plaza and the Trump Castle casinos file for bankruptcy.
1996 – Buys out and becomes executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants.
October 7, 1999 – Tells CNN’s Larry King that he is going to form a presidential exploratory committee and wants to challenge Pat Buchanan for the Reform Party nomination.
February 14, 2000 – Says that he is abandoning his bid for the presidency, blaming discord within the Reform Party.
January 2004 – “The Apprentice,” a reality show featuring aspiring entrepreneurs competing for Trump’s approval, premieres on NBC.
November 21, 2004 – Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
2005 – Establishes Trump University, which offers seminars in real estate investment.
February 13, 2009 – Announces his resignation from his position as chairman of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Days later, the company files for bankruptcy protection.
March 17, 2011 – During an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Trump questions whether President Barack Obama was actually born in the United States.
June 16, 2015 – Announces that he is running for president during a speech at Trump Tower.
June 28, 2015 – Says he’s giving up the TV show “The Apprentice” to run for president.
June 29, 2015 – NBC says it is cutting its business ties to Trump and won’t air the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants because of “derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants.” This comes two weeks after comments Trump made about Mexican immigrants during his presidential campaign announcement.
July 8, 2015 – In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Trump says he “can’t guarantee” all of the workers he employs have legal status in the United States. This is in response to questions about a Washington Post report about undocumented immigrants working at the Old Post Office Pavilion construction site in Washington, which Trump is converting into a luxury hotel.
July 15, 2015 – Trump’s campaign reports the Republican presidential candidate’s net worth is “in excess of ten billion dollars,” and his personal finance disclosure has been submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
July 22, 2015 – Donald Trump’s financial disclosure report is made public by the Federal Election Commission.
August 6, 2015 – During the first 2016 Republican debate, Trump is questioned about a third party candidacy, his attitude towards women and his history of donating money to Democratic politicians. He tells moderator Megyn Kelly of Fox News he feels he is being mistreated.
August 7, 2015 – The controversy continues, as Trump tells CNN’s Don Lemon that Kelly was singling him out for attack, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
September 11, 2015 – Trump announces on social media he has purchased NBC’s half of the Miss Universe Organization, which organizes the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
December 7, 2015 – Trump’s campaign puts out a press release calling for a “complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
March 29, 2016 – Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is arrested and charged in Jupiter, Florida, with simple battery of former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. Two weeks later, State Attorney David Aronberg announces he will not prosecute Lewandowski.
May 26, 2016 – Secures enough delegates to clinch the Republican Party nomination.
July 16, 2016 – Formally introduces Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate.
July 19, 2016 – Becomes the Republican Party nominee for president.
September 13, 2016 – During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says his office is investigating Donald Trump’s charitable foundation “to make sure it’s complying with the laws governing charities in New York.”
October 1, 2016 – The New York Times reports Trump declared a $916 million loss in 1995 which could have allowed him to legally skip paying federal income taxes for years. The report is based on a financial document mailed to the newspaper by an anonymous source.
October 7, 2016 – Unaired footage from 2005 surfaces of Trump talking about trying to have sex with a married woman and being able to grope women. In footage obtained by The Washington Post, Trump is heard off-camera discussing women in vulgar terms during the taping of a segment for “Access Hollywood.” In a taped response, Trump apologizes early Saturday, “I said it, I was wrong and I apologize.”
October 9, 2016 – During the second presidential debate, CNN’s Anderson Cooper asks Trump about his descriptions of groping and kissing women without their consent in the “Access Hollywood” footage. Trump denies that he has ever engaged in such behavior and declares the comments were “locker room talk.” After the debate, 11 women step forward to claim that they were sexually harassed or sexually assaulted by the real estate developer. Trump says the stories aren’t true.
November 8, 2016 – Is elected president of the United States. Trump will be the first US president who has never held elected office, a top government post or a military rank.
November 18, 2016 – Trump agrees to pay $25 million to settle three lawsuits against Trump University. The deal will keep the president-elect from having to testify in a trial in San Diego that was set to begin November 28. The settlement ends a suit brought by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, as well as two class action suits in California. About 6,000 former students are covered by the settlement. The victims will receive at least half of their money back.
December 24, 2016 – Trump says he will dissolve the Donald J. Trump Foundation “to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as President.” A spokeswoman for the New York Attorney General’s Office says that the foundation cannot legally close until investigators conclude their probe of the charity.
January 20, 2017 – Takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts during an inauguration ceremony at the Capitol, then delivers an inaugural address which focuses on the populist themes that fueled his run for the presidency.
January 27, 2017 – Trump signs an executive order halting all refugee arrivals for 120 days and banning travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. Additionally, refugees from Syria are barred indefinitely from entering the US. The order is challenged in court.
February 3, 2017 – A federal judge in Washington state blocks the ban nationwide.
February 9, 2017 – A panel of three judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules against the Trump administration, which sought to lift the block on the executive order.
February 28, 2017 – Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch to replace late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
March 4, 2017 – Alleges on Twitter, without offering evidence, that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 election. “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”
March 6, 2017 – Trump signs a new version of the executive order banning immigration from six Muslim-majority countries. Iraq is no longer on the list of banned countries and the provision blocking Syrian refugees indefinitely is removed. One day after the order is signed, Hawaii files a federal lawsuit challenging the ban.
March 15, 2017 – A federal judge in Hawaii issues a restraining order which blocks the new travel ban and the suspension of the refugee program nationwide hours before it is scheduled to take effect. Calling it “fundamentally flawed,” US District Court Judge Derrick Watson writes, “It is undisputed, using the primary source upon which the Government itself relies, that these six countries have overwhelmingly Muslim populations that range from 90.7% to 99.8%…It would therefore be no paradigmatic leap to conclude that targeting these countries likewise targets Islam.” Two days after the ruling is issued, the Justice Department files a motion to narrow the scope of the Hawaii’s temporary restraining order, allowing the government to suspend the refugee program while other components of the ban are litigated.
March 16, 2017 – A federal judge in Maryland issues a similar ruling. US District Judge Theodore D. Chuang blocks the travel ban, saying that it is unconstitutional. Also on March 16, the Trump administration releases its budget blueprint, with increases in funding for the military and cuts for agencies including the State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture.
May 19, 2017 – Leaves for his first foreign trip as President, a nine-day, five-country trip that includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, a NATO summit in Brussels and a G-7 summit in Sicily.
July 7, 2017 – Meets Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting being held in Hamburg, Germany. Talking for two hours – much longer than planned – the two discuss allegations of Russian meddling in US elections and the war in Syria, among other things.
September 19, 2017 – In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man” and vows to “totally destroy North Korea” if the US and its allies are forced defend themselves. He declares the Iran nuclear deal all but dead and describes some regions of the world as “going to hell.”
December 6, 2017 – Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announces plans to relocate the US Embassy there.
December 11, 2017 – A group of women who have publicly accused Trump of sexual harassment and assault hold a news conference discussing their accounts of being groped, fondled and forcibly kissed. The women also call on Congress to investigate the accusations.