Donald J. Trump

Family

Trump’s parents were Frederick Christ “Fred” Trump and Mary Anne Trump. Donald Trump has five children. With his first ex-wife Ivana Trump, he is the father of Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump. Tiffany Trump is from his marriage to his second ex-wife Marla Maples. His youngest son Barron is from his marriage to his current wife Melania Trump. Mr. Trump has eight grandchildren.

Biography

Donald John Trump: A President Who Means Business

by P. J. Stephens

Our U.S. Presidents come from a variety of backgrounds—Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer, Woodrow Wilson a teacher, Jimmy Carter a peanut farmer, and Ronald Regan an actor. All these men, along with the other presidents, brought their former experiences with them to the White House. Donald Trump, our 45^th President, brings his knowledge of business.

Donald John Trump, born on June 14^th, 1946, in New York City, learned about business from his father, Fred Trump, a real estate developer. Fred Trump was a workaholic and often took his five children to construction sites on the weekends to collect and save nails. He was very demanding and expected the boys to go into the business with him. He got them involved with his properties by having them sweep out basements, collect coins from coin-operated laundry machines, and collect rents.

Despite these chores, Donald grew up in luxury. He lived in a nine bedroom house with an intercom and new Cadillacs in the driveway. The family had a maid and a chauffeur. One story tells of Donald having a chauffeur drive him along his paper route in bad weather.

After graduating from the military academy, Trump enrolled in Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and received a Bachelor’s degree in economics. Shortly thereafter, he joined his father’s real estate business.

Trump took over the business from his father in 1971. Over the next twenty years, Trump built hotels, casinos, apartments, and condominiums. He made millions of dollars and lost millions. His real estate empire, and his bold, direct manner, made him a household name.

In 1999, Trump first showed an interest in politics. He planned to run for president on a third-party platform, the Reformer Party. However, he bowed out before the first primary, citing that the party couldn’t provide the “support a candidate needs to win.” Trump stayed out of the political limelight for several more years, focusing on his reality TV shows, The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice.

On June 16th, 2015, Donald Trump announced his intention to run for President of the United States as the Republican Party nominee. His announcement shocked many Americans, and many thought he could never win. After all, Trump was a controversial, outspoken businessman with no political experience. However, on July 19^th, 2016 he received the Republican Party nomination.

Over the next sixteen months, Trump and the Democratic Nominee, Hillary Clinton, battled it out on TV, newspapers and political debates. The campaign was one of the most heated in history with the polls shifting back and forth. Even on Election Day, November 8, 2016, the outcome was still not obvious.

The President of the United States is not elected directly by how many votes he/she gets from individual voters across the country. He/she is elected by a process called the Electoral College established in 1787. Each state has a certain number of Electoral votes. If a candidate wins that state by getting the most individual votes, then he/she gets all the Electoral votes. Only Nebraska and Maine differ where the Electoral votes are equal to the percentage won by each candidate. For a candidate to win the presidency, he/she must get at least 270 Electoral votes.

Is it possible to get the most individual votes and still not win the election? Yes, that could happen if the states that a candidate won did not have enough Electoral votes. And this is precisely what happened in the 2016 Presidential Election. Although Hillary Clinton received the most votes (populous votes), Donald Trump received 306 Electoral College votes making him the 45^th President of the United States of America.

President Trump ran on the slogan, “Make America Great Again.” With a country more divided than ever, and the world changing daily, President Trump has a steep hill to climb. He will need every one of his business skills to succeed in one of the most important and challenging jobs imaginable.

Editor’s Note: President Trump was charged by the House of Representatives with Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress and then impeached on December 18, 2019. Trump was acquitted of both articles by the Senate on February 5, 2020. One year later Trump was charged by the House of Representatives with High Crimes and Misdemeanors and impeached on January 13, 2021. The trial began February 9, 2021, and the Senate voted to acquit Trump on February 13 with a vote of 57-43 to convict, less than the two-thirds required. Trump was the first president to be tried after leaving office. Seven Republican senators voted to convict, which provided the most bipartisan support to convict a president in U.S. impeachment history. Read more about Impeachment here.

Learn More

MillerCenter.org/president/trump
Biographical information, essays, and access to Trump’s presidential speeches sponsored by the Miller Center at the University of Virginia.

TrumpLibrary.gov
The online Trump Presidential Library, which is part of the Presidential Libraries system administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, a federal agency.

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