Researching Donald Trump

Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in 1968. He became the president of his father Fred Trump's real estate business in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization. Trump expanded the company's operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. Trump and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six bankruptcies. He owned the Miss Universe brand of beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice.

Trump's political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in an upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote, becoming the first U.S. president without prior military or government service. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller established that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Trump campaign, but not that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russian election interference activities. Trump's election and policies sparked numerous protests. Trump made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promoted conspiracy theories. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist, and many as misogynistic.

Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted funding towards building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for apprehended migrants. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed more than 200 federal judges, including three to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. In foreign policy, Trump pursued an America First agenda. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal but made no progress in constraining Iran's nuclear ambitions. He initiated a trade war with China that was widely characterized as a failure. Trump met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials in his messaging, and promoted misinformation about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.

Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to concede. He falsely claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud and attempted to overturn the results, pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, which hundreds then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.

Trump is the only federal officeholder in American history to have been impeached twice. After he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden in 2019, the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December. The Senate acquitted him of both charges in February 2020. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump a second time, for incitement of insurrection. The Senate acquitted Trump on February 13, after he had already left office. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.