Donald John Trump, born on 14 June 1946 in Queens, New York City, is an American businessman, television personality, and politician who has served as the 45th President of the United States (January 2017 – January 2021) and the 47th President of the United States (January 2025 – present), making him the only individual in American history to serve non-consecutive presidential terms since Grover Cleveland in the 19th century.
Before entering politics, Trump built a career in real estate, hospitality, and entertainment. The Trump Organization, which he led for several decades, developed and managed hotels, office buildings, golf courses, and residential properties across the United States and internationally. He became a nationally recognized figure through The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice, the NBC reality television franchises he hosted and produced from 2004 to 2015.
He entered presidential politics formally with the announcement of his 2016 campaign, won the Republican nomination, defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the November 2016 general election, and was inaugurated as the 45th president on 20 January 2017. His first term was marked by significant domestic and foreign policy activity, two impeachments by the House of Representatives — in 2019 and 2021 — and his defeat in the 2020 presidential election by Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
He ran again in 2024, won the Republican nomination, defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the November 2024 general election, and was inaugurated as the 47th president on 20 January 2025. As of July 2026, he is serving his second term.
Quick Facts
| Category | Details |
| Full name | Donald John Trump |
| Date of birth | 14 June 1946 |
| Age (as of July 2026) | 80 years old |
| Birthplace | Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican (current; previously Democrat, Independent, Reform Party, Republican) |
| Religion | Presbyterian / non-denominational Christian (publicly documented) |
| Occupation | Politician; businessman; television personality |
| Current office | 47th President of the United States (January 2025–present) |
| Previous federal office | 45th President of the United States (January 2017 – January 2021) |
| Education | Fordham University (1964–66); University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School (B.S. in Economics, 1968) |
| Father | Fred Trump (1905–1999; real estate developer) |
| Mother | Mary Anne MacLeod Trump (1912–2000; originally from Scotland) |
| First marriage | Ivana Trump (married 1977; divorced 1992) |
| Second marriage | Marla Maples (married 1993; divorced 1999) |
| Third marriage | Melania Knauss (married 22 January 2005; together as of 2026) |
| Children | Donald Trump Jr. (b. 1977), Ivanka Trump (b. 1981), Eric Trump (b. 1984) — with Ivana; Tiffany Trump (b. 1993) — with Marla Maples; Barron Trump (b. 2006) — with Melania |
| Vice President | Mike Pence (2017–2021); J.D. Vance (2025–present) |
Early Life and Education
Donald John Trump was born on 14 June 1946 in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York City, the fourth of five children. His father, Frederick Christ Trump, was a real estate developer who built and managed affordable housing in the outer boroughs of New York City — Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island — through Elizabeth Trump & Son, a company founded by his own mother (Donald’s grandmother), Elizabeth Christ Trump. Fred Trump became one of New York’s most prominent residential real estate developers.
His mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, emigrated from the village of Tong on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland in the 1930s and became a naturalized American citizen. She married Fred Trump in 1936.
Donald Trump grew up in a large house in the Jamaica Estates area of Queens — an upper-middle-class neighborhood — with his siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., Robert, and Elizabeth. He has described his father as a tough disciplinarian and significant early influence on his business orientation.
At age 13, Fred Trump enrolled Donald in the New York Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, a private boarding school. Trump attended the school from 1959 to 1964, graduating as a cadet captain. He has credited the academy with instilling discipline and a competitive spirit.
Following military school, Trump attended Fordham University in the Bronx for two years before transferring to the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Wharton in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics.
His father’s business connections and the family’s real estate operations in New York provided Trump with direct exposure to the real estate industry before he graduated, and he has described working with his father during college as formative.
Fred Trump’s eldest son, Fred Jr., declined to join the family business and became an airline pilot. He died in 1981 at age 43, from complications related to alcoholism. Donald Trump has referenced his brother’s struggle with alcohol as a reason he abstains from alcohol and tobacco.
Early Business Career
Upon graduating from Wharton in 1968, Trump joined his father’s business, then called Elizabeth Trump & Son. He secured an employment deferment from the Vietnam-era draft due to heel bone spurs, as documented by his own public statements and draft records; the classification and medical basis have been a subject of independent reporting by multiple news organizations, including The New York Times.
In 1971, Trump moved to Manhattan and took control of the company, renaming it the Trump Organization. His initial ambition was to expand from outer-borough residential housing into Manhattan’s more lucrative commercial and luxury real estate markets.
His first major Manhattan project was the renovation of the Commodore Hotel adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. In partnership with Hyatt Corporation, Trump negotiated a tax abatement from the city of New York for the renovation. The property reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt New York. In 1983, Trump Tower — a 58-story mixed-use skyscraper on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan — opened, including Trump’s own penthouse apartment. The project became emblematic of his public brand.
Across the 1980s, Trump expanded into Atlantic City gambling and casino operations (Trump Plaza, Trump’s Castle, and the Taj Mahal), real estate acquisitions including the Plaza Hotel in New York, and a commercial airline (Trump Shuttle). He also purchased various residential and commercial properties.
Business Setbacks and Bankruptcies
Several of Trump’s business entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection during the 1990s. The Trump Taj Mahal, Trump’s Castle, Trump Plaza Hotel, and later Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts and Trump Entertainment Resorts each underwent bankruptcy proceedings in 1991, 1992, 2004, and 2009, respectively. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is a legal reorganization mechanism that allows businesses to restructure debt while continuing operations; these were corporate entity filings, not personal bankruptcy.
Trump has stated publicly that use of bankruptcy law was a standard business tool, noting that many developers and businesses use Chapter 11 restructuring. Critics, including multiple business journalists and his opponents in political campaigns, have characterized these proceedings differently.
The Trump Organization continued to operate and pursue new projects during and after these restructuring events, including licensing arrangements, new hotel and golf course developments, and branding deals.
Later Business Expansion
From the late 1990s onward, Trump’s business model shifted significantly toward brand licensing — attaching the Trump name to projects, products, and businesses developed and financed by others. Trump-branded properties were built in multiple countries under licensing arrangements.
The Trump Organization has also developed and operated golf courses in the United States, Scotland, and Ireland, including properties that have hosted professional tournaments.
A number of ventures associated with the Trump name that did not involve the core Trump Organization faced controversy and legal scrutiny. Trump University, which operated from 2005 to 2010 as a real estate education seminar business, was the subject of lawsuits from former students and a civil fraud investigation by New York State. In 2016, Trump agreed to pay $25 million to settle the lawsuits without admission of wrongdoing, as reported by Reuters and the Associated Press.
Media Career
Trump had an extended media presence that predated his formal television career, appearing regularly in tabloid newspapers — particularly the New York Post and the New York Daily News — throughout the 1980s and 1990s, often in connection with his business activities, his marriages, and his public disputes.
He co-authored The Art of the Deal with journalist Tony Schwartz, published in 1987 by Random House. The book, a combination of business memoir and advice, became a significant bestseller. Several additional books followed across subsequent decades.
His television career as a producer and host launched in 2004 when NBC debuted The Apprentice, a reality competition show in which contestants competed for a position in the Trump Organization. Trump served as host and executive producer. The show ran for multiple seasons and produced a spin-off, Celebrity Apprentice, in which celebrities competed. Both shows were highly rated at various points during their runs. Trump’s on-screen persona and the phrase “You’re fired!” became widely recognized. He hosted and produced the shows until 2015, when NBC ended its business relationship with him following his presidential campaign announcement comments about Mexican immigrants.
Political Career Before the Presidency
Trump made public statements about potential presidential runs on multiple occasions before 2016. He considered running on the Reform Party ticket in 2000, briefly receiving attention in that context, before withdrawing.
His political affiliations have changed multiple times over his lifetime. Public records and his own statements document affiliations at various times with the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the Independence Party of New York, and the Reform Party, before his most sustained affiliation with the Republican Party beginning in 2009.
In 2011, Trump became a prominent public advocate for the claim that President Barack Obama had not been born in the United States and was therefore constitutionally ineligible for the presidency — a claim that fact-checking organizations including PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, and reporters for multiple major news organizations described as false and unsupported by evidence. Obama had released his birth certificate from Hawaii in 2008; Hawaii officials confirmed its authenticity. In September 2016, Trump publicly acknowledged that Obama had been born in the United States.
2016 Presidential Campaign
Trump announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination on 16 June 2015. His announcement speech at Trump Tower included statements about illegal immigration from Mexico that prompted significant public reaction and led multiple business partners, including NBC and Macy’s, to end their relationships with him.
He competed in a large Republican primary field. His campaign emphasized immigration restriction, trade protectionism, and an “America First” foreign policy orientation. He won the Republican nomination following a primary season in which he received the most delegates.
In the November 2016 general election, Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, winning 306 Electoral College votes to Clinton’s 232. Trump received approximately 2.9 million fewer popular votes than Clinton but won the Electoral College majority required by the Constitution for election to the presidency.
First Presidency (2017–2021)
Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States on 20 January 2017. Mike Pence of Indiana served as Vice President.
Domestic Policy Highlights
Tax legislation: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was signed into law in December 2017. The legislation reduced the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, reduced individual income tax rates across multiple brackets, and roughly doubled the standard deduction. The legislation’s effects on economic growth, the federal deficit, and income distribution have been variously assessed by economists and policy analysts; the Congressional Budget Office projected it would increase the federal deficit by approximately $1 trillion over a decade.
Deregulation: The administration pursued significant regulatory rollback across environmental, financial, and labor domains, initiating review and withdrawal of Obama-era regulations across multiple agencies.
Immigration: The administration implemented a series of immigration policies, including travel restrictions affecting multiple predominantly Muslim-majority countries (referred to by critics as a “Muslim ban” and by the administration as a national security measure), restrictions on asylum eligibility, and the “zero tolerance” family separation policy at the southern border, which separated migrant children from their parents and generated significant domestic and international criticism in 2018.
Supreme Court appointments: Trump appointed three Associate Justices to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch (confirmed 2017), Brett Kavanaugh (confirmed 2018, after confirmation hearings that included testimony from Christine Blasey Ford alleging sexual assault, which Kavanaugh denied), and Amy Coney Barrett (confirmed 2020, eight days before the presidential election).
Foreign Policy Highlights
Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and the Paris Agreement on climate change. He renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement, producing a successor agreement known as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), ratified in 2020. He initiated tariff increases on imports from China and other countries, producing a sustained period of trade dispute. He engaged in direct diplomatic contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including three meetings, without producing a formal agreement on North Korea’s nuclear program. He brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states under the Abraham Accords framework.
COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic began affecting the United States significantly in March 2020. The administration’s response included the Defense Production Act invocations to accelerate equipment production, the Operation Warp Speed program to accelerate vaccine development (which produced authorized vaccines before the end of 2020), economic relief legislation (CARES Act), and significant travel restrictions. The administration’s management of the pandemic response was the subject of extensive and often critical reporting by the news media, and was a significant issue in the 2020 presidential campaign.
Impeachments
Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives twice.
First impeachment (2019): The House voted to impeach Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, related to a July 2019 telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which, the House alleged, Trump sought personal political benefit by conditioning military aid on Ukrainian investigations of political rivals. The Senate voted in February 2020 to acquit Trump on both charges, with Republican Senator Mitt Romney voting to convict on the abuse of power charge — the only Republican vote for conviction.
Second impeachment (2021): Following the attack on the United States Capitol on 6 January 2021 — in which a crowd of Trump supporters breached the Capitol building while Congress was certifying the 2020 electoral vote results — the House voted to impeach Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection. The Senate voted in February 2021 to acquit, with 57 senators voting to convict (including seven Republicans) — fewer than the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
The January 6 Committee, established by the House of Representatives, conducted an extensive investigation and concluded in a December 2022 report that Trump had engaged in a “multi-part plan” to overturn the 2020 election results.
2020 Election and Transfer of Power
Trump lost the November 2020 presidential election to Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who won 306 Electoral College votes and approximately 81.2 million popular votes to Trump’s 232 Electoral College votes and approximately 74.2 million popular votes.
Trump disputed the election results, advancing legal challenges in multiple states and publicly claiming the election had been stolen through fraud. Courts — including judges appointed by Trump himself — dismissed or rejected over 60 legal challenges for lack of evidence. The Department of Justice, under Trump’s own Attorney General William Barr, found no evidence of fraud sufficient to alter the election outcome, as Barr stated publicly.
Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President on 20 January 2021.
Post-First Presidency and 2024 Campaign
Following the end of his first term, Trump maintained an active political presence through rallies, public statements, and his social media platform Truth Social, launched in 2022. He remained the dominant figure in the Republican Party.
Legal Cases
Trump became the first former U.S. president to face criminal indictment. He was indicted across four separate criminal cases between 2023 and 2024:
New York hush money case: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, before the 2016 election. In May 2024, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts — making him the first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes. Sentencing was repeatedly deferred pending the outcome of his 2024 campaign. As of July 2026, the case remains in post-conviction proceedings.
Federal classified documents case: Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on charges related to his retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving the presidency and alleged obstruction of government efforts to retrieve them. The case was subsequently dismissed by the presiding judge on grounds related to the Special Counsel’s appointment and then by the Department of Justice following Trump’s 2024 election victory, citing longstanding DOJ policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
Federal January 6 case: Special Counsel Jack Smith separately indicted Trump on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The Supreme Court ruled in July 2024 in Trump v. United States that former presidents have presumptive immunity from prosecution for acts taken within their official duties — a ruling that required the trial court to reassess the charges. The case was subsequently dismissed by the Department of Justice following Trump’s 2024 election victory.
Georgia RICO case: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and multiple co-defendants under Georgia’s RICO statute in connection with efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. Following Trump’s 2024 election, the case has been subject to ongoing legal proceedings regarding how it should proceed given his return to the presidency.
2024 Presidential Campaign
Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in November 2022. He secured the nomination after winning the majority of primary states. His running mate selection was J.D. Vance of Ohio, a first-term Senator who had previously been critical of Trump but became a public supporter.
In the November 2024 general election, Trump defeated Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris had replaced President Biden as the Democratic nominee in July 2024, following Biden’s withdrawal from the race. Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris’s 226. He also won the national popular vote — the first Republican to do so since George W. Bush in 2004.
Second Presidency (2025–Present)
Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States on 20 January 2025. J.D. Vance of Ohio serves as Vice President.
Executive Actions
On his first day in office, Trump signed 26 executive orders — the most by any president on their first day in office, per Ballotpedia’s tracking of the Federal Register. By April 2, 2026, he had signed 254 executive orders, 59 memoranda, and 136 proclamations in his second term, according to Ballotpedia. In his first year alone, he signed 225 executive orders — more than his entire first term’s total of 220, per Wikipedia citing Federal Register data.
His first-day executive actions included: rescinding multiple Biden administration executive orders; initiating the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization; founding the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory body led by Elon Musk; rolling back federal recognition of gender identity in official federal contexts; and issuing pardons and commutations for individuals convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, including commutations for leaders of extremist groups involved in the attack, per reporting from NBC News, The Hill, and other verified sources.
A Time analysis published within the first 100 days of his term found that nearly two-thirds of his executive actions “mirror or partially mirror” proposals from Project 2025, a policy agenda developed by conservative organizations before his second inauguration. Trump had distanced himself from Project 2025 during the 2024 campaign; his administration incorporated several Project 2025 authors into senior positions.
By mid-January 2026, his executive orders and actions had been challenged in over 550 lawsuits, of which plaintiffs had prevailed in 195 cases and the government in 109, with 228 pending and 25 closed, per Wikipedia citing tracking data.
Immigration
The administration resumed the Remain in Mexico policy (formally, the Migrant Protection Protocols), designated multiple drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and resumed border wall construction. It revoked parole status for immigrants who had entered under the Biden-era CBP One app and ended humanitarian parole programs for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
In March 2025, the administration used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport migrants without trial to custody in El Salvador, a use of the statute that multiple legal scholars and organizations described as legally unprecedented in its application to immigration enforcement.
Economy and Tariffs
Trump imposed broad tariffs on imported goods from multiple countries, including China, Canada, Mexico, and most of the European Union, framing them as tools for protecting American manufacturing and reducing trade deficits. The tariff levels imposed were described by economists and news organizations as the highest since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.
In August 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that many Trump tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) exceeded the statute’s authority. In February 2026, the Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that IEEPA did not authorize the president to impose the tariffs, and they were struck down.
In July 2025, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which made permanent the temporary individual tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and added new deductions. The Congressional Budget Office projected it would increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion by 2034 and cause approximately 11.8 million people to lose Medicaid coverage, per CBO’s official analysis.
First-quarter 2025 GDP growth was negative 0.5%, which CBS News attributed to businesses importing goods ahead of anticipated tariffs. Second-quarter growth recovered to 3.8% annualized and third-quarter growth reached 4.3% annualized, per government data cited in Wikipedia’s second presidency article.
Federal Workforce
The administration implemented a federal hiring freeze, ordered the end of telework for federal employees, and initiated mass terminations across federal agencies — actions described by the administration as efficiency measures and characterized by multiple legal experts as unprecedented or inconsistent with civil service law. By late February 2025, the administration had terminated more than 30,000 federal workers, per Wikipedia citing contemporaneous reporting.
Foreign Policy
Ukraine: In February 2025, Trump and Vice President Vance held a contentious televised meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Multiple media outlets described it as an unprecedented public confrontation between the U.S. president and a foreign head of state.
Gaza: The administration increased support for Israel in the conflict in Gaza. Trump’s plan for a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was signed in October 2025.
Iran: In February 2026, the United States and Israel launched a coordinated military operation against Iran, with the stated goal of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The operation included strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 28 February 2026. The operation produced the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis, which affected global oil prices. By May 2026, inflation reached its highest level in three years, according to government data cited in Wikipedia, and the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment reached a record low in April 2026.
Venezuela: Trump ordered a military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, the disputed president of Venezuela, as part of broader anti-drug cartel military activity in Latin America.
Caribbean anti-drug strikes: Beginning in September 2025, the administration authorized a series of airstrikes on vessels alleged to be smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea. As of January 4, 2026, 35 strikes had been conducted, killing 115 individuals and rescuing 2, per Wikipedia citing contemporaneous reporting. Multiple legal experts described the strikes as legally disputed under U.S. and international law, noting that drug smuggling is generally a crime rather than an act of war.
Political Views
Across his political career, Trump’s documented positions have evolved on various issues. His most sustained and consistent positions — as reflected in his presidential campaigns, executive actions, and public statements — include:
Economy and trade: Protectionist trade positions, favoring tariffs on imported goods and bilateral over multilateral trade agreements. He has expressed skepticism of free trade agreements and has positioned tariffs as tools for industrial policy and leverage in diplomatic negotiations.
Immigration: Restrictive immigration policies, including border wall construction, limits on asylum, stricter enforcement of deportation, and reduction of legal immigration. His positions on immigration have been among his most consistently held and publicly visible across both presidential terms.
Foreign policy: An “America First” orientation skeptical of multilateral organizations and alliance obligations. He has expressed skepticism of NATO, withdrawn from or threatened to withdraw from international agreements including the Paris Agreement and WHO, and pursued bilateral rather than multilateral diplomacy.
Energy: Opposition to renewable energy mandates, support for expanded fossil fuel production, and withdrawal from climate agreements.
Government structure: In his second term, the administration pursued significant changes to the civil service and the size of the federal workforce, framed as eliminating bureaucratic waste and increasing executive accountability over career government employees.
Business Ventures and Wealth
The Trump Organization, which Trump led before the presidency and which his sons Donald Jr. and Eric now manage, continues to operate hotels, golf courses, and licensed properties. Trump’s personal financial interests have expanded to include several new ventures since 2021.
Truth Social and TMTG: Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social — Trump’s social media platform — became a public company through a SPAC merger in 2024. TMTG’s market capitalization has fluctuated significantly. As a major shareholder, Trump’s stake has produced paper gains of varying magnitude depending on timing of valuation.
Cryptocurrency: In January 2025, Trump launched a personal meme coin (TRUMP) and First Lady Melania Trump launched a separate meme coin (MELANIA). By June 2026, a Reuters analysis estimated that Trump and his family had collectively made $2.3 billion from crypto ventures, with investors in those same ventures losing the same amount, according to Reuters’ analysis of publicly available trading data.
Net Worth
Estimates of Trump’s net worth vary substantially across sources. Forbes, which has tracked Trump’s wealth for decades and produces the most frequently cited estimates, had placed his net worth at approximately $2.6 billion in its 2024 ranking. Following the public listing of Trump Media and his cryptocurrency ventures, Forbes subsequently revised estimates upward; the specific current estimate should be verified directly against Forbes’s most recent published figures.
Trump has historically disputed Forbes’s valuations as underestimating his true worth. The May 2024 verdict in the New York civil fraud case established, per the court’s findings, that Trump’s financial statements had overstated the value of his assets over a period of years. The case produced a judgment of approximately $364 million in civil penalties and interest, which Trump appealed.
This biography does not assert a specific net worth figure; readers should consult Forbes’s most recent published estimates for the most credible publicly available data point, with the understanding that valuations of private real estate and company stakes involve inherent uncertainty.
Legal Matters and Controversies
Because of their scope and variety, Trump’s legal matters are summarized below with attribution to official records and verified sources:
New York civil fraud case: New York Attorney General Letitia James brought a civil fraud case alleging that Trump Organization financial statements overstated asset values over multiple years. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in February 2024 that Trump had committed fraud and ordered approximately $364 million in penalties and interest. Trump appealed.
New York criminal conviction: As described above, Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan. This was the first criminal conviction of a former U.S. president. The case was subject to appeals and sentencing proceedings as of July 2026.
Federal cases dismissed: Both federal criminal indictments — the classified documents case and the January 6-related case — were dismissed by the Department of Justice following his return to the presidency, consistent with the department’s longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Georgia case: The Georgia RICO case continued in state court proceedings as of July 2026, with ongoing legal disputes about whether and how the case could proceed while Trump holds federal office.
For each of the above legal matters, public statements about the cases from Trump and his legal team characterize the prosecutions as politically motivated. The prosecutors and courts involved have presented their proceedings as applications of applicable law. This biography presents both positions without adopting either as the article’s own editorial assessment.
Family and Personal Life
Trump has been married three times. His first wife, Ivana Trump (born Ivana Zelníčková, in Czechoslovakia), was an accomplished businesswoman and fashion model whom he married in 1977. They had three children — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump — and divorced in 1992 following a highly publicized separation. Ivana Trump died on 14 July 2022.
His second marriage, to actress and model Marla Maples, took place in 1993 and ended in divorce in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany Trump, born in October 1993.
His third and current wife, Melania Knauss Trump, is a former model born in what is now Slovenia. They married on 22 January 2005. Their son, Barron William Trump, was born on 20 March 2006. Melania Trump served as First Lady during both Trump’s first and second presidential terms.
Trump’s father, Fred Trump, died in June 1999. His mother, Mary Anne, died in August 2000.
Trump has stated in multiple verified interviews that he does not drink alcohol or smoke, which he has connected to his brother Fred Jr.’s death from alcoholism-related causes.
His personal and professional interests have included golf — he is an avid golfer and has built multiple golf courses — and his various business and media ventures.
Published Books
Trump has authored or co-authored multiple books, including:
- The Art of the Deal (co-written with Tony Schwartz, 1987) — New York Times bestseller
- Surviving at the Top (1990)
- The Art of the Comeback (1997)
- The America We Deserve (2000)
- How to Get Rich (2004)
- Think Like a Billionaire (2004)
- Never Give Up (2008)
- Think Like a Champion (2009)
- Time to Get Tough (2011)
- Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again (2015)
Influence on American Politics
Political scientists, historians, and journalists who have studied Trump’s impact on the Republican Party and American politics have described several documented changes across his political career:
Republican Party transformation: Multiple analysts from institutions including the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations have documented that Trump’s candidacy and presidency significantly shifted the Republican Party’s positions on trade (from free trade toward protectionism), foreign policy (toward greater skepticism of alliances), and immigration.
Executive power: The New York Times described Trump’s attempts to expand presidential power as a defining characteristic of his second term, citing his administration’s conflicts with judicial authority, the civil service, and Congress. The federal judiciary blocked significant numbers of his executive actions during both terms.
Political communication: Trump’s use of Twitter (later X) and Truth Social as direct communication channels, bypassing traditional media intermediaries, was described by multiple media scholars as representing a significant change in how a sitting president communicated with the public.
Electoral politics: Trump’s candidacies in 2016, 2020, and 2024 changed the dynamics of Republican primary competition significantly; his endorsements in Republican primaries were widely studied as among the most influential factors in primary outcomes across those cycles.
Career Timeline
| Year | Event |
| 1946 | Born 14 June in Queens, New York City |
| 1959 | Enrolled at New York Military Academy |
| 1964 | Graduated from NYMA; enrolled at Fordham University |
| 1966 | Transferred to Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania |
| 1968 | Graduated from Wharton with B.S. in Economics |
| 1971 | Took control of family real estate company; renamed Trump Organization |
| 1980 | Grand Hyatt New York opened |
| 1983 | Trump Tower opened on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan |
| 1987 | The Art of the Deal published; becomes bestseller |
| 1991–2009 | Multiple Trump business entities file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization |
| 2004 | The Apprentice premieres on NBC |
| 2005 | Married Melania Knauss |
| 2006 | Son Barron born |
| 2015 | NBC ends relationship following campaign announcement; announces presidential candidacy |
| Nov 2016 | Defeats Hillary Clinton in presidential election |
| Jan 2017 | Inaugurated as 45th President |
| Dec 2017 | Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed |
| 2018 | Brett Kavanaugh and other Supreme Court appointments |
| Dec 2019 | Impeached by House (abuse of power, obstruction of Congress); acquitted by Senate Feb 2020 |
| Mar 2020 | COVID-19 declared national emergency |
| Nov 2020 | Defeated by Joe Biden in presidential election |
| Jan 6, 2021 | Capitol breach during congressional certification of electoral votes |
| Jan 13, 2021 | Second impeachment by House (incitement of insurrection); acquitted by Senate Feb 2021 |
| Mar 2022 | Truth Social launched |
| 2023 | Indicted in four separate criminal cases |
| Jul 2024 | Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity (Trump v. United States) |
| May 2024 | Convicted on 34 felony counts in Manhattan (first criminal conviction of former U.S. president) |
| Nov 2024 | Defeats Kamala Harris in presidential election |
| Jan 20, 2025 | Inaugurated as 47th President; signs 26 executive orders on first day (record) |
| Jan–Jul 2025 | More than 550 lawsuits filed against executive orders; various outcomes |
| Jul 2025 | One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed |
| Feb 2026 | Supreme Court strikes down IEEPA-based tariffs |
| Feb 2026 | US and Israel launch military operation against Iran; Khamenei killed |
| Apr 2026 | 254 executive orders, 59 memoranda, 136 proclamations signed in second term through this date |
FAQ Section
Q: How old is Donald Trump? Donald Trump was born on 14 June 1946, making him 80 years old as of July 2026.
Q: Where was Donald Trump born? Trump was born in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York City.
Q: How many times has Donald Trump been president? Trump has served as president twice: as the 45th President (January 2017 – January 2021) and as the 47th President (January 2025 – present). He is the only person other than Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive presidential terms.
Q: Who is Donald Trump’s wife? Trump’s current wife is Melania Trump (born Melania Knauss in what is now Slovenia), whom he married on 22 January 2005. They have one son, Barron. Trump has been married three times; his previous marriages to Ivana Trump (1977–1992) and Marla Maples (1993–1999) both ended in divorce.
Q: How many children does Donald Trump have? Trump has five children: Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump with Ivana; Tiffany Trump with Marla Maples; and Barron Trump with Melania.
Q: What is Donald Trump’s net worth? Estimates vary. Forbes, which has tracked Trump’s wealth for decades, has placed his net worth in the range of $2 to $3+ billion in recent years, with revisions following the public listing of Trump Media and his cryptocurrency ventures. Trump has historically disputed these estimates as undervaluing his assets. A February 2024 civil court verdict in New York established that his financial statements had overstated asset values. This biography does not assert a specific figure; Forbes’s current published estimate is the most frequently cited reference point.
Q: Which political party does Donald Trump belong to? Trump is currently a member of the Republican Party. He has affiliated with different parties at various points in his life, including the Democratic Party, the Independence Party of New York, and the Reform Party.
Q: What television show made Donald Trump famous nationally? The Apprentice, which premiered on NBC in 2004, significantly raised Trump’s national public profile. He hosted and produced the show and its celebrity spin-off Celebrity Apprentice until 2015.
Q: What were Trump’s two impeachments about? The first impeachment (December 2019) charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to a phone call with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. The Senate acquitted him in February 2020. The second impeachment (January 2021) charged him with incitement of insurrection related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. The Senate acquitted him in February 2021 with 57 votes for conviction — fewer than the two-thirds required.
Q: What was the outcome of Trump’s criminal trial in New York? In May 2024, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments made before the 2016 election. He became the first former U.S. president convicted of criminal charges. As of July 2026, the case was in post-conviction proceedings including appeals.
Q: What is the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)? DOGE is an advisory body created by executive order on Trump’s first day of his second term. Elon Musk led the effort in an advisory capacity. The administration described it as a mechanism for identifying and reducing government spending and workforce. Multiple legal challenges were filed regarding the actions taken under its auspices.
Q: What was the One Big Beautiful Bill Act? The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, made permanent the temporary individual tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and added new tax deductions. The Congressional Budget Office projected it would increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion by 2034 and cause approximately 11.8 million people to lose Medicaid coverage.
Editorial note: This biography is written in the style of a neutral reference publication. All assessments of disputed actions, legal matters, and policy outcomes are attributed to named sources. The article presents verified facts without editorial endorsement of any political position.