Donald Trump

Donald J. Trump
45th (elect) President of the United States From: January 20, 2017-Present
Vice President	Mike Pence
Predecessor	Barack Obama
Successor	Incumbent (no successor)
Information
Party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Melania Trump
Religion	Presbyterian

Donald J. Trump (b. Queens, New York, on June 14, 1946), nicknamed "The Donald," (or simply - "The Don") is a successful businessman, entrepreneur, outspoken politician, and television personality. He is the president-elect of the United States as a result of winning the 2016 presidential election as a Republican candidate.

Financial worth & education

Trump has engaged in many financial pursuits and estimated that his net worth was $10 billion, as of July 2015. Forbes, however, estimates his net worth is $3.7 billion as of November 2016. He graduated from the New York Military Academy in 1964 and first attended college at Fordham University for two years before transferring to the more competitive University of Pennsylvania and completing his studies at its prestigious Wharton School of Finance and Commerce.

Early media profiles of Trump claim he graduated "first in his class" from Wharton. The evidence suggests otherwise and yet Trump has never sought to correct or clarify this potentially significant error.

Candidacy

On June 16, 2015, he declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. Unlike most other U.S presidential candidates, Trump sharply criticizes the media and talks about issues that no elected official dares touch. For example, Trump stands up against feminists, unlike most politicians. In another example, in 2011 Trump persistently doubted whether Barack Obama had been born in the United States, which caused Obama's approval ratings to drop below 40% until Obama finally caved in to Trump and produced what Obama claimed was his birth certificate. Trump then scoffed at Obama's conduct.

In February 2011, Trump announced that he is pro-life, and at the final presidential debate on Oct. 19, 2016, Trump gave the strongest endorsement of the pro-life position of any presidential nominee in history.

Trump's central campaign theme has been to oppose illegal immigration and free trade, and nominated Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General to enforce standing legislation on the issue. As reported by Breitbart, "Sen. Sessions, Chairman of the Senate’s Immigration Subcommittee, is widely regarded as the gold standard on immigration. Sessions has also become the intellectual thought leader in the Republican Party on appealing to the blue collar voters who have been abandoned by their political leaders." In the later campaign Trump focused more on ISIS and terrorism.

At the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump on October 19, 2016, Clinton chastised Trump for running a newspaper advertisement in 1987 critical of the Reagan Administration. But Trump persuasively explained that he has always disagreed with Reagan's support of free trade, as many other conservatives disagree with Reagan on this issue.

Religious beliefs

Main article: Donald Trump's religious views

Donald Trump attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. He told the Christian Broadcasting Network that he still considers himself a Presbyterian and attends services for all major holidays and Sundays, and that "The Bible is certainly THE book." He receives Bibles from fans in the mail, and he either stores them or gives them away to others. When pressed to name his favorite Bible verse, however, he opted for "an eye for an eye" (Exodus 21:24), one of the few Mosaic Law verses specifically repudiated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Trump stated several times during his presidential campaign in 2015 and 2016 that he has not asked God for forgiveness and that he does not need His forgiveness, showing that when Trump made those statements, he was not saved.

Career

Donald Trump began his career at Trump Organization. In his college years, he helped revitalize one of his father's failing real estate ventures. Trump began opening hotels and casinos, which provided him with the cash flow to engage in other ventures. He owns the world-famous Trump Tower and is the founder of the publicly traded Trump Hotel Casinos & Resorts. Trump also owns the Trump brand, which sells a variety of items, such as bottled water, steak, and even mortgages. Trump has authored a number of books and weathered changing business fortunes, but despite the challenges that he has encountered, he has continued to be a successful businessman and entrepreneur.

Trump considered running for President in 2012 as a Republican. He, among others, questioned the citizenship of Barack Obama, citing his failure to produce his birth certificate. After Obama produced his birth certificate, Trump and the other birthers continue to doubt its authenticity. Obama's approval ratings were around 40% during the peak of the controversy. Trump later exited the race, and gave the customary endorsement to Mitt Romney as the other Republican contenders did.

Major properties

• Trump World Tower: 845 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY.

• Trump Tower: 725 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10022 Personal Residence

• Bank of America Center (San Francisco)

• The Trump Building at 40 Wall Street

• Trump Park Avenue

• AXA Financial Center, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY

• Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago

• Trump International Hotel & Casino Las Vegas

• Mar-A-Lago Palm Beach

• Four golf courses in the U.S.

Media

Hollywood Walk of Fame

In 2003 Trump began as the host and executive producer of the reality television show The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice, where contestants compete for a position in Trump's organization. On this show, Trump popularized his catchphrase "You're fired!"

Trump used to own the Miss Universe Pageant. Controversy arose when one of the winners, Tara Conner, was caught breaking pageant rules by drinking and other activities. Trump gave her a second chance after personally speaking with her and allowed her to retain her crown as she attended rehabilitation. For several weeks after this, Rosie O'Donnell berated Trump for his decision on The View. A bitter media war ensued with the two exchanging insults.

Trump has made many guest appearances, usually as himself, on many TV shows and in several movies.

Childish liberals are vandalizing Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame three times a day. A person asked about the vandalism said Trump has it coming.

Political positions

Social Issues

At the 2011 CPAC conference, Trump announced he is pro-life. Trump would not fund Planned Parenthood and the government should not give funds to any organizations that perform abortions However, he supports aortion in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother or child.

Trump says that the legalization of same sex marriage doesn't matter because it's settled law now. Trump believes that gay couples have the same adoption rights as straight couples.

Trump says that a business should be able to deny service to a customer if the request conflicts with the owner’s religious beliefs? Trump would not require health insurance providers to offer free birth control.

Trump doesn't think that universities provide “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces” for students.

Trump believes that marital rape be classified and punished as severely as non-marital rape?

Trump would not add "Gender Identity" to anti-discrimination laws.

Trump wouldn't support a separation of church and state by removing references to God on money, federal buildings, and national monuments.

Trump says that after a psychological examination to show they fully understand this choice, terminally ill patients be allowed to end their lives via assisted suicide.

Trump supports the death penalty.

Trump thinks that the military should allow women to serve as long as they can pass the same physical tests as men.

Trump says that board members of a business should be the most qualified regardless of gender.

Trump does not believe that the government can show a confederate flag on public property.

Trump believes that women should be allowed to wear a Niqāb, or face veil, to civic ceremonies.

Healthcare Issues

Trump does not support the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and would open the markets so insurers can compete across state lines and reduce costs. However, he has also said, "I like the mandate."

Trump thinks that the government should regulate the prices of life-saving drugs.

Trump supports the legalization of marijuana for medical use.

Donald Trump has not yet answered if he supports the privatization of veteran's healthcare.

Trump believes that the federal government increase funding of health care for low income individuals (Medicaid).

Controversy with Barack Obama

Trump speaking in Fountain Hills, Arizona in March 2016.

Trump has also questioned Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility to be President, in light of the ongoing questions surrounding his birth certificate. Trump questioned whether the Obama Administration was successful in negotiating with foreign countries. Trump declared during the 2016 election that he no longer would question Obama's eligibility.

Economic Issues

Trump’s economic plan is designed to make the country more competitive by implementing policies that apply to all companies: cutting taxes, including the corporate tax rate, repealing and rolling back stifling regulations, including the biggest of them all, Obamacare and those clobbering the energy sector, renegotiating trade deals such as NAFTA, and killing off the nascent Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Trump would not require employers be required to pay men and women the same salary for the same job as there are too many other variables such as education, experience, and tenure that determine a fair salary.

Trump has not answered whether welfare recipients be tested for drugs.

Trump said he would require businesses be required to provide paid leave for full-time employees during the birth of a child or sick family member.

Trump would raise the federal minimum wage.

Trump believes there should be more restrictions on current welfare benefits.

Trump would instate a 35% tariff on all imports from China even though he used Chinese steel to build all of his Trump Towers.

Trump would also lower the corporate tax rate.

Trump says that the U.S. shouldn't continue to participate in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Trump would cut public spending in order to reduce the public debt.

Trump believes that the government is currently over-regulating private businesses and that it shouldn't require businesses to pay salaried employees, making up to $46k/year, time-and-a-half for overtime hours.

Trump thinks that the government should prevent “mega mergers” of corporations that could potentially control a large percentage of market share within its industry.

Trump said that labor unions, in theory help the economy but have recently become corrupt and should have their powers limited.

Trump would increase the tax on profits from the sale of stocks, bonds, and real estate.

Trump believes economic stimulus will aid the country during times of recession.

Trump thinks the Federal Reserve Bank should be audited by Congress.

Trump doesn't support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as this will incentivize companies to move U.S. jobs overseas.

Trump would eliminate the estate tax.

Trump would end all government subsidies and let the free market run its course.

Trump has not answered if pension payments be increased for retired government workers.

Trump favors an increased sales tax in order to reduce property taxes even though sales tax would not provide a steady stream of income.

Trump supports pension plans for federal, state, and local government workers be transitioned into privately managed accounts.

Trump said that the U.S. government should not bailout Puerto Rico.

Trump believes citizens should not be allowed to save or invest their money in offshore bank accounts as too many wealthy citizens are abusing loopholes in offshore banking laws to evade taxes.

Trump would not apply an in-state sales tax apply to online purchases of in-state buyers from out-of-state sellers.

Trump thinks that the government classify Bitcoin as a legal currency.

Department of Education

At the 2011 CPAC conference, he stated that he wants to eliminate the Department of Education.

Foreign policy

Trump wants to improve relationships with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Trump says the Iran deal is bad, but as president he would enforce it anyway.

After his election as U.S. president, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump "a true friend of the State of Israel."

Global warming

Trump does not believe in the Climate Change hysteria, once stating the "Nobel committee should take the Nobel Prize back from Al Gore."

Second Amendment rights

Trump is strongly pro-Second Amendment and against leftist gun control and gun free zones. As president, Trump has promised to re-arm military personnel on all American military bases as well as ROTC recruitment centers, which were disarmed by the Clinton Administration policy. Trump was strongly endorsed by the National Rifle Association in one of its earliest endorsements in an election campaign.

Homosexual agenda

For all practical purposes, Trump seems to be on the side of the homosexual agenda. He supports the creation of new law by the U.S. Supreme Court, as in a new right to homosexual marriage, and declares it the "law of the land" even though Congress passed no such law.

Trump has attended multiple same-sex marriage ceremonies, but has also said in the past that he opposes same-sex marriage. Trump's views are not yet known on other aspects of the homosexual agenda, such as whether Trump would ban conversion therapy for minors as Chris Christie did. The Fox News Channel debate in August avoided these issues, but future debates will probably require Trump to declare his position.

Immigration

See the discussion in the introduction above. This is Trump's main campaign issue.

A central part of his immigration plan is to build a giant wall on the border with Mexico. Trump estimates it will cost $8 billion, approximately 35 to 40 feet high and stretch 2000 miles.

Trump has also proposed to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States, until "our leaders figure out what the hell is going on," in order to protect Americans from the threats posed by Islamic refugees (and those pretending to be) entering the country.

Political contributions

He has been criticized for his substantial contributions to Democrat lawmakers; the majority of those lawmakers are located in the states he resides in: New York and Florida. The amount he has donated since 2008 is $25,000, which is insignificant considering his wealth.

Trump is not known to be beholden to any big-money donors.

Tariffs

Trump accepting the GOP nomination in Cleveland on June 21, 2016.

At the 2011 CPAC conference, he stated that he supports a 25% tariff on Chinese goods. The number floated around in 2016 is a 45% tariff. Trump was speaking in regards to China and the World Trade Organization,

“

In a statement from his campaign, Mr. Trump charged that China was “in total violation of WTO regulations” and that the U.S. “has incompetently allowed them to get away with this” and has failed to impose “equal or greater taxes and tariffs” on China. If he is elected president, Mr. Trump said, China “will learn to deal fairly and justly or we will not deal at all” with Beijing.

”

Vaccines

Trump believes that vaccines cause autism and has argued against requiring that so many vaccines be given to infants.

Eminent domain

Trump believes that the government has the right to take private property upon paying just compensation for both infrastructure and to promote economic development.

Supreme Court

Trump opposed filling the Supreme Court seat held by Antonin Scalia before the next President takes office. When asked who he might select to the Supreme Court, he said that his sister, a sitting federal court judge, would make a great Supreme Court justice.

Hillary Clinton

Trump had pledged, if elected president, to appoint a special prosecutor to further investigate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server whilst Secretary of State, but Hillary took her crushing defeat so hard that Trump charitably softened his stance after winning. A few of Trump supporters, such as Ann Coulter and Breitbart, expressed disappointment but Trump rose in overall public approval.

2016 presidential election

Main article: 2016 U.S. presidential election

Path to the Nomination

In the 2015 Value Voters poll, Trump performed poorly, coming in fifth, indicating many Christian conservatives had not yet warmed up to him. Trump is a big supporter of gambling, which most conservatives oppose. But by 2016 Trump was winning more support from evangelicals than any other Republican candidate.

Trump won the Republican primary, receiving more votes than any other Republican primary candidate in history.

General election

Trump faced former liberal Democrat Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the general election. Trump's campaign was vastly outspent, outraised, and out-staffed by Clinton's. The mainstream media was extremely biased against and unfair towards Trump.

It was widely expected that Clinton would easily win the election, and the elite pollsters and "political insiders" all predicted a massive Clinton victory. At least once, when a poll was released that actually showed Trump leading, Clinton's campaign dismissed it as "bad polling". Instead, Trump won the election in a massive, historical upset, winning even states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which a Republican had not won for 20-30 years. The polling and predictions were off dramatically. Trump's election victory was described by Politico as "the most stunning upset in American history."

While the GOP increased its vote share across the entire nation, Trump made the largest gains in the rural Midwest and Rust Belt. Although Clinton won the popular vote 65,515,369 (48.05%) to 62,853,327 (46.09%), according to unofficial results, the large vote totals came from states which have resisted voter identification reforms. Trump won the electoral college vote, 306 to 232, with the incomplete vote count reported. Trump won more votes in the general election than any Republican candidate in U.S. history, and he won the largest number of electoral votes since George H. W. Bush. In addition, Trump won 2,623 counties—the largest number for both a Republican or Democrat since Ronald Reagan in 1984—while the Democrats won only 489, something even the liberal PolitiFact admitted to be true. Geographically speaking, Trump accordingly won 85 percent of the nation and 61 percent of the states (including Maine's 2nd district).

According to exit polling, Trump won 81 percent of evangelical Christians compared to 16 percent for Clinton, a record high and even more than George W. Bush won in 2004, even though some have disputed the accuracy of such exit polling methods. This is largely due to Trump's conservative policies that align well with the Bible, including opposition to abortion.

While liberal, establishmentarian world leaders made generally nuanced statements in response to Trump's election upset, conservative, right-wing leaders, including the leaders of insurgent parties in European nations, reacted positively to Trump's election.

In addition to Trump's defeat of Clinton, the Republican Party kept control of the House and Senate, outperforming expectations. The Republican Party performed well—much better than expected—in state races, winning trifectas in Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, and New Hampshire, and Democrats only had six trifectas and total control in five states, a record low. The GOP now controlled the highest amount of governorships since 1922, and it controlled the most state legislative chambers in history.

Despite expectations that Trump's election victory would cause the markets to plunge, the Dow Jones Industrial Average actually performed very strongly, closing at the highest level it had ever reached in history after the second day. It is rare for the stock market to rise immediately after a U.S. presidential election regardless of the winner. The stock market had its best week in five years due to optimism of a Trump presidency.

After the election, childish leftists and anarchists, who could not accept the results of the election, strongly protested Trump's victory and committed outrageous and extreme acts of vandalism and violence, even brutally attacking and beating at least one alleged Trump supporter. Many of these protests were likely organized and coordinated, as many protestors were bused in by Coach buses. This ocurred on the heels of Hillary Clinton, the Clinton campaign, and major mainstream media condemning in the harshest terms Trump and his supporters' complaints of a "rigged election," and failure to accept the results would damage democracy. Clinton, President Obama, and the media highlighted the protests and failed to condemn the leftist violence and protests as detrimental to democracy.

President of the United States

Transition and early days

The day after being elected president, Trump released a solidly conservative agenda for his first 100 days in office, even though ending the legalized murder of the unborn was not on the agenda. On November 30, 2016, before Trump had finalized all his cabinet appointments, it was still described by Politico as "a conservative dream team that has Republicans cheering and liberals in despair" due to the many strong conservatives Trump had appointed, in contrast to moderates like George W. Bush. The Wall Street Journal stated that "it’s nearly impossible to identify a clear ideological bent" in Trump's appointments. However, this can be easily explained by the fact that Trump has used some of his cabinet nominations to unite the GOP by appealing to most of its factions, even though Trump's appointments are still very conservative.

Books

Trump: The Art of the Deal with Tony Schwartz (1987)
Trump: Surviving at the Top with Charles Leerhsen (1990)
Trump: The Art of the Comeback with Kate Bohner (1997)
The America We Deserve with Dave Shiflett (2000)
Trump: How to Get Rich with Meredith McIver (2004)
Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know about Success, Real Estate and Life with Meredith McIver (2005)
Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message with Meredith McIver and Robert T. Kiyosaki (2006)
Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life with Bill Zanker (2007)
Trump: Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success with Meredith McIver (2008)
Think Like a Champion: An Informal Education in Business and Life with Meredith McIver (2009)
Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich—and Why Most Don't with Robert T. Kiyosaki (2011)
Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again (2011)
Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again (2015)

Quotes

Quotes from the 2016 campaign for President

Trump and his running-mate, Mike Pence, at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Trump's tactics of naming and shaming candidates has been proven very effective. He called Jeb Bush 'low-energy Jeb' and it stuck. Then came Marco Rubio as 'Little Marco.' Next came 'Lyin' Ted' for Ted Cruz. For the Democrats, he calls Hillary Clinton 'Crooked Hillary'. He doesn't give Bernie Sanders the same treatment though he has referred to him as a Communist.

• “We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism.”
• "I think we have a president who, as a president, is totally incompetent, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I think he has no idea what he’s doing. And our country is going to hell."
• "I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created."
• "I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich."
• "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people."
• "Nobody would be tougher on ISIS than Donald Trump. Nobody. Within our military, I will find the General Patton, or I will find General MacArthur, I will find the right guy."
• "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall."
• "I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct."
• "Becoming the nominee of the party of Abraham Lincoln has been the greatest honor of my life.

General election debate quotes

• "Because you would be in jail." (Trump in response to Clinton saying that it would be a good thing that he "is not in charge of the law in our country")
• "Now she’s blaming the lie on the late great Abraham Lincoln. ...Honest Abe never lied. That’s the good thing. That's the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you." (Trump in response to Clinton's excuse for having "'a public and private position on certain issues.'"
• "Hillary has experience, but it’s bad experience."

Quotes from Twitter

“

Somebody said I’m the Ernest Hemingway of 140 characters.

”

• "An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud."
• "It’s amazing how people can talk about me but I’m not allowed to talk about them."
• "This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bull**** has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in ice."

2015

• "So many 'politically correct' fools in our country. We have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense!" (August 8, 2015)
• "Notice that illegal immigrants will be given ObamaCare and free college tuition but nothing has been mentioned about our VETERANS #DemDebate" (October 13, 2015)
• "They laughed at me when I said to bomb the ISIS controlled oil fields. Now they are not laughing and doing what I said." (November 13, 2015)
• "President Obama said 'ISIL continues to shrink' in an interview just hours before the horrible attack in Paris. He is just so bad! CHANGE." (November 14, 2015)
• "Refugees from Syria are now pouring into our great country. Who knows who they are - some could be ISIS. Is our president insane?" (November 17, 2015)
• "Eight Syrians were just caught on the southern border trying to get into the U.S. ISIS maybe? I told you so. WE NEED A BIG & BEAUTIFUL WALL!" (November 19, 2015)

2016

• "Hillary said that guns don't keep you safe. If she really believes that she should demand that her heavily armed bodyguards quickly disarm!" (January 3, 2016)
• "I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? Very sad that he did not go!" (February 20, 2016)
• "The organized group of people, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago, have totally energized America!" (March 12, 2016)
• "Why is it that the horrendous protesters, who scream, curse punch, shut down roads/doors during my RALLIES, are never blamed by media? SAD!" (March 20, 2016)
• "Do you all remember how beautiful and safe a place Brussels was. Not anymore, it is from a different world! U.S. must be vigilant and smart!" (March 22, 2016)
• "For the 1st time in American history, America’s 16,500 border patrol agents have issue[d] a presidential primary endorsement—me! Thank you." (April 1, 2016)

Other quotes

• "[T]he country is going to hell."
• "We have no leader in this country.”
• "Our leaders are stupid, they are stupid people."
• "I can tell you I am [the 2012 Obama campaign's] worst nightmare."
• "Obama has no solutions."

See also

• Donald Trump's religious views
• Essay:Donald Trump One Two Body Blow
• The Chalkening
• Trump University
• Kathryn Steinle
• Sarah Root
• Alveda King
• Trump effect

External links

• Presidential transition website GreatAgain.gov
• Official website
• LyingCrookedHillary.com
• The Untruth About Donald Trump by Stefan Molyneux, Published on Jan 18, 2016
• UntruthAboutDonaldTrump.com
• Do Emotions Trump Facts? Thomas Sowell on Donald Trump - Rebutted! by Stefan Molyneux
• Should Donald Run? Polling
• Trump explains his pro-life conversion
• Donald Trump 2016 campaign website
• Inside of Trump's Boeing 757