Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, is now its 47th.
He defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, completing a historic political comeback four years after he lost to Joe Biden. Trump swept all of the key battleground states to become just the second person in history to win a nonconsecutive term in the White House.
Trump had no political experience when he first ran for president, but he had been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he was a celebrity long before his stunning upset over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
In May 2024, Trump was found guilty on 34 charges of falsifying business records, making him the first former president in American history to be convicted of a felony. Trump had been charged with falsifying the repayment of his former lawyer Michael Cohen in order to cover up a $130,000 payment Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep her from speaking out about an alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 election. Trump has denied the affair.
In January, a New York judge upheld the conviction but ruled that Trump will face no legal penalties.
In November, special counsel Jack Smith announced that he was dropping both his election subversion case and a classified documents case against Trump. Trump had said he would fire Smith once he retook office, shattering previous norms around special counsel investigations.
Another case, over alleged 2020 election interference in Georgia, is in limbo after an appeals court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over appearances of impropriety over her past romantic relationship with one of her fellow prosecutors on the case. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case and accused Democrats of targeting him politically.
In July 2024, Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman was killed by Secret Service agents.
Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.
Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy.
Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania’s business school
Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York’s economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating from college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.
Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.
Trump and his family, circa 1986. Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric
Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.
Trump signs his second book, “Trump: Surviving at the Top,” in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including “The Art of the Deal” and “The America We Deserve.”
Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany
Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.
rump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits — two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York’s attorney general — argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. In November 2016, just days after winning the presidential election, Trump agreed to settle the lawsuits. He repeatedly denied the fraud claims and said that he could have won at trial, but he said that as president he did not have time and wanted to focus on the country.
Trump and WWE wrestlers Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bobby Lashley get ready to shave Vince McMahon’s head after McMahon lost the main event of the night — “Hair vs. Hair” — between McMahon and Trump in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and McMahon, its CEO. After being elected president, Trump picked McMahon’s wife, Linda, to serve as the administrator of the Small Business Administration.
Trump is seen on set during the season finale of “The Celebrity Apprentice” in 2009.
Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996
Trump — flanked by US Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz — speaks during a CNN debate in March 2016. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May of that year.
Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July 2016, accepting the party’s nomination for president. “I have had a truly great life in business,” he said. “But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country — to go to work for you. It’s time to deliver a victory for the American people.”
Trump faces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, which took place in Hempstead, New York, in September 2016
Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner in November 2016. “Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement,” he told his supporters in New York.
Trump shares a meal in New York with Mitt Romney in November 2016. Trump and his transition team were in the process of filling high-level positions for the new administration, and Romney was reportedly in the running for secretary of state. That job ended up going to Rex Tillerson.
Trump arrives for his inauguration ceremony in January 2017.
