Donald Trump glides down the golden escalator in his Manhattan skyscraper Trump Tower, before the flashing cameras of the press corps.
It is June 16, 2015, and American contemporary history is being written. Business mogul and TV personality Trump announces that he is running as a candidate in the presidential election the following year.
He exclaims that it is wonderful to stand before so many people – "Thousands!" – and claims that it is a larger audience than the other presidential candidates had when they announced their candidacies.
Then he continues to say that the USA needs to start winning again, that other countries are letting in rapists as migrants and that the country needs "a leader who wrote 'The Art of the Deal'" – his (ghostwritten) bestselling biography from 1987, where he explains how he can sell anything to anyone.
Themes that will be familiar from Donald Trump's subsequent political career: crowd numbers and popularity, immigration criticism, and the art of negotiation.
Wins over "ordinary" Americans
With his outspoken rhetoric, Donald Trump quickly wins over "ordinary" Americans' hearts – those who are tired of what is described as a political elite, dominated for decades by family dynasties like Kennedy, Bush, and Clinton.
With a campaign promising to "drain the swamp" in Washington and an ability to emerge unscathed from several scandals, Trump defeats the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton – something that few professional pundits then believed was possible.
The first controversy of many during his presidency comes directly after the inauguration, when Trump's staff claims that the audience that saw him take the oath of office was record-breaking. When journalists point out that it is not true, one of the most influential phrases in modern American politics is established: Trump's press secretary had simply presented "alternative facts", according to his advisor.
Convicted of crime
The crusade against truth reaches its climax towards the end of Trump's four years in the White House, as he disputes the election that gave Joe Biden the victory. On January 6, he urges his supporters to "fight like hell". Parts of the crowd that heard him speak take his appeal literally, and the deadly storming of the Capitol is written into the dark chapter of the USA's democratic history.
Since then, several court proceedings have followed. The only court case that has been concluded led to a conviction for accounting fraud.
With that, the millionaire son, New York icon, builder, businessman, and ex-president and autumn's candidate added another title to the list: federal criminal.
Born in 1946 in Queens, New York, where he also grew up. He has a degree in economics with a focus on real estate from the University of Pennsylvania.
When Trump was 25 years old, he took over as CEO of the family company Elizabeth Trump & Son, which was later renamed The Trump Organization.
When he took office, the business empire comprised over 500 companies in areas such as construction, aviation, real estate, entertainment, and media.
Donald Trump is the father of five children and is married for the third time. His current wife is Slovenian-American Melania Trump.
Donald Trump was the 45th President of the United States between 2017 and 2021. The outspoken Republican won the presidential election in 2016 with the promise to "make America great again", but failed to be re-elected in November 2020.
He was the first president who did not have prior experience as an elected politician or military officer.
He is running as the Republican candidate in the presidential election in November.
Source: NE, TT
