- Early Life 1946-1964
- College, Draft, Family Business 1964-1974
- Real-Estate Expansion, Branding, Risky Deals 1980-1989
- Casino Collapse, Debt & Strategic Bankruptcies 1990–1999
- TV Fame, Licensing, Trump University & Birtherism 2000–2014
- Immediate Road to the Presidency 2015–2016
Family money & early wealth
- Investigations based on Fred Trump’s tax records show Donald Trump received substantial wealth as a child through tax-avoidance schemes (gifts, sham corporations, and being made a landlord “on paper”), making him a millionaire by age 8 according to the analysis. Business Insider
Trump engaged in what it described as "dubious tax schemes" in the 1990s that even included "instances of outright fraud" that enhanced the fortune his parents — mainly his father, Fred — passed on to him.
Racial-discrimination context around the family business
Even before Donald was employed in his fathers company, Fred Trump's operations were tied to racial discrimination allegations. (This will be expanded on in the 1964-1974 section) Clearinghouse+1
This establishes that Trump grew up wealthy with early access to large, family-controlled assets, and that racially discriminatory housing practices were already associated with the family business before he took formal control.
Dodging The Draft
Trump received five deferments in total:
- 1964–1968 — Four student deferments (2-S).
- 1968 — Classified 1-A (eligible for service).
- 1968 — Reclassified 1-Y (medical unsuitability except in national emergency).
- 1972 — Reclassified 4-F (permanently ineligible).
After graduation he was given a 1-Y medical deferment for bone spurs, which kept him from serving in Vietnam.
These medical deferments were apparently obtained after a diagnosis issued by Dr. Larry Braunstein...
Real estate records show that both men lived and practiced in various Trump-owned properties over the years–and there's also an unverified claim that Weinstein may have "had a connection" to the local draft board which could have smoothed the multi-party process of alleged fraud along. No medical records are cited in the Times report–and none appear to exist either in private collections or public archives–but Braunstein's own daughter is adamant that her father helped the younger Trump avoid the draft as part of a quid pro quo arrangement with the elder Trump.
"I know it was a favor," Dr. Elysa Braunstein told the Times. "What he got was access to Fred Trump. If there was anything wrong in the building, my dad would call and Trump would take care of it immediately. That was the small favor that he got." Lawandcrime
Trump has long cited bone spurs as the reason for his medical deferment. His former lawyer Michael Cohen testified to Congress that Trump couldn’t produce medical records and said, “You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam,” implying the diagnosis was a convenient way to avoid service.
The fact the diagnosis wasn't recorded is strong evidence that the diagnosis was arranged rather than a legitimate medical diagnosis.
“Mr. Trump claimed (his medical deferment) was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery,” Cohen told members of the House Oversight Committee. “He told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer simply the fact that he received a medical deferment.
“He finished the conversation with the following comment: ‘You think I'm stupid, I wasn't going to Vietnam.’” MilitaryTimes
Family Business
After graduating, he joined Trump Management where he worked on his father's rental properties. In 1971 he was made president of the company, which he renamed The Trump Organization, while Fred stayed as chairmen.
NYC Human Rights Commission had already issued "cease & desist" orders in the late 1960s. but in October 1973, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Fred Trump, Donald Trump, and their company for systemic violations of the Fair Housing Act, alleging they refused to rent to Black tenants in at least 39 buildings with ~14,000 apartments. Clearinghouse+1
The complaint alleged that the firm had committed systemic violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 in their many complexes--39 buildings, between them containing over 14,000 apartments. The allegations included evidence from black and white "testers" who had sought to rent apartments; the white testers were told of vacancies; the black testers were not, or were steered to apartment complexes with a higher proportion of racial minorities. The complaint also alleged that Trump employees had placed codes next to housing applicant names to indicate if they were black.
After two years, the matter settled with a consent decree, signed June 10, 1975. It included the ordinary disclaimer of liability (the settlement was “in no way an admission” of a violation), but prohibited the Trumps from "discriminating against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling."
The Justice Department called the decree “one of the most far-reaching ever negotiated.”
Trump countersued the government for $100 million (that countersuit was dismissed) and ultimately settled in 1975, agreeing to change rental practices and submit to monitoring without admitting wrongdoing.
- In 2017 the FBI released records of its investigation into the Trumps and their real estate company in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
- The documents included many pages of interviews with the company's employees, residents, and applicants.
- One black applicant said that, in person, a leasing manager showed her available apartments but then later called to tell her she couldn't rent them "as they discriminated against blacks."
- An employee said that in only two weeks of working for the Trumps he was told not to accept black applicants because "they're blacks and that's that." He also believed others working at the rental office used a code on the top of the front page of rental applications to "distinguish blacks from whites."
- The documents also recorded complaints from the New York State Division of Human Rights and the NYC Human Rights Commission about hearings of discrimination at Trump properties. The commission ordered the company to cease and desist from their discriminatory practices, pay damages to the complainant, and inform a fair housing organization whenever apartments at the property became available. Clearinghouse+1
Donald Trump called the lawsuit "outrageous lies". The-Independent And also said "I have never, nor has anyone in our organization ever, to the best of my knowledge, discriminated or shown bias in renting our apartments.” WashingtonPost
He also tried to reframe the case as the government unfairly pushing unwanted tenants on him.
Trump said the US government was trying to force the family company to lease apartments to people on welfare, arguing that if that happened “there would be a massive fleeing from the city of not only our tenants, but communities as a whole.” The-Independent
Just 4 years later, The Justice Department accused the Trump Organization of violating the decree and brought them back to court in 1978.Salon
The government alleged that the Trump company “discriminated against blacks in the terms and conditions of rental, made statements indicating discrimination based on race and told blacks that apartments were not available for inspection and rental when, in fact, they are,” the Times reported. Trump again denied the charges.
In 1983, the Metropolitan Action reported that two Trump Village properties were still over 95% white. NYT
HUD and local civil rights groups reported discrimination as late as the 1990s in Trump Village and Shore Haven apartments.
Trump later spun this as a personal victory in his 1987 book The Art of the Deal:
“In the end the government couldn’t prove its case, and we ended up making a minor settlement without admitting any guilt.” The Independent+1
Despite losing on substance, he publicly declared it as a win.
Shows Trump’s early reliance on legal aggression and denial in the face of civil-rights allegations, and establishes a pattern of downplaying or rejecting documented discrimination findings.
Flagship developments
Trump Tower opened in 1983 and became his signature project and corporate headquarters.
- Around 200 undocumented Polish laborers demolished the old Bonwit Teller building for Trump Tower, working 12-hour shifts, often without proper safety equipment, and being paid far below union wages. NYT
- They later sued; documentation shows Trump’s side paid over $1 million in settlement. NYT
Donald J. Trump employed a crew of 200 undocumented Polish workers who worked in 12-hour shifts, without gloves, hard hats or masks Their treatment led to years of litigation over Mr. Trump’s labor practices, and in 1998, despite frequent claims that he never settles lawsuits, Mr. Trump quietly reached an agreement to end a class-action suit over the Bonwit Teller demolition in which he was a defendant.
Trump denied knowing they were undocumented, but sworn testimony and documents reviewed by Time show he was told about the “illegal Polish employees” and was directly involved in negotiations around their work and pay. Time
...After Senator Marco Rubio raised the issue of undocumented Polish workers during a Republican primary debate this year, Trump described himself as removed from the problem. “I hire a contractor. The contractor then hires the subcontractor,” he said. “They have people. I don’t know. I don’t remember, that was so many years ago, 35 years ago.”
But thousands of pages of documents from the case, including reams of testimony and sworn depositions reviewed by TIME, tell a different story. Kept for more than a decade in 13 boxes in a federal judiciary storage unit in Missouri, the documents contain testimony that Trump sought out the Polish workers when he saw them on another job, instigated the creation of the company that paid them and negotiated the hours they would work. The papers contain testimony that Trump repeatedly toured the site where the men were working, directly addressed them about pay problems and even promised to pay them himself, which he eventually did.
The documents show that after things got ugly over unpaid wages, Trump sought Sullivan’s advice on the workers and their immigration status. At one point, a lawyer for the Poles testified, Trump threatened, through his own lawyer, to call the Immigration and Naturalization Service and have the workers deported.
He also built or acquired other projects including Trump Plaza, Trump Tower, and casinos in Atlantic City.
- Trump’s major projects, especially Trump Tower, relied heavily on concrete from companies and unions tied to New York’s mafia families (Genovese, Gambino), such as S&A Concrete and union leader John Cody. The Washington Post+2Medium+2
- Investigations note that no serious presidential candidate has had such deep documented business dealings with mob-connected entities. The Washington Post+1
However, in 1985 alone Trump donated about $150,000 (equivalent to roughly $330,000 today) to local politicians for political influence.
- A New York State Organized Crime Task Force report said he "circumvented" contribution limits by spreading donations across 18 shell companies.
- As he donated, he worked with unions and companies known to be controlled by New York's ruling mafia families, which had infiltrated the construction industry.
In 1985, he bought Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, eventually converting it into a private club in the 1990s.
In 1988, Trump bought the Plaza Hotel for about $409 million, which was roughly 25x its annual cash flow, almost entirely with borrowed money.UPI
The audited statements show Trump paid $409 million for the hotel and a small brownstone next to it in 1988 to the Robert M. Bass Group of Fort Worth, Texas, Forbes said. Closing costs added another $4 million.
The Plaza's 1988 cash flow was about $16 million, so Trump paid 25 times cash flow for the property, the magazine said.
If the banks foreclosed and put the hotel on the market, it would not bring more than $300 million, according to Forbes. That's for a hotel burdened with $415 million in bank debt.
PolitiFact / other business histories document the Plaza Hotel and Taj Mahal as overleveraged, debt-heavy 1980s projects that helped trigger his early-1990s financial crisis. PolitiFact+1
The Central Park Five
- In 1989, Trisha Meili was jogging across Central Park when she was attacked with a rock, gagged, tied and raped. Hours later she was discovered unconscious and suffering from hypothermia and brain damage.
- The same night, a group of more than 30 youths entered the park. Some engaged in acts of random criminality, throwing rocks at cars, and assaulting and mugging passersby. Among the group were 5 teenagers, ranging from 14 to 16 years old, who were detained by police.
- They all denied involvement with any crime that night, but as they were interrogated, they said they were forced into confessing to the rape.TheGuardian
“I would hear them beating up Korey Wise in the next room,” recalled Salaam. “They would come and look at me and say: ‘You realize you’re next.’ The fear made me feel really like I was not going to be able to make it out.”
Four of the boys signed confessions and appeared on video without a lawyer, each arguing that while they had not been the individual to commit the rape they had witnessed one of the others do it, thereby implicating the entire group.
Two weeks later, Donald Trump paid a reported $85,000 to take out advertising space in four of the city's newspapers calling for the death penalty.
Under the headline “Bring Back The Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police!” and above his signature, Trump wrote: “I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence.”
In an interview with CNN, Trump said about the Central Park Five “maybe hate is what we need if we’re gonna get something done.” CNN
“We were all afraid. Our families were afraid. Our loved ones were afraid. For us to walk around as if we had a target on our backs, that’s how things were.”
All five minors had already been paraded in front of the cameras and had their names and addresses published, but Salaam said he and his family received more death threats after the papers ran Trump’s full-page screed. On a daytime TV show two days later, a female audience member called for the boys to be castrated and echoed the calls for the death penalty if Meili died. Pat Buchanan, the former Republican White House aide, called for the oldest of the group, Wise, to be “tried, convicted and hanged in Central Park by June 1”.
In the trial the following year, all boys pleaded not guilty. Despite there being no DNA evidence linking them to the crime, their forced confessions were enough to be found guilty by the jury.
Michael Warren, the veteran New York civil rights lawyer who would represent the Central Park Five for their future lawsuit is certain that Trump's advertisements influenced the jury and played a role in getting the conviction.
“He poisoned the minds of many people who lived in New York and who, rightfully, had a natural affinity for the victim,” said Warren. “Notwithstanding the jurors’ assertions that they could be fair and impartial, some of them or their families, who naturally have influence, had to be affected by the inflammatory rhetoric in the ads.” TheGuardian
In 2002, after one of the boys had served seven years in prison, Matias Reyes, a serial rapist and murderer already serving life in prison confessed to the Central Park rape. After re-examining the DNA evidence, his claim was proven and the convictions against each member of the Central Park Five were vacated by New York's supreme court.
In 2003, the five sued the City of new York accusing the city's police and prosecutors of false arrest, malicious prosecution and a racially motivated conspiracy to deprive the men of their civil rights. This was followed by another suit on the basis of economic and emotional devastation caused by incarceration.
The cases were settled for $41 million, but despite the evidence exonerating the five, Trump was furious.
My opinion on the settlement of the Central Park Jogger case is that it’s a disgrace. ... Settling doesn’t mean innocence, but it indicates incompetence on several levels. ... As a long-time resident of New York City, I think it is ridiculous for this case to be settled — and I hope that has not yet taken place. ... Forty million dollars is a lot of money for the taxpayers of New York to pay when we are already the highest taxed city and state in the country. The recipients must be laughing out loud at the stupidity of the city.
Speak to the detectives on the case and try listening to the facts. These young men do not exactly have the pasts of angels. NYDailyNews
“The Art of the Deal” & the self-mythologizing
- In 1987, he published The Art of the Deal, presenting himself as a master negotiator and self-made billionaire. Wikipedia
- Decades later, ghostwriter Tony Schwartz said writing the book was his “biggest regret” and that the portrayal of Trump as a brilliant dealmaker was largely constructed for marketing rather than reality. CBS News+1
The 1980s forged the Trump brand—luxury, celebrity, “deal-maker”—but also show recurring patterns:
- Reckless leverage and debt
- Reliance on dubious contractors and undocumented labor
- Image-making that contradicted the underlying financial and ethical reality The Washington Post+3Congress.gov+3
Atlantic City overreach
- Trump aggressively expanded in Atlantic City, including the Trump Taj Mahal (opened 1990), Trump Plaza, and Trump Castle. Yahoo Finance+1
- Within about a year of opening, the Taj Mahal was in bankruptcy court, followed in 1992 by Trump Plaza and Trump Castle, as massive debts became unsustainable. WashingtonPost
On Feb. 8, 1988, at a licensing hearing in front of the state Casino Control Commission, Trump said he could pull it off for one main reason: He was Donald Trump. Because of his reputation as a dealmaker, he said, bankers were lining up to lend him money at prime rates. That meant he could avoid the risky, high-interest loans known as junk bonds.
“I’m talking about banking institutions, not these junk bonds, which are ridiculous,” Trump testified, according to transcripts of the hearing. “The funny thing with junk bonds is that junk bonds are what really made the companies junk.”
Trump received the approvals he needed for the Taj, but the prime-rate loans never materialized. Determined to move forward, he turned to the very junk bonds he had derided in the hearing. He agreed to pay the bond lenders 14 percent interest, roughly 50 percent more than he had projected, to raise $675 million. It was the biggest gamble of his career.
In April 1990, the Taj opened as the world’s largest casino-hotel complex, joining Trump’s other holdings already operating in Atlantic City, the Trump Plaza and Trump’s Castle. But Trump could not keep pace with his debts on the three casinos. Six months later, the Taj defaulted on interest payments to bondholders as his finances went into a tailspin. In July 1991, Trump’s Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy, the first and most significant of the four that his companies have experienced.
Debt crisis & restructuring
- By the early 1990s, Trump’s operations faced billions in debt; lenders restructured deals, took equity in his casinos, and allowed him a generous personal living allowance while reducing his direct control. Congress.gov+1
In an August 1990 report, New Jersey regulators noted the “sheer volume of debt” on Mr. Trump’s holdings: $3.4 billion, including $1.3 billion on the casinos and $832.5 million in loans personally guaranteed by Mr. Trump. Regulators warned then that “the possibility of a complete financial collapse of the Trump Organization was not out of the question.”
- Over the 1990s–2000s, Trump-branded entities would go through multiple bankruptcies, while he publicly insisted this showed his “smart” use of the laws. Congress.gov+2
- Trump Taj Mahal (1991)
- Trump Plaza Hotel (1992)
- Trump Castle Associates (1992)
- Plaza Hotel (Manhattan) (1992)
- Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (2004)
- Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009)NBC
In an 1990 interview with CNN, Trump was asked about his negative financial analysis and Taj Mahal. He exploded on the interviewer and walked out. Trump:
"You aren't going to talk about positive people. You'll talk about the negative. You want to talk about the negative, "
"You know what, do this interview with somebody else. Really. You don't need this. Do it with somebody else. Have a good time. Frankly, you're a very negative guy, and I think it's very unfair reporting. Good luck."
"I thought your demeanor was inaccurate, I thought that questions that you were posing to people in my organization were inaccurate and false and unfair,"
"I think the questions themselves were put in such a way that made them statements, and they became statements as opposed to questions and I think that's not good reporting." The-Independent
Foreign Buyers
After his collapse, Trump properties saw an uptick in foreign buyers
Contradictions about wealth & success
- Publicly, Trump continued to call himself a billionaire business genius, while his companies repeatedly needed bankruptcy protection and bailouts from banks. Wikipedia+1
In 1989 Trump insisted he had "very little debt" ChicagoTribune. Reuters later reported that at the beginning of 1990 he actually owed about $4 billion to more than 70 banks. Reuters
In his 1997 book The art of the Comeback, Trump portrays himself as having leverage over the banks during the 90s:
He writes that he told representatives of 72 banks he would declare bankruptcy and “tie you guys up for years” unless they staked him $65 million and deferred loan payments.
In his account: “The banks more than capitulated – they enthusiastically agreed to my proposal.” Reuters
Bankers and lawyers who were actually in those negotiations told Reuters this was not how it went — they say he had little leverage and the terms were structured very much on the banks’ side.
The bankers and lawyers interviewed dispute this. Though it was true that a personal bankruptcy would have made it harder for the banks to collect what Trump owed them, he had little leverage in the talks, they said.
As part of the negotiations, Trump ended up losing 49% ownership of the Plaza Hotel to lenders and control of the board.
- In later legal proceedings, Trump acknowledged that his stated net worth was influenced by his “feelings” and brand value, not just hard numbers—highlighting inflated and shifting claims about his wealth. AP News+1
James sued Trump after his first term, alleging in September 2022 that he inflated his net worth by billions of dollars by misleading banks and insurers about the value of assets such as Trump Tower and the Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.
After a trial, a judge ordered Trump last year to pay a massive monetary penalty. An appeals court later threw out the penalty, which had grown to more than $500 million with interest, but affirmed a lower-court finding that Trump committed fraud.
Shuttle Failure
Trump also bought the Eastern Air Lines shuttle in 1989.
- It hemorrhaged money and ceased operations in 1992 after creditors left. Wikipedia
Marital Scandals And Rape
In the 1989 Donald Trump had an affair with actress Marla Maples which lead to the divorce of him and Ivana.Wikipedia
Please visit this website and read through the different cases: Here's The List Of Women Who Accused Donald Trump Of Sexual Misconduct
The list is so unbelievably long that it would be an entire section on its own if it were to be summarized here, which would not do the severity of the topic justice.
Failing To Pay Vendors
1990s reporting by WSJ and local courts shows Trump companies repeatedly failed to pay vendors and contractors which resulted in hundreds of lawsuits.WSJ ??? Fact check this when wayback machine is online again
Mar-a-Lago as a lifeline
Maintaining Mar-a-Lago was expensive—reporting notes annual upkeep in the millions—and during financial pressure in the 1990s Trump converted it into a members-only club (1995) to generate cash while keeping it in his orbit. Wikipedia+2
In the mid-1990s, Trump also attempted to sell Mar-a-Lago after struggling with upkeep costs, but bids came in far below his asking price.
All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp
In 1992, Trump, his siblings, and cousin, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20-50 percent and more.
“All County didn’t do any actual work. Instead, it operated as a middleman that padded invoices…markups of 20 percent, 50 percent or even more.” NYT
The increased costs were used to get state approval for increasing the rents of his rent-stabilized units.
“The inflated costs…became the basis for huge rent increases…under New York law, landlords can raise rents based on increased maintenance costs.” NYT
In 1994, the siblings formed Apartment Management Associates and took over management fees formerly collected by Trump Management. As well as inflating rents, the schemes served to transfer assents from Fred Trump to his children and nephew and lower the tax burden.NYT
“The schemes…were fraudulent” (according to several former IRS officials interviewed). NYT
The 1990s showcase Trump’s pattern of risky overexpansion followed by strategic bankruptcy and spin, while maintaining a public persona of unbroken success. Congress.gov+2
Reality TV and image reboot
- In 2004, Trump became host of The Apprentice, a reality show that portrayed him as an ultra-successful billionaire CEO making dramatic boardroom decisions. Miller Center+1
- Analysts and biographers note that the show greatly exaggerated his wealth and competence, effectively re-branding him for a mass audience. USNews
To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was.
In fact, Trump declared business bankruptcy four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting. The imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV.
Trump may have been the perfect choice to be the boss of this show, because more successful CEOs were too busy to get involved in reality TV and didn’t want to hire random game show winners onto their executive teams. Trump had no such concerns. He had plenty of time for filming, he loved the attention and it painted a positive picture of him that wasn’t true.
I discovered in my interactions with him over the years that he is manipulative, yet extraordinarily easy to manipulate. He has an unfillable compliment hole. No amount is too much. Flatter him and he is compliant. World leaders, including apparently Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, have discovered that too.
I also found Trump remarkably thin-skinned. He aggressively goes after those who critique him and seeks retribution. That’s not very businesslike – and it’s certainly not presidential.
I learned early on in my dealings with Trump that he thought he could simply say something over and over, and eventually people would believe it. He would say to me, “‘The Apprentice’ – America’s No. 1 TV show.” But it wasn’t. Not that week. Not that season. I had the ratings in front of me. He had seen and heard the ratings, but that didn’t matter. He just kept saying it was the “No. 1 show on television,” even after we corrected him. He repeated it on press tours too, knowing full well it was wrong. He didn’t like being fact-checked back then either.
Trump University (2005–2010)
- Founded Trump University in 2005 as a for-profit real-estate training business (not an accredited university). Wikipedia+1
- New York State authorities notified the company that it's use of "university" violated state law, so it was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
- Students accused it of being a high-pressure, deceptive sales scheme, promising insider secrets but often delivering generic advice while pushing expensive upgrades. Center for American Progress+1
- New York and class-action suits alleged fraud and deceptive practices; in 2016, Trump agreed to a $25 million settlement that compensated thousands of students, while admitting no wrongdoing despite earlier promises he would “never settle.” Wikipedia+2
- Former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students.
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- D'Antonio 2015, pp. 282–283. Never enough : Donald Trump and the pursuit of success. ISBN 978-1-250-04238-5.
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- Former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students.
In a formal statement about the Trump University case, Trump said:
“Based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial.”
...
“Due to what I believe are unfair and mistaken rulings in this case and the judge’s reported associations … questions were raised regarding the Obama-appointed judge’s impartiality.” Presidency
Trump SoHo, foreign partners & money-laundering concerns
- Several Trump-branded projects (like Trump SoHo and developments with Bayrock Group and figures like Felix Sater, a convicted stock-fraud felon) raise questions about money laundering and ties to shady financing, especially from post-Soviet sources. Wikipedia+1
Birtherism & political flirting
- From around 2011 onward, Trump became the most prominent promoter of the false “birther” conspiracy, claiming or strongly implying that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the U.S., even after Obama released his long-form birth certificate in 2011. Los Angeles Times+2ABC News+2
- He repeatedly refused to clearly acknowledge Obama’s citizenship until late in the 2016 campaign, and even then he falsely blamed Clinton’s 2008 campaign for starting the rumor. Los Angeles Times+1
This era turns Trump into a household celebrity with a curated image of success, even as his business record includes lawsuits, alleged scams, and questionable partners, and his political persona is built on conspiracy-driven, racially charged attacks like birtherism.
Campaign launch & rhetoric
- On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his presidential run at Trump Tower, claiming that Mexico was sending “people that have lots of problems… They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Rollins Scholarship Online+3ABC News+3The Guardian+3
"The Mexican government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc. This was evident just this week when, as an example, a young woman in San Francisco was viciously killed by a five-time deported Mexican with a long criminal record who was forced back into the United States because they didn't want him in Mexico. This is merely one of thousands of similar incidents throughout the United States."
...
Trump walked back his remarks on Curiel in a June 7 statement that read, "It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage. I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent. The American justice system relies on fair and impartial judges. All judges should be held to that standard. I do not feel that one's heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial."
- Immigrants coming from Mexico (including undocumented immigrants) have lower or comparable crime rates to native-born populations in many studies. The Guardian+2PolitiFact+2
First-generation immigrants have a significantly lower crime rate than that of the overall population PewResearch
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The claim that the Mexican government intentionally “sends” criminals and rapists to the U.S. lacks credible supporting evidence. Studies and data do not support a state-sponsored program of sending rapists/dealers into the U.S. from Mexico. The Guardian+1
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The phrase “one of thousands of similar incidents” — fact-checkers found no evidence that thousands of U.S. murders or violent crimes are committed every year by Mexican nationals with a pattern matching the claim, at least in the way implied. For example, studies of crime by immigrants do not show a large wave of this type of incident. PolitiFact+1
These remarks were widely condemned as racist and inflammatory, but also galvanized a base that liked his hardline immigration stance. The Guardian+1
Access Hollywood tape (recorded 2005, released 2016)
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On October 7, 2016, the Access Hollywood tape surfaced, revealing Trump bragging in 2005 that as a star he could do anything to women, including “grab ’em by the pussy.” The Independent+3Wikipedia+3Los Angeles Times+3
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The tape was widely described as admission of sexual assault-like behavior and sparked massive backlash, though he dismissed it as “locker room talk.” Wikipedia+1
I moved on her, and I failed. I'll admit it.
I did try and fuck her. She was married.
And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, "I'll show you where they have some nice furniture." I took her out furniture—I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn't get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she's now got the and everything. She's totally changed her look.
I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything.
Trump. Grab em by the Pussy. (Uncensored)
Trump doubles down on 'grab 'em by the p----' remarks in deposition tapes
Trump Foundation & self-dealing
- In 2018, New York’s Attorney General sued the Donald J. Trump Foundation for using charitable assets to benefit Trump’s campaign and businesses and for other self-dealing. New York State Attorney General+1
New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that the New York Supreme Court ordered Donald J. Trump to pay $2 million in damages for improperly using charitable assets to intervene in the 2016 presidential primaries and further his own political interests.
- In 2018, the foundation agreed to dissolve under court supervision after the lawsuit alleged it functioned largely as a “checkbook” for Trump and his organization rather than a properly run charity.
Last year, in December 2018, following a court decision in favor of the Attorney General’s Office, the first stipulation took effect when the Trump Foundation agreed to shutter its doors and dissolve under court supervision.
The third stipulation includes 19 paragraphs of factual admissions by Mr. Trump and the Foundation of illegal activity. Mr. Trump admitted that the Foundation’s board of directors — of which he was chair — failed to meet, failed to provide oversight over the Foundation, and failed to adopt legally required policies and procedures. He also admitted that these failures “contributed to the Foundation’s participation” in seven related party transactions described in the settlement document and in the Attorney General’s lawsuit.
Finally, the settlement agreement imposes a regime of restrictions on any future service by Mr. Trump on a charity’s board of directors, including a total ban on any self-dealing.
Trump Tower Russia meeting
- On June 9, 2016, senior campaign officials (Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort) met at Trump Tower with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya after being promised Russian government “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. Wikipedia
Goldstone:
This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump – helped along by Aras and Emin.
- Trump Jr. initially claimed the meeting was about adoptions; emails later revealed he welcomed the offer of information as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” Wikipedia
Donald Trump Jr. made several misleading statements about the meeting. He initially told the press that the meeting was held to discuss adoptions of Russian children by Americans. On July 8, 2017, after news reports stated that Trump Jr. knew the meeting was political, he admitted in a tweet that he had agreed to the meeting with the understanding that he would receive information damaging to Hillary Clinton, and that he was conducting opposition research.
In early July 2017, it was reported that then-President Donald Trump himself drafted Trump Jr.'s initial misleading statement.ABC The report was later confirmed by the president's attorneys.CNN In July 2018, the president denied knowledge of the meeting.Reuters
Robert Mueller's special council investigation examined the emails and the meeting, concluding the Trump campaign did not receive the information they were looking for.
2015–2016 shows Trump fully leaning into provocative, often false or inflammatory rhetoric, while multiple legal and ethical problems (Trump University, Trump Foundation, Trump Tower meeting, Access Hollywood) form the backdrop to his rise.