Donald Trump facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Donald Trump
|
|
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2017
|
|
| 45th & 47th President of the United States | |
| Assumed office January 20, 2025 |
|
| Vice President | JD Vance |
| Preceded by | Joe Biden |
| In office January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021 |
|
| Vice President | Mike Pence |
| Preceded by | Barack Obama |
| Succeeded by | Joe Biden |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Donald John Trump
June 14, 1946 Queens, New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (1987–1999; 2009–2011; 2012–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouses |
|
| Children | |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Trump family |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BS) |
| Occupation |
|
| Awards | Full list |
| Signature | .svg) |
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman. He served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. He was elected again in 2024 to be the 47th president, starting in 2025.
Trump is the only U.S. president to have been impeached (accused of wrongdoing by the House of Representatives) twice. He was impeached in 2019–2020 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and again in 2021 for encouraging an insurrection (a violent uprising). In both cases, the Senate found him not guilty.
In 2024, Trump won the presidential election as the Republican Party nominee against Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris. He became the first former president since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win a second term that was not immediately after his first. At 78 years old, he also became the oldest person ever elected President of the United States.
In late 2024, Time magazine named Trump its Person of the Year.
Contents
- Early Life and Family Background
- Education and College Years
- Business Career and Real Estate
- Media Career and Television
- Political Activity Before 2015
- 2016 Presidential Campaign
- President of the United States (2017-2021)
- 2024 Presidential Election
- Attempted Assassination Event
- Second Presidency (2025–present)
- Wealth and Finances
- Personal Life and Family
- See also
Early Life and Family Background
Donald John Trump was born in Queens, New York City. His parents were Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod. They got married in 1936. His mother was from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. Donald was one of five children. His older brother, Fred Jr., passed away in 1981. Donald's sister, Maryanne, became a judge in New York. His father's parents were immigrants from Germany.
His grandfather, Frederick Trump, came to the United States in 1885 and became an American citizen in 1892.
Education and College Years
Trump went to the private Kew-Forest School for elementary and middle school. At age 13, he started attending the New York Military Academy, which is a private boarding school. In 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he moved to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 1968.
During the Vietnam War, Trump was not drafted into the military. This was because he received four college deferments and one medical deferment.
Business Career and Real Estate
In 1968, Donald Trump started working for his father's real estate company, Trump Management. By 1971, he became the president of the company and began using the name Trump Organization for their projects. The main office of The Trump Organization is located at 40 Wall Street in New York City.
Trump has developed many large real estate projects, including hotels and towers in cities like Honolulu, Chicago, Toronto, and Tampa.
Media Career and Television
Trump made small appearances in various films and TV shows between 1985 and 2001.
.jpg)
From the 1990s, Trump was a frequent guest on the Howard Stern Show. He also had his own short radio program called Trumped! from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 to 2015, he was a regular guest commentator on Fox & Friends.
Beauty Pageants Ownership
From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, which included Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.
The Apprentice Reality Show
In 2003, Trump became the executive producer and host of the NBC reality show The Apprentice. On the show, contestants competed for a high-level management job in one of Trump's businesses. In 2004, he registered the famous phrase "You're fired!" as a trademark.
For the first season, Trump earned $50,000 per episode. After the show became popular, his pay increased to $1 million per episode. His campaign manager stated in 2015 that he earned over $213 million for hosting 14 seasons of the show.
In February 2015, NBC announced that The Apprentice would have a 15th season. However, Trump said he was "not ready" to sign on because he was considering running for president. He was later replaced by former Governor of California and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Political Activity Before 2015
Before his presidential campaigns, Trump changed his political party registration several times. He was a Republican in 1987, then a member of the Independence Party in 1999, a Democrat in 2001, a Republican again in 2009, an independent in 2011, and then returned to the Republican Party in 2012.
2016 Presidential Campaign
Donald Trump officially announced his plan to run for president in the 2016 elections on June 16, 2015. His campaign slogan was "Make America Great Again," a phrase he trademarked.
On May 4, 2016, Trump became the likely Republican nominee after his main challengers, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, ended their campaigns.
Republican Primaries
Trump was one of 17 Republican candidates seeking the nomination, which was the largest group of presidential candidates in American history. By early 2016, the race mainly focused on Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. On Super Tuesday, Trump won most of the delegates and remained the leading candidate throughout the primaries.
By June 2016, Trump had received nearly 14 million votes, setting a new record for the most primary votes ever won by a Republican Party candidate.
General Election Victory
On November 8, 2016, Trump won the presidency with 306 Electoral College votes, while Hillary Clinton received 232 votes. This happened even though Clinton received more individual votes from people across the country (the popular vote) than Trump. He became the fourth person to become president without winning the popular vote. Clinton finished ahead by about 2.86 million votes. Trump's victory was a big surprise because most polls had predicted Hillary Clinton would win. In the early hours of November 9, 2016, Clinton called Trump to concede the election.
President of the United States (2017-2021)
Inauguration Ceremony
On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States by Chief Justice John G. Roberts. The ceremony took place at the United States Capitol Building. Within his first hour as president, he signed several executive orders, including one aimed at reducing the costs of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The Saturday after Trump's inauguration, large protests, including the 2017 Women's March, took place across the United States and worldwide.
.jpg)
Cabinet and Key Staff
The following people were part of Donald Trump's cabinet, which includes the most senior officers of the executive branch:
- Secretary of State: Rex Tillerson (2017-2018), Mike Pompeo (2018-2021)
- Secretary of the Treasury: Steven Mnuchin
- Secretary of Defense: James Mattis (2017-2019), Mark Esper (2019-2021)
- Attorney General: Jeff Sessions (2017-2018), William Barr (2019-2021)
- Secretary of the Interior: Ryan Zinke (2017-2019), David Bernhardt (2019-2021)
- Secretary of Agriculture: Sonny Perdue
- Secretary of Commerce: Wilbur Ross
- Secretary of Labor: Alexander Acosta (2017-2019), Eugene Scalia (2019-2021)
- Secretary of Health and Human Services: Tom Price (2017), Alex Azar (2018-2021)
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Ben Carson
- Secretary of Transportation: Elaine Chao
- Secretary of Energy: Rick Perry (2017-2019), Dan Brouillette (2019-2021)
- Secretary of Education: Betsy DeVos
- Secretary of Veterans' Affairs: David Shulkin (2017-2018), Robert Wilkie (2018-2021)
- Secretary of Homeland Security: John F. Kelly (2017), Kirstjen Nielsen (2017-2019)
Other important positions in the executive branch included:
- White House Chief of Staff: Reince Priebus (2017), John F. Kelly (2017-2019), Mark Meadows (2020-2021)
- United States Trade Representative: Robert Lighthizer
- Director of National Intelligence: Dan Coats (2017-2019), John Ratcliffe (2020-2021)
- Ambassador to the United Nations: Nikki Haley (2017-2019), Kelly Craft (2019-2021)
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Mick Mulvaney (2017-2020), Russell Vought (2020-2021)
- Director of the Central Intelligence Agency: Mike Pompeo (2017-2018), Gina Haspel (2018-2021)
- Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Scott Pruitt (2017-2018), Andrew R. Wheeler (2019-2021)
- Administrator of the Small Business Administration: Linda McMahon (2017-2019), Jovita Carranza (2020-2021)
Key Policies and Events
.jpg)
As president, Trump issued an order to ban travel from several Muslim-majority countries. He also used military funds to help build a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border and put in place a policy that separated families at the border.
He also reduced many environmental protections and regulations. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which lowered taxes.
On May 4, 2017, the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) was passed by the United States House of Representatives to try and replace Obamacare.
Trump's administration faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he sometimes disagreed with recommendations from health officials.
In foreign affairs, Trump started a trade dispute with China. He also withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times to discuss denuclearization, but no major progress was made.
.jpg)
Investigations and Impeachments
In January 2017, U.S. intelligence agencies stated that the Russian government had interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump win. In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that the FBI was investigating any connections between Trump's campaign and the Russian government.
Trump denied any wrongdoing. On May 9, 2017, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. The White House stated that this was to end the investigation.
.jpg)
Mueller Investigation Findings
In May 2017, former FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed as a special counsel to investigate links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.
In March 2019, Mueller submitted his final report. The report described widespread Russian interference and how Trump's campaign welcomed it, believing it would help them win.
Several people associated with Trump pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation.
.jpg)
First Impeachment Process
On December 18, 2019, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. This meant they formally accused him of serious wrongdoing. However, on February 5, 2020, the Senate found Trump not guilty of all charges, so he remained in office.
2020 Re-election Campaign
Trump announced his intention to run for a second term shortly after becoming president in 2017.
In the 2020 primaries, Trump faced challenges from former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld and former U.S. Representatives Joe Walsh.
Election Defeat and Challenges
On November 7, 2020, Trump was defeated by former Vice President Joe Biden after losing key states like Pennsylvania and Nevada. Trump claimed there was widespread voter fraud, especially with mail-in voting, and tried to use the Supreme Court to stop vote counting in some states. He filed lawsuits in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia, but these were unsuccessful.
In early January 2021, Trump made a phone call to Georgia's Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, asking him to "find 11,780 votes" to change the election outcome in Georgia.
U.S. Capitol Riots
On January 6, 2021, while the United States Congress was formally confirming the election results, a group of rioters stormed the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C., leading to violence.
Following these events, Trump's accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter were permanently removed. On January 8, 2021, Trump was banned from Twitter. The events at the Capitol led to new efforts to impeach Trump from the presidency.
2024 Presidential Election
.jpg)
On November 15, 2022, Trump announced he would run for president again in the 2024 United States presidential election.
Trump won the election in November 2024 with 312 electoral votes, while incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris received 226. This made him the second president in U.S. history, after Grover Cleveland in 1892, to be elected to a second term that was not immediately after his first. He also won the popular vote with 49.8% compared to Harris's 48.3%, which was the smallest popular vote margin since 2000.
Attempted Assassination Event
On July 13, 2024, Trump was injured in the ear during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. After the shooting, Trump raised his fist as he was quickly moved away by the Secret Service. He received medical attention and was reported to be fine. One person attending the rally was killed, and two others were seriously injured. The shooter was also killed by the Secret Service at the scene. Officials are investigating the incident as an attempted assassination. The FBI identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Second Presidency (2025–present)
The day before he took office, Trump and his new administration helped arrange a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Trump began his second presidency when he was inaugurated on January 20, 2025.
Wealth and Finances
Forbes magazine estimated that Trump's net worth decreased by $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2018. In their 2024 ranking of billionaires, his net worth was estimated to be $2.3 billion, making him the 1,438th wealthiest person in the world.
Personal Life and Family
Donald Trump has five children from three marriages and ten grandchildren. He is a Presbyterian, and as a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens.
Marriages and Children
.jpg)
Trump married his first wife, Czech model Ivana Zelníčková, on April 7, 1977. They had three children: son Donald Trump Jr. (born 1977), daughter Ivanka (born 1981), and son Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a U.S. citizen in 1988. They divorced in 1992.
Trump married his second wife, actress Marla Maples, in 1993. They had one daughter together, Tiffany (born 1993). They separated in 1997 and divorced in 1999.
In 1998, Trump began a relationship with Slovene model Melania Knauss, who became his third wife. They got engaged in April 2004 and married on January 22, 2005. In 2006, Melania became a U.S. citizen. Their son, Barron Trump, was born on March 20, 2006.
Health and Habits
Trump typically sleeps about four or five hours each night. He has said that golfing is his main form of exercise, but he usually rides in a golf cart instead of walking the course. He believes that exercise uses up the body's energy, which he compares to a battery with a limited amount of power. In 2015, his campaign released a letter from his doctor, Harold Bornstein, who stated that Trump would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."
See also
In Spanish: Donald Trump para niños
