New York: Donald Trump transitioned from a businessman, real estate mogul, and reality TV star to becoming the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a felony. Despite surviving two assassination attempts during his 2024 campaign, the 78-year-old remains unstoppable, winning a second term with strong support from American voters.
In doing so, he dashed the hopes of the Democratic Party and millions of Kamala Harris supporters who had aspired to see the first woman president in the White House.
He is now the oldest person in US history to be elected as the president.
After losing the 2020 election, Trump continued to dominate the American news cycle and public attention, leading up to his nomination as the Republican candidate in the 2024 race.
He refused to accept the November 2020 result that brought Joe Biden to the White House, and a stunned nation watched his supporters storm the US Capitol on January 6. The riots disrupted a joint session of the US Congress which was in the process of affirming the presidential election results.
His third run for the job in 2024 was characterised by a slew of indictments and criminal cases, and a conviction in a New York court — making him the first former US president to be held guilty of a crime.
A grand jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The Biden-Harris campaign said at the time that no one is above the law while Trump called the verdict the result of a “rigged” political system.
Yet, none of this could deter his ardent supporters, who rallied behind him and his policies.
The vehement support was on full display in Milwaukee in July when Trump, with a bandaged ear after having survived an assassination attempt, arrived for the Republican National Convention to formally accept the party’s nomination for President for the third consecutive election.
Trump was hit by a bullet in the upper part of his right ear when a shooter fired multiple shots at his election rally in Pennsylvania.
He was born in Queens, New York, on June 14, 1946 to Mary and Fred Trump, a successful real estate developer, as the fourth of their five children. He earned a degree in finance from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968.
After taking over his father’s company in 1971, he renamed it Trump Organisation and soon diversified into projects like hotels, resorts, residential and commercial buildings, casinos and golf courses. Trump also dabbled in Reality TV with ‘The Apprentice’ in 2004 that made him a household name in America.
Trump married Ivana Zelnickova, a Czech athlete and model, but divorced her in 1990. The couple has three children — Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric.
He then married actor Marla Maples in 1993 but divorced in 1999. They have an only child, Tiffany. Trump’s current wife Melania, whom he married in 2005, is a former Slovenian model. They have a son, Barron William Trump.
In the 2016 presidential race, fighting as a Republican nominee in the presidential race, Trump won against the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The 2024 election took place against the backdrop of concerns over the economy, illegal immigration and the wars in west Asia and Europe. Trump’s support base saw him as the only one who could offer solutions to these.
“I will end the illegal immigration crisis by closing our border and finishing the wall, most of which I’ve already built,” Trump told cheering supporters at his party’s national convention, referring to the country’s southern border.
He vowed that if he returned to the White House, “inflation will vanish completely”.
Trump pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reached out to congratulate him on his Republican presidential nomination.
“I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families. Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity,” Trump had said.
The four years of his second presidency will define not just how the US deals with its pressing domestic issues, it could also dictate its place in the world. The world is watching.
(with agency inputs)
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