Real estate developer Donald John Trump
was born in 1946, in Queens, New York. In 1971, he became involved in large,
profitable building projects in Manhattan. In 1980, he opened the Grand Hyatt,
which made him the city's best-known developer.
Donald
John Trump is an American businessman, politician, and the President-elect of the
United States. He is scheduled to take office on January 20, 2017.
Born:
June 14, 1946 (age 70), Queens,
New York City, New York, United States
Height:
1.91 m
Net
worth: 3.7 billion USD (2016) Forbes
Party:
Republican
Party
Spouse:
Melania
Trump (m. 2005), Marla
Maples (m. 1993–1999), Ivana
Trump (m. 1977–1992)
Children:
Ivanka
Trump, Barron
Trump, Tiffany
Trump, Eric
Trump, Donald
Trump Jr.
In 2016, billionaire real estate mogul and reality television
personality Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States.
Real estate developer Donald John Trump was born in 1946, in Queens,
New York. In 1971, he became involved in large, profitable building projects in
Manhattan. In 1980, he opened the Grand Hyatt, which made him the city's
best-known developer. In 2004, Trump began starring in the hit NBC reality
series The Apprentice, which also spawned
the offshoot The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump
turned his aunttention to politics, and in 2015 he announced his candidacy
for president of the United States on the Republican ticket. After winning a
majority of the primaries and caucuses, Trump became the official Republican
candidate for president on July 19, 2016. That November, Trump was elected the
45th President of the United States when he defeated Democratic candidate
Hillary Clinton.
Early Life and Education
Donald
John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York, the fourth of five
children of Frederick C. and Mary MacLeod Trump. Frederick Trump was a builder
and real estate developer who specialized in constructing and operating
middle-income apartments in Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn. Donald was an
energetic, assertive child, and his parents sent him to the New York Military
Academy at age 13, hoping the discipline of the school would channel his energy
in a positive manner.
Trump did
well at the academy, both socially and academically, rising to become a star
athlete and student leader by the time he graduated in 1964. He then entered
Fordham University and two years later transferred to the Wharton School of
Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1968 with
a degree in economics. During his years at college, Trump secured education deferments
for the Vietnam War draft and ultimately a 1-Y medical deferment after he
graduated.
New York Real Estate Developer
Trump followed his father into a career in real estate development, bringing
his grander ambitions to the family business. As a student, Trump worked with
his father during the summer and then joined his father's company, Elizabeth
Trump & Son, after graduation from college. He was able to finance an
expansion of the company's holdings by convincing his father to be more liberal
in the use of loans based on the equity in the Trump apartment
complexes. However, business was very competitive and profit margins were
narrow.
In 1971, Donald Trump was given control of the company, which he later
renamed the Trump Organization. He also moved his residence to Manhattan, where
he began to make important connections with influential people. Convinced of
the city's economic opportunity, Trump soon became involved in large building
projects in Manhattan that would offer opportunities for earning high profits,
using attractive architectural design and winning public recognition.
When the Pennsylvania Central Railroad entered bankruptcy, Trump was able to
obtain an option on the railroad's yards on the West Side of Manhattan. When
initial plans for apartments proved unfeasible because of the poor economic
climate, Trump promoted the property as the location of a city convention
center, and the city government selected it over two other sites in 1978.
Trump's offer to forego a fee if the center were named after his family,
however, was turned down, along with his bid to build the complex, which was
ultimately named in honor Senator Jacob Javits.
Trump's business practices were called into question when, in 1973, the
federal government filed a complaint against Trump, his father and their
company alleging that they had discriminated against tenants and potential
tenants based on their race, a violation of the Fair Housing Act, which is part
of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Trump responded to the case in an interview
published in the
New York Times. “They are absolutely
ridiculous,” he said of the Justice Department which filed the case. “We never
have discriminated, and we never would. There have been a number of local
actions against us, and we've won them all. We were charged with
discrimination, and we proved in court that we did not discriminate.”
After a lengthy legal battle, the case was settled in 1975. As part of the
agreement, the Trump company had to train employees about the Fair Housing
Act and inform the community about its fair housing practices. Trump wrote
about the resolution of the case in his 1987 memoir
Art of the Deal:
"In the end, the government couldn’t prove its case, and we ended up
taking a minor settlement without admitting any guilt."
Meanwhile Trump had set his sights on making a big splash in commercial
real estate. In 1974, he obtained an option on one of Penn Central's hotels,
the Commodore, which was unprofitable but in an excellent location adjacent to
Grand Central Station. The next year he signed a partnership agreement with the
Hyatt Hotel Corporation, which did not have a large downtown hotel. Trump then
worked out a complex deal with the city to win a 40-year tax abatement,
arranged financing and then completely renovated the building, constructing a
striking new facade of reflective glass designed by architect Der Scutt. When
the hotel, renamed the Grand Hyatt, opened in 1980, it was instantly popular
and proved an economic success, making Donald Trump the city's best known
developer in the process.
Expanding His Empire
In 1979, Trump leased a site on Fifth Avenue adjacent to the famous Tiffany
& Company as the location for a monumental $200-million apartment-retail
complex designed by Der Scutt. Opened in 1982, it was dubbed Trump Tower. The
58-story building featured a six-story atrium lined with pink marble and
included an 80-foot waterfall. The luxurious building attracted well-known
retail stores and celebrity renters and brought Trump national attention.
Reality TV & Political Ambitions
On October 7, 1999, Trump announced the formation of an exploratory
committee to inform his decision whether or not to seek the Reform Party's
nomination for the presidential race of 2000. However, after a poor showing
during the California primary, Trump withdrew his candidacy. It would not quell
his political aspirations, however.
Presidential Contender
On June 16, 2015, Trump made his White House ambitions official when he
announced his run for president on the Republican ticket for the 2016
elections, joining a crowded field of more than a dozen major candidates.
"I am officially running for president of the United States," Trump
said during his announcement at Trump Towers in New York City, "and we are
going to make our country great again." He added with his signature
bravado: "I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”
GOP Presidential Nominee
Trump's decisive Indiana primary victory in May 2016, in which he won 53% of
the vote in a three-way race, is marked as the moment he clinched the
Republican presidential nomination and laid to rest any notions of a contested
convention. On May 26, 2016, 29 unbound delegates told the Associated Press
that they would support him at the GOP convention. With their backing, Trump
pulled in the support of 1,238 delegates, slightly above the 1,237 delegate
count needed to secure the nomination.
Historic Presidential Election
In a stunning victory that defied polls, Trump won the majority of electoral
college votes and was elected the 45th president of the United States on
November 8, 2016. After one of the most contentious presidential races in U.S.
history, Trump's surprising rise to the office of president was considered a
resounding rejection of establishment politics by blue-collar and working class
Americans. In his victory speech delivered at 2:30 am the following morning at
the Hilton Hotel in New York City, Trump said: “I pledge to every citizen of
our land that I will be president for all Americans."
And now he is the president of United States of America.
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