Donald Trump

The Trump family were German immigrants. The family used the name Trumpf until they became American citizens. Donald Trump's father became a multi-millionaire by building tenements in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. After graduating from high school, Donald Trump studied economics at Fordham University and graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 1968. He gained his first professional experience in his father's company, and in 1974 he set up his own business in Manhattan. In 1975, Trump bought the old Commodore Hotel in New York and five years later he opened the Grand Hyatt Hotel New York. Donald quickly became known for his willingness to take risks. Trump quickly built up a considerable fortune through real estate in New York. In 1977 he married Ivana Trump. The marriage produced sons Donald Jr. (1977) and Eric (1984) and daughter Ivanka (1981). The divorce took place in 1992. In the 1980s, Trump divided his business areas into real estate, gaming, hotels and residential and commercial buildings, which were reunited under the umbrella of a holding company.

Trump achieved international popularity in 1983 with the construction of the "Trump Tower" on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The building is 202 meters high and has 58 floors. Like John D. Rockefeller, Trump created a monument to his wealth in New York. In 1989, Donald Trump acquired the American airline Eastern Airlines, which he renamed as "Trump Shuttle" after the purchase. However, following poor operating figures, the company was sold again after three years. In 1990, Trump opened a gigantic hotel-casino called "Trump - Taj Mahal" in Atlantic City near New York. However, the construction resulted in unexpectedly high expenses. In total, commitments totaling around $3 billion were outstanding from other projects. This meant that Trump and his corporate empire were on the verge of ruin in the early 1990s. After negotiations with investors and banks, Donald Trump managed to reorganize his obligations and thus made a comeback as a major investor. He was married to Marla Maple from 1993 to 1999.

In 1998, the "Trump - International Hotel and Tower" was inaugurated at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. In addition to rental income from the Trump Tower and other exclusive commercial buildings, various casinos in New Jersey and Florida as well as large leisure centers were now also among the empire's sources of income. All facilities and business areas had Trump's name in their logo. Based on ever new gigantic construction projects, one could only speculate about his wealth. Trump owned around ten office and residential towers in excellent locations in New York alone. In 2001, Trump completed the "Trump World Tower" in New York. The extremely sophisticated residential and commercial high-rise in Manhattan Midtown is 262 meters high and has 72 floors. From 2003 to 2004 and 2004 to 2005, he appeared on the US television show "The Apprentice", in which he sought employees for his corporate empire.

Two years after the decision to redevelop "Ground Zero," Trump came forward with a counterproposal in 2005. Instead of Daniel Libeskind's planned "Freedom Tower," Trump wanted to resurrect the destroyed twin towers of the World Trade Center. The plans of the American star architect of Japanese origin Minoru Yamasaki served as a template. Trump married Melania Knauss, 28 years his junior, on January 22, 2005. Their son Barron William was born in 2006. In 2007 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On June 16, 2015, Trump announced that he would run in the Republican primary as a candidate for the US presidential election in November 2016. In the first primary in the state of New Hampshire on February 9, 2016, Trump was able to clearly assert himself. He already had an absolute majority in May - thanks above all to his election slogan: "Make America great again". On July 19, 2016, Trump was officially elected as the presidential candidate at the Republican nomination convention in Cleveland. He formally accepted the election on July 21, 2016.

On November 8, 2016, Donald Trump won the US presidential election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. His inauguration in Washington D.C. was set for January 20, 2017 in accordance with the constitution. As President of the United States, Donald Trump pursued a rigorous government policy in all matters right from the start - according to the election motto: "American first", which earned him many votes. Not only was and is directly affected by the international trade community, but also US citizens with a migrant background and migrants who want to come to America.

In 2019, the American president recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, thereby single-handedly bringing about a momentous paradigm shift in international Middle East policy - which was undesirable by many politically involved. In the same year, 2019, he refused to sign the UN arms trade treaty ATT (Arms Trade Treaty), which has regulated international standards for the trade in conventional weapons since 2014. In addition, Trump's presidency was shaken by, among other things, the Russia affair and the Ukraine affair, which brought him impeachment proceedings, which he survived thanks to the Republican majority in the Senate. The US head of government is shaping a new style of government with his extensive use of the news medium "Twitter" by repeatedly disseminating important government announcements and personal opinions there. He continually describes his poor relationship with the public press with the catchphrase "fake news" that he has made popular, and which often catches up with his critics. Trump won the 2024 Republican nomination for president, initially campaigning against incumbent Joe Biden. However, when Biden dropped his campaign, Kamala Harris was selected to run in Biden's stead. Trump defeated Harris with both a majority and electoral win to become the 47th president. He will be only the second president to have a non-consecutive second term in office (after President Grover Cleveland).