10/4/2017 Donald Trump -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia Donald Trump BUSINESS CAREER AND REALITY TELEVISION TABLE OF CONTENTS The son of a wealthy apartment-building developer in Business career and reality television New York’s Queens borough, Trump graduated from Politics the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Presidency Finance in 1968. In that year he was diagnosed with Cabinet of Pres. Donald J. Trump bone spurs in both heels, which quali�ed him for a permanent medical exemption from the military draft (he had received four earlier deferments for education). He went to work in his father’s company, the Trump Organization, and worked to expand its holdings of rental housing. In the 1970s he made a series of shrewd property purchases in Manhattan, obtaining generous tax concessions from the city, which was eager for new investment at a time of severe �scal crisis. Trump bought and renovated several aging hotel complexes and apartment towers in Manhattan and built new ones there as well. He also made a brief foray into sports, purchasing in 1983 the New Jersey Generals, which played in the short-lived U.S. Football League and lasted, like the entire league, for only two seasons. By the 1990s Trump’s business empire encompassed a number of high-rises, including the Empire State Building, hotels, condominiums, and Trump Tower (opened 1983); more than 25,000 rental and co-op apartment units in Queens and Brooklyn; and several hotel-casino complexes in the nearby gambling centre of Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1977 Trump married Ivana Zelnickova, a Czech model, with whom he had three children— Donald, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric—before the couple divorced in 1992. Their married life, as well as Trump’s business affairs, were a staple of the tabloid press in New York City during the 1980s. Trump married the American actress Marla Maples after she gave birth to Trump’s fourth child, Tiffany, in 1993. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1999. In 2005 Trump married the Slovene model Melania Knauss, and their child, Barron, was born the following year. Melania Trump became �rst lady of the United States upon her husband’s inauguration in 2017. In 1989 Trump bought an East Coast air shuttle service from American Airlines. During his period of �nancial dif�culties in 1991, the airline was taken over by USAir, and Trump’s Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City declared bankruptcy. Two other casinos owned by Trump, as well as his Plaza Hotel in New York City, went bankrupt in 1992. Estimates of his net worth during that period ranged from zero to $2 billion. Trump’s fortunes rebounded with the strong economy of the 1990s. In 1996 he partnered with NBC to purchase the Miss Universe Organization, which produces the Miss America, Miss USA, https://www.britannica.com/print/article/607230 1/13 10/4/2017 Donald Trump -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants. By the early 21st century Trump had begun developing several major hotel, residential, and resort complexes around the world, including Trump World Tower in New York City (2001), Trump International Hotel Las Vegas (2008), and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago (2009). He purchased the sprawling Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1985 and converted it into a private club 10 years later. In 2004, however, his company Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts �led for bankruptcy after several of its properties accumulated unmanageable debt. The same company, renamed Trump Entertainment Resorts, went bankrupt again in 2009. In addition to his real-estate ventures, in 2004 Trump premiered a reality television series, The Apprentice, which featured contestants competing in various challenges to become one of his employees. The Emmy-nominated show, in which Trump starred, popularized the phrase “You’re �red” and solidi�ed Trump’s reputation as a shrewd outspoken businessman. In 2008 the show was revamped as The Celebrity Apprentice, with newsmakers and entertainers as contestants. Trump marketed his name as a brand in various business ventures including Trump Financial, a mortgage company, and the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative (formerly Trump University), an online education company focusing on real-estate investment and entrepreneurialism. The latter company, which was dissolved in 2010, was the target of class-action lawsuits by former students and a separate action by the attorney general of New York alleging fraud. After initially denying the allegations, Trump settled the lawsuits for $25 million in November 2016. Trump coauthored a number of books on entrepreneurship and his business career, including Trump: The Art of the Deal (1987), Trump: The Art of the Comeback (1997), Why We Want You to Be Rich (2006), Trump 101: The Way to Success (2006), and Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success (2008). POLITICS Trump was active in politics. From the 1980s he periodically mused in public about running for president, but those moments were widely downplayed in the press as publicity stunts. In 1999 he switched his voter registration from Republican to the Reform Party and established a presidential exploratory committee. Though he ultimately declined to run in 2000, he set forth his socially liberal and economically conservative political views in The America We Deserve (2000). Trump later rejoined the Republican Party, and he maintained a high public pro�le during the 2012 presidential election. Though he did not run for of�ce at that time, he gained much attention for repeatedly questioning whether Pres. Barack Obama was a natural-born U.S. citizen. https://www.britannica.com/print/article/607230 2/13 10/4/2017 Donald Trump -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia 10/4/2017 Donald Trump -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants. In June 2015 Trump announced that he would be a candidate in the U.S. presidential election of 2016. Pledging to “make America great again,” he promised to create millions of new jobs, to By the early 21st century Trump had begun developing several major hotel, residential, and punish American companies that exported jobs overseas, to repeal the Affordable Care Act resort complexes around the world, including Trump World Tower in New York City (2001), (ACA), to revive the U.S. coal industry, to “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C., by reducing the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas (2008), and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in in�uence of lobbyists, to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement on Chicago (2009). He purchased the sprawling Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, in climate change, to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent illegal immigration 1985 and converted it into a private club 10 years later. In 2004, however, his company Trump from Latin America, and to ban immigration by Muslims. Trump wrote about those and other Hotels and Casino Resorts �led for bankruptcy after several of its properties accumulated issues in Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again (2015). unmanageable debt. The same company, renamed Trump Entertainment Resorts, went bankrupt again in 2009. On the campaign trail, Trump quickly established himself as a political outsider, a stance that proved popular with In addition to his real-estate ventures, in 2004 Trump premiered a reality television series, The many voters—especially those in the Tea Party movement Apprentice, which featured contestants competing in various challenges to become one of his —and he frequently topped opinion polls, besting employees. The Emmy-nominated show, in which Trump starred, popularized the phrase established Republican politicians. However, his “You’re �red” and solidi�ed Trump’s reputation as a shrewd outspoken businessman. In 2008 campaign was frequently mired in controversy, much of it the show was revamped as The Celebrity Apprentice, with newsmakers and entertainers as of his own making. In speeches and via Twitter, a social contestants. Donald Trump at a campaign rally in medium he used frequently, Trump often made Trump marketed his name as a brand in various business ventures including Trump Financial, a Fountain Hills, Arizona, March 2016. in�ammatory remarks, some of which were deemed mortgage company, and the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative (formerly Trump University), an Gage Skidmore offensive, especially to Mexicans, Muslims, and women. online education company focusing on real-estate investment and entrepreneurialism. The Trump’s initial refusal to condemn the Ku Klux Klan after latter company, which was dissolved in 2010, was the target of class-action lawsuits by former a former Klansman endorsed him also drew sharp students and a separate action by the attorney general of New York alleging fraud. After criticism, as did his failure to repudiate racist elements initially denying the allegations, Trump settled the lawsuits for $25 million in November 2016. among his supporters in the “alt-right” (a loose association Trump coauthored a number of books on entrepreneurship and his business career, including of self-described white nationalists, far-right libertarians, Trump: The Art of the Deal (1987), Trump: The Art of the Comeback (1997), Why We Want You to and neo-Nazis). While Trump’s comments worried the Be Rich (2006), Trump 101: The Way to Success (2006), and Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned Republican establishment, supporters seemed to be My Biggest Challenges into Success (2008). pleased by his combativeness, his provocative language, Donald Trump, 2016. and his outsider status. After a loss in the Iowa caucuses to © Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock.com POLITICS open up the primary season in February 2016, Trump Trump was active in politics. From the 1980s he periodically mused in public about running for rebounded by winning the next three contests, and he president, but those moments were widely downplayed in the press as publicity stunts.