Political career of Donald Trump

This article is part of a series about Donald Trump
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From 2017 through 2021, Donald Trump was the 45th president of the United States. In November 2024, he won the 2024 presidential election, and his second term (as the 47th president) will start in 2025.

Trump has officially run as a candidate for president four times, in 2000, 2016, 2020, and 2024; he also unofficially campaigned in 2012 and mulled a run in 2004.^[1] He won the 2016 general election through the Electoral College while losing the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million votes, the largest margin ever to still win the presidency.^[2] He was thereby elected the 45th president of the United States on November 8, 2016, and inaugurated on January 20, 2017. He is the only American president to have no political or military service prior to his presidency. He unsuccessfully sought reelection in the 2020 presidential election, losing to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.^[3] After his first term, he was ranked^[4][5] by scholarly surveys as among the country's worst presidents. Among the American public, Trump's average 41 percent approval rating was the lowest of any president since Gallup began polling, and he left office with a 34 percent approval rating and 62 percent disapproval rating in his final polls.^[6]

Trump's overt political activity started with his publicly suggesting a run for president in the late 1980s. Ever since, Trump maintained a steady interest in politics, though he was not always considered a serious candidate. Trump has spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) multiple times, with his first appearance in 2012; Trump gained increasing political notoriety with the public for his promotion of the racist birtherism conspiracy theory during this period, which has been described as having had "essentially launched his current political career."^[7][8] From 2013 to 2015, Trump continued to make political headlines but was still polling low and not taken seriously by analysts. Trump became the 2016 Republican nominee for president of the United States after beating sixteen other candidates during a controversial campaign. U.S. Intelligence officials later determined that the Government of the Russian Federation had illegally intervened in the election to aid Trump's victory.^[9] There was a large amount of cabinet and staff turnover in Trump's presidency, compared to other modern American presidents.^[10] Numerous allegations of misconduct by Trump resulted in investigations by Congress and Special Council, as well as two impeachments. He was president at the time of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 18, 2019, Trump announced that he would seek re-election in the 2020 presidential election. The election on November 3 was not called for either candidate for several days; on November 7, the Associated Press—along with major TV networks including CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, and Fox News—called the race for Joe Biden. Trump did not concede, despite the final election results not being close, and the administration did not begin cooperating with president-elect Biden's transition team until November 23. With one week remaining in his presidency, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for incitement of insurrection for his actions during the January 6 coup and attack on the United States Capitol, but was acquitted in the Republican-controlled Senate because the 57–43 vote in favor of convicting him fell short of the 2/3 supermajority (67 out of 100 senators) required for conviction.^[11] Trump continues to push the false idea that he won the 2020 election, which has led to ongoing controversy within the Republican party.

There are four major ongoing criminal investigations into Trump's criminal activity while in office.^[12][13] The chairman of Trump's presidential campaign, Paul Manafort; his chief political strategist, Steve Bannon; and his campaign counsel, Michael Cohen, have all been since sentenced to prison for various criminal acts connected to Trump's campaign and presidency.^[14][15][16] At least 8 other members of Trump's campaign have been charged with the commission of federal crimes.^[17]