Donald John Trump is a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election. He is an American businessman and television personality. Trump is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts.
Trump was born on June 14, 1946 in the Queens borough of New York City. He is the fourth of five children. Trump attended The Kew-Forest School. He then attended the New York Military Academy where he finished eighth grade and high school. Trump then studied at Fordham University for two years and then entered the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. While studying there Trump worked for his father's firm, Elizabeth Trump & Son. Upon graduating from Wharton in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics, he joined the company, and in 1971 was given control, renaming the company "The Trump Organization". He then went on to build hotels, golf courses, and other properties. He is a major figure in the American business scene. The NBC reality show The Apprentice kicked off his fame, and his three marriages were extensively reported in tabloids.
Trump ran for President of the United States once before: In 2000, he conducted an exploratory campaign and won two Reform Party primaries. In June 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for president in the 2016 election, and his campaign for the Republican nomination has drawn widespread media coverage partly due to his controversial statements and policy positions. Free media coverage, contributions and campaign self-financing have enabled him to eschew the super PAC model. He has consistently been the front-runner in public opinion polls for the Republican nomination, running on a populist platform that appeals to the concerns of working-class voters who feel displaced by job losses and other issues. Trump's politically incorrect anti-illegal-immigration politics, and concentration on terrorism and national security concerns, have garnered support among working-class voters as well as opposition from a number of Hispanics/Latinos, Muslims, business leaders, Democrats, Republicans, foreign leaders and the Pope.
Trump's party affiliation has changed over the years. Until 1987, he was a Democrat; then he was a Republican from 1987 to 1999. He then switched to the Reform Party from 1999 to 2001. From 2001 to 2009 he was a Democrat again; he switched to the Republican Party again from 2009 to 2011. An independent from 2011 to 2012, he returned to the Republican Party in 2012, where he has remained.
On social issues, Trump describes himself as pro-life and would ban late-term abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or health. He is in favor of cutting federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Trump is opposed to gun control. Trump opposes legalizing recreational marijuana but supports legalizing medical marijuana. Trump has stated that he supports traditional marriage. Regarding healthcare and education, Trump favors replacing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) with a free-market plan and competition to lower costs. Trump has stated his support for school choice and local control for primary and secondary schools. He opposes the Common Core State Standards Initiative for primary and secondary schools. On economic issues, Trump identifies as a "free trader". Trump believes the minimum wage should not be raised because increasing it would hurt America's economic competitiveness. On the issue of immigration, Trump has emphasized U.S. border security. Trump opposes birthright citizenship, arguing that it is not or should not be protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Regarding the environment, Trump has said that "the EPA is an impediment to both growth and jobs". Trump supports increased fracking and has criticized sustainable wind power alternatives, stating that "windmills are destroying every country they touch" while producing "unreliable and terrible" energy. He has called global warming "a total hoax". Regarding foreign policy, Trump has at various times said he favored sending U.S. troops as well as opposed sending U.S. troops to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. On February 18, 2016, he said that by the time the invasion occurred, he had become an opponent. In 2008, Trump said that George W. Bush should have been impeached for the war. Trump has been critical of Pakistan, comparing it to North Korea, describing it as "probably the most dangerous country" in the world, and claiming that Pakistan's nuclear weapons posed a "serious problem." He has advocated improving relations with India as a "check" to Pakistan.
Trumps awards and accomplishments include, Gaming Hall of Fame, NY Ride of Fame, Doctorate of Business Administration by Robert Gordon University. In February 2016 Trump was nominated by 'an anonymous U.S. politician' for the Nobel Peace Prize, for his 'vigorous peace through strength ideology', Honorary Doctor of Business from Liberty University, WWE Hall of Fame, Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Statesman of the Year, The Republican Party of Sarasota, Liberty Award, in 2015 at the Algemeiner Jewish 100 Gala in honor of his positive contributions to Israel–United States relations. Key to the City of Doral, Florida, Commandant of the Marine Corps Leadership Award in 2015, and inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame