Political career of Donald Trump

In 1999, Trump filed an exploratory committee to seek the nomination of the Reform Party for the 2000 presidential election.[6][7] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[8] Trump eventually dropped out of the race, but still went on to win the Reform Party primaries in California and Michigan.[7][9] After his run, he left the party due to the involvement of David Duke, Pat Buchanan, and Lenora Fulani.[6] He also considered running for president in 2004.[10] In 2008, he endorsed Republican John McCain for president.[11]

Trump speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, February 2011

Trump publicly speculated about running for president in the 2012 election, and made his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011. The speech is credited for helping kick-start his political career within the Republican Party.[12]

On May 16, 2011, Trump announced he would not run for president in the 2012 election.[13] In February 2012, Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president.[14]

Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.[15] Trump's moves were interpreted by some media as possible promotional tools for his reality show The Apprentice.[13][16][17] Before the 2016 election, The New York Times speculated that Trump "accelerated his ferocious efforts to gain stature within the political world" after Obama lampooned him at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in April 2011.[18]

In 2011, according to Evan Jones, the headmaster of the New York Military Academy at the time, the then-superintendent Jeffrey Coverdale had demanded Trump's academic records, to hand them over to "prominent, wealthy alumni of the school who were Mr. Trump's friends" at their request. Coverdale said he had refused to hand over Trump's records to trustees of the school, and instead sealed Trump's records on campus. Jones said: "It was the only time in my education career that I ever heard of someone's record being removed," while Coverdale further said: "It's the only time I ever moved an alumnus's records." The incident reportedly happened days after Trump demanded President Barack Obama's academic records.[19]

In 2013, Trump spoke at CPAC again;[20] he railed against illegal immigration, bemoaned Obama's "unprecedented media protection", advised against harming Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and suggested that the government "take" Iraq's oil and use the proceeds to pay a million dollars each to families of dead soldiers.[21][22] He spent over $1 million that year to research a possible 2016 candidacy.[23]

In October 2013, New York Republicans circulated a memo suggesting Trump should run for governor of the state in 2014 against Andrew Cuomo. Trump responded that while New York had problems and its taxes were too high, he was not interested in the governorship.[24] A February 2014 Quinnipiac poll had shown Trump losing to the more popular Cuomo by 37 points in a hypothetical election.[25]

Trump campaigning in Laconia, New Hampshire, July 2015

On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States at Trump Tower in Manhattan. In the speech, Trump discussed illegal immigration, offshoring of American jobs, the U.S. national debt, and Islamic terrorism, which all remained large priorities during the campaign. He also announced his campaign slogan: "Make America Great Again".[26][27] Trump said his wealth would make him immune to pressure from campaign donors.[28] He declared that he was funding his own campaign,[29] but according to The Atlantic, "Trump's claims of self-funding have always been dubious at best and actively misleading at worst."[30]

In the primaries, Trump was one of seventeen candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination. This was the largest presidential field in American history.[31] Trump's campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls.[32]

On Super Tuesday, Trump received the most votes, and he remained the front-runner throughout the primaries. By March 2016, Trump was poised to win the Republican nomination.[33] After a landslide win in Indiana on May 3, 2016 – which prompted the remaining candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich to suspend their presidential campaigns – RNC chairman Reince Priebus declared Trump the presumptive Republican nominee.[34]

After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump shifted his focus to the general election. Trump began campaigning against Hillary Clinton, who became the presumptive Democratic nominee on June 6, 2016.

Clinton had established a significant lead over Trump in national polls throughout most of 2016. In early July, Clinton's lead narrowed in national polling averages following the FBI's re-opening of its investigation into her ongoing email controversy.[35][36][37]

Candidate Trump and running mate Mike Pence at the Republican National Convention, July 2016

On July 15, 2016, Trump announced his selection of Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate.[38] Four days later, the two were officially nominated by the Republican Party at the Republican National Convention.[39] The list of convention speakers and attendees included former presidential nominee Bob Dole, but the other prior nominees did not attend.[40][41]

On September 26, 2016, Trump and Clinton faced off in their first presidential debate, which was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.[42] The second presidential debate was held at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. The beginning of that debate was dominated by references to a recently leaked tape of Trump making sexually explicit comments, which Trump countered by referring to alleged sexual misconduct on the part of Bill Clinton. Prior to the debate, Trump had invited four women who had accused Bill Clinton of impropriety to a press conference. The final presidential debate was held on October 19 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Trump's refusal to say whether he would accept the result of the election, regardless of the outcome, drew particular attention, with some saying it undermined democracy.[43][44]

Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. His other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. During the campaign, he also advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries[45] to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. During the campaign Trump repeatedly called NATO "obsolete".[46][47]

His political positions have been described as populist,[48][49][50] and some of his views cross party lines. For example, his economic campaign plan calls for large reductions in income taxes and deregulation,[51] consistent with Republican Party policies, along with significant infrastructure investment,[52] usually considered a Democratic Party policy.[53][54] According to political writer Jack Shafer, Trump may be a "fairly conventional American populist when it comes to his policy views", but he attracts free media attention, sometimes by making outrageous comments.[55][56]

Trump has supported or leaned toward varying political positions over time.[57][58][59] Politico has described his positions as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory",[59] while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign.[60]

In his campaign, Trump said he disdained political correctness; he also said the media had intentionally misinterpreted his words, and he made other claims of adverse media bias.[61][62][63] In part due to his fame, and due to his willingness to say things other candidates would not, and because a candidate who is gaining ground automatically provides a compelling news story, Trump received an unprecedented amount of free media coverage during his run for the presidency, which elevated his standing in the Republican primaries.[64]

Fact-checking organizations have denounced Trump for making a record number of false statements compared to other candidates.[65][66][67] At least four major publications – Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times – have pointed out lies or falsehoods in his campaign statements, with the Los Angeles Times saying that "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has".[68] NPR said Trump's campaign statements were often opaque or suggestive.[69]

Trump's penchant for hyperbole is believed to have roots in the New York real estate scene, where Trump established his wealth and where puffery abounds.[70] Trump adopted his ghostwriter's phrase "truthful hyperbole" to describe his public speaking style.[70][71]

According to Michael Barkun, the Trump campaign was remarkable for bringing fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream.[72] During his presidential campaign, Trump was accused of pandering to white supremacists.[73][74][75] He retweeted open racists,[76][77] and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan or white supremacists, in an interview on CNN's State of the Union, saying he would first need to "do research" because he knew nothing about Duke or white supremacists.[78][79] Duke himself enthusiastically supported Trump throughout the 2016 primary and election, and has said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back".[80][81]

After repeated questioning by reporters, Trump said he disavowed David Duke and the KKK.[82] Trump said on MSNBC's Morning Joe: "I disavowed him. I disavowed the KKK. Do you want me to do it again for the 12th time? I disavowed him in the past, I disavow him now."[82]

The alt-right movement coalesced around Trump's candidacy,[83] due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[84][85][86] Members of the alt-right enthusiastically supported Trump's campaign.[87] In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon – the executive chairman of Breitbart News – as his campaign CEO; Bannon described Breitbart News as "the platform for the alt-right".[88] In an interview days after the election, Trump condemned supporters who celebrated his victory with Nazi salutes.[89][90]

As a presidential candidate, Trump disclosed details of his companies, assets, and revenue sources to the extent required by the FEC. His 2015 report listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $265 million.[91][92] The 2016 form showed little change.[93]

Trump has not released his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promise in 2014 to do so if he ran for office.[94] He said his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them.[95] Trump has told the press his tax rate was none of their business, and that he tries to pay "as little tax as possible".[96]

In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years. During the second presidential debate, Trump acknowledged using the deduction, but declined to provide details such as the specific years it was applied.[97]

On March 14, 2017, the first two pages of Trump's 2005 federal income tax returns were leaked to MSNBC. The document states that Trump had a gross adjusted income of $150 million and paid $38 million in federal taxes. The White House confirmed the authenticity of the documents.[98][99]

On April 3, 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee made a formal request to the Internal Revenue Service for Trump's personal and business tax returns from 2013 to 2018, setting a deadline of April 10.[100] That day, Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said the deadline would not be met,[101] and the deadline was extended to April 23, which also was not honored,[102] and on May 6 Mnuchin said the request would be denied.[103] On May 10, 2019, committee chairman Richard Neal subpoenaed the Treasury Department and the IRS for the returns and seven days later the subpoenas were defied.[104][105] A fall 2018 draft IRS legal memo asserted that Trump must provide his tax returns to Congress unless he invokes executive privilege, contradicting the administration's justification for defying the earlier subpoena.[106] Mnuchin asserted the memo actually addressed a different matter.[107]