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96-564: During the August exercise, US President Donald Trump referred to the exercise as "ridiculous and expensive". A few days after the conclusion of the exercise, Trump called joint military exercises between the US and South Korea "unnecessary" and a "total waste of money". North Korea regards the exercise as inconsistent with the 2018 Panmunjom and Pyongyang Declarations which emphasized a de-escalation of military hostilities. This article about

192-510: A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump 's handling of classified and national defense -related government documents beginning in 2022, looking for possible violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice . In November 2022, a special counsel investigation was launched to take over the FBI investigation, under

288-601: A bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. After becoming president of the family real estate business in 1971, he renamed it the Trump Organization . Trump launched side ventures following a series of bankruptcies in the 1990s, mostly by licensing the Trump name. From 2004 to 2015, he produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice . In 2015, Trump launched

384-479: A "special master" whose review would identify any privileged material or material not covered by the search warrant to ensure that the Justice Department return that material to Trump. Federal judge Aileen Cannon granted Trump's request and appointed Raymond Dearie as special master, a person suggested by Trump's legal team. Dearie was required to complete his review by November 30, 2022, and Trump

480-404: A "standing order" to declassify all material brought to Mar-a-Lago, though there is no known documentation of the order, and no former Trump administration official defends Trump on this point. Only one former Trump administration official, Kash Patel, initially agreed with Trump's claim that such an order existed; later, however, Patel refused to answer most questions when he went under oath before

576-703: A $ 100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (refinanced in 2022) and the liquidation of over $ 200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $ 421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024. As of October 2021 , Trump had over $ 1.3 billion in debts, much of which was secured by his assets. In 2020, he owed $ 640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Bank of China , Deutsche Bank , and UBS , and approximately $ 450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt. Trump has produced 19 books under his name. At least some of them have been written or co-written by ghostwriters . His first book, The Art of

672-744: A $ 70 million bank construction loan. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel , and that same year, he obtained rights to develop Trump Tower , a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was his primary residence until 2019. In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel with a loan from a consortium of sixteen banks. The hotel filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and

768-466: A 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups. The increased costs were used to get state approval for increasing

864-482: A Florida office — but no additional classified documents were found. Trump's lawyers said this satisfied the subpoena for classified documents issued six months earlier; the DOJ disagreed and asked DC District Chief Judge Beryl Howell to hold Trump in contempt of court. Though the court proceedings are officially sealed and not public, Judge Howell reportedly decided not to hold Trump in contempt of court, instead urging

960-735: A company that sold real estate seminars for up to $ 35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of "university" violated state law (as it was not an academic institution), its name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010. In 2013, the State of New York filed a $ 40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. Additionally, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use

1056-635: A congratulatory letter from former President Barack Obama . On May 6, Gary Stern—the general counsel for the National Archives—emailed Trump's representatives, including Patrick F. Philbin, to inform them that such material was missing. In the email, Stern named Pat Cipollone as a witness to the documents, identifying two dozen boxes that were in the White House but had not been transferred to the National Archives. Scott Gast,

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1152-477: A federal judge to compel his testimony; the judge declined, saying the Justice Department would first have to promise him immunity. The Justice Department then gave Patel limited-use immunity, meaning he would lose the immunity if he lied under oath, and he testified on November 3. On October 27, Trump's legal team and federal prosecutors came for a hearing at a federal courthouse in Washington, DC. The hearing

1248-412: A hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, he agreed to pay a total of $ 25 million to settle the three cases. The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. From 1987 to 2006, Trump gave his foundation $ 5.4 million which had been spent by

1344-402: A history of belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media. He made lewd comments, disparaged women's physical appearances, and referred to them using derogatory epithets. At least 25 women publicly accused him of sexual misconduct , including rape, kissing without consent, groping, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants. He has denied

1440-600: A hotel and casino, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation . It was unprofitable, and he paid Holiday $ 70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. In 1985, he bought the unopened Atlantic City Hilton Hotel and renamed it Trump Castle . Both casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992. Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal . It

1536-547: A presidential campaign that led to the Trumpism movement. Trump won the 2016 presidential election . His election and policies sparked numerous protests . In his first term , he ordered a travel ban targeting Muslims and refugees, funded the Trump wall expanding the U.S.–Mexico border wall, and implemented a family separation policy at that border. He rolled back more than 100 environmental policies and regulations, signed

1632-482: A reorganization plan was approved a month later, with the banks taking control of the property. In 1995, he defaulted on over $ 3 billion of bank loans, and the lenders seized the Plaza Hotel along with most of his other properties in a "vast and humiliating restructuring" that allowed him to avoid personal bankruptcy. The lead bank's attorney said of the banks' decision that they "all agreed that he'd be better alive than dead". In 1996, Trump acquired and renovated

1728-482: A representative for Trump, responded to Stern by giving him a note informing him that Trump would return his correspondence letters with Kim, although Trump was unclear on how to proceed. An archive official recommended FedEx as a method of transferring the documents; Trump aides objected to this idea, and Trump did not return the letters. Trump displayed these letters to people in his office, leading to Meadows contacting Philbin in an effort to figure out how to facilitate

1824-474: A review of state and federal court files conducted by USA Today in 2018, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions. While he has not filed for personal bankruptcy , his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while

1920-635: A storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida and were given to the FBI along with a laptop onto which they had been digitized. The storage unit had been arranged by the General Services Administration in coordination with Trump's team to store items from a North Virginia office that had been used by Trump's staffers. Three other locations were also searched — Trump Tower in New York, Trump's Bedminster Golf Club , and

2016-419: A white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case , even after they were exonerated in 2002 when the actual rapist confessed and his DNA matched the evidence. In October 2024, the men sued Trump for defamation after he said in a televised September debate that they had committed the crime and killed the woman. In 2011, when he was reportedly considering a presidential run, Trump became the leading proponent of

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2112-526: Is depleted by exercise. In 2015, his campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein , stating that he would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency". In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter and that three of Trump's agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on Bornstein’s office. Many of Trump's comments and actions have been described as racist . In national polling, about half of respondents said that he

2208-440: Is racist; a greater proportion believed that he emboldened racists. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled his political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a powerful indicator of support for Trump. He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping

2304-581: Is the highest possible classification and is supposed to be read exclusively in secure government facilities . Across three interactions with Trump in 2022, including the August search of Mar-a-Lago, the government recovered approximately 13,000 documents totaling 21,792 pages. Some of the recovered classified documents, including top secret documents, had been stored in boxes with personal effects such as press clippings, clothing, magazines and gifts. The government also recovered dozens of empty folders that carried classified markings. Trump claimed he made

2400-651: The Trump Princess , which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked; and other businesses. In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of the Trump Plaza. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal and the Trump Castle in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004 and 2009, leaving him with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009. In 1985, Trump acquired

2496-631: The College Board with legal action if they released his academic records. In 1977, Trump married the Czech model Ivana Zelníčková . They had three children: Donald Jr. (1977–), Ivanka (1981–), and Eric (1984–). The couple divorced in 1990, following his affair with the actress Marla Maples . He and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany (1993–), whom Maples raised in California. In 2005, he married

2592-537: The Eastern Air Lines Shuttle , financing the purchase with $ 380 million (equivalent to $ 979 million in 2023) in loans from a syndicate of 22 banks. He renamed the airline Trump Shuttle and operated it until 1992. He defaulted on his loans in 1991, and ownership passed to the banks. In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne , Elizabeth, and Robert , and his cousin John W. Walter, each with

2688-568: The Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. He declared the club his primary residence in 2019. The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999. It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide. The Trump Organization has licensed

2784-773: The New Jersey Generals , a team in the United States Football League . After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to his attempt to move to a fall schedule (when it would have competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit. Trump and his Plaza Hotel hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall . In 1989 and 1990, he lent his name to

2880-749: The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance started an investigation. His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets. Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $ 4.5 billion in 2015 to $ 3.1 billion in 2017 and his product-licensing income from $ 23 million to $ 3 million. Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $ 1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $ 250 million each year, were more than double those of

2976-709: The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey , and the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company. Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel , adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $ 400 million city property tax abatement arranged for him by his father who also, jointly with Hyatt , guaranteed

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3072-499: The Presidential Records Act . Trump subsequently notified NARA to add Kash Patel , a former Trump administration official, and journalist John Solomon as "representatives for access to Presidential records of my administration". Two years later, Trump admitted to taking classified documents from the White House during a televised response to a CNN reporter's questions. Trump said he had "every right" to take

3168-492: The Reform Party , in 1999; a Democrat in 2001; a Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012. In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, expressing his views on foreign policy and how to eliminate the federal budget deficit. In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater , asking to be put into consideration to be Republican nominee George H. W. Bush 's running mate. Bush found

3264-705: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and appointed three justices to the Supreme Court. He initiated a trade war with China, withdrew the U.S. from several international agreements, and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without progress on denuclearization. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic , Trump signed the CARES Act on March 27, 2020. He was impeached in 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and in 2021 for incitement of insurrection;

3360-744: The Tour de Trump cycling stage race, an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia . From 1986 to 1988, Trump purchased significant blocks of shares in various public companies while suggesting that he intended to take over the company and then sold his shares for a profit, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail . The New York Times found that he initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously". In 1988, Trump purchased

3456-698: The Trump administration and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regarding transferring documents related to the Trump administration. Under the Presidential Records Act ( 44 U.S.C.   §§ 2201 – 2209 ), any presidential documents under the current administration must be transferred to the Archivist of the United States by the end of their term. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows informed

3552-864: The White House , at Mar-a-Lago, and on Air Force One , despite repeated admonishments from at least two of his chiefs of staff and from White House counsel . His aides had developed special practices and protocols early in his presidency to retrieve the piles of torn paper and attempt to tape documents back together with the help of staffers from the Office of the Staff Secretary or the Oval Office Operations team. Not all materials were recovered; Trump White House staffers frequently used " burn bags " to destroy documents. On at least two occasions, Trump allegedly flushed documents down

3648-570: The investigation of the January 6 attack , and he gradually began working on the Mar-a-Lago document case. On November 18, Attorney General Merrick Garland named Jack Smith as independent special counsel to lead the investigation of the classified material case, and to review Trump's role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack , with specific focus on any potential obstruction to

3744-486: The 1982, 1983, and 1984 rankings. Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of a million dollars" from his father and that he had to pay it back with interest. He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $ 60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $ 413 million (2018 dollars adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and

3840-475: The 2020 election and his handling of classified documents , which were dismissed following his reelection in 2024. Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in Queens , New York City, the fourth child of Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump . He is of German and Scottish descent. He grew up with his older siblings, Maryanne , Fred Jr. , and Elizabeth, and his younger brother, Robert , in

3936-589: The Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller . While he was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz . According to The New Yorker , the book made Trump famous as an "emblem of the successful tycoon". Trump had cameos in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001. Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show . He had his own short-form talk radio program called Trumped! from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he

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4032-430: The Justice Department and Trump's team to resolve the matter of any remaining documents privately. Federal investigators reportedly suspect Trump had been playing a " shell game with classified documents", according to one of CNN's sources. On October 13, 2022, Kash Patel appeared before the grand jury. He chose to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer most questions. The Justice Department asked

4128-500: The Justice Department believed Trump had still not returned all the government documents in his possession. NARA also informed Congress that Trump had still not turned over all presidential records. In early December 2022, it was reported that Trump's attorneys had hired a search team to look for any classified material still in his possession, after being pressed by a federal judge to search more thoroughly for any remaining documents. Two documents with classified markings were found in

4224-466: The Justice Department sent counterintelligence chief Jay I. Bratt and three FBI agents to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the documents requested in the subpoena and meet with Trump's legal team. At the meeting, Christina Bobb , the Custodian of Records for purposes of the subpoena, gave a signed letter to the Justice Department certifying that a diligent search had been conducted and all documents responsive to

4320-642: The Justice Department subpoenaed Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage, which reportedly showed people putting boxes into other containers and moving them out of the basement storage room. The FBI suspected violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice due to information from "a significant number of civilian witnesses", as stated in an affidavit. This affidavit was used to obtain a search warrant. Having uncovered multiple sources of evidence that more classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago and "government records were likely concealed and removed from

4416-526: The National Archives during this period that he would take care of the documents. On January 18, 2021, at least two moving trucks were spotted outside Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private residence in Palm Beach, Florida . Pictures were taken on the day of his departure showing boxes of materials that he had taken with him. In May 2021, the National Archives became aware of missing documents. Among the missing material were correspondence letters with Kim Jong-un and

4512-464: The New York attorney general determined the foundation to be in violation of state law, for soliciting donations without submitting to required annual external audits, and ordered it to cease its fundraising activities in New York immediately. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved. In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against

4608-555: The Senate acquitted him in both cases. Trump's politics and rhetoric led to the creation of Trumpism . Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged, racist, and misogynistic. He promoted conspiracy theories and made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics. After his first term, scholars and historians ranked him as one of

4704-477: The Slovenian model Melania Knauss . They have one son, Barron (2006–). Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs. He sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise", but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy because he believes the body is "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy", which

4800-427: The Trump name for consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, learning courses, and home furnishings. According to The Washington Post , there are more than 50 licensing or management deals involving his name, and they have generated at least $ 59 million in revenue for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name. In September 1983, Trump purchased

4896-456: The U.S. government had classified, adding: "And don’t say I gave them to you, okay?" Woodward dictated the letters into his tape recorder, and in 2020, CNN published a transcript of two of these letters. In 2021, Trump reportedly told close associates that he regarded some presidential documents, such as the correspondence with Kim, to be his personal property. Trump illegally and regularly shredded "both sensitive and mundane" papers while at

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4992-399: The allegations. In October 2016, a 2005 " hot mic " recording surfaced in which Trump bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying that "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the pussy ." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during his 2016 presidential campaign and caused outrage across

5088-477: The banks restructured debt and reduced his shares in the properties. During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $ 4 billion. After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him. After the January ;6 Capitol attack , the bank decided not to do business with him or his company in the future. In 1982, Trump made

5184-526: The court wrote: "We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so." Trump did not appeal. On December 8, 2022, Dearie's review officially ended and the Justice Department regained the right to access the documents. On December 12, 2022, Judge Cannon dismissed Trump's Mar-a-Lago lawsuit due to "lack of jurisdiction". This nullified Trump's request for access to

5280-614: The direction of Jack Smith , a special counsel appointed by United States Attorney General Merrick Garland . On June 8, 2023, Trump was indicted on charges related to the documents in the Federal District Court in Miami. It was the first time a former U.S. president had faced federal charges. Trump was arraigned at the federal courthouse in Miami on June 13, 2023, on 37 criminal charges, pleading not guilty to all charges. On November 25, 2024, Smith announced that he

5376-666: The documents and that he "didn't make a secret of it" at the time. "I took what I took," he said, falsely claiming that "it gets declassified". He also said that he "would have the right" to show the documents to others, but he claimed that he had not done so and could not recollect doing so. The US head of state does not hold a formal security clearance , and is neither "read in" nor "read out" of classified matters, but according to former chief of staff John F. Kelly , Trump should have received an exit briefing "in some hopes that he would not violate all these rules on classified materials. The important message would have been, 'Once you're not

5472-418: The documents retrieved by NARA from Mar-a-Lago, archivists and federal agents determined that 184 unique documents had classification markings, of which 25 were marked " top secret ", 92 " secret " and 67 " confidential ". Some materials were governed by special access programs (SAP), a type of protocol reserved for extremely sensitive U.S. operations conducted abroad, intended to significantly limit access to

5568-423: The documents. This was the first time a former U.S. president was indicted on federal charges. On June 13, 2023, Trump was arrested, booked, and processed after surrendering himself into federal custody prior to his arraignment in the U.S. District Court of South Florida. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges. As part of the conditions for his release, Trump avoided paying bond, but was barred from discussing

5664-539: The end of 2006. After donating a total of $ 65,000 in 2007–2008, he stopped donating any personal funds to the charity, which received millions from other donors, including $ 5 million from Vince McMahon . The foundation gave to health- and sports-related charities, conservative groups, and charities that held events at Trump properties. In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion . Also in 2016,

5760-478: The executive branch. On September 29, 2022, Judge Cannon invalidated both of Dearie's requests. In the same decision, Cannon also extended Dearie's overall deadline to December 16, citing issues in finding a vendor to scan the 11,000 documents he was required to review. On December 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta overruled Judge Cannon's appointment of a special master. In its ruling,

5856-476: The first they heard of it was from 2022 media reports. In a June 2023 FOIA response, both the Justice Department and the intelligence community said they could not find any standing order. Despite not turning over all the requested material during his previous interactions with the government, Trump has said that the search warrant was unnecessary, claiming: "the government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it." Trump's legal team sued to request

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5952-409: The foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $ 2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $ 2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign. Roy Cohn

6048-475: The grand jury in October and it is unknown how he answered when he went under oath in November. Even had the information been declassified, it would have remained illegal for Trump to take and keep documents that belong to the government. In a November 2, 2022 interview, a former Trump White House employee told the FBI that they had been unaware of any such standing order during Trump's presidency and that

6144-724: The information. In May 2022, the Justice Department subpoenaed the National Archives in an attempt to obtain the documents, and had interviewed several White House officials who were present in the days leading up to Trump's departure from the White House, seemingly confirming that the Justice Department was beginning a grand jury investigation into the documents. The Justice Department also subpoenaed Trump in May 2022 to return all documents with classification markings. Between May 11 and June 3, one of Trump's attorneys, Evan Corcoran , took detailed notes of conversations in which he explained to Trump that he would indeed have to turn over all documents with classification markings. On June 3,

6240-768: The initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $ 200 million net worth (equivalent to $ 631 million in 2023). His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995. After filing the mandatory financial disclosure report with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $ 10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $ 1.4 billion in assets and $ 265 million in liabilities. Forbes estimated his net worth dropped by $ 1.4 billion between 2015 and 2018. In their 2024 billionaires ranking, his net worth

6336-528: The military of South Korea is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. He won the 2024 presidential election as the nominee of the Republican Party and will be inaugurated as the 47th president on January 20, 2025. Trump graduated with

6432-638: The mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street , later rebranded as the Trump Building. In the early 1990s, he won the right to develop a 70-acre (28 ha) tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, he sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who financed the project's completion, Riverside South . Trump's last major construction project

6528-605: The nearest taxpayers. In 1995, his reported losses were $ 915.7 million (equivalent to $ 1.83 billion in 2023). In 2020, The New York Times obtained Trump's tax information extending over two decades. Its reporters found that he reported losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. Since 2010 he had also failed to pay back $ 287 million in loans. During the 15 years prior to 2020, using tax credits for business losses, he paid no income taxes in 10 of those years and $ 750 each in 2016 and 2017. He balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including

6624-728: The political spectrum. Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned racially segregated middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs. In 1971, his father made him president of the company and he began using the Trump Organization as an umbrella brand . In 1975, Trump settled a 1973 Department of Justice civil rights lawsuit alleging housing discrimination against black renters by consenting to desegregate. Between 1991 and 2009, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six of his businesses:

6720-542: The practice as "ripe to be exploited by a foreign spy service eager for access to the epicenter of American power". In December 2019, Trump spoke to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward privately in the Oval Office . Trump showed a photograph of himself with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un , telling Woodward: "This is me and him. That’s the line, right? Then I walked over the line. Pretty cool." Trump also showed Woodward letters that Kim had written to him, which

6816-574: The preservation of presidential records. The Wall Street Journal quoted a former aide as saying: "If you only start packing with two days left to go, you're just running low on time. And if he's the one just throwing things in boxes, who knows what could happen?" The day before he left office, Trump designated seven senior Trump administration officials, including Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone , and Deputy White House Counsel Patrick F. Philbin , "as his representatives to handle all future requests for presidential records" for compliance with

6912-452: The president anymore, all the rules apply to you'". At the beginning of his term in office, President Joe Biden barred Trump from receiving the courtesy intelligence briefings traditionally given to former presidents, citing Trump's "erratic behavior". This is the first time a former president's access to the classified briefings has been denied. Following Trump's loss in the 2020 United States presidential election , talks began between

7008-463: The racist "birther" conspiracy theory , alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the U.S. In April, he claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later said this made him "very popular". In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S. In 2017, he reportedly expressed birther views privately. Trump has

7104-529: The related licensing agreements, they earned him more than $ 400 million. In February 2021, Trump, who had been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 1989, resigned to avoid a disciplinary hearing regarding the January ;6 attack. Two days later, the union permanently barred him. Trump registered as a Republican in 1987; a member of the Independence Party , the New York state affiliate of

7200-632: The rents of his rent-stabilized units. From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA . Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants in June 2015. In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University ,

7296-688: The request "strange and unbelievable". Trump was a candidate in the 2000 Reform Party presidential primaries for three months, but withdrew from the race in February 2000. In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election , making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February and giving speeches in early primary states. In May, he announced he would not run. His presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at

7392-423: The return of these documents. Trump's lawyers informed the National Archives in December that they had found 12 boxes of documents at the Mar-a-Lago. In January 2022, the National Archives had begun a process to retrieve 15 boxes that were taken from the White House at the end of Trump's term to his private Mar-a-Lago estate, and successfully negotiated with Trump's lawyers in retrieving the documents. Among what

7488-447: The search. Dearie asked Trump's team to certify (or formally dispute) the inventory and to state in court filings whether they believed the FBI had lied about what they seized. Trump's team objected that they wouldn't be able to meet the deadline. Dearie also asked Trump to identify which documents he believed were protected from disclosure to people outside the executive branch (like Congress) and which were protected from review within

7584-476: The storage room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government's investigation," the Justice Department sought a warrant to search Mar-a-Lago from a federal magistrate judge in early August 2022. On August 8, 2022, the FBI executed the search warrant on Mar-a-Lago. Thousands of government documents were seized, some with classification markings: top secret/ sensitive compartmented information (TS/SCI), top secret, secret, and confidential. TS/SCI

7680-599: The subpoena were being turned over. Trump's lawyers also claimed that all the documents were stored in a single basement storage room on the property. On June 8, Bratt emailed Trump's lawyers, telling them to put a stronger lock on the basement and to keep all documents "preserved in that room in their current condition until further notice". On June 19, Trump wrote to NARA, telling them that former Trump administration official Kash Patel, as well as journalist John Solomon, should be considered "representatives for access to Presidential records of my administration". On June 22,

7776-463: The time. Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016 and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee in May. FBI investigation into Donald Trump%27s handling of government documents Plasmic Echo was the codename for

7872-498: The toilet at the White House residence. Trump's presidential term ended at noon on January 20, 2021. His departure from the White House was "rushed and chaotic". In the last weeks of the Trump presidency, White House staff quit and aides resigned, leaving an increasing amount of work to a decreasing number of staff. A former Trump aide said they were "30 days behind what a typical administration would be", with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump taking little interest in

7968-462: The transfer of presidential power that may have occurred following the 2020 U.S. elections . In December, Smith and his team of 20 prosecutors filed subpoenas targeting Trump allies who worked at the local and state government levels during the 2020 elections in Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. On June 8, 2023, Trump was indicted on 37 counts related to

8064-442: The unredacted affidavit used to obtain the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. Even after the Mar-a-Lago search, the Justice Department stated in court filings that it was still determining whether more government documents remained missing. The search of Mar-a-Lago had retrieved empty folders with classification markings, raising the question of whether Trump still had documents. In September 2022, Jay I. Bratt informed Trump's lawyers that

8160-545: The wealthy Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens. He attended the private Kew-Forest School through seventh grade and New York Military Academy , a private boarding school, from eighth through twelfth grade. In 1964, Trump enrolled at Fordham University . Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania , graduating in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics. In 2015, he threatened his high school, colleges, and

8256-450: The worst presidents in American history. He lost the 2020 presidential election , but did not concede, falsely claiming widespread electoral fraud and attempting to overturn the results , including his involvement in the January 6 Capitol attack . In 2024, he was found guilty of falsifying business records , making him the first U.S. president to be convicted of a felony. He faced more felony indictments related to his interference in

8352-415: Was Trump's fixer , lawyer, and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the U.S. government for $ 100 million (equivalent to $ 686 million in 2023) over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump's counterclaims were dismissed, and the government's case

8448-479: Was a guest commentator on Fox & Friends . From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice . On the shows, he was a superrich and successful chief executive who eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "you're fired". The New York Times called his portrayal a "highly flattering, highly fictionalized version of Mr. Trump". The shows remade his image for millions of viewers nationwide. With

8544-557: Was contained in the documents was classified information. Following the discovery, the National Archives notified the Justice Department and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform began an investigation into the documents. The Justice Department instructed the National Archives not to share any more details about the documents to the committee, implying that the FBI was beginning a separate investigation. Of

8640-596: Was estimated to be $ 2.3 billion (1,438th in the world). In 2018, journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported that Trump had called him in 1984 pretending to be a fictional Trump Organization official named " John Barron ". Greenberg said that, to get a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans, Trump, speaking as "Barron", falsely asserted that Donald Trump owned more than 90 percent of his father's business. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on

8736-518: Was financed with $ 675 million in junk bonds and completed for $ 1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991. Under the provisions of the restructuring agreement, he gave up half his initial stake and personally guaranteed future performance. To reduce his $ 900 million of personal debt, he sold the Trump Shuttle airline; his megayacht,

8832-513: Was required to pay the costs. On September 21, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that the Justice Department could resume using the classified documents and that neither Special Master Dearie nor Trump's team needed to review the documents with classification markings. Early in the investigation, Trump informally suggested, without evidence, that the FBI planted classified documents taken during

8928-539: Was sealed, but it is known that it was at least partly related to whether all classified material in Trump's possession has been returned to the government. Previous court appearances by Trump's legal team had been in Florida; this was their first appearance in Washington, DC for this case. In late October, it was reported that the Justice Department had brought on federal prosecutor David Raskin. Raskin has worked on international counter-terrorism cases and, more recently, on

9024-463: Was seeking to drop all charges against Donald Trump in the aftermath of Trump's victory in the 2024 United States presidential election . During his term in office, Trump's attitude toward and handling of classified information had worried U.S. federal intelligence officials. His behavior led to mistrust in intelligence and law enforcement agencies who were also alarmed by Trump's mixing with guests during his frequent trips to Mar-a-Lago , viewing

9120-535: Was settled with the Trumps signing a consent decree agreeing to desegregate. In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things. Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government. According to

9216-590: Was the 92-story mixed-use Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago) which opened in 2008. In 2024, the New York Times and ProPublica reported that the Internal Revenue Service was investigating whether he had twice written off losses incurred through construction cost overruns and lagging sales of residential units in the building he had declared to be worthless on his 2008 tax return. In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza ,

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