Donald Trump: Difference between revisions

In 1977, Trump married Czech model [[Ivana Zelníčková]].{{sfn|Blair|2015|p=300}} They had three children: [[Donald Jr.]] (born 1977), [[Ivanka Trump|Ivanka]] (1981), and [[Eric Trump|Eric]] (1984). The couple divorced in 1990, following his affair with actress [[Marla Maples]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Baron |first=James |date=December 12, 1990 |title=Trumps Get Divorce; Next, Who Gets What? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/12/nyregion/trumps-get-divorce-next-who-gets-what.html |access-date=March 5, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> He and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, [[Tiffany Trump|Tiffany]] (born 1993), who Maples raised in California.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hafner |first=Josh |date=July 19, 2016 |title=Get to know Donald's other daughter: Tiffany Trump |url=https://usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/19/who-is-tiffany-trump/87321708/ |access-date=July 10, 2022 |work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref> In 2005, he married Slovenian model [[Melania Knauss]].{{sfn|Kranish|Fisher|2017|p=266}} They have one son, [[Barron Trump|Barron]] (born 2006).<ref>{{cite news |date=July 2, 2021 |title=Donald Trump Fast Facts |url=https://cnn.com/2013/07/04/us/donald-trump-fast-facts/ |access-date=September 29, 2021 |publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs.<!-- DO NOT CHANGE preceding sentence without prior consensus; see [[Talk:Donald Trump#Current consensus]], item 67. --><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/30/us/trump-biden-alcohol.html|title=In Trump and Biden, a Choice of Teetotalers for President|last=Nagourney|first=Adam|date=October 30, 2020|work=The New York Times|accessdate=February 5, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kavanaugh-likes-beer--but-trump-is-a-teetotaler-he-doesnt-like-drinkers/2018/10/02/783f585c-c674-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html|title=Kavanaugh likes beer — but Trump is a teetotaler: 'He doesn't like drinkers.'|last1=Parker|first1=Ashley|last2=Rucker|first2=Philip|date=October 2, 2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=February 5, 2021}}</ref> He sleeps about four or five hours a night.<!-- DO NOT CHANGE preceding sentence without prior consensus; see [[Talk:Donald Trump#Current consensus]], item 67. --><ref>{{cite news|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3970379/donald-trump-sleep-hours-night/|title=Donald Trump sleeps 4–5 hours each night; he's not the only famous 'short sleeper'|last=Dangerfield|first=Katie|date=January 17, 2018|work=[[Global News]]|accessdate=February 5, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Douglas|last1=Almond|first2=Xinming|last2=Du|journal=[[Economics Letters]]|title=Later bedtimes predict President Trump's performance|volume=197|doi=10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109590|date=December 2020|pmid=33012904 |pmc=7518119 | issn=0165-1765}}</ref> He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise", but usually does not walk the course.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2018/07/14/donald-trump-exercise-golf-cart-turnberry-110166/|title=Donald Trump says he gets most of his exercise from golf, then uses cart at Turnberry|work=Golf News Net|date=July 14, 2018|access-date=July 4, 2019|first=Ryan|last=Ballengee}}</ref> He considers exercise a waste of energy because he believes the body is "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy", which is depleted by exercise.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-thinks-that-exercising-too-much-uses-up-the-bodys-finite-energy/2017/05/12/bb0b9bda-365d-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html|first=Rachael|last=Rettner|title=Trump thinks that exercising too much uses up the body's 'finite' energy|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 14, 2017|access-date=September 29, 2021}}</ref>{{sfn|O'Donnell|Rutherford|1991|p=133}} 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".<ref name="dictation">{{cite news|first1=Alex|last1=Marquardt|first2=Lawrence III|last2=Crook|title=Exclusive: Bornstein claims Trump dictated the glowing health letter|url=https://cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/harold-bornstein-trump-letter/|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=May 1, 2018|access-date=May 20, 2018}}</ref> 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 the doctor's office.<ref name="dictation"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-doc-says-trump-bodyguard-lawyer-raided-his-office-took-n870351|title=Trump doctor Harold Bornstein says bodyguard, lawyer 'raided' his office, took medical files|last=Schecter|first=Anna|date=May 1, 2018|publisher=[[NBC News]]|access-date=June 6, 2019}}</ref>

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,<ref name="Buettner-190508">{{cite news |last1=Buettner |first1=Russ |last2=Craig |first2=Susanne |author-link2=Susanne Craig |date=May 7, 2019 |title=Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/07/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html |access-date=May 8, 2019 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> leading some observers to think he was engaged in [[greenmail]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mattingly|first1=Phil|last2=Jorgensen|first2=Sarah|url=https://cnn.com/2016/08/22/politics/donald-trump-activist-investor/|title=The Gordon Gekko era: Donald Trump's lucrative and controversial time as an activist investor|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=August 23, 2016|access-date=September 14, 2022}}</ref> ''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".<ref name="Buettner-190508" />

The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a [[Private foundation (United States)|private foundation]] established in 1988.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133404773|title=Nonprofit Explorer|work=[[ProPublica]]|first1=Mike|last1=Tigas|first2=Sisi|last2=Wei|date=May 9, 2013|access-date=September 9, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=David A.|last=Fahrenthold|author-link=David Fahrenthold|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/01/trump-pays-irs-a-penalty-for-his-foundation-violating-rules-with-gift-to-florida-attorney-general/|title=Trump pays IRS a penalty for his foundation violating rules with gift to aid Florida attorney general|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 1, 2016|access-date=September 30, 2021}}</ref> From 1987 to 2006, Trump gave his foundation $5.4&nbsp;million which had been spent by the end of 2006. After donating a total of $65,000 in 2007–2008, he stopped donating any personal funds to the charity,<ref name="retool">{{cite news|first=David A.|last=Fahrenthold|author-link=David Fahrenthold|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-retooled-his-charity-to-spend-other-peoples-money/2016/09/10/da8cce64-75df-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html|title=How Donald Trump retooled his charity to spend other people's money|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 10, 2016|access-date=March 19, 2024}}</ref> which received millions from other donors, including $5&nbsp;million from [[Vince McMahon]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Pallotta|first=Frank|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/18/media/vince-mcmahon-donald-trump-payments/index.html|title=Investigation into Vince McMahon's hush money payments reportedly turns up Trump charity donations|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=August 18, 2022|access-date=March 19, 2024}}</ref> The foundation gave to health- and sports-related charities, conservative groups,<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Long Island Business News]]|date=September 15, 2016|access-date=September 30, 2021|first=Claude|last=Solnik|title=Taking a peek at Trump's (foundation) tax returns|url=https://libn.com/2016/09/15/taking-a-peek-at-trumps-foundation-tax-returns/}}</ref> and charities that held events at Trump properties.<ref name="retool" />

During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Reuters]]|date=July 17, 2016|first=Emily|last=Flitter|title=Art of the spin: Trump bankers question his portrayal of financial comeback|access-date=October 14, 2018|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-bankruptcies-insig/art-of-the-spin-trump-bankers-question-his-portrayal-of-financial-comeback-idUSKCN0ZX0GP}}</ref> After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Business Insider]]|date=December 8, 2017|first=Allan|last=Smith|title=Trump's long and winding history with Deutsche Bank could now be at the center of Robert Mueller's investigation|access-date=October 14, 2018|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-deutsche-bank-mueller-2017-12}}</ref> After the [[January 6 Capitol attack]], the bank decided not to do business with him or his company in the future.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Riley|first1=Charles|last2=Egan|first2=Matt|title=Deutsche Bank won't do any more business with Trump|url=https://cnn.com/2021/01/12/investing/deutsche-bank-trump/|access-date=September 14, 2022|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=January 12, 2021}}</ref>

In 1982, Trump made the initial ''[[Forbes]]'' list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200&nbsp;million net worth (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|200|1982}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).{{Inflation/fn|US}} His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Timothy L. |author-link=Timothy L. O'Brien |date=October 23, 2005 |title=What's He Really Worth? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/business/yourmoney/whats-he-really-worth.html |access-date=February 25, 2016 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> After filing the mandatory financial disclosure report with the [[Federal Election Commission|FEC]] in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10&nbsp;billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4&nbsp;billion in assets and $265&nbsp;million in liabilities.<ref name="disclosure">{{cite news |last1=Diamond |first1=Jeremy |last2=Frates |first2=Chris |date=July 22, 2015 |title=Donald Trump's 92-page financial disclosure released |url=https://cnn.com/2015/07/22/politics/donald-trump-personal-financial-disclosure/ |access-date=September 14, 2022 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> ''Forbes'' estimated his net worth dropped by $1.4&nbsp;billion between 2015 and 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last=Walsh |first=John |date=October 3, 2018 |title=Trump has fallen 138 spots on Forbes' wealthiest-Americans list, his net worth down over $1 billion, since he announced his presidential bid in 2015 |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-forbes-wealthiest-people-in-the-us-list-2018-10 |access-date=October 12, 2021 |work=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref> In their 2024 billionaires ranking, his net worth was estimated to be $2.3&nbsp;billion (1,438th in the world).<!-- Update preceding values annually per [[Talk:Donald Trump#Current consensus]], item 5. Otherwise, DO NOT CHANGE without prior consensus. --><ref>{{cite news |year=2024 |title=Profile Donald Trump |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/donald-trump/?list=billionaires |access-date=March 28, 2024 |work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>

Trump registered as a Republican in 1987;<ref name="reg">{{cite news|last=Gillin|first=Joshua|title=Bush says Trump was a Democrat longer than a Republican 'in the last decade'|url=https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/aug/24/jeb-bush/bush-says-trump-was-democrat-longer-republican-las/|access-date=March 18, 2017|work=[[PolitiFact]]|date=August 24, 2015}}</ref> a member of the [[Independence Party of New York|Independence Party]], the New York state affiliate of the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]], in 1999;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/10/25/trump.cnn/|title=Trump Officially Joins Reform Party|work=[[CNN]]|date=October 25, 1999|access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref> a Democrat in 2001; a Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012.<ref name="reg"/>

Trump described NATO as "obsolete"<ref>{{cite news|first=Jenna|last=Johnson|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/04/12/trump-on-nato-i-said-it-was-obsolete-its-no-longer-obsolete/|title=Trump on NATO: 'I said it was obsolete. It's no longer obsolete.'|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 12, 2017|access-date=November 26, 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Edwards|2018|loc="On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly called North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 'obsolete'"}} and espoused views that were described as [[noninterventionist]] and protectionist.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rucker|first1=Philip|author-link1=Philip Rucker|last2=Costa|first2=Robert|author-link2=Robert Costa (journalist)|date=March 21, 2016|access-date=August 24, 2021|title=Trump questions need for NATO, outlines noninterventionist foreign policy|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/21/donald-trump-reveals-foreign-policy-team-in-meeting-with-the-washington-post/}}</ref> His campaign platform emphasized renegotiating [[China–United States relations|U.S.–China relations]] and free trade agreements such as [[NAFTA]], strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building [[Trump wall|a new wall]] along the [[U.S.–Mexico border]]. Other campaign positions included pursuing [[energy independence]] while opposing climate change regulations, modernizing [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs#Veterans Benefits Administration|services for veterans]], repealing and replacing the [[Affordable Care Act]], abolishing [[Common Core]] education standards, [[infrastructure-based development|investing in infrastructure]], simplifying the [[Internal Revenue Code|tax code]] while reducing taxes, and imposing [[tariff]]s on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated increasing military spending and extreme vetting or banning of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37982000|title=Trump's promises before and after the election|date=September 19, 2017|access-date=October 1, 2021|work=[[BBC]]}}</ref> Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter debate during the 2016 campaign. He promised to build [[Trump wall|a wall]] on the [[Mexico–U.S. border]] to restrict illegal movement and vowed that Mexico would pay for it.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 6, 2017 |title=Donald Trump's Mexico wall: Who is going to pay for it? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37243269 |access-date=December 9, 2017 |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref> He pledged to deport millions of [[Illegal immigrant population of the United States|illegal immigrants residing in the U.S.]],<ref>{{cite news |date=August 19, 2015 |title=Donald Trump emphasizes plans to build 'real' wall at Mexico border |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/donald-trump-emphasizes-plans-to-build-real-wall-at-mexico-border-1.3196807 |access-date=September 29, 2015 |work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}</ref> and criticized [[Birthright citizenship in the United States|birthright citizenship]] for incentivizing "[[anchor babies]]".<ref>{{cite news |last=Oh |first=Inae |date=August 19, 2015 |title=Donald Trump: The 14th Amendment is Unconstitutional |url=https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/08/donald-trump-has-some-thoughts-about-the-constitution |access-date=November 22, 2015 |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]}}</ref> According to an analysis in ''[[Political Science Quarterly]]'', Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schaffner |first1=Brian F. |author-link1=Brian Schaffner |last2=Macwilliams |first2=Matthew |last3=Nteta |first3=Tatishe |date=March 2018 |title=Understanding White Polarization in the 2016 Vote for President: The Sobering Role of Racism and Sexism |journal=[[Political Science Quarterly]] |volume=133 |issue=1 |pages=9–34 |doi=10.1002/polq.12737 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In particular, his campaign launch speech drew criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists";<ref>{{cite web |last=Wolf |first=Z. Byron |date=April 6, 2018 |title=Trump basically called Mexicans rapists again |url=https://cnn.com/2018/04/06/politics/trump-mexico-rapists/ |access-date=June 28, 2022 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> in response, NBC fired him from ''Celebrity Apprentice''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-13 |title=NBC Officially Fires Trump From 'Celebrity Apprentice' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/nbc-officially-fires-trump-celebrity-apprentice-n409381 |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=[[NBC News]]}}</ref> His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding [[Trump University]] were also criticized as racist.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Steinhauer |first1=Jennifer |author-link1=Jennifer Steinhauer |last2=Martin |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Martin (journalist) |last3=Herszenhorn |first3=David M. |date=June 7, 2016 |title=Paul Ryan Calls Donald Trump's Attack on Judge 'Racist', but Still Backs Him |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/us/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-gonzalo-curiel.html |access-date=January 13, 2018 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

He did not release [[Donald Trump's tax returns|his tax returns]], contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/11/donald-trump-breaks-with-recent-history-by-not-releasing-tax-returns/|title=Donald Trump Breaks With Recent History by Not Releasing Tax Returns|last=Rappeport|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Rappeport|date=May 11, 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 19, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Qiu|first=Linda|title=Pence's False claim that Trump 'hasn't broken' tax return promise|url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/05/mike-pence/pences-false-claim-trump-hasnt-broken-tax-return-p/|work=[[PolitiFact]]|date=October 5, 2016|access-date=April 29, 2020}}</ref> He said his tax returns were being [[Income tax audit|audited]], and that his lawyers had advised him against releasing them.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/26/pf/taxes/trump-tax-returns-audit/|title=Trump says he can't release tax returns because of audits|last1=Isidore|first1=Chris|last2=Sahadi|first2=Jeanne|date=February 26, 2016|access-date=March 1, 2023|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the [[Manhattan district attorney]] for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2021/02/22/politics/supreme-court-trump-taxes-vance/|title=Supreme Court allows release of Trump tax returns to NY prosecutor|first=Ariane|last=de Vogue|date=February 22, 2021|access-date=September 14, 2022|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Jessica|last=Gresko|url=https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-donald-trump-tax-rercords-3aee14146906351ee9dd34aa7b6f4386|title=Supreme Court won't halt turnover of Trump's tax records|date=February 22, 2021|access-date=October 2, 2021|work=[[AP News]]}}</ref>

Trump was sued for violating the [[Domestic Emoluments Clause|Domestic]] and [[Foreign Emoluments Clause]]s of the [[U.S. Constitution]], marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated.<ref name=CRSRpt>{{cite report|title=In Focus: The Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF11086.pdf|date=August 19, 2020|access-date=October 2, 2021|work=[[Congressional Research Service]]}}</ref> One case was dismissed in lower court.<ref>{{cite news|last=LaFraniere|first=Sharon|author-link=Sharon LaFraniere|title=Lawsuit on Trump Emoluments Violations Gains Traction in Court|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/us/politics/trump-emoluments-lawsuit.html|date=January 25, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 25, 2018}}</ref> Two were dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court as moot after the end of his term.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2021/01/25/politics/emoluments-supreme-court-donald-trump-case/|title=Supreme Court dismisses emoluments cases against Trump|first1=Ariane|last1=de Vogue|first2=Devan|last2=Cole|work=[[CNN]]|date=January 25, 2021|access-date=September 14, 2022}}</ref>

Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of [[fossil fuel]]s.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gardner|first=Timothy|title=Senate confirms Brouillette, former Ford lobbyist, as energy secretary|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-energy-brouillette/senate-confirms-brouillette-former-ford-lobbyist-as-energy-secretary-idUSKBN1Y62E6|access-date=December 15, 2019|work=[[Reuters]]|date=December 3, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/mt-state-wire-climate-ap-top-news-climate-change-ca-state-wire-2b44ced0e892d7e988e40a486d875b5d|work=[[AP News]]|title=Trump's fossil fuel agenda gets pushback from federal judges|first=Matthew|last=Brown|date=September 15, 2020|access-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref> Natural gas expanded under Trump, but coal continued to decline.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lipton |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Lipton |date=October 5, 2020 |title='The Coal Industry Is Back,' Trump Proclaimed. It Wasn't. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/us/politics/trump-coal-industry.html |access-date=October 3, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name=Subramaniam>{{cite news|first=Tara|last=Subramaniam|url=https://cnn.com/2021/01/30/politics/trump-broken-promises/|title=From building the wall to bringing back coal: Some of Trump's more notable broken promises|work=[[CNN]]|date=January 30, 2021|access-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref> He rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed [[greenhouse gas emissions]], air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing [[Arctic Refuge drilling controversy|drilling in the Arctic Refuge]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Popovich|first1=Nadja|last2=Albeck-Ripka|first2=Livia|last3=Pierre-Louis|first3=Kendra|title=The Trump Administration Rolled Back More Than 100 Environmental Rules. Here's the Full List.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html|work=The New York Times|date=January 20, 2021|access-date=December 21, 2023}}</ref>

During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the [[Affordable Care Act]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Kodjak|first=Alison|author-link=Alison Kodjak|title=Trump Can Kill Obamacare With Or Without Help From Congress|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/09/501203831/trump-can-kill-obamacare-with-or-without-help-from-congress|access-date=January 12, 2017|work=[[NPR]]|date=November 9, 2016}}</ref> In office, he scaled back the Act's implementation through executive orders.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/us/politics/trump-executive-order-obamacare.html|title=Trump Issues Executive Order Scaling Back Parts of Obamacare|last1=Davis|first1=Julie Hirschfeld|author-link1=Julie Hirschfeld Davis|last2=Pear|first2=Robert|author-link2=Robert Pear|date=January 20, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 23, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/news/economy/trump-health-care-executive-order/index.html|title=What's in Trump's health care executive order?|first=Tami|last=Luhby|work=[[CNN]]|date=October 13, 2017|access-date=October 14, 2017}}</ref> He expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration halved the [[Annual enrollment|enrollment period]] and drastically reduced funding for enrollment promotion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/18/trump-tweet-obamacare-repeal-failure-240664|title=Trump says he plans to 'let Obamacare fail'|last=Nelson|first=Louis|date=July 18, 2017|work=[[Politico]]|access-date=September 29, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/trump-obamacare-sabotage-enrollment-cuts_us_59a87bffe4b0b5e530fd5751|title=Trump Ramps Up Obamacare Sabotage With Huge Cuts To Enrollment Programs|last=Young|first=Jeffrey|date=August 31, 2017|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=September 29, 2017}}</ref> In June 2018, the Trump administration [[California v. Texas|joined 18 Republican-led states in arguing before the Supreme Court]] that the elimination of the financial penalties associated with the individual mandate had rendered the Act unconstitutional.<ref name=StolbergACA>{{cite news|first=Sheryl Gay|last=Stolberg|title=Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Strike Down Affordable Care Act|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/obamacare-trump-administration-supreme-court.html|work=The New York Times|date=June 26, 2020|access-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Obamacare Must 'Fall,' Trump Administration Tells Supreme Court|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/06/26/883819835/obamacare-must-fall-trump-administration-tells-supreme-court|work=[[NPR]]|first=Mark|last=Katkov|date=June 26, 2020|access-date=September 29, 2021}}</ref> Their pleading would have eliminated [[Health insurance coverage in the United States|health insurance coverage]] for up to 23&nbsp;million Americans, but was unsuccessful.<ref name=StolbergACA/> During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs. In January 2020, he expressed willingness to consider cuts to them.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/us/politics/medicare-trump.html|title=Trump Opens Door to Cuts to Medicare and Other Entitlement Programs|first1=Alan|last1=Rappeport|author-link1=Alan Rappeport|first2=Maggie|last2=Haberman|author-link2=Maggie Haberman|date=January 22, 2020|access-date=January 24, 2020|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Trump barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals from receiving federal funds.<ref>{{cite news|title=Abortion: How do Trump and Biden's policies compare?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54003808 |work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=July 17, 2023|date=September 9, 2020}}</ref> He said he supported "traditional marriage", but considered the [[Same-sex marriage in the United States|nationwide legality]] of [[same-sex marriage]] "settled".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2016/11/14/politics/trump-gay-marriage-abortion-supreme-court/|title=Trump: Same-sex marriage is 'settled', but Roe v Wade can be changed|work=[[CNN]]|first=Ariane|last=de Vogue|date=November 15, 2016|access-date=November 30, 2016}}</ref> His administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against [[Discrimination against LGBT people|discrimination of LGBTQ people]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lgbtq-advocates-say-trump-s-news-executive-order-makes-them-n740301|title=LGBTQ Advocates Say Trump's New Executive Order Makes Them Vulnerable to Discrimination|publisher=[[NBC News]]|first=Mary Emily|last=O'Hara|date=March 30, 2017|access-date=July 30, 2017}}</ref> His attempted rollback of anti-discrimination protections for [[transgender]] patients in August 2020 was halted by a federal judge after a Supreme Court ruling extended employees' civil rights protections to [[gender identity]] and sexual orientation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Luthi|first=Susannah|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/17/judge-trump-rollback-transgender-health-397332|title=Judge halts Trump's rollback of transgender health protections|work=[[Politico]]|date=August 17, 2020|access-date=November 8, 2023}}</ref>

Trump has said he is [[Gun politics in the United States|opposed]] to [[gun control]], although his views have shifted over time.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2016/06/20/politics/donald-trump-gun-positions-nra-orlando/|title=The times Trump changed his positions on guns|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 20, 2016|access-date=October 3, 2021|first=Gregory|last=Krieg}}</ref> After several [[mass shootings in the United States|mass shootings]] during his term, he said he would propose legislation related to guns, but he abandoned that effort in November 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-quietly-abandons-proposing-ideas-to-curb-gun-violence-after-saying-he-would-following-mass-shootings/2019/10/31/8bca030c-fa6e-11e9-9534-e0dbcc9f5683_story.html|title=Trump abandons proposing ideas to curb gun violence after saying he would following mass shootings|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Josh|last=Dawsey|author-link=Josh Dawsey|date=November 1, 2019|access-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref> His administration took an [[Cannabis policy of the Donald Trump administration|anti-marijuana position]], revoking [[Cole Memorandum|Obama-era policies]] that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bures|first=Brendan|date=February 21, 2020|access-date=October 3, 2021|title=Trump administration doubles down on anti-marijuana position|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/marijuana/sns-tft-trump-anti-marijuana-stance-20200221-jfdx4urbb5bhrf6ldtfpxleopi-story.html}}</ref>

Trump is a long-time advocate of capital punishment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wolf|first=Zachary B.|title=Trump returns to the death penalty as Democrats turn against it|url=https://cnn.com/2019/07/27/politics/death-penalty-trump-democrats/|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=September 18, 2022|date=July 27, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Honderich|first=Holly|title=In Trump's final days, a rush of federal executions|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55236260|work=[[BBC]]|date=January 16, 2021|access-date=September 18, 2022}}</ref> Under his administration, the [[Capital punishment by the United States federal government|federal government executed]] 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined, ending a 17-year moratorium.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Michael|last1=Tarm|first2=Michael|last2=Kunzelman|title=Trump administration carries out 13th and final execution|url=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-wildlife-coronavirus-pandemic-crime-terre-haute-28e44cc5c026dc16472751bbde0ead50|work=[[AP News]]|date=January 15, 2021|access-date=January 30, 2022}}</ref> In 2016, he said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as [[waterboarding]].<ref>{{cite news|last=McCarthy|first=Tom|title=Donald Trump: I'd bring back 'a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/06/donald-trump-waterboarding-republican-debate-torture|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=February 7, 2016|access-date=February 8, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ted Cruz, Donald Trump Advocate Bringing Back Waterboarding|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/ted-cruz-donald-trump-advocate-bringing-back-waterboarding-36764410|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=February 6, 2016|access-date=February 9, 2016}}</ref>

In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen—all from minorities, three of whom are native-born Americans—should "[[Go back where you came from|go back]]" to the countries they "came from".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rogers |first1=Katie |last2=Fandos |first2=Nicholas |author-link2=Nicholas Fandos |date=July 14, 2019 |title=Trump Tells Congresswomen to 'Go Back' to the Countries They Came From |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/14/us/politics/trump-twitter-squad-congress.html |access-date=September 30, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Two days later the House of Representatives voted 240–187, mostly along party lines, to condemn his "racist comments".<ref>{{cite web |last=Mak |first=Tim |date=July 16, 2019 |title=House Votes To Condemn Trump's 'Racist Comments' |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/07/16/742236610/condemnation-of-president-delayed-by-debate-can-lawmakers-call-trump-tweets-raci |access-date=July 17, 2019 |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref> [[White nationalist]] publications and social media praised his remarks, which continued over the following days.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Mallory |last2=Sidner |first2=Sara |author-link2=Sara Sidner |date=July 16, 2019 |title=Trump said 'many people agree' with his racist tweets. These white supremacists certainly do. |url=https://cnn.com/2019/07/16/politics/white-supremacists-cheer-trump-racist-tweets-soh/ |access-date=July 20, 2019 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> He continued to make similar remarks during his 2020 campaign.<ref>{{cite web |last=Choi |first=Matthew |date=September 22, 2020 |title='She's telling us how to run our country': Trump again goes after Ilhan Omar's Somali roots |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/22/trump-attacks-ilhan-omar-420267 |access-date=October 12, 2021 |work=[[Politico]]}}</ref>[[File:President Trump Visits St. John's Episcopal Church (49964153176).jpg|thumb|Trump and group of officials and advisors on the way from the White House to St. John's Church]]

The temporary order was replaced by [[Presidential Proclamation 9645]] on September&nbsp;24, 2017, which restricted travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further banned travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials.<ref>{{cite news|last=Laughland|first=Oliver|date=September 25, 2017|title=Trump travel ban extended to blocks on North Korea, Venezuela and Chad|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/25/trump-travel-ban-extended-to-blocks-on-north-korea-and-venezuela|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=October 13, 2017}}</ref> After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December&nbsp;4, 2017,<ref>{{cite news|title=Supreme Court lets Trump's latest travel ban go into full effect|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-immigration/supreme-court-lets-trumps-latest-travel-ban-go-into-full-effect-idUSKBN1DY2NY|first=Lawrence|last=Hurley|date=December 4, 2017|access-date=October 3, 2021|work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a ruling in June 2019.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wagner|first1=Meg|last2=Ries|first2=Brian|last3=Rocha|first3=Veronica|url=https://cnn.com/politics/live-news/supreme-court-travel-ban/|title=Supreme Court upholds travel ban|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 26, 2018|access-date=June 26, 2018}}</ref>

Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he acceded to intense public objection and signed an executive order in June 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" of a risk to the child.<ref>{{cite news|last=Beckwith|first=Ryan Teague|title=Here's What President Trump's Immigration Order Actually Does|url=https://time.com/5317703/trump-family-separation-policy-executive-order/|access-date=May 30, 2020|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=June 20, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=The New York Times|date=June 20, 2018|first1=Michael D.|last1=Shear|author-link1=Michael D. Shear|first2=Abby|last2=Goodnough|first3=Maggie|last3=Haberman|author-link3=Maggie Haberman|title=Trump Retreats on Separating Families, but Thousands May Remain Apart|access-date=June 20, 2018|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/trump-immigration-children-executive-order.html}}</ref> On June&nbsp;26, 2018, Judge [[Dana Sabraw]] concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification;<ref>{{cite news|last=Hansler|first=Jennifer|title=Judge says government does a better job of tracking 'personal property' than separated kids|url=https://cnn.com/2018/06/27/politics/family-separation-federal-judge-personal-property-comment/|access-date=May 30, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 27, 2018}}</ref> Sabraw ordered for the families to be reunited and family separations stopped except in limited circumstances.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/27/us-immigration-must-reunite-families-separated-at-border-federal-judge-rules|title=Judge orders US to reunite families separated at border within 30 days|last=Walters|first=Joanna|date=June 27, 2018|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=May 30, 2020}}</ref> After the order, the administration separated more than a thousand migrant children from their families; the [[ACLU]] contended that the administration had abused its discretion and asked Sabraw to more narrowly define the circumstances warranting separation.<ref name="Spagat"/>

Trump withdrew the U.S. from the [[Trans-Pacific Partnership]] (TPP) negotiations,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2017/01/23/politics/trump-tpp-things-to-know/|title=Trump's TPP withdrawal: 5 things to know|last=Bradner|first=Eric|date=January 23, 2017|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=March 12, 2018}}</ref> imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/10/war-over-steel-trump-tips-global-trade-turmoil-tariffs|title=The war over steel: Trump tips global trade into new turmoil|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=March 10, 2018|access-date=March 15, 2018|last=Inman|first=Phillip}}</ref> and launched a [[China–United States trade war|trade war with China]] by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50&nbsp;billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-ministry/trump-sets-tariffs-on-50-billion-in-chinese-goods-beijing-strikes-back-idUSKBN1JB0KC|title=Trump sets tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods; Beijing strikes back|date=June 15, 2018|access-date=October 3, 2021|work=[[Reuters]]|first1=David|last1=Lawder|first2=Ben|last2=Blanchard}}</ref> While he said that import tariffs are paid by China into the [[U.S. Treasury]], they are paid by American companies that import goods from China.<ref>{{cite news|last=Singh|first=Rajesh Kumar|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-tariffs-explainer-idUSKCN1UR5YZ|title=Explainer: Trump's China tariffs – Paid by U.S. importers, not by China|work=[[Reuters]]|date=August 2, 2019|access-date=November 27, 2022}}</ref> Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large [[trade deficits]], the trade deficit skyrocketed under Trump.<ref name="Palmer 2021">{{cite news|last1=Palmer|first1=Doug| title=America's trade gap soared under Trump, final figures show|work=[[Politico]]|date=February 5, 2021|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/05/2020-trade-figures-trump-failure-deficit-466116|access-date=June 1, 2024}}</ref> Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the [[United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement]] (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rodriguez|first=Sabrina|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/24/north-american-trade-deal-to-take-effect-on-july-1-207402|title=North American trade deal to take effect on July 1|date=April 24, 2020|access-date=January 31, 2022|work=[[Politico]]}}</ref>

Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]]<ref>{{cite news|last=Baker|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Baker (journalist)|date=August 10, 2017|title=Trump Praises Putin Instead of Critiquing Cuts to U.S. Embassy Staff|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/world/europe/putin-trump-embassy-russia.html|access-date=June 7, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Nussbaum|first=Matthew|date=April 8, 2018|access-date=October 5, 2021|title=Trump blames Putin for backing 'Animal Assad'|work=[[Politico]]|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/08/trump-putin-syria-attack-508223}}</ref> but opposed some actions of the Russian government.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nord Stream 2: Trump approves sanctions on Russia gas pipeline|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50875935|work=[[BBC News]]|date=December 21, 2019|access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Trump expelling 60 Russian diplomats in wake of UK nerve agent attack|url=https://cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/us-expel-russian-diplomats/|work=[[CNN]]|first1=Jeremy|last1=Diamond|author-link1=Jeremy Diamond|first2=Allie|last2=Malloy|first3=Angela|last3=Dewan|date=March 26, 2018|access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref> After he met Putin at the [[Helsinki Summit]] in 2018, he drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of [[Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election]], rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref>{{cite news|last=Zurcher|first=Anthony|title=Trump-Putin summit: After Helsinki, the fallout at home|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44830012|access-date=July 18, 2018|work=[[BBC]]|date=July 16, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/07/trump-putin/565238/|title=Trump Sides With the Kremlin, Against the U.S. Government|last=Calamur|first=Krishnadev|date=July 16, 2018|work=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=July 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2018/07/16/politics/congress-reaction-trump-putin-comments/|title=Top Republicans in Congress break with Trump over Putin comments|last=Fox|first=Lauren|date=July 16, 2018|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=July 18, 2018}}</ref> He did not discuss alleged [[Russian bounties]] offered to [[Taliban]] fighters for attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin, saying both that he doubted the intelligence and that he was not briefed on it.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Savage|first1=Charlie|author-link1=Charlie Savage (author)|last2=Schmitt|first2=Eric|author-link2=Eric P. Schmitt|last3=Schwirtz|first3=Michael|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/us/politics/russian-bounties-nsc.html|title=Russian Spy Team Left Traces That Bolstered C.I.A.'s Bounty Judgment|work=The New York Times|date=May 17, 2021 |access-date=March 4, 2022}}</ref>

In 2017, when [[North Korea's nuclear weapons]] were increasingly seen as a serious threat,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Adam|last2=Meko|first2=Tim|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/12/21/what-made-north-koreas-weapons-programs-so-much-scarier-in-2017/|title=What made North Korea's weapons programs so much scarier in 2017|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=December 21, 2017|access-date=July 5, 2019}}</ref> Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".<ref name=Windrem>{{cite news|last1=Windrem|first1=Robert|last2=Siemaszko|first2=Corky|last3=Arkin|first3=Daniel|date=May 2, 2017|title=North Korea crisis: How events have unfolded under Trump|work=[[NBC News]]|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/north-korea-crisis-how-events-have-unfolded-under-trump-n753996|access-date=June 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Borger|first=Julian|author-link=Julian Borger|title=Donald Trump threatens to 'totally destroy' North Korea in UN speech|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/19/donald-trump-threatens-totally-destroy-north-korea-un-speech|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=September 19, 2017}}</ref> In 2017, he declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in [[name-calling]] with leader [[Kim Jong Un]].<ref name=Windrem/><ref>{{cite news|last=McCausland|first=Phil|title=Kim Jong Un Calls President Trump 'Dotard' and 'Frightened Dog'|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/north-korea-s-kim-jong-un-calls-president-trump-frightened-n803631|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=[[NBC News]]|date=September 22, 2017}}</ref> After this period of tension, he and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/transcripts-kim-jong-un-letters-trump/|work=[[CNN]]|date=September 9, 2020|access-date=October 5, 2021|title=Transcript: Kim Jong Un's letters to President Trump}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='A magical force': New Trump-Kim letters provide window into their 'special friendship'|date=September 9, 2020|access-date=October 5, 2021|last1=Gangel|first1=Jamie|author-link1=Jamie Gangel|last2=Herb|first2=Jeremy|work=[[CNN]]|url=https://cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/kim-jong-un-trump-letters-rage-book/}}</ref> In March 2019, he lifted some U.S. [[sanctions against North Korea]] against the advice of his Treasury Department.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/world/asia/north-korea-sanctions.html|work=The New York Times|date=March 22, 2019|access-date=September 30, 2021|title=Trump Overrules Own Experts on Sanctions, in Favor to North Korea|first=Alan|last=Rappeport|author-link=Alan Rappeport}}</ref>

The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of his first year in office, 34&nbsp;percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-12-28/trumps-white-house-has-highest-turnover-rate-in-40-years|title=Trump White House Has Highest Turnover in 40 Years|last=Trimble|first=Megan|date=December 28, 2017|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> {{As of|2018|7|pre=early}}, 61&nbsp;percent of his senior aides had left<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/395222-ap-trump-admin-sets-record-for-white-house-turnover|title=AP: Trump admin sets record for White House turnover|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=July 2, 2018|access-date=July 3, 2018|last=Wise|first=Justin}}</ref> and 141 staffers had left in the previous year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-white-house-sets-turnover-records-analysis-shows-n888396|title=Trump White House sets turnover records, analysis shows|work=[[NBC News]]|date=July 2, 2018|access-date=July 3, 2018|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years.<ref name="Keith">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/03/07/591372397/white-house-staff-turnover-was-already-record-setting-then-more-advisers-left|title=White House Staff Turnover Was Already Record-Setting. Then More Advisers Left|last=Keith|first=Tamara|work=[[NPR]]|date=March 7, 2018|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> Notable early departures included National Security Advisor [[Michael Flynn]] (after just 25 days), and Press Secretary [[Sean Spicer]].<ref name="Keith"/> Close personal aides to Trump including Bannon, [[Hope Hicks]], [[John McEntee (political aide)|John McEntee]], and [[Keith Schiller]] quit or were forced out.<ref name=Brookings>{{cite news|first1=Kathryn Dunn|last1=Tenpas|first2=Elaine|last2=Kamarck|first3=Nicholas W.|last3=Zeppos|url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/|title=Tracking Turnover in the Trump Administration|date=March 16, 2018|website=[[Brookings Institution]]|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref> Some later returned in different posts.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rogers|first1=Katie|last2=Karni|first2=Annie|author-link2=Annie Karni|title=Home Alone at the White House: A Sour President, With TV His Constant Companion|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/us/politics/coronavirus-trump.html|access-date=May 5, 2020|work=The New York Times|date=April 23, 2020}}</ref> He publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.<ref>{{cite news|last=Cillizza|first=Chris|author-link=Chris Cillizza|title=Donald Trump makes terrible hires, according to Donald Trump|url=https://cnn.com/2020/06/19/politics/trump-mulvaney-bolton-hiring/|access-date=June 24, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 19, 2020}}</ref>

Trump initially ignored persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-04-19/coronavirus-outbreak-president-trump-slow-response|title=How Trump let the U.S. fall behind the curve on coronavirus threat|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 19, 2020|access-date=April 21, 2020|first1=David S.|last1=Cloud|first2=Paul|last2=Pringle|author-link2=Paul Pringle|first3=Eli|last3=Stokols|author-link3=Eli Stokols}}</ref><ref name="NYT 4 11 20">{{cite news|first1=Eric|last1=Lipton|author-link1=Eric Lipton|first2=David E.|last2=Sanger|author-link2=David E. Sanger|first3=Maggie|last3=Haberman|author-link3=Maggie Haberman|first4=Michael D.|last4=Shear|author-link4=Michael D. Shear|first5=Mark|last5=Mazzetti|author-link5=Mark Mazzetti|first6=Julian E.|last6=Barnes|title=He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump's Failure on the Virus|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html|access-date=April 11, 2020|work=The New York Times|date=April 11, 2020}}</ref> Throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Caroline|date=March 21, 2020|title=Washington Post: US intelligence warned Trump in January and February as he dismissed coronavirus threat|work=[[CNN]]|url=https://cnn.com/2020/03/20/politics/us-intelligence-reports-trump-coronavirus/|access-date=April 21, 2020}}</ref> In February 2020 he publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than [[influenza]], was "very much under control", and would soon be over.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/timeline-president-donald-trump-changing-statements-on-coronavirus/|title=A timeline of what Trump has said on coronavirus|last=Watson|first=Kathryn|date=April 3, 2020|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=January 27, 2021}}</ref> On March&nbsp;19, 2020, he privately told [[Bob Woodward]] that he was deliberately "playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic".<ref>{{cite news|date=September 10, 2020|title=Trump deliberately played down virus, Woodward book says|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54094559|access-date=September 18, 2020|work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Gangel|first1=Jamie|author-link1=Jamie Gangel|last2=Herb|first2=Jeremy|last3=Stuart|first3=Elizabeth|date=September 9, 2020|title='Play it down': Trump admits to concealing the true threat of coronavirus in new Woodward book|url=https://cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/bob-woodward-rage-book-trump-coronavirus|access-date=September 14, 2022|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

By mid-March, most global financial markets had [[2020 stock market crash|severely contracted]] in response to the pandemic.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Partington|first1=Richard|last2=Wearden|first2=Graeme|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/09/global-stock-markets-post-biggest-falls-since-2008-financial-crisis|title=Global stock markets post biggest falls since 2008 financial crisis|date=March 9, 2020|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=March 15, 2020}}</ref> On March&nbsp;6, Trump signed the [[Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act]], which provided $8.3&nbsp;billion in emergency funding for federal agencies.<ref>{{cite news|title=Trump signs emergency coronavirus package, injecting $8.3 billion into efforts to fight the outbreak|url=https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-signs-billion-emergency-funding-package-fight-coronavirus-legislation-covid19-020-3-1028972206|work=[[Business Insider]]|first=Gina|last=Heeb|date=March 6, 2020|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref> On March&nbsp;11, the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) recognized COVID-19 as a [[pandemic]],<ref name="WHOpandemic2">{{cite news|url=https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020|title=WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 11 March 2020|date=March 11, 2020|work=[[World Health Organization]]|access-date=March 11, 2020}}</ref> and he announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March&nbsp;13.<ref>{{cite news|title=Coronavirus: What you need to know about Trump's Europe travel ban|url=https://www.thelocal.dk/20200312/trump-imposes-travel-ban-from-europe-over-coronavirus-outbreak|work=[[The Local]]|date=March 12, 2020|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref> That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-address.html|title=In Rare Oval Office Speech, Trump Voices New Concerns and Old Themes|last1=Karni|first1=Annie|author-link1=Annie Karni|last2=Haberman|first2=Maggie|author-link2=Maggie Haberman|date=March 12, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 18, 2020}}</ref> On March&nbsp;13, he declared a [[national emergency]], freeing up federal resources.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2020/03/13/politics/donald-trump-emergency/|title=Trump declares national emergency – and denies responsibility for coronavirus testing failures|last=Liptak|first=Kevin|date=March 13, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=March 18, 2020}}</ref> He claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test", despite test availability being severely limited.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://khn.org/news/donald-trumps-wrong-claim-that-anybody-can-get-tested-for-coronavirus/|title=Donald Trump's Wrong Claim That 'Anybody' Can Get Tested For Coronavirus|last=Valverde|first=Miriam|date=March 12, 2020|work=[[Kaiser Health News]]|access-date=March 18, 2020}}</ref>

Trump established the [[White House Coronavirus Task Force]] on January&nbsp;29, 2020.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-outbreak-task-force-created-by-trump-to-lead-us-government-response-to-wuhan-virus/|title=Trump creates task force to lead U.S. coronavirus response|work=[[CBS News]]|date=January 30, 2020|access-date=October 10, 2020}}</ref> Beginning in mid-March, he held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials,<ref name=Karni>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-briefing.html|title=In Daily Coronavirus Briefing, Trump Tries to Redefine Himself|last=Karni|first=Annie|author-link=Annie Karni|date=March 23, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref> sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-malaria-drug.html|title=Trump's Aggressive Advocacy of Malaria Drug for Treating Coronavirus Divides Medical Community|first1=Peter|last1=Baker|author-link1=Peter Baker (journalist)|first2=Katie|last2=Rogers|first3=David|last3=Enrich|author-link3=David Enrich|first4=Maggie|last4=Haberman|author-link4=Maggie Haberman|date=April 6, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref> He was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press.<ref name=Karni/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/5812588/donald-trump-coronavirus-briefings-message-campaign/|title='He's Walking the Tightrope.' How Donald Trump Is Getting Out His Message on Coronavirus|last=Berenson|first=Tessa|date=March 30, 2020|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref> On March&nbsp;16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dale|first=Daniel|author-link=Daniel Dale|title=Fact check: Trump tries to erase the memory of him downplaying the coronavirus|url=https://cnn.com/2020/03/17/politics/fact-check-trump-always-knew-pandemic-coronavirus/|access-date=March 19, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|date=March 17, 2020}}</ref> His repeated use of "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/2020/3/18/21185478/coronavirus-usa-trump-chinese-virus|title=Trump's new fixation on using a racist name for the coronavirus is dangerous|last=Scott|first=Dylan|access-date=March 19, 2020|date=March 18, 2020|work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newsweek.com/who-langauge-stigmatizing-coronavirus-trump-chinese-1493172|title=WHO expert condemns language stigmatizing coronavirus after Trump repeatedly calls it the 'Chinese virus'|date=March 19, 2020|access-date=March 19, 2020|last=Georgiou|first=Aristos|work=[[Newsweek]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/488311-us-china-relationship-worsens-over-coronavirus|title=US-China relationship worsens over coronavirus|last=Beavers|first=Olivia|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=March 19, 2020|access-date=March 19, 2020}}</ref>

In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, he said the task force would "indefinitely" continue.<ref>{{cite news|last=Liptak|first=Kevin|title=In reversal, Trump says task force will continue 'indefinitely' – eyes vaccine czar|url=https://cnn.com/2020/05/06/politics/trump-task-force-vaccine/|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Acosta|first1=Jim|author-link1=Jim Acosta|last2=Liptak|first2=Kevin|last3=Westwood|first3=Sarah|title=As US deaths top 100,000, Trump's coronavirus task force is curtailed|url=https://cnn.com/2020/05/28/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-task-force/|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|date=May 29, 2020}}</ref>

Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the WHO and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid.<ref name="Politico_WHO">{{cite news|last=Ollstein|first=Alice Miranda|title=Trump halts funding to World Health Organization|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/14/trump-world-health-organization-funding-186786|access-date=September 7, 2020|work=[[Politico]]|date=April 14, 2020}}</ref> His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half.<ref name="Politico_WHO"/> In May and April, he accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging" COVID-19, alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the pandemic's origins,<ref name="Politico_WHO"/><ref name="CNN_WHO">{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Zachary|last2=Hansler|first2=Jennifer|last3=Atwood|first3=Kylie|last4=Salama|first4=Vivian|last5=Murray|first5=Sara|author-link5=Sara Murray (journalist)|title=Trump administration begins formal withdrawal from World Health Organization|url=https://cnn.com/2020/07/07/politics/us-withdrawing-world-health-organization/|access-date=July 19, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|date=July 7, 2020}}</ref><ref name="BBC_WHO">{{cite news|title=Coronavirus: Trump moves to pull US out of World Health Organization|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53327906|access-date=August 11, 2020|work=[[BBC News]]|date=July 7, 2020}}</ref> and announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization.<ref name="Politico_WHO"/> These were seen as attempts to distract from his own mishandling of the pandemic.<ref name="Politico_WHO"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Wood|first=Graeme|author-link=Graeme Wood (journalist)|title=The WHO Defunding Move Isn't What It Seems|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/trump-threatens-defund-world-health-organization/610030/|access-date=September 7, 2020|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=April 15, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Phillips|first=Amber|title=Why exactly is Trump lashing out at the World Health Organization?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/08/why-exactly-is-president-trump-lashing-out-world-health-organization/|access-date=September 8, 2020|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 8, 2020}}</ref> In July 2020, he announced the formal withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO, effective July 2021.<ref name="CNN_WHO"/><ref name="BBC_WHO"/> The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".<ref name="CNN_WHO"/><ref name="BBC_WHO"/>

In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized [[Protests in the United States over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic|anti-lockdown protests]] against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic;<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Jason|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/17/far-right-coronavirus-protests-restrictions|title=The rightwing groups behind wave of protests against Covid-19 restrictions|date=April 17, 2020|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=April 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Andone|first=Dakin|url=https://cnn.com/2020/04/16/us/protests-coronavirus-stay-home-orders/|title=Protests Are Popping Up Across the US over Stay-at-Home Restrictions|date=April 16, 2020|access-date=October 7, 2021|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Shear|first1=Michael D.|author-link1=Michael D. Shear|last2=Mervosh|first2=Sarah|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-governors.html|title=Trump Encourages Protest Against Governors Who Have Imposed Virus Restrictions|date=April 17, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2020}}</ref> although the targeted states did not meet his administration's guidelines for reopening.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/493701-trump-support-for-protests-threatens-to-undermine-social-distancing|title=Trump support for protests threatens to undermine social distancing rules|last1=Chalfant|first1=Morgan|last2=Samuels|first2=Brett|date=April 20, 2020|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date=July 10, 2020}}</ref> In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] Governor [[Brian Kemp]]'s plan to reopen some nonessential businesses.<ref>{{cite news|title=Trump approved of Georgia's plan to reopen before bashing it|url=https://apnews.com/article/a031d395d414ffa655fdc65e6760d6a0|work=[[AP News]]|access-date=April 28, 2020|date=April 24, 2020|first1=Jonathan|last1=Lemire|first2=Ben|last2=Nadler}}</ref> Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions to reverse the damage to the country's economy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/18/trump-reopening-economy-193885|title=Trump's unspoken factor on reopening the economy: Politics|last=Kumar|first=Anita|date=April 18, 2020|work=[[Politico]]|access-date=July 10, 2020}}</ref> He often refused to [[Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic|mask]] at public events, contrary to his administration's April 2020 guidance to wear masks in public<ref name=99days>{{cite news|last=Danner|first=Chas|title=99 Days Later, Trump Finally Wears a Face Mask in Public|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/trump-finally-wears-a-face-mask-in-public-covid-19.html|access-date=July 12, 2020|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=July 11, 2020}}</ref> and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing spread of the virus.<ref name="WAPost_Mask">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/25/trumps-dumbfounding-refusal-encourage-wearing-masks/|title=Trump's dumbfounding refusal to encourage wearing masks|last=Blake|first=Aaron|date=June 25, 2020|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 10, 2020}}</ref> By June, he had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally.<ref name="WAPost_Mask"/> His contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.<ref name=99days/><ref name="WAPost_Mask"/>

In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/14/trump-says-us-would-have-half-the-number-of-coronavirus-cases-if-it-did-half-the-testing.html|title=Trump says U.S. would have half the number of coronavirus cases if it did half the testing|last=Higgins-Dunn|first=Noah|date=July 14, 2020|work=[[CNBC]]|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/23/trumps-right-that-with-less-testing-we-record-fewer-cases-fact-thats-already-happening/|title=Trump is right that with lower testing, we record fewer cases. That's already happening.|last=Bump|first=Philip|date=July 23, 2020|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref> The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/26/cdc-quietly-revises-coronavirus-guidance-to-downplay-importance-of-testing-for-asymptomatic-people.html|title=CDC quietly revises coronavirus guidance to downplay importance of testing for asymptomatic people|last=Feuer|first=Will|date=August 26, 2020|work=[[CNBC]]|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/world/covid-19-coronavirus.html|title=The C.D.C. changes testing guidelines to exclude those exposed to virus who don't exhibit symptoms.|date=August 26, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref> In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists.<ref name="CNN-testing-pressure">{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2020/08/26/politics/cdc-coronavirus-testing-guidance/|title=CDC was pressured 'from the top down' to change coronavirus testing guidance, official says|date=August 26, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|first1=Nick|last1=Valencia|first2=Sara|last2=Murray|author-link2=Sara Murray (journalist)|first3=Kristen|last3=Holmes|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref><ref name=Gumbrecht>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2020/09/18/health/covid-19-testing-guidance-cdc-hhs/|title=Controversial coronavirus testing guidance came from HHS and didn't go through CDC scientific review, sources say|date=September 18, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|first1=Jamie|last1=Gumbrecht|first2=Sanjay|last2=Gupta|author-link2=Sanjay Gupta|first3=Nick|last3=Valencia|access-date=September 18, 2020}}</ref> The day after this [[Trump administration political interference with science agencies|political interference]] was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation.<ref name=Gumbrecht/>

On October&nbsp;2, 2020, Trump tweeted that he had tested positive for [[COVID-19]], part of a White House outbreak.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Liptak|first1=Kevin|last2=Klein|first2=Betsy|date=October 5, 2020|title=A timeline of Trump and those in his orbit during a week of coronavirus developments|url=https://cnn.com/2020/10/02/politics/timeline-trump-coronavirus/|access-date=October 3, 2020|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> Later that day [[Donald Trump's COVID-19 infection|he was hospitalized]] at [[Walter Reed National Military Medical Center]], reportedly due to fever and labored breathing. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. He returned to the White House on October&nbsp;5, still infectious and unwell.<ref name="downplay">{{cite news|last1=Olorunnipa|first1=Toluse|author-link1=Toluse Olorunnipa|last2=Dawsey|first2=Josh|author-link2=Josh Dawsey|title=Trump returns to White House, downplaying virus that hospitalized him and turned West Wing into a 'ghost town'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-walter-reed-discharge-mask/2020/10/05/91edbe9a-071a-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html|access-date=October 5, 2020|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=October 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name="sicker">{{cite news|last1=Weiland|first1=Noah|last2=Haberman|first2=Maggie|author-link2=Maggie Haberman|last3=Mazzetti|first3=Mark|author-link3=Mark Mazzetti|last4=Karni|first4=Annie|author-link4=Annie Karni|date=February 11, 2021|title=Trump Was Sicker Than Acknowledged With Covid-19|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/us/politics/trump-coronavirus.html |access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref> During and after his treatment he continued to downplay the virus.<ref name="downplay"/> In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case.<ref name="sicker"/> In January 2021, he received a COVID-19 vaccination.<ref name="D&MT_1">{{cite news |last1=Acosta |first1=J. |last2=Kelly |first2=C. |title= Donald and Melania Trump received Covid vaccine at the White House in January |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/01/politics/trump-melania-vaccinated-white-house/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=March 1, 2021 |access-date=November 8, 2024 |quote=Former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump received the Covid-19 vaccine at the White House in January.}}</ref>

Many suspicious<ref>{{cite news|last=Harding|first=Luke|title=How Trump walked into Putin's web|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=November 15, 2017|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/15/how-trump-walked-into-putins-web-luke|access-date=May 22, 2019}}</ref> [[links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies]] were discovered and the relationships between Russians and "team Trump", including Manafort, Flynn, and Stone, were widely reported by the press.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/13/donald-trump-russia-vladimir-putin-us-election-hack|title=Trump's relationship with Russia – what we know and what comes next|last=McCarthy|first=Tom|date=December 13, 2016|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/03/the-web-of-relationships-between-team-trump-and-russia/|title=The web of relationships between Team Trump and Russia|last=Bump|first=Philip|date=March 3, 2017|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/4433880/donald-trump-ties-to-russia/|title=Donald Trump's Many, Many, Many, Many Ties to Russia|last=Nesbit|first=Jeff|date=August 2, 2016|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=February 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/19/paul-manaforts-complicated-ties-to-ukraine-explained/|title=Paul Manafort's complicated ties to Ukraine, explained|last=Phillips|first=Amber|date=August 19, 2016|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref> Members of Trump's campaign and his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the election.<ref>{{cite news|title=We Still Don't Know What Happened Between Trump and Russia|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/we-still-dont-know-what-happened-between-trump-and-russia/602116/|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=November 15, 2019|access-date=October 7, 2021|first=David A.|last=Graham}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-contacts-idUSKCN18E106|title=Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: sources|last1=Parker|first1=Ned|last2=Landay|first2=Jonathan|last3=Strobel|first3=Warren|date=May 18, 2017|access-date=May 19, 2017|work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> On December&nbsp;29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador [[Sergey Kislyak]] about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2017/02/13/politics/michael-flynn-white-house-national-security-adviser/|title=Flynn resigns amid controversy over Russia contacts|last1=Murray|first1=Sara|author-link1=Sara Murray (journalist)|last2=Borger|first2=Gloria|author-link2=Gloria Borger|last3=Diamond|first3=Jeremy|author-link3=Jeremy Diamond (journalist)|date=February 14, 2017|access-date=March 2, 2017|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> Trump told Kislyak and [[Sergei Lavrov]] in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-told-russian-officials-in-2017-he-wasnt-concerned-about-moscows-interference-in-us-election/2019/09/27/b20a8bc8-e159-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html|title=Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn't concerned about Moscow's interference in U.S. election|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 27, 2019|access-date=October 8, 2021|first1=Shane|last1=Harris|author-link1=Shane Harris|first2=Josh|last2=Dawsey|author-link2=Josh Dawsey|first3=Ellen|last3=Nakashima|author-link3=Ellen Nakashima}}</ref>

A redacted version of the report, publicly released in April 2019, found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump.<ref>{{cite news|title=Main points of Mueller report|date=January 16, 2012 |url=https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/main-points-mueller-report-doc-1fr5vv1|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|access-date=April 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420143436/https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/main-points-mueller-report-doc-1fr5vv1|archive-date=April 20, 2019}}</ref> Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the report found that the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ostriker|first1=Rebecca|last2=Puzzanghera|first2=Jim|last3=Finucane|first3=Martin|last4=Datar|first4=Saurabh|last5=Uraizee|first5=Irfan|last6=Garvin|first6=Patrick|title=What the Mueller report says about Trump and more|url=https://apps.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/graphics/2019/03/mueller-report/|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=April 18, 2019|access-date=April 22, 2019}}</ref><ref name="takeaways">{{cite news|last=Law|first=Tara|title=Here Are the Biggest Takeaways From the Mueller Report|date=April 18, 2019|url=https://time.com/5567077/mueller-report-release/|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=April 22, 2019}}</ref> The report revealed sweeping Russian interference<ref name="takeaways"/> and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing it would benefit them electorally.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lynch|first1=Sarah N.|last2=Sullivan|first2=Andy|date=April 18, 2018|title=In unflattering detail, Mueller report reveals Trump actions to impede inquiry|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKCN1RU0DN |access-date=July 10, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=The New York Times|date=July 24, 2019|first=Mark|last=Mazzetti|author-link=Mark Mazzetti|title=Mueller Warns of Russian Sabotage and Rejects Trump's 'Witch Hunt' Claims|access-date=March 4, 2020|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/us/politics/trump-mueller-testimony.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 30, 2019|last=Bump|first=Philip|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/30/trump-briefly-acknowledges-that-russia-aided-his-election-falsely-says-he-didnt-help-effort/|access-date=March 5, 2020|title=Trump briefly acknowledges that Russia aided his election – and falsely says he didn't help the effort}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Polantz|first1=Katelyn|last2=Kaufman|first2=Ellie|last3=Murray|first3=Sara|url=https://cnn.com/2020/06/19/politics/mueller-report-rerelease-fewer-redactions/|title=Mueller raised possibility Trump lied to him, newly unsealed report reveals|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 19, 2020|access-date=October 30, 2022}}</ref>

In August 2019, a [[Whistleblower protection in the United States|whistleblower]] filed a complaint with the [[Inspector General of the Intelligence Community]] about a July&nbsp;25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian president [[Volodymyr Zelenskyy]], during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Biden and his son [[Hunter Biden|Hunter]].<ref name="undermine">{{cite news|last=Bump|first=Philip|title=Trump wanted Russia's main geopolitical adversary to help undermine the Russian interference story|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/25/trump-wanted-russias-main-geopolitical-adversary-help-him-undermine-russian-interference-story/|access-date=October 1, 2019|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 25, 2019}}</ref> The whistleblower said that the White House had attempted to cover up the incident and that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Trump attorney [[Rudy Giuliani]] that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip.<ref name="abuse">{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Marshall|last2=Polantz|first2=Katelyn|last3=Shortell|first3=David|last4=Kupperman|first4=Tammy|last5=Callahan|first5=Michael|url=https://cnn.com/2019/09/26/politics/whistleblower-complaint-released/|title=Whistleblower says White House tried to cover up Trump's abuse of power|work=[[CNN]]|date=September 26, 2019|access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref>

On January&nbsp;31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Herb|first1=Jeremy|last2=Mattingly|first2=Phil|last3=Raju|first3=Manu|author-link3=Manu Raju|last4=Fox|first4=Lauren|title=Senate impeachment trial: Wednesday acquittal vote scheduled after effort to have witnesses fails|url=https://cnn.com/2020/01/31/politics/senate-impeachment-trial-last-day/|access-date=February 2, 2020|work=[[CNN]]|date=January 31, 2020}}</ref> The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bookbinder|first=Noah|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/09/senate-has-conducted-15-impeachment-trials-it-heard-witnesses-every-one/|title=The Senate has conducted 15 impeachment trials. It heard witnesses in every one.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 9, 2020|access-date=February 8, 2020}}</ref>

Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Maggie |author-link1=Maggie Haberman |last2=Corasaniti |first2=Nick |last3=Karni |first3=Annie |author-link3=Annie Karni |date=July 21, 2020 |title=As Trump Pushes into Portland, His Campaign Ads Turn Darker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/us/politics/trump-portland-federal-agents.html |access-date=July 25, 2020 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> He repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions<ref>{{cite news |last=Bump |first=Philip |date=August 28, 2020 |title=Nearly every claim Trump made about Biden's positions was false |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/28/nearly-every-claim-trump-made-about-bidens-positions-was-false/ |access-date=October 9, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dale |first1=Daniel |author-link1=Daniel Dale |last2=Subramaniam |first2=Tara |last3=Lybrand |first3=Holmes |date=August 31, 2020 |title=Fact check: Trump makes more false claims about Biden and protests |url=https://cnn.com/2020/08/31/politics/trump-kenosha-briefing-fact-check/ |access-date=October 9, 2021 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> and shifted to appeals to racism.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hopkins |first=Dan |date=August 27, 2020 |title=Why Trump's Racist Appeals Might Be Less Effective In 2020 Than They Were In 2016 |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-trumps-racist-appeals-might-be-less-effective-in-2020-than-they-were-in-2016 |access-date=May 28, 2021 |work=[[FiveThirtyEight]]}}</ref>

Starting in the spring of 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kumar |first=Anita |date=August 8, 2020 |title=Trump aides exploring executive actions to curb voting by mail |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/08/trump-wants-to-cut-mail-in-voting-the-republican-machine-is-helping-him-392428 |access-date=August 15, 2020 |work=[[Politico]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Saul |first1=Stephanie |author-link1=Stephanie Saul |last2=Epstein |first2=Reid J. |date=August 31, 2020 |title=Trump Is Pushing a False Argument on Vote-by-Mail Fraud. Here Are the Facts. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/mail-in-voting-explained.html |access-date=October 8, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> When, in August, the House of Representatives voted for a $25&nbsp;billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, he blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail, creating a [[2020 United States Postal Service crisis|crisis in the Postal Service]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Bogage |first=Jacob |date=August 12, 2020 |title=Trump says Postal Service needs money for mail-in voting, but he'll keep blocking funding |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/12/postal-service-ballots-dejoy/ |access-date=August 14, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results if he lost and commit to a [[peaceful transition of power]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Sonmez |first=Felicia |author-link=Felicia Sonmez |date=July 19, 2020 |title=Trump declines to say whether he will accept November election results |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-declines-to-say-whether-he-will-accept-november-election-results/2020/07/19/40009804-c9c7-11ea-91f1-28aca4d833a0_story.html |access-date=October 8, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Browne |first1=Ryan |last2=Starr |first2=Barbara |author-link2=Barbara Starr |date=September 25, 2020 |title=As Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transition, Pentagon stresses it will play no role in the election |url=https://cnn.com/2020/09/25/politics/pentagon-election-insurrection-act/ |access-date=October 8, 2021 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December&nbsp;14.<ref name="formalize" /> From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to [[Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election|overturn the results]], personally pressuring Republican local and state office-holders,<ref>{{cite news |last=Gardner |first=Amy |date=January 3, 2021 |title='I just want to find 11,780 votes': In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/d45acb92-4dc4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html |access-date=January 20, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> Republican state and federal legislators,<ref name="pressure">{{cite news |last1=Kumar |first1=Anita |last2=Orr |first2=Gabby |last3=McGraw |first3=Meridith |date=December 21, 2020 |title=Inside Trump's pressure campaign to overturn the election |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/21/trump-pressure-campaign-overturn-election-449486 |access-date=December 22, 2020 |work=[[Politico]]}}</ref> the Justice Department,<ref>{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Marshall |date=November 5, 2021 |title=Timeline of the coup: How Trump tried to weaponize the Justice Department to overturn the 2020 election |url=https://cnn.com/2021/11/05/politics/january-6-timeline-trump-coup/ |access-date=November 6, 2021 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> and Vice President Pence,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Maggie |author-link1=Maggie Haberman |last2=Karni |first2=Annie |author-link2=Annie Karni |date=January 5, 2021 |title=Pence Said to Have Told Trump He Lacks Power to Change Election Result |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/politics/pence-trump-election-results.html |access-date=January 7, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> urging various actions such as [[Trump fake electors plot|replacing presidential electors]], or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result.<ref name="pressure" /> On February&nbsp;10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fausset |first1=Richard |last2=Hakim |first2=Danny |date=February 10, 2021 |title=Georgia Prosecutors Open Criminal Inquiry Into Trump's Efforts to Subvert Election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/us/politics/trump-georgia-investigation.html |access-date=February 11, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [[Mark Milley]] and CIA director [[Gina Haspel]] became concerned about a possible [[Self-coup|coup]] attempt or military action against China or Iran.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gangel |first1=Jamie |author-link1=Jamie Gangel |last2=Herb |first2=Jeremy |last3=Cohen |first3=Marshall |last4=Stuart |first4=Elizabeth |last5=Starr |first5=Barbara |author-link5=Barbara Starr |date=July 14, 2021 |title='They're not going to fking succeed': Top generals feared Trump would attempt a coup after election, according to new book |url=https://cnn.com/2021/07/14/politics/donald-trump-election-coup-new-book-excerpt/ |access-date=September 15, 2021 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Breuninger |first=Kevin |date=July 15, 2021 |title=Top U.S. Gen. Mark Milley feared Trump would attempt a coup after his loss to Biden, new book says |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/15/mark-milley-feared-coup-after-trump-lost-to-biden-book.html |access-date=September 15, 2021 |work=[[CNBC]]}}</ref> Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gangel |first1=Jamie |author-link1=Jamie Gangel |last2=Herb |first2=Jeremy |last3=Stuart |first3=Elizabeth |date=September 14, 2021 |title=Woodward/Costa book: Worried Trump could 'go rogue,' Milley took top-secret action to protect nuclear weapons |url=https://cnn.com/2021/09/14/politics/woodward-book-trump-nuclear/ |access-date=September 15, 2021 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Schmidt |first=Michael S. |author-link=Michael S. Schmidt |date=September 14, 2021 |title=Fears That Trump Might Launch a Strike Prompted General to Reassure China, Book Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/us/politics/peril-woodward-book-trump.html |access-date=September 15, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

[[Big lie#Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election|Trump's false claims]] concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "[[big lie]]" in the press and by his critics. In May 2021, he and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself.<ref>{{cite web|last=Solender|first=Andrew|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2021/05/03/trump-says-hell-appropriate-the-big-lie-to-refer-to-his-election-loss/|title=Trump Says He'll Appropriate 'The Big Lie' To Refer To His Election Loss|work=[[Forbes]]|date=May 3, 2021 |access-date=October 10, 2021}}</ref><ref name="key">{{cite web|last=Wolf|first=Zachary B.|url=https://cnn.com/2021/05/19/politics/donald-trump-big-lie-explainer/|title=The 5 key elements of Trump's Big Lie and how it came to be|work=[[CNN]]|date=May 19, 2021 |access-date=October 10, 2021}}</ref> The Republican Party used his false election narrative to justify the [[Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election|imposition of new voting restrictions]] in its favor.<ref name="key"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Balz|first=Dan|author-link=Dan Balz|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-big-lie-elections-impact/2021/05/29/d7992fa2-c07d-11eb-b26e-53663e6be6ff_story.html|title=The GOP push to revisit 2020 has worrisome implications for future elections|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 29, 2021 |access-date=June 18, 2021}}</ref> As late as July 2022, he was still pressuring state legislators to overturn the 2020 election.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/us/politics/trump-wisconsin-election-call.html|title=Trump Recently Urged a Powerful Legislator to Overturn His 2020 Defeat in Wisconsin|last1=Bender|first1=Michael C.|author-link1=Michael C. Bender|last2=Epstein|first2=Reid J.|date=July 20, 2022|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 13, 2022}}</ref>

When Trump left the White House in January 2021, he took government materials with him to Mar-a-Lago. By May 2021, the [[National Archives and Records Administration]] (NARA) realized that important documents had not been turned over to them and asked his office to locate them. In January 2022, they retrieved 15 boxes of White House records from Mar-a-Lago. NARA later informed the Department of Justice that some of the retrieved documents were classified material.<ref name="cnn-tl">{{cite web|last1=Lybrand|first1=Holmes|last2=Cohen|first2=Marshall|last3=Rabinowitz|first3=Hannah|url=https://cnn.com/2022/08/09/politics/doj-investigation-trump-documents-timeline/|title=Timeline: The Justice Department criminal inquiry into Trump taking classified documents to Mar-a-Lago|work=[[CNN]]|date=August 12, 2022|access-date=August 14, 2022}}</ref> The Justice Department began an investigation<ref>{{cite web|last1=Montague|first1=Zach|last2=McCarthy|first2=Lauren|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/us/politics/trump-classified-records-timeline.html|title=The Timeline Related to the F.B.I.'s Search of Mar-a-Lago|date=August 9, 2022|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 14, 2022}}</ref> and sent Trump a subpoena for additional material.<ref name="cnn-tl"/> Justice Department officials visited Mar-a-Lago and received some classified documents from his lawyers,<ref name="cnn-tl"/> one of whom signed a statement affirming that all material marked as classified had been returned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/trump-classified-material-fbi.html|title=Trump Lawyer Told Justice Dept. That Classified Material Had Been Returned|last1=Haberman|first1=Maggie|author-link1=Maggie Haberman|last2=Thrush|first2=Glenn|author-link2=Glenn Thrush|date=August 13, 2022|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 14, 2022}}</ref>

In December 2022, following a jury trial, the Trump Organization was [[New York investigations of the Trump Organization#Criminal investigation|convicted on 17 counts]] of criminal tax fraud, conspiracy, and falsifying business records in connection with a tax-fraud scheme stretching over 15 years. In January 2023, the organization was fined the maximum $1.6&nbsp;million, and its chief financial officer [[Allen Weisselberg]] was sentenced to jail and probation after a plea deal. Trump was not personally charged in the case.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Scannell|first1=Kara|last2=del Valle|first2=Lauren|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/politics/trump-organization-fraud-trial-verdict/index.html|work=[[CNN]]|title=Trump Organization found guilty on all counts of criminal tax fraud|date=December 6, 2022|access-date=September 3, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Sisek|first=Michael R.|title=Trump Organization fined $1.6 million for tax fraud|url=https://apnews.com/article/politics-legal-proceedings-new-york-city-donald-trump-manhattan-e2f1d01525dafb64be8738c8b4f32085|work=[[AP News]]|date=January 13, 2023|access-date=September 3, 2024}}</ref>

In August 2023, a Washington, D.C., federal grand jury indicted Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He was charged with conspiring to [[Conspiracy against the United States|defraud the U.S.]], obstruct the certification of the Electoral College vote, and [[conspiracy against rights|deprive voters of the civil right]] to have their votes counted, and [[obstructing an official proceeding]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Barrett|first1=Devlin|last2=Hsu|first2=Spencer S.|last3=Stein|first3=Perry|last4=Dawsey|first4=Josh|author-link4=Josh Dawsey|last5=Alemany|first5=Jacqueline|author-link5=Jacqueline Alemany|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/01/trump-indictment-jan-6-2020-election/|title=Trump charged in probe of Jan. 6, efforts to overturn 2020 election|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 2, 2023|access-date=August 2, 2023}}</ref> He pleaded not guilty.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sneed|first1=Tierney|last2=Rabinowitz|first2=Hannah|last3=Polantz|first3=Katelyn|last4=Lybrand|first4=Holmes|url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/politics/arraignment-trump-election-interference-indictment/index.html|title=Donald Trump pleads not guilty to January 6-related charges|work=[[CNN]]|date=August 3, 2023|access-date=August 3, 2023}}</ref> On November 25, the judge dismissed the case without prejudice after the prosecution filed a motion to dismiss citing the Department of Justice policy.<ref name="dismiss">{{cite news|last1=Stein|first1=Perry|last2=Hsu|first2=Spencer S.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/25/trump-cases-motion-to-dismiss-jack-smith/|title=With D.C. case dismissed, Trump is no longer under federal indictment|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=November 25, 2024|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref>

Later in August, a [[Fulton County, Georgia]], grand jury indicted Trump on 13 charges, including racketeering, for his efforts to subvert the election outcome in Georgia; multiple Trump campaign officials were also indicted.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lowell|first1=Hugo|last2=Wicker|first2=Jewel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/14/donald-trump-georgia-indictment-2020-election|title=Donald Trump and allies indicted in Georgia over bid to reverse 2020 election loss|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=August 15, 2023|access-date=December 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Drenon|first=Brandon|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66503668|title=What are the charges in Trump's Georgia indictment?|work=[[BBC News]]|date=August 25, 2023|access-date=December 22, 2023}}</ref> He surrendered, [[Mug shot of Donald Trump|was processed]] at Fulton County Jail, and was released on bail pending trial.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pereira|first1=Ivan|last2=Barr|first2=Luke|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-mug-shot-released-georgia-sheriffs-office/story?id=102544727|title=Trump mug shot released by Fulton County Sheriff's Office|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=August 25, 2023|access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref> He pleaded not guilty.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rabinowitz|first=Hannah|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/31/politics/trump-not-guilty-plea-fulton-county/index.html|title=Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election subversion case|work=[[CNN]]|date=August 31, 2023|access-date=August 31, 2023}}</ref> On March&nbsp;13, 2024, the judge dismissed three of the 13 charges against him.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bailey|first=Holly|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/13/trump-georgia-election-case-charges-dropped/|title=Georgia judge dismisses six charges in Trump election interference case|date=March 13, 2024|access-date=March 14, 2024|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

In March 2023, a New York grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of [[falsifying business records]] to book the hush money payments to Daniels as business expenses, in an attempt to influence the 2016 election.<ref>{{cite news|last=Barrett|first=Devlin|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/29/jurors-must-be-unanimous-convict-trump-can-disagree-underlying-crimes/|title=Jurors must be unanimous to convict Trump, can disagree on underlying crimes|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 29, 2024|access-date=June 15, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Scannell|first1=Kara|last2=Miller|first2=John|last3=Herb|first3=Jeremy|last4=Cole|first4=Devan|url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/30/politics/donald-trump-indictment/index.html|title=Donald Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury on 34 counts related to fraud|work=[[CNN]]|date=March 31, 2023|access-date=April 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marimow|first=Ann E.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/04/trump-charges-34-counts-felony/|title=Here are the 34 charges against Trump and what they mean|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 4, 2023|access-date=April 5, 2023}}</ref> The trial began in April 2024, and in May a jury convicted him on all 34 counts.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Reiss|first1=Adam|last2=Grumbach|first2=Gary|last3=Gregorian|first3=Dareh|last4=Winter|first4=Tom|last5=Frankel|first5=Jillian|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/donald-trump-verdict-hush-money-trial-rcna152492|title=Donald Trump found guilty in historic New York hush money case |work=[[NBC News]]|date=May 30, 2024|access-date=May 31, 2024}}</ref> Sentencing is set for November&nbsp;26, 2024.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Reiss|first1=Adam|last2=Jarrett|first2=Laura|last3=Gregorian|first3=Dareh|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-delays-trump-sentencing-hush-money-case-november-rcna167282|title=Judge delays Trump sentencing in hush money case until after November election|work=[[NBC News]]|date=September 7, 2024|access-date=September 7, 2024}}</ref>

In September 2022, the attorney general of New York filed a civil fraud case against Trump, his three oldest children, and the Trump Organization.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Scannell|first1=Kara|title=New York attorney general files civil fraud lawsuit against Trump, some of his children and his business|url=https://cnn.com/2022/09/21/politics/trump-new-york-attorney-general-letitia-james-fraud-lawsuit/index.html|access-date=September 21, 2022|work=[[CNN]]|date=September 21, 2022}}</ref> During the investigation leading up to the lawsuit, Trump was fined $110,000 for failing to turn over records subpoenaed by the attorney general.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|last=Katersky|first=Aaron|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/court-upholds-fine-imposed-trump-failure-comply-subpoena/story?id=97195194|title=Court upholds fine imposed on Trump over his failure to comply with subpoena|date=February 14, 2023|access-date=April 8, 2024}}</ref> In an August 2022 [[Deposition (law)|deposition]], he invoked his [[Self-incrimination clause|Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination]] more than 400 times.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bromwich|first1=Jonah E.|last2=Protess|first2=Ben|last3=Rashbaum|first3=William K.|date=August 10, 2022|title=Trump Invokes Fifth Amendment, Attacking Legal System as Troubles Mount|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/nyregion/trump-james-deposition-fifth-amendment.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 11, 2011}}</ref> The presiding judge ruled in September 2023 that Trump, his adult sons, and the Trump Organization repeatedly committed fraud and ordered their New York business certificates canceled and their business entities sent into receivership for dissolution.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kates |first1=Graham |title=Donald Trump and his company "repeatedly" violated fraud law, New York judge rules |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-company-violated-fraud-law-new-york-judge-rules/ |work=[[CBS News]] |date=September 26, 2023}}</ref> In February 2024, the court found him liable, ordered him to pay a penalty of more than $350&nbsp;million plus interest, for a total exceeding $450&nbsp;million, and barred him from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or legal entity for three years. He said he would appeal the verdict. The judge also ordered the company to be overseen by the monitor appointed by the court in 2023 and an independent director of compliance, and that any "restructuring and potential dissolution" would be the decision of the monitor.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bromwich|first1=Jonah E.|last2=Protess|first2=Ben|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/nyregion/trump-civil-fraud-trial-ruling.html|title=Trump Fraud Trial Penalty Will Exceed $450 Million|work=The New York Times|date=February 17, 2024|access-date=February 17, 2024}}</ref>

In May 2023, a New York jury in a federal lawsuit brought by journalist [[E. Jean Carroll]] in 2022 ("Carroll II") found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and ordered him to pay her $5&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sullivan|first1=Becky|last2=Bernstein|first2=Andrea|last3=Marritz|first3=Ilya|last4=Lawrence|first4=Quil|title=A jury finds Trump liable for battery and defamation in E. Jean Carroll trial|url=https://www.npr.org/2023/05/09/1174975870/trump-carroll-verdict|work=[[NPR]]|date=May 9, 2023|access-date=May 10, 2023}}</ref> He asked for a new trial or a reduction of the award, arguing that the jury had not found him liable for rape. He also separately countersued Carroll for defamation. The judge for the two lawsuits ruled against him,<ref name="bid">{{cite web|last=Orden|first=Erica|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/19/trump-loses-bid-new-trial-carroll-00107025|title=Trump loses bid for new trial in E. Jean Carroll case|work=[[Politico]]|date=July 19, 2023|access-date=August 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Scannell |first=Kara |date=August 7, 2023 |title=Judge dismisses Trump's defamation lawsuit against Carroll for statements she made on CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/07/politics/e-jean-carroll-trump-defamation-lawsuit-dismissed/index.html |access-date=August 7, 2023 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> writing that Carroll's accusation of "rape" is "substantially true".<ref name="Reiss_Gregorian_8/7/2023">{{cite web|last1=Reiss|first1=Adam|last2=Gregorian|first2=Dareh|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-tosses-trumps-counterclaim-e-jean-carroll-finding-rape-claim-sub-rcna98577|title=Judge tosses Trump's counterclaim against E. Jean Carroll, finding rape claim is 'substantially true'|work=[[NBC News]]|date=August 7, 2023|access-date=August 13, 2023}}</ref> He appealed both decisions.<ref name="bid"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Stempel|first=Jonathan|url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-appeals-dismissal-defamation-claim-against-e-jean-carroll-2023-08-10/|title=Trump appeals dismissal of defamation claim against E. Jean Carroll|work=[[Reuters]]|date=August 10, 2023|access-date=August 17, 2023}}</ref> In January 2024, the jury in the defamation case brought by Carroll in 2019 ("Carroll I") ordered him to pay Carroll $83.3&nbsp;million in damages. In March, he posted a $91.6&nbsp;million bond and appealed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kates|first=Graham|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-posts-bond-e-jean-carroll-case-91-million/|title=Trump posts $91 million bond to appeal E. Jean Carroll defamation verdict|work=[[CBS News]]|date=March 8, 2024|access-date=April 8, 2024}}</ref>

On November&nbsp;15, 2022, Trump announced his candidacy for the [[2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election]] and set up a fundraising account.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Arnsdorf |first1=Isaac |last2=Scherer |first2=Michael |author-link2=Michael Scherer |date=November 15, 2022 |title=Trump, who as president fomented an insurrection, says he is running again |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/15/trump-2024-announcement-running-president/ |access-date=December 5, 2022 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schouten |first=Fredreka |date=November 16, 2022 |title=Questions about Donald Trump's campaign money, answered |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/politics/donald-trump-war-chest-presidential-campaign/index.html |access-date=December 5, 2022 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> In March 2023, the campaign began diverting 10&nbsp;percent of the donations to his [[leadership PAC]]. His campaign had paid $100&nbsp;million towards his legal bills by March 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goldmacher |first1=Shane |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |author-link2=Maggie Haberman |date=June 25, 2023 |title=As Legal Fees Mount, Trump Steers Donations Into PAC That Has Covered Them |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/25/us/politics/trump-donations-legal-fees.html |access-date=June 25, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Escobar |first1=Molly Cook |last2=Sun |first2=Albert |last3=Goldmacher |first3=Shane |date=March 27, 2024 |title=How Trump Moved Money to Pay $100 Million in Legal Bills |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/27/us/politics/trump-cases-legal-fund.html |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

During the campaign, Trump made increasingly violent and authoritarian statements.<ref name="NYT Authoritarian Bent">{{cite news |last1=Bender |first1=Michael C. |author-link1=Michael C. Bender |last2=Gold |first2=Michael |date=November 20, 2023 |title=Trump's Dire Words Raise New Fears About His Authoritarian Bent |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/us/politics/trump-rhetoric-fascism.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stone |first=Peter |date=November 22, 2023 |title='Openly authoritarian campaign': Trump's threats of revenge fuel alarm |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/22/trump-revenge-game-plan-alarm |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Colvin |first1=Jill |last2=Barrow |first2=Bill |date=December 7, 2023 |title=Trump's vow to only be a dictator on 'day one' follows growing worry over his authoritarian rhetoric |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-hannity-dictator-authoritarian-presidential-election-f27e7e9d7c13fabbe3ae7dd7f1235c72 |work=[[AP News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=LeVine |first=Marianne |date=November 12, 2023 |title=Trump calls political enemies 'vermin,' echoing dictators Hitler, Mussolini |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/12/trump-rally-vermin-political-opponents |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> He also said that he would weaponize the FBI and the Justice Department against his political opponents<ref>{{Cite news |last=Levine |first=Sam |date=November 10, 2023 |title=Trump suggests he would use FBI to go after political rivals if elected in 2024 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/10/trump-fbi-rivals-2024-election |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Vazquez |first=Maegan |date=November 10, 2023 |title=Trump says on Univision he could weaponize FBI, DOJ against his enemies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/09/trump-interview-univision/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> and use the military to go after Democratic politicians and those that do not support his candidacy.<ref>{{cite news |last=Stracqualursi |first=Veronica |date=October 14, 2024 |title=Trump suggests using military against 'enemy from within' on Election Day |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/13/politics/trump-military-enemy-from-within-election-day/index.html |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref name="Lerer 10152024">{{cite news |last1=Lerer |first1=Lisa |last2=Gold |first2=Michael |date=October 15, 2024 |title=Trump Escalates Threats to Political Opponents He Deems the 'Enemy' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/15/us/politics/trump-opponents-enemy-within.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> He used harsher, more dehumanizing anti-immigrant rhetoric than during his presidency.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gold |first1=Michael |last2=Huynh |first2=Anjali |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Trump Again Invokes 'Blood Bath' and Dehumanizes Migrants in Border Remarks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/us/politics/trump-border-blood-bath.html |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Charlie |author-link1=Charlie Savage (author) |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |author-link2=Maggie Haberman |last3=Swan |first3=Jonathan |author-link3=Jonathan Swan |date=November 11, 2023 |title=Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump's 2025 Immigration Plans |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/us/politics/trump-2025-immigration-agenda.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Layne |first1=Nathan |last2=Slattery |first2=Gram |last3=Reid |first3=Tim |date=April 3, 2024 |title=Trump calls migrants 'animals', intensifying focus on illegal immigration |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-expected-highlight-murder-michigan-woman-immigration-speech-2024-04-02/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Philbrick |first1=Ian Prasad |last2=Bentahar |first2=Lyna |date=December 5, 2023 |title=Donald Trump's 2024 Campaign, in His Own Menacing Words |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/us/politics/trump-2024-president-campaign.html |access-date=May 10, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> His harsher rhetoric against his political enemies has been described by some historians and scholars as authoritarian, [[Donald Trump and fascism|fascist]],{{Efn|name=Fascist|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="Axios Fascist">{{cite news|title=Trump campaign defends "vermin" speech amid fascist comparisons|url=https://www.axios.com/2023/11/13/trump-vermin-fascist-language-speech|work=[[Axios (website)]]|date=November 13, 2023|last=Basu|first=Zachary|access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref><ref name="The Atlantic Fascist">{{cite news|last=Browning|first=Christopher R.|date=July 25, 2023|title=A New Kind of Fascism|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/trump-second-term-isolationist-fascism/674791/|work=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref><ref name="ABC News Vermin">{{cite news|title=Trump compares political opponents to 'vermin' who he will 'root out,' alarming historians|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-compares-political-opponents-vermin-root-alarming-historians/story?id=104847748|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=November 13, 2023|last1=Kim|first1=Soo Rin|last2=Ibssa|first2=Lalee|access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Ward|first=Myah|date=October 12, 2024|title=We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker.|work=[[Politico]]|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/12/trump-racist-rhetoric-immigrants-00183537|access-date=October 12, 2024}}</ref>}} and unlike anything a political candidate has ever said in American history.<ref name="NYMag Never Sounded Like This">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/27/magazine/trump-rallies-rhetoric.html|title=Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date=April 27, 2024|access-date=April 27, 2024|last1=Homans|first1=Charles}}</ref><ref name="Lerer 10152024" /><ref name="Applebaum18">{{Cite news|last=Applebaum|first=Anne|date=October 18, 2024|title=Trump Is Speaking Like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini|work=[[The Atlantic]]|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-authoritarian-rhetoric-hitler-mussolini/680296/|access-date=October 18, 2024}}</ref> [[Age and health concerns about Donald Trump|Age and health concerns]] also arose during the campaign, with several medical experts cited by ''The New York Times'' highlighting an increase in rambling, [[tangential speech]] and [[Disinhibition|behavioral disinhibition]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |last2=Freedman |first2=Dylan |date=October 6, 2024 |title=Trump's Speeches, Increasingly Angry and Rambling, Reignite the Question of Age |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/06/us/politics/trump-speeches-age-cognitive-decline.html |access-date=November 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Trump was the only president never to reach a 50&nbsp;percent approval rating in the [[Gallup poll]], which dates to 1938, partially due to a record-high partisan gap in his approval ratings: 88&nbsp;percent among Republicans and 7&nbsp;percent among Democrats.<ref name="Jones">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Jeffrey M. |date=January 18, 2021 |title=Last Trump Job Approval 34%; Average Is Record-Low 41% |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/328637/last-trump-job-approval-average-record-low.aspx |access-date=October 3, 2021 |publisher=[[Gallup (company)|Gallup]]}}</ref> His early ratings were unusually stable, ranging between 35 and 49&nbsp;percent.<ref>{{cite web |last=Klein |first=Ezra |author-link=Ezra Klein |date=September 2, 2020 |title=Can anything change Americans' minds about Donald Trump? The eerie stability of Trump's approval rating, explained. |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/9/2/21409364/trump-approval-rating-2020-election-voters-coronavirus-convention-polls |access-date=October 10, 2021 |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]}}</ref> He finished his term with a rating between 29 and 34&nbsp;percent—the lowest of any president since modern polling began—and a record-low average of 41&nbsp;percent throughout his presidency.<ref name="Jones"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Enten |first=Harry |date=January 16, 2021 |title=Trump finishes with worst first term approval rating ever |url=https://cnn.com/2021/01/16/politics/trump-approval-analysis/ |access-date=October 3, 2021 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

Trump's political positions have been described as [[right-wing populist]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/31/the-republican-party-has-lurched-towards-populism-and-illiberalism|title=The Republican Party has lurched towards populism and illiberalism|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=October 31, 2020|access-date=October 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Borger|first=Julian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/26/republican-party-autocratic-hungary-turkey-study-trump|title=Republicans closely resemble autocratic parties in Hungary and Turkey – study|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=October 26, 2021|access-date=October 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Chotiner|first=Isaac|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/redefining-populism|title=Redefining Populism|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=July 29, 2021|access-date=October 14, 2021}}</ref> ''[[Politico]]'' described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/will-the-real-donald-trump-please-stand-up-120607|title=Will the real Donald Trump please stand up?|last=Noah|first=Timothy|author-link=Timothy Noah|date=July 26, 2015|access-date=October 1, 2021|work=[[Politico]]}}</ref> He helped bring far-right fringe ideas and organizations into the mainstream.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bierman|first=Noah|date=August 22, 2016|title=Donald Trump helps bring far-right media's edgier elements into the mainstream|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-media-20160820-snap-story.html|access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref> The [[alt-right]] movement coalesced around and supported his candidacy, due in part to its [[opposition to multiculturalism]] and [[Opposition to immigration|immigration]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Weigel|first=David|author-link=David Weigel|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/racial-realists-are-cheered-by-trumps-latest-strategy/2016/08/20/cd71e858-6636-11e6-96c0-37533479f3f5_story.html|title='Racialists' are cheered by Trump's latest strategy|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 20, 2016|access-date=June 23, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2016/08/25/politics/alt-right-explained-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/|title=Clinton is attacking the 'Alt-Right' – What is it?|first=Gregory|last=Krieg|access-date=August 25, 2016|date=August 25, 2016|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pierce|first=Matt|title=Q&A: What is President Trump's relationship with far-right and white supremacist groups?|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-09-30/la-na-pol-2020-trump-white-supremacy|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 20, 2020|access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref>

[[File:2017- Donald Trump veracity - composite graph.png|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Fact-checkers]] from ''The Washington Post'',<ref name="database">{{cite news |last1=Kessler |first1=Glenn |author-link1=Glenn Kessler (journalist) |last2=Kelly |first2=Meg |last3=Rizzo |first3=Salvador |last4=Lee |first4=Michelle Ye Hee |author-link4=Michelle Ye Hee Lee |date=January 20, 2021 |title=In four years, President Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/ |access-date=October 11, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> the ''Toronto Star'',<ref>{{cite web |last=Dale |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Dale |date=June 5, 2019 |title=Donald Trump has now said more than 5,000 false things as president |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/analysis/2019/06/05/donald-trump-has-now-said-more-than-5000-false-claims-as-president.html |access-date=October 11, 2021 |work=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref> and CNN<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dale |first1=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Dale |last2=Subramiam |first2=Tara |date=March 9, 2020 |title=Fact check: Donald Trump made 115 false claims in the last two weeks of February |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/09/politics/fact-check-trump-false-claims-february/index.html |access-date=November 1, 2023 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> compiled data on "false or misleading claims" (orange background), and "false claims" (violet foreground), respectively.|alt=Chart depicting false or misleading claims made by Trump]]  

Before and throughout his presidency, Trump promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including [[Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories#Donald Trump|Obama birtherism]], the [[Clinton body count conspiracy theory]], the conspiracy theory movement [[QAnon]], the [[Global warming conspiracy theory|Global warming hoax]] theory, [[Trump Tower wiretapping allegations]], that [[Osama bin Laden death conspiracy theories|Osama bin Laden was alive]] and Obama and Biden had members of [[Navy SEAL Team 6]] killed, and [[Conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal|alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fichera |first1=Angelo |last2=Spencer |first2=Saranac Hale |date=October 20, 2020 |title=Trump's Long History With Conspiracy Theories |url=https://www.factcheck.org/2020/10/trumps-long-history-with-conspiracy-theories/ |access-date=September 15, 2021 |work=[[FactCheck.org]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Subramaniam |first1=Tara |last2=Lybrand |first2=Holmes |date=October 15, 2020 |title=Fact-checking the dangerous bin Laden conspiracy theory that Trump touted |url=https://cnn.com/2020/10/15/politics/donald-trump-osama-bin-laden-conspiracy-theory-fact-check/ |access-date=October 11, 2021 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref name="Haberman2016">{{cite web |last=Haberman |first=Maggie |author-link=Maggie Haberman |date=February 29, 2016 |title=Even as He Rises, Donald Trump Entertains Conspiracy Theories |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/us/politics/donald-trump-conspiracy-theories.html |access-date=October 11, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bump |first=Philip |date=November 26, 2019 |title=President Trump loves conspiracy theories. Has he ever been right? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/26/president-trump-loves-conspiracy-theories-has-he-ever-been-right/ |access-date=October 11, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Reston |first=Maeve |date=July 2, 2020 |title=The Conspiracy-Theorist-in-Chief clears the way for fringe candidates to become mainstream |url=https://cnn.com/2020/07/02/politics/trump-conspiracy-theorists-qanon/ |access-date=October 11, 2021 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> In at least two instances, Trump clarified to press that he believed the conspiracy theory in question.<ref name="Haberman2016"/>

Trump's social media presence attracted worldwide attention after he joined Twitter in 2009. He tweeted frequently during his 2016 campaign and as president until Twitter banned him after the January&nbsp;6 attack.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Conger |first1=Kate |last2=Isaac |first2=Mike |date=January 16, 2021 |title=Inside Twitter's Decision to Cut Off Trump |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/16/technology/twitter-donald-trump-jack-dorsey.html |access-date=October 10, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> He often used Twitter to communicate directly with the public and sideline the press.<ref name="gone">{{cite web |last1=Madhani |first1=Aamer |last2=Colvin |first2=Jill |date=January 9, 2021 |title=A farewell to @realDonaldTrump, gone after 57,000 tweets |url=https://apnews.com/article/twitter-donald-trump-ban-cea450b1f12f4ceb8984972a120018d5 |access-date=October 10, 2021 |work=[[AP News]]}}</ref> In June 2017, the White House press secretary said that his tweets were official presidential statements.<ref>{{cite web |last=Landers |first=Elizabeth |date=June 6, 2017 |title=White House: Trump's tweets are 'official statements' |url=https://cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/trump-tweets-official-statements/ |access-date=October 10, 2021 |publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checks in May 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dwoskin |first=Elizabeth |date=May 27, 2020 |title=Twitter labels Trump's tweets with a fact check for the first time |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/26/trump-twitter-label-fact-check/ |access-date=July 7, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> In response, he tweeted that social media platforms "totally silence" conservatives and that he would "strongly regulate, or close them down".<ref>{{cite news |last=Dwoskin |first=Elizabeth |date=May 27, 2020 |title=Trump lashes out at social media companies after Twitter labels tweets with fact checks |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/27/trump-twitter-label/ |access-date=May 28, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> In the days after the storming of the Capitol, he was banned from [[Facebook]], [[Instagram]], Twitter and other platforms.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fischer |first1=Sara |last2=Gold |first2=Ashley |date=January 11, 2021 |title=All the platforms that have banned or restricted Trump so far |url=https://www.axios.com/platforms-social-media-ban-restrict-trump-d9e44f3c-8366-4ba9-a8a1-7f3114f920f1.html |access-date=January 16, 2021 |work=[[Axios (website)|Axios]]}}</ref> The loss of his social media presence diminished his ability to shape events<ref>{{cite news |last=Timberg |first=Craig |date=January 14, 2021 |title=Twitter ban reveals that tech companies held keys to Trump's power all along |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/14/trump-twitter-megaphone/ |access-date=February 17, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Alba |first1=Davey |last2=Koeze |first2=Ella |last3=Silver |first3=Jacob |date=June 7, 2021 |title=What Happened When Trump Was Banned on Social Media |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/07/technology/trump-social-media-ban.html |access-date=December 21, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> and prompted a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation shared on Twitter.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dwoskin |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Timberg |first2=Craig |date=January 16, 2021 |title=Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump and some allies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/16/misinformation-trump-twitter/ |access-date=February 17, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> In February 2022, he launched social media platform [[Truth Social]] where he only attracted a fraction of his Twitter following.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harwell |first1=Drew |last2=Dawsey |first2=Josh |author-link2=Josh Dawsey |date=November 7, 2022 |title=Trump once reconsidered sticking with Truth Social. Now he's stuck. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/07/trump-once-reconsidered-sticking-with-truth-social-now-hes-stuck/ |access-date=May 7, 2023 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> [[Elon Musk]], after [[Acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk|acquiring Twitter]], reinstated his Twitter account in November 2022.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mac |first1=Ryan |last2=Browning |first2=Kellen |date=November 19, 2022 |title=Elon Musk Reinstates Trump's Twitter Account |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/technology/trump-twitter-musk.html |access-date=November 21, 2022 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dang |first1=Sheila |last2=Coster |first2=Helen |date=November 20, 2022 |title=Trump snubs Twitter after Musk announces reactivation of ex-president's account |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/musks-twitter-poll-showing-narrow-majority-want-trump-reinstated-2022-11-20/ |access-date=May 10, 2024 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> [[Meta Platforms]]' two-year ban lapsed in January 2023, allowing him to return to Facebook and Instagram,<ref>{{cite news |last=Bond |first=Shannon |date=January 23, 2023 |title=Meta allows Donald Trump back on Facebook and Instagram |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/01/25/1146961818/trump-meta-facebook-instagram-ban-ends |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref> although in 2024, he continued to call the company an "[[enemy of the people]]".<ref>{{cite news |last=Egan |first=Matt |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Trump calls Facebook the enemy of the people. Meta's stock sinks |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/tech/trump-tiktok-facebook-meta/index.html |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>