Donald Trump: Difference between revisions

Trump has a history of belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media.{{sfn|Rothe|Collins|2019}}<ref name="Shear">{{cite news |last1=Shear |first1=Michael D. |author-link1=Michael D. Shear |last2=Sullivan |first2=Eileen |author-link2=Eileen Sullivan |date=October 16, 2018 |title='Horseface,' 'Lowlife,' 'Fat, Ugly': How the President Demeans Women |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/us/politics/trump-women-insults.html |access-date=August 5, 2020 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> He made lewd comments, disparaged women's physical appearances, and referred to them using derogatory epithets.<ref name="Shear" /> At least 25 women publicly [[Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations|accused him of sexual misconduct]], including rape, kissing without consent, groping, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants. He has denied the allegations.<ref name="no26">{{cite news |last=Osborne |first=Lucy |date=September 17, 2020 |title='It felt like tentacles': the women who accuse Trump of sexual misconduct |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/17/amy-dorris-donald-trump-women-who-accuse-sexual-misconduct |access-date=June 6, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

In 2016, ''The Washington Post'' reported that the charity committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible [[tax evasion]].<ref>{{cite news|first1=Chris|last1=Cillizza|author-link1=Chris Cillizza|first2=David A.|last2=Fahrenthold|author-link2=David Fahrenthold|title=Meet the reporter who's giving Donald Trump fits|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/15/how-the-reporter-behind-the-trump-foundation-stories-does-it/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 15, 2016|access-date=June 26, 2021}}</ref> Also in 2016, the New York attorney general determined the foundation to be in violation of state law, for soliciting donations without submitting to required annual external audits, and ordered it to cease its fundraising activities in New York immediately.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=October 3, 2016|access-date=May 17, 2023|first=David A.|last=Fahrenthold|author-link=David Fahrenthold|title=Trump Foundation ordered to stop fundraising by N.Y. attorney general's office|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-ordered-to-stop-fundraising-by-ny-attorney-generals-office/2016/10/03/1d4d295a-8987-11e6-bff0-d53f592f176e_story.html}}</ref> Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/24/trump-university-shut-down-conflict-of-interest|title=Donald Trump to dissolve his charitable foundation after mounting complaints|last=Jacobs|first=Ben|author-link=Ben Jacobs (journalist)|date=December 24, 2016|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=December 25, 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 by Mark Taylor.jpg|thumb|right|Trump speaking at [[Conservative Political Action Conference|CPAC]] 2011|alt=Trump, leaning heavily onto a lectern, with his mouth open mid-speech and a woman clapping politely next to him]]In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers,<ref name="hint">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/02/nyregion/trump-gives-a-vague-hint-of-candidacy.html|title=Trump Gives a Vague Hint of Candidacy|work=The New York Times|first=Michael|last=Oreskes|author-link=Michael Oreskes|date=September 2, 1987|access-date=February 17, 2016}}</ref> expressing his views on foreign policy and how to eliminate the federal budget deficit.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/18/us/trump-urged-to-head-gala-of-democrats.html|title=Trump Urged To Head Gala Of Democrats|work=The New York Times|date=November 18, 1987|access-date=October 1, 2021|first=Fox|last=Butterfield}}</ref> In 1988, he approached [[Lee Atwater]], asking to be put into consideration to be Republican nominee [[George H. W. Bush]]'s running mate. Bush found the request "strange and unbelievable".{{sfn|Meacham|2016|p=326}} Trump [[Donald Trump 2000 presidential campaign|was a candidate]] in the [[2000 Reform Party presidential primaries]] for three months, but withdrew from the race in February 2000.<ref>{{cite news|first=Richard|last=Winger|author-link=Richard Winger|title=Donald Trump Ran For President in 2000 in Several Reform Party Presidential Primaries|date=December 25, 2011|access-date=October 1, 2021|website=[[Ballot Access News]]|url=https://ballot-access.org/2011/12/25/donald-trump-ran-for-president-in-2000-in-several-reform-party-presidential-primaries/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Clift|first=Eleanor|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-last-time-trump-wrecked-a-party|title=The Last Time Trump Wrecked a Party|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=July 18, 2016|access-date=October 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Nagourney|first=Adam|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/021400wh-ref-trump.html|title=Reform Bid Said to Be a No-Go for Trump|work=The New York Times|date=February 14, 2000|access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref>  In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in [[2012 United States presidential election|the 2012 election]], making his first speaking appearance at the [[Conservative Political Action Conference]] (CPAC) in February and giving speeches in early primary states.<ref name="McA">{{cite news|last=MacAskill|first=Ewen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/16/donald-trump-us-presidential-race|title=Donald Trump bows out of 2012 US presidential election race|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=May 16, 2011|access-date=February 28, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Bobic|first1=Igor|last2=Stein|first2=Sam|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-cpac_n_58adc0f4e4b03d80af7141cf|title=How CPAC Helped Launch Donald Trump's Political Career|work=[[HuffPost]]|date=February 22, 2017|access-date=February 28, 2020}}</ref> In May, he announced he would not run.<ref name="McA"/> His presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-cpac-president-act_n_821923|title=Donald Trump Brings His 'Pretend To Run For President' Act To CPAC|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=September 14, 2022|first=Jason|last=Linkins|date=February 11, 2011}}</ref>

Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a [[revocable trust]],<ref>{{cite news|first=Marilyn|last=Geewax|title=Trump Has Revealed Assumptions About Handling Presidential Wealth, Businesses|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/01/20/576871315/trump-has-revealed-assumptions-about-handling-presidential-wealth-businesses|work=[[NPR]]|date=January 20, 2018|access-date=October 2, 2021}}</ref><ref name="BBC041817">{{cite news|title=Donald Trump: A list of potential conflicts of interest|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38069298|work=[[BBC]]|date=April 18, 2017|access-date=October 2, 2021}}</ref> rather than a [[blind trust]] or equivalent arrangement "to cleanly sever himself from his business interests".<ref>{{Cite news|first1=Karen|last1=Yourish|first2=Larry|last2=Buchanan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/12/us/politics/ethics-experts-trumps-conflicts-of-interest.html|access-date=September 3, 2024|title=It 'Falls Short in Every Respect': Ethics Experts Pan Trump's Conflicts Plan|work=The New York Times|date=January 12, 2017}}</ref> He continued to profit from his businesses and to know how his administration's policies affected his businesses.<ref name="BBC041817"/><ref name="Venook">{{cite news|last=Venook|first=Jeremy|title=Trump's Interests vs. America's, Dubai Edition|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/08/donald-trump-conflicts-of-interests/508382/|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=August 9, 2017|access-date=October 2, 2021}}</ref> Although he said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Scotland, Dubai, and the Dominican Republic.<ref name="BBC041817"/><ref name="Venook"/> Lobbyists, foreign government officials, and Trump donors and allies generated hundreds of millions of dollars for his resorts and hotels.<ref>{{cite news|last=Stone|first=Peter|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/19/donald-trump-businesses-hotels-conflict-of-interest|title=How Trump's businesses are booming with lobbyists, donors and governments|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=July 19, 2019|access-date=November 20, 2024}}</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 a January 2018 discussion of immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries".<ref>{{cite web |last=Beauchamp |first=Zack |date=January 11, 2018 |title=Trump's "shithole countries" comment exposes the core of Trumpism |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/1/11/16880804/trump-shithole-countries-racism |access-date=January 11, 2018 |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]}}</ref> His remarks were condemned as racist.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wintour |first1=Patrick |author-link1=Patrick Wintour |last2=Burke |first2=Jason |author-link2=Jason Burke |last3=Livsey |first3=Anna |date=January 13, 2018 |title='There's no other word but racist': Trump's global rebuke for 'shithole' remark |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/12/unkind-divisive-elitist-international-outcry-over-trumps-shithole-countries-remark |access-date=January 13, 2018 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

In June 2020, during the [[George Floyd protests]], federal law-enforcement officials controversially used [[less lethal]] weapons to remove a largely peaceful crowd of lawful protesters from [[Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.|Lafayette Square]], outside the [[White House]].<ref name="wb">{{cite news|last1=Leonnig|first1=Carol D.|author-link1=Carol D. Leonnig|last2=Zapotosky|first2=Matt|last3=Dawsey|first3=Josh|author-link3=Josh Dawsey|last4=Tan|first4=Rebecca|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/barr-personally-ordered-removal-of-protesters-near-white-house-leading-to-use-of-force-against-largely-peaceful-crowd/2020/06/02/0ca2417c-a4d5-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html|title=Barr personally ordered removal of protesters near White House, leading to use of force against largely peaceful crowd|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 2, 2020|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name="bumpline">{{cite news|last=Bump|first=Philip|date=June 2, 2020|title=Timeline: The clearing of Lafayette Square|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/02/timeline-clearing-lafayette-square/|access-date=June 6, 2020}}</ref> Trump then posed with a Bible for [[Donald Trump photo-op at St. John's Church|a photo-op]] at the nearby [[St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square|St. John's Episcopal Church]],<ref name="wb"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Gittleson|first1=Ben|last2=Phelps|first2=Jordyn|title=Police use munitions to forcibly push back peaceful protesters for Trump church visit|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/national-guard-troops-deployed-white-house-trump-calls/story?id=71004151|access-date=June 29, 2021|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=June 3, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=O'Neil|first=Luke|date=June 2, 2020|title=What do we know about Trump's love for the Bible?|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/02/what-do-we-know-about-trumps-love-for-the-bible|access-date=June 11, 2020}}</ref> with religious leaders condemning both the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stableford|first1=Dylan|last2=Wilson|first2=Christopher|title=Religious leaders condemn teargassing protesters to clear street for Trump|url=https://news.yahoo.com/religious-leaders-condemn-gassing-protesters-to-clear-street-for-trump-192800782.html|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=[[Yahoo! News]]|date=June 3, 2020}}</ref> Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned his proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters.<ref>{{cite news|title=Scores of retired military leaders publicly denounce Trump|url=https://apnews.com/article/252914f8a989a740544be6d4992d044c|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=[[AP News]]|date=June 6, 2020}}</ref>

Following the [[2015 San Bernardino attack]], Trump proposed to ban [[Muslim]] foreigners from entering the U.S. until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pilkington|first=Ed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/07/donald-trump-ban-all-muslims-entering-us-san-bernardino-shooting|title=Donald Trump: ban all Muslims entering US|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=December 8, 2015|access-date=October 10, 2020}}</ref> He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 25, 2016|access-date=October 3, 2021|first=Jenna|last=Johnson|title=Trump now proposes only Muslims from terrorism-heavy countries would be banned from U.S.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/06/25/trump-now-says-muslim-ban-only-applies-to-those-from-terrorism-heavy-countries/}}</ref>

On January&nbsp;27, 2017, Trump signed [[Executive Order 13769]], which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning, causing chaos at airports.<ref name="frontline">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/28/airports-us-immigration-ban-muslim-countries-trump|title=US airports on frontline as Donald Trump's travel ban causes chaos and protests|date=January 28, 2017|work=[[The Guardian]]|first1=Joanna|last1=Walters|first2=Edward|last2=Helmore|first3=Saeed Kamali|last3=Dehghan|access-date=July 19, 2017}}</ref><ref name="airport">{{cite news|title=Protests erupt at airports nationwide over immigration action|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/protests-airports-immigration-action-president-trump/|work=[[CBS News]]|date=January 28, 2017|access-date=March 22, 2021}}</ref> [[Protests against Executive Order 13769|Protests began at airports]] the next day,<ref name="frontline"/><ref name="airport"/> and [[Legal challenges to the Trump travel ban|legal challenges]] resulted in [[National injunctions|nationwide preliminary injunctions]].<ref>{{cite news|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=February 4, 2017|access-date=October 3, 2021|first1=Devlin|last1=Barrett|first2=Dan|last2=Frosch|title=Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Trump Order on Immigration, Refugees|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/legal-feud-over-trump-immigration-order-turns-to-visa-revocations-1486153216}}</ref> A March&nbsp;6 [[Executive Order 13780|revised order]], which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, again was blocked by federal judges in three states.<ref>{{cite news|work=Reuters|date=March 15, 2017|access-date=October 3, 2021|first1=Dan|last1=Levine|first2=Mica|last2=Rosenberg|title=Hawaii judge halts Trump's new travel ban before it can go into effect|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-court-idUSKBN16M17N}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Trump signs new travel ban directive|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39183153|access-date=March 18, 2017|work=[[BBC News]]|date=March 6, 2017}}</ref> In a [[Int'l Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump|decision in June 2017]], the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a ''bona fide'' relationship with a person or entity in the United States".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-travel-ban-supreme-court-20170626-story.html|title=Limited version of Trump's travel ban to take effect Thursday|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|first=Mark|last=Sherman|agency=Associated Press|date=June 26, 2017|access-date=August 5, 2017}}</ref>

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"/>

In 2018, Trump refused to sign any [[appropriations bill]] from Congress unless it allocated $5.6&nbsp;billion for the border wall,<ref>{{cite news|first1=Julie Hirschfeld|last1=Davis|author-link1=Julie Hirschfeld Davis|first2=Michael|last2=Tackett|author-link2=Michael Tackett|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/us/politics/trump-congress-shutdown.html|title=Trump and Democrats Dig in After Talks to Reopen Government Go Nowhere|work=The New York Times|date=January 2, 2019|access-date=January 3, 2019}}</ref> resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the [[List of United States federal funding gaps|longest U.S. government shutdown in history]].<ref name=Gambino>{{cite news|last1=Gambino|first1=Lauren|last2=Walters|first2=Joanna|title=Trump signs bill to end $6bn shutdown and temporarily reopen government|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/25/shutdown-latest-news-trump-reopens-government-deal-democrats|access-date=May 31, 2020|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=January 26, 2019|agency=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pramuk|first=Jacob|title=Trump signs bill to temporarily reopen government after longest shutdown in history|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/25/senate-votes-to-reopen-government-and-end-shutdown-without-border-wall.html|access-date=May 31, 2020|work=[[CNBC]]|date=January 25, 2019}}</ref> Around 800,000 government employees were [[furlough]]ed or worked without pay.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fritze|first=John|title=By the numbers: How the government shutdown is affecting the US|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/24/government-shutdown-has-wide-impact-numbers/2666872002/|access-date=May 31, 2020|work=USA Today|date=January 24, 2019}}</ref> Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers, but no funds for the wall.<ref name=Gambino/> The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3&nbsp;billion to the economy, according to the [[Congressional Budget Office]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/28/government-shutdown-cost-the-economy-11-billion-cbo.html|title=The government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion, including a permanent $3 billion loss, Congressional Budget Office says|last=Mui|first=Ylan|date=January 28, 2019|work=[[CNBC]]|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref> About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and his approval ratings dropped.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bacon|first=Perry Jr.|title=Why Trump Blinked|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/government-shutdown-ends/|work=[[FiveThirtyEight]]|date=January 25, 2019|access-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref>

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>

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>

Trump ordered [[2017 Shayrat missile strike|missile strikes in April 2017]] and [[April 2018 missile strikes against Syria|April 2018]] against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the [[Khan Shaykhun chemical attack|Khan Shaykhun]] and [[Douma chemical attack]]s, respectively.<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria war: Trump's missile strike attracts US praise – and barbs|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39529605|access-date=April 8, 2017|work=[[BBC News]]|date=April 7, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-strikes-syria-after-suspected-chemical-attack-by-assad-regime|first=Kathleen|last=Joyce|title=US strikes Syria after suspected chemical attack by Assad regime|date=April 14, 2018|work=[[Fox News]] |access-date=April 14, 2018}}</ref> In December 2018, he declared "we have won against ISIS", contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/trump-syria-turkey-troop-withdrawal.html|title=Trump withdraws U.S. Forces From Syria, Declaring 'We Have Won Against ISIS'|first1=Mark|last1=Landler|author-link1=Mark Landler|first2=Helene|last2=Cooper|author-link2=Helene Cooper|first3=Eric|last3=Schmitt|author-link3=Eric P. Schmitt|date=December 19, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 31, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Borger|first1=Julian|author-link1=Julian Borger|last2=Chulov|first2=Martin|title=Trump shocks allies and advisers with plan to pull US troops out of Syria|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/19/us-troops-syria-withdrawal-trump|access-date=December 20, 2018|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=December 20, 2018}}</ref> The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling Trump's decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|Kurdish allies]] who played a key role in fighting ISIS.<ref>{{cite news|last=Cooper|first=Helene|author-link=Helene Cooper|title=Jim Mattis, Defense Secretary, Resigns in Rebuke of Trump's Worldview|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/us/politics/jim-mattis-defense-secretary-trump.html|access-date=December 21, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=December 20, 2018}}</ref> In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]], [[US intervention in the Syrian civil war|U.S. troops in northern Syria]] were withdrawn from the area and Turkey [[2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria|invaded northern Syria]], attacking and [[Forced displacement|displacing]] American-allied [[Kurds in Syria|Kurds]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=McKernan|first1=Bethan|last2=Borger|first2=Julian|last3=Sabbagh|first3=Dan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/09/turkey-launches-military-operation-in-northern-syria-erdogan|title=Turkey launches military operation in northern Syria|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=October 9, 2019 |access-date=September 28, 2021}}</ref> The U.S. House of Representatives voted 354–60 to condemn Trump's withdrawal of those U.S. troops from Syria.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/16/house-condemns-trumps-syria-pull-out-000286|title=House condemns Trump's Syria withdrawal|last=O'Brien|first=Connor|date=October 16, 2019|work=[[Politico]]|access-date=October 17, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/us/politics/house-vote-trump-syria.html|title=In Bipartisan Rebuke, House Majority Condemns Trump for Syria Withdrawal|last=Edmondson|first=Catie|date=October 16, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 17, 2019}}</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>

By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the WHO.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lemire|first=Jonathan|title=As pandemic deepens, Trump cycles through targets to blame|url=https://apnews.com/article/58f1b869354970689d55ccae37c540f3|access-date=May 5, 2020|work=[[AP News]]|date=April 9, 2020}}</ref> The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which he suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19;<ref>{{cite news|title=Coronavirus: Outcry after Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52407177|access-date=August 11, 2020|work=[[BBC News]]|date=April 24, 2020}}</ref> the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.<ref>{{cite news|last=Aratani|first=Lauren|title=Why is the White House winding down the coronavirus taskforce?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/05/white-house-coronavirus-taskforce-winding-down-why|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=May 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Coronavirus: Trump says virus task force to focus on reopening economy|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52563577|access-date=June 8, 2020|work=[[BBC News]]|date=May 6, 2020}}</ref>

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"/>

By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue in the presidential election.<ref name="Election_NBCNews">{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/warning-signs-flash-trump-wisconsin-pandemic-response-fuels-disapproval-n1232646|title=Warning signs flash for Trump in Wisconsin as pandemic response fuels disapproval|date=July 5, 2020|work=[[NBC News]]|first=Adam|last=Edelman|access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue.<ref>{{cite news|last=Strauss|first=Daniel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/14/joe-biden-donald-trump-coronavirus-covid-19|title=Biden aims to make election about Covid-19 as Trump steers focus elsewhere|date=September 7, 2020|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=November 4, 2021}}</ref> Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response<ref name="Election_NBCNews"/> and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an [[Ipsos]]/[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] poll indicating 65&nbsp;percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/deep-skepticism-trumps-coronavirus-response-endures-poll/story?id=72974847|title=Deep skepticism for Trump's coronavirus response endures: POLL|date=September 13, 2020|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|first=Kendall|last=Karson|access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> In the final months of the campaign, he repeatedly said that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing cases and deaths.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-us-rounding-turn-covid-trump-claims-1542145|title=Fact Check: Is U.S. 'Rounding the Turn' On COVID, as Trump Claims?|date=October 26, 2020|work=[[Newsweek]]|first=Matthew|last=Impelli|access-date=October 31, 2020}}</ref> A few days before the November&nbsp;3 election, the U.S. reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-record/u-s-reports-world-record-of-more-than-100000-covid-19-cases-in-single-day-idUSKBN27G07S|title=U.S. reports world record of more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases in single day|date=October 31, 2020|work=Reuters|first=Anurag|last=Maan|access-date=October 31, 2020}}</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>

On February&nbsp;13, following a [[Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump|five-day Senate trial]], Trump was acquitted when the Senate vote fell ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Levine|first1=Sam|last2=Gambino|first2=Lauren|date=February 13, 2021|title=Donald Trump acquitted in impeachment trial|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/13/donald-trump-acquitted-impeachment-trial|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=February 13, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Fandos|first=Nicholas|author-link=Nicholas Fandos|date=February 13, 2021|title=Trump Acquitted of Inciting Insurrection, Even as Bipartisan Majority Votes 'Guilty'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/13/us/politics/trump-impeachment.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> Most Republicans voted to acquit him, although some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (he had left office on January&nbsp;20; the Senate voted 56–44 that the trial was constitutional).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Watson|first1=Kathryn|last2=Quinn|first2=Melissa|last3=Segers|first3=Grace|last4=Becket|first4=Stefan|date=February 10, 2021|title=Senate finds Trump impeachment trial constitutional on first day of proceedings|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-impeachment-trial-senate-constitutional-day-1/|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=February 18, 2021}}</ref>

Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=David |date=November 21, 2020 |title=Trump's monumental sulk: president retreats from public eye as Covid ravages US |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/21/trump-monumental-sulk-president-retreats-from-public-eye-covid-ravages-us |access-date=October 9, 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in [[presidential transition of Joe Biden|Biden's presidential transition]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lamire |first1=Jonathan |last2=Miller |first2=Zeke |author-link2=Zeke Miller |date=November 9, 2020 |title=Refusing to concede, Trump blocks cooperation on transition |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-elections-voting-fraud-and-irregularities-2d39186996f69de245e59c966d4d140f |access-date=November 10, 2020 |work=[[AP News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Timm |first1=Jane C. |last2=Smith |first2=Allan |date=November 14, 2020 |title=Trump is stonewalling Biden's transition. Here's why it matters. |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-stonewalling-biden-s-transition-here-s-why-it-matters-n1247768 |access-date=November 26, 2020 |work=[[NBC News]]}}</ref> After three weeks, the administrator of the [[General Services Administration]] declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rein |first=Lisa |date=November 23, 2020 |title=Under pressure, Trump appointee Emily Murphy approves transition in unusually personal letter to Biden |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gsa-emily-murphy-transition-biden/2020/11/23/c0f43e84-2de0-11eb-96c2-aac3f162215d_story.html |access-date=November 24, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Naylor |first1=Brian |last2=Wise |first2=Alana |date=November 23, 2020 |title=President-Elect Biden To Begin Formal Transition Process After Agency OK |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/11/23/937956178/trump-administration-to-begin-biden-transition-protocols |access-date=December 11, 2020 |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ordoñez |first1=Franco |last2=Rampton |first2=Roberta |date=November 26, 2020 |title=Trump Is In No Mood To Concede, But Says Will Leave White House |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/11/26/939386434/trump-is-in-no-mood-to-concede-but-says-will-leave-white-house |access-date=December 11, 2020 |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref>

In February 2021, Trump registered a new company, [[Trump Media & Technology Group]] (TMTG), for providing "social networking services" to U.S. customers.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lyons |first=Kim|url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/6/22820389/sec-trump-spac-deal-investigation-truth-social-media-platform-public|title=SEC investigating Trump SPAC deal to take his social media platform public |work=[[The Verge]] |date=December 6, 2021 |access-date=December 30, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/1934403D:US|title=Trump Media & Technology Group Corp |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |access-date=December 30, 2021}}</ref> In March 2024, TMTG merged with [[special-purpose acquisition company]] [[Digital World Acquisition Corp.|Digital World Acquisition]] and became a [[public company]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Harwell |first=Drew|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/25/truth-social-trump-media-stock-market-billions/|title=Trump Media soars in first day of public tradings|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=March 26, 2024 |access-date=March 28, 2024}}</ref> In February 2022, TMTG launched [[Truth Social]], a social media platform.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bhuyian|first=Johana|date=February 21, 2022|title=Donald Trump's social media app launches on Apple store|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/21/donald-trumps-social-media-app-truth-social-launches-on-apple-store|access-date=May 7, 2023|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> {{as of|2023|3|lc=n}}, Trump Media, which had taken $8&nbsp;million from Russia-connected entities, was being investigated by federal prosecutors for possible money laundering.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lowell|first=Hugo|date=March 15, 2023|title=Federal investigators examined Trump Media for possible money laundering, sources say|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/15/trump-media-investigated-possible-money-laundering|access-date=April 5, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Durkee |first=Alison |title=Trump's Media Company Reportedly Under Federal Investigation For Money Laundering Linked To Russia |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/03/15/trumps-media-company-reportedly-under-federal-investigation-for-money-laundering-linked-to-russia/ |date=March 15, 2023 |access-date=March 15, 2023 |website=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>

In June 2023, following a [[Smith special counsel investigation|special counsel investigation]], a [[federal grand jury]] in Miami indicted Trump on 31 counts of "willfully retaining national defense information" under the [[Espionage Act]], one count of [[making false statements]], and one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding government documents, corruptly concealing records, concealing a document in a federal investigation and scheming to conceal their efforts.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Barrett|first1=Devlin|last2=Dawsey|first2=Josh|author-link2=Josh Dawsey|last3=Stein|first3=Perry|last4=Alemany|first4=Jacqueline|author-link4=Jacqueline Alemany|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/09/trump-tape-classified-documents/|title=Trump Put National Secrets at Risk, Prosecutors Say in Historic Indictment|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 9, 2023|access-date=June 10, 2023}}</ref> He pleaded not guilty.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Greve|first1=Joan E.|last2=Lowell|first2=Hugo|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/13/trump-arraignment-not-guilty-charges-mar-a-lago-documents-court|title=Trump pleads not guilty to 37 federal criminal counts in Mar-a-Lago case|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=June 14, 2023|access-date=June 14, 2023}}</ref> A superseding indictment the following month added three charges.<ref>{{cite news|title=5 revelations from new Trump charges |first=Zach |last=Schonfeld |url=https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4124168-revelations-from-new-trump-charges/ |access-date=August 4, 2023 |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=July 28, 2023 }}</ref> The judge assigned to the case, [[Aileen Cannon]], was appointed to the bench by Trump and had previously issued rulings favorable to him in a [[Trump v. United States (2022)|past civil case]], some of which were overturned by an appellate court.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/us/politics/trump-documents-judge-aileen-cannon.html|title=A Trump-Appointed Judge Who Showed Him Favor Gets the Documents Case|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 9, 2023 |first=Charlie |last=Savage |author-link=Charlie Savage (author)}}</ref> She moved slowly on the case, indefinitely postponed the trial in May 2024, and dismissed it on July 15, ruling that the special counsel's appointment was unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tucker|first=Eric|url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-smith-c66d5ffb7ba86c1b991f95e89bdeba0c|title=Federal judge dismisses Trump classified documents case over concerns with prosecutor's appointment|work=[[AP News]]|date=July 15, 2024|access-date=July 15, 2024}}</ref> On August&nbsp;26, Special Counsel Smith appealed the dismissal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mallin|first=Alexander|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/26/us/politics/trump-documents-appeal-jack-smith.html|title=Prosecutors Appeal Dismissal of Trump Documents Case|work=The New York Times|date=August 26, 2024|access-date=August 27, 2024}}</ref> On November 25, the prosecution asked to remove Trump as a co-defendant from the appeal, citing Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.<ref name="dismiss"/>   

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>

During the 2016 presidential election campaign, [[American Media, Inc.]] (AMI), publisher of the ''[[National Enquirer]]'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ellison|first1=Sarah|author-link1=Sarah Ellison|last2=Farhi|first2=Paul|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/publisher-of-the-national-enquirer-admits-to-hush-money-payments-made-on-trumps-behalf/2018/12/12/ebf24b76-fe49-11e8-83c0-b06139e540e5_story.html|title=Publisher of the National Enquirer admits to hush-money payments made on Trump's behalf|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=December 12, 2018|access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> and a company set up by Cohen paid ''[[Playboy]]'' model [[Karen McDougal]] and adult film actress [[Stormy Daniels]] for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/08/21/how-the-campaign-finance-charges-against-michael-cohen-may-implicate-trump|title=How the campaign finance charges against Michael Cohen implicate Trump|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Philip|last=Bump|date=August 21, 2018|access-date=July 25, 2019}}</ref> Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at Trump's direction to influence the presidential election.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/74aaf72511d64fceb1d64529207bde64|title=Cohen pleads guilty, implicates Trump in hush-money scheme|last1=Neumeister|first1=Larry|last2=Hays|first2=Tom|date=August 22, 2018|access-date=October 7, 2021|work=[[AP News]]}}</ref> Trump denied the affairs and said he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/07/trump-stormy-daniels-payment-444133|title=White House on Stormy Daniels: Trump 'denied all these allegations'|last=Nelson|first=Louis|date=March 7, 2018|work=[[Politico]]|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-insists-he-learned-of-michael-cohen-payments-later-on-in-fox-friends-exclusive|title=Trump insists he learned of Michael Cohen payments 'later on', in 'Fox & Friends' exclusive|last=Singman|first=Brooke|access-date=August 23, 2018|work=[[Fox News]]|date=August 22, 2018}}</ref> Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding nondisclosure payments as early as 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/federal-prosecutors-recommend-substantial-prison-term-for-former-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen/2018/12/07/e144f248-f7f3-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html|title=Court filings directly implicate Trump in efforts to buy women's silence, reveal new contact between inner circle and Russian|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|last1=Barrett|first1=Devlin|last2=Zapotosky|first2=Matt|date=December 7, 2018|access-date=December 7, 2018}}</ref> Court documents showed that the FBI believed he was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cohen/documents-detail-trump-teams-efforts-to-arrange-payment-to-porn-star-idUSKCN1UD18D|title=FBI documents point to Trump role in hush money for porn star Daniels|last1=Allen|first1=Jonathan|last2=Stempel|first2=Jonathan|work=Reuters|date=July 18, 2019|access-date=July 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/2d4138abfd0b4e71a63c94d3203e435a|title=Records detail frenetic effort to bury stories about Trump|last=Mustian|first=Jim|work=[[AP News]]|date=July 19, 2019|access-date=July 22, 2019}}</ref> Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019,<ref>{{cite web|work=[[AP News]]|date=July 19, 2019|access-date=October 7, 2021|first=Jim|last=Mustian|title=Why no hush-money charges against Trump? Feds are silent|url=https://apnews.com/article/0543a381b39a42d09c27567274477983}}</ref> but in 2021, the [[Attorney General of New York|New York State Attorney General's Office]] and [[Manhattan District Attorney's Office]] opened a criminal investigations into his business activities.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Harding|first1=Luke|last2=Holpuch|first2=Amanda|date=May 19, 2021|title=New York attorney general opens criminal investigation into Trump Organization|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/19/new-york-investigation-into-trump-organization-now-criminal-says-attorney-general|work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=May 19, 2021}}</ref> The Manhattan DA's Office subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/nyregion/trump-cohen-stormy-daniels-vance.html|title=Manhattan D.A. Subpoenas Trump Organization Over Stormy Daniels Hush Money|first1=Ben|last1=Protess|first2=William K.|last2=Rashbaum|work=The New York Times|date=August 1, 2019|access-date=August 2, 2019}}</ref> and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.<ref>{{cite web|work=The New York Times|date=September 16, 2019|first1=William K.|last1=Rashbaum|first2=Ben|last2=Protess|title=8 Years of Trump Tax Returns Are Subpoenaed by Manhattan D.A.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/nyregion/trump-tax-returns-cy-vance.html|access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref>

In December 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Trump disqualified for the Colorado Republican primary for his role in inciting the January&nbsp;6, 2021, attack on Congress. In March 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court [[Trump v. Anderson|restored his name to the ballot]] in a unanimous decision, ruling that Colorado lacks the authority to enforce [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution#Section 3: Disqualification from office for insurrection or rebellion|Section 3 of the 14th Amendment]], which bars insurrectionists from holding federal office.<ref>{{cite news |last=Levine |first=Sam |date=March 4, 2024 |title=Trump was wrongly removed from Colorado ballot, US supreme court rules |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/04/trump-scotus-colorado-ruling |access-date=June 23, 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</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'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>

Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, such as his repeated claim of the "[[First inauguration of Donald Trump|biggest inaugural crowd ever]]".<ref>{{cite web |last=Qiu |first=Linda |date=January 21, 2017 |title=Donald Trump had biggest inaugural crowd ever? Metrics don't show it |url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/21/sean-spicer/trump-had-biggest-inaugural-crowd-ever-metrics-don/ |access-date=March 30, 2018 |work=[[PolitiFact]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rein |first=Lisa |date=March 6, 2017 |title=Here are the photos that show Obama's inauguration crowd was bigger than Trump's |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/06/here-are-the-photos-that-show-obamas-inauguration-crowd-was-bigger-than-trumps/ |access-date=March 8, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> Others had more far-reaching effects, such as his promotion of antimalarial drugs as an unproven treatment for COVID-19,<ref>{{cite web |last=Wong |first=Julia Carrie |author-link=Julia Carrie Wong |date=April 7, 2020 |title=Hydroxychloroquine: how an unproven drug became Trump's coronavirus 'miracle cure' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/06/hydroxychloroquine-trump-coronavirus-drug |access-date=June 25, 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Spring |first=Marianna |date=May 27, 2020 |title=Coronavirus: The human cost of virus misinformation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-52731624 |access-date=June 13, 2020 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> causing a U.S. shortage of these drugs and [[panic-buying]] in Africa and South Asia.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rowland |first=Christopher |date=March 23, 2020 |title=As Trump touts an unproven coronavirus treatment, supplies evaporate for patients who need those drugs |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/20/hospitals-doctors-are-wiping-out-supplies-an-unproven-coronavirus-treatment/ |access-date=March 24, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Parkinson |first1=Joe |last2=Gauthier-Villars |first2=David |date=March 23, 2020 |title=Trump Claim That Malaria Drugs Treat Coronavirus Sparks Warnings, Shortages |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-claim-that-malaria-drugs-treat-coronavirus-sparks-warnings-shortages-11584981897 |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 26, 2020 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> Other misinformation, such as misattributing a rise in crime in [[England and Wales]] to the "spread of radical Islamic terror", served his domestic political purposes.<ref>{{cite web |last=Zurcher |first=Anthony |date=November 29, 2017 |title=Trump's anti-Muslim retweet fits a pattern |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42171550 |access-date=June 13, 2020 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices weakened public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election,<ref>{{cite web |last=Siders |first=David |date=May 25, 2020 |title=Trump sees a 'rigged election' ahead. Democrats see a constitutional crisis in the making. |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/25/donald-trump-rigged-election-talk-fears-274477 |access-date=October 9, 2021 |work=[[Politico]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Riccardi |first=Nicholas |date=September 17, 2020 |title=AP Fact Check: Trump's big distortions on mail-in voting |url=https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-election-2020-ap-fact-check-elections-voting-fraud-and-irregularities-8c5db90960815f91f39fe115579570b4 |access-date=October 7, 2020 |work=[[AP News]]}}</ref> while his disinformation about the pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it.<ref name="NYT 4 11 20"/><ref name="USAT-Disinfo">{{cite web |last=Guynn |first=Jessica |date=October 5, 2020 |title=From COVID-19 to voting: Trump is nation's single largest spreader of disinformation, studies say |url=https://usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/10/05/trump-covid-19-coronavirus-disinformation-facebook-twitter-election/3632194001/ |access-date=October 7, 2020 |work=USA Today}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bergengruen |first1=Vera |last2=Hennigan |first2=W.J. |date=October 6, 2020 |title='You're Gonna Beat It.' How Donald Trump's COVID-19 Battle Has Only Fueled Misinformation |url=https://time.com/5896709/trump-covid-campaign/ |access-date=October 7, 2020 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> Trump habitually does not apologize for his falsehoods.<ref>{{cite web |last=Allen |first=Jonathan |date=December 31, 2018 |title=Does being President Trump still mean never having to say you're sorry? |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/does-being-president-trump-still-mean-never-having-say-you-n952841 |access-date=June 14, 2020 |work=[[NBC News]]}}</ref>

During and since the 2020 presidential election, Trump promoted various conspiracy theories for his defeat.<ref>{{cite web |last=Perkins |first=Tom |date=November 18, 2020 |title=The dead voter conspiracy theory peddled by Trump voters, debunked |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/18/dead-voter-conspiracy-theory-debunked |access-date=October 11, 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Li |date=January 15, 2021 |title=6 conspiracy theories about the 2020 election – debunked |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/presidential-election-2020-conspiracy-theories-debunked/ |access-date=September 13, 2021 |work=[[CBS News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=McEvoy |first=Jemima |date=December 17, 2020 |title=These Are The Voter Fraud Claims Trump Tried (And Failed) To Overturn The Election With |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/12/17/these-are-the-voter-fraud-claims-trump-tried-and-failed-to-overturn-the-election-with/ |access-date=September 13, 2021 |work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>