Donald Trump biography: 13 things about 45th US president

Donald John Trump Sr. is an American politician and businessman who is of German and Scottish descent. He is a former president of the United States.

Trump was a Republican from 1987 to 1999, a member of the Reform Party from 1999 to 2001, a Democrat from 2001 to 2009 and a Republican again from 2009 to 2011. He became independent in 2011 and a Republican again in 2012.

Born at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York City, New York, USA, Trump is the fourth among the five children of Frederick “Fred” Heinrich Christ Trump Sr. and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. Donald Sr. is Maryanne Trump Barry, Frederick “Freddy” Christ Trump Jr. and Elizabeth Trump Grau‘s younger brother and Robert Stewart Trump‘s older brother.

Donald Sr. is a father of five. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. His paternal grandparents Friedrich Heinrich “Fred” Trump and Elisabeth Marie “Elizabeth” Christ Trump were both born in Kallstadt, Landkreis Bad Dürkheim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.
2. His maternal grandparents Malcolm Calum MacLeod Sr. and Mary Ann Smith MacLeod were both born in Aird Tong, Oter Hebrides, Scotland.
3. His father was born in the Bronx, Bronx County, New York while his mother was born in Aird Tong.
4. He and his four siblings grew up in Jamaica Estates, Queens and attended Kew-Forest School in Queens from kindergarten through seventh grade.
5. On May 30, 1918, his grandfather Fred died of the Spanish flu in New Hyde Park, Nassau County, New York at age 49 during the pandemic of that strain of influenza.
6. In 1927, his paternal grandmother and his father founded a real-estate business called E. Trump & Son. He joined the organization in 1968, became its president and renamed it the Trump Organization in 1971 and handed off its leadership to his children in 2017.
7. His mother emigrated to the U.S. in 1930 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in March 1942.
8. His first wife Ivana Marie Zelníčková Trump was born in Zlín, Czech Republic, formerly Gottwaldov, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1988.
9. His second wife Marla Ann Maples was born in Cohutta, Whitfield County, Georgia, USA. They met in 1984 while he was married to Ivana Marie.
10. His third wife Melania Knauss Trump was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. She moved to the U.S. in 1996 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006.
11. In 1985, he acquired Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, which was built between 1924 and 1927. In 2019, he designated it as his primary residence.
12. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series “The Apprentice“.
13. On August 24, 2023, he became the second former U.S. president to be arrested following Ulysses S. Grant’s horse speeding arrest in 1908. Grant served as the 18th U.S. president from March 4, 1869 to March 4, 1877.

TIMELINE

1954

• On June 22, 1954, his grandfather Malcom died in Aird Tong at age 87.

1958

• He was enrolled at the New York Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson, Cornwall, Orange County, New York.

1963

• On December 17, 1963, his grandmother Mary Ann died in Aird Tong at age 96.

1964

• In August 1964, he entered Fordham University in New York City.

1966

• On June 6, 1966, his grandmother Elizabeth died in Manhasset, Nassau County at age 85.
• In August 1966, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

1968

• In May 1968, he graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
• In July 1968, a draft board classified him as eligible to serve in the military.
• In October 1968, he was classified 1-Y, a conditional medical deferment.

1977

• On April 9, 1977, he married Ivana Marie at the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan.
• On December 31, 1977, Ivana Marie gave birth to their son Donald John Trump Jr. in Manhattan.

1981

• On September 26, 1981, his brother Freddy died in Jamaica, Queens County at age 42.
• On October 30, 1981, Ivana Marie gave birth to their daughter Ivana Marie “Ivanka” Trump in New York City.

1984

• On January 6, 1984, Ivana Marie gave birth to their son Eric Frederick Trump.

1990

• In December 1990, he and Ivana Marie divorced.

1993

• On October 13, 1993, Maples gave birth to their daughter Tiffany Ariana Trump in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County.

1997

• In May 1997, he and Maples separated.

1998

• In September 1998, he met Melania at a party and started dating while he was in the process of divorcing Maples.

1999

• On June 8, 1999, he and Maples divorced.
• On June 25, 1999, his father died in New Hyde Park at age 93.

2000

• On August 7, 2000, his mother died in New Hyde Park at age 88.

2005

• On January 22, 2005, he married Melania at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach.

2006

• On March 20, 2006, Melania gave birth to their son Barron William Trump in Manhattan.

2016

• On November 8, 2016, he won the 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election, beating Hillary Clinton.

2017

• On January 20, 2017, he assumed office as the 45th U.S. president.

2020

• On August 15, 2020, his brother Robert died in Manhattan at age 71.
• On November 3, 2020, he lost to Joe Biden in the 59th quadrennial U.S. presidential election.

2021

• On January 2, 2021, he called Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger and said, “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.”
• On January 20, 2021, his term as the 45th U.S. president ended.

2022

• On July 14, 2022, his former wife Ivana Marie died in the Upper East Side, New York County, New York at age 73.
• On November 2022, he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on November 5, 2024.

2023

• In April 2023, he told authorities in New York that he was 6’2″ tall and weighed 240 pounds.
• On June 14, 2023, he turned 77.
• On August 14, 2023, a grand jury indicted him and 18 other defendants.
• On August 21, 2023, he agreed to a $200,000 bond.
• On August 24, 2023, he turned himself in and self-reported to authorities in Georgia that he was 6’3″ tall and weighed 215lbs.