Donald J. Trump, the 47th president of the United States, returned to the White House on January 20, 2025, four years after leaving it. His path there ran through real estate, television and a string of legal and political fights that few public figures have matched.
Trump was born June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York City, to Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. He attended the New York Military Academy, studied at Fordham University and then transferred to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
From real estate to television
He joined his father’s real estate company in 1968 and became its president in 1971, later renaming it the Trump Organization. Under his direction the company built or acquired skyscrapers, hotels, casinos and golf courses, and it licensed the Trump name to a range of side ventures. Six of his businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection between 1991 and 2009.
His national profile grew further when he hosted the reality series The Apprentice from 2004 to 2015. He has been married three times, to Ivana Zelníčková, Marla Maples and, since 2005, Melania Knauss. He has five children: Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany and Barron.
Two terms, and a gap between them
Running as a Republican, Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. His first term, from 2017 to 2021, included the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the appointment of three Supreme Court justices, a trade dispute with China, and withdrawal from several international climate and trade agreements. He also signed the CARES Act during the COVID-19 pandemic. The House impeached him twice, in 2019 and 2021, and the Senate acquitted him both times.
He lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden and did not concede. His efforts to contest the result preceded the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In May 2024, a New York state court found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first U.S. president convicted of a felony. He received a sentence with no penalty. Two federal felony cases against him were dismissed without prejudice. In the November 2024 election he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.
The second term
Trump was sworn in with JD Vance as vice president. Early in the term his administration moved to cut federal jobs in large numbers and imposed tariffs on nearly all countries, at levels not seen since the Great Depression, according to Wikipedia’s account of the period. He signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and his administration’s actions on immigration, transgender rights and other matters have drawn hundreds of lawsuits.
Montana connections
Montana has figured in his campaigns as a reliably Republican state. His 2024 total there was 352,079 votes, or 58.39 percent, a margin of 19.93 percentage points that carried the state’s four electoral votes. His margin was 16.37 points in 2020 and 20.42 points in 2016.
On Aug. 9, 2024, he held a rally at Montana State University’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman. The Montana Independent estimated the crowd at about 8,000. The event was aimed mainly at helping Republican Tim Sheehy, who was challenging Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, though Trump also spoke about his own campaign.
Sources: Wikipedia entries on Donald Trump and the 2024 presidential election in Montana; the Montana Independent.