Trump: Before the Presidencies

Early Life & College

Trump was born on June 14th, 1946, in Jamaica Hospital in Queens [1]. His father was real estate developer Fred Trump (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) and first-generation Scottish-American socialite Mary Anne MacLeod Trump (May 10, 1912 – August 7, 2000). 

He grew up with three older siblings and one younger sibling: Maryanne Trump Barry (April 5, 1937 – November 13, 2023), Fred Trump Jr. (October 14, 1938 – September 26, 1981), Elizabeth Trump Grau (1942-), and Robert Trump (August 26, 1948 – August 15, 2020)

He grew up in the rich neighborhood of Jamaica Estates in Queens. Fred Trump operated a real estate company serving middle-class, majority white families in the Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island areas called Elizabeth Trump & Son and later Trump Management, a company founded by Fred Trump and his mother in 1927. [2] [3]

He and his siblings had an abusive childhood, in which their father was a likely sociopath and their mother was suffering from mental illness. For much of his childhood, Donald did not receive a lot of attention from his father and compensated for it with aggressive, intimidating behavior like bullying. When his father started to pay attention to him, he enabled these behaviors in him and sabotaged his emotional expression. Nobody confronted his bad behavior or held him accountable, and his father accepted it because, according to Mary Trump, “he identified with those impulses,” and “liked his killer attitude.” [4]

He was sent to the New York Military Academy from Kew-Forest School in 1959, when he was thirteen, due to the misbehavior his family had enabled. He graduated in 1964. Efforts were made to hide his school transcripts from his time there. [5] [6]

For college, Trump attended Fordham University at its Bronx campus, Rose Hill, from 1964 to 1966. There are very conflicting accounts as to why he went to Fordham, some of which are not very flattering. Eventually, Trump decided to apply to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), where he got accepted. One notable fact about his admission to Wharton was that the only admissions officer to interview Trump was James Nolan, a friend of Fred Trump Jr. who was working in Wharton’s admissions department at the time. Although, in relation to this fact, it is important to note that acceptance rates for transfer students at Wharton were much higher than it is today. He graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. All in all, he did not make much of a lasting impression on any of his college classmates, researcher John L. Puckett deduces. [7] [8]

Donald Trump did not serve in the Vietnam War that was raging at around this time (although he did register for the draft when he turned eighteen in 1964), which has proven to be controversial even to this day. He obtained four student deferments for his college studies at Fordham and Wharton and a medical exemption in 1968, which marked him 1-Y (unqualified for service unless there was a national emergency) due to a supposed bone spur in his foot. Later statements from the campaign said his assigned draft number was simply very high and that the injury was short-term and would not have shielded him from the draft lottery. However, the draft board ledger states that the 1968 deferment remained in place until 1972, when he was simply listed as 4F (unqualified for service). [9]

Business

Donald took control of Trump Management in 1971, and he rebranded it as the Trump Organization in 1973. He moved from middle-class, lower developments in the Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island areas to higher, upper-class developments, mainly in Manhattan, such as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, his first project, which he helped renovate from the Commodore Hotel from 1978 to 1980. A 40-year tax abatement was crucial for this specific project. He later built the famous Trump Tower, the Trump Organization’s headquarters & the Trump family’s penthouse apartment in 1983. [10]  

In the 1980s, Trump decided to expand into Atlantic City casinos. Trump Plaza was the first, opening in 1984, closing in 2014, and being quietly demolished in 2021. Trump Castle, later renamed Trump Marina, opened in 1985 and was sold to Landry's Inc., owned by Tilman Fertitta, in 2011, and rebranded as Golden Nugget. Lastly, the Trump Taj Mahal, opened in 1990, filed for bankruptcy, a chain of bankruptcies that would stain Donald Trump’s financial record. [11] [12] [13] [14]

The Trump Taj Mahal was financed with $675 million in junk bonds at a 14% interest rate. Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on this casino in 1991. (In bankruptcy, Trump Plaza and Trump Castle soon followed the Trump Taj Mahal in 1992 for similar reasons.) Trump wanted to reduce the interest rate on the first mortgage bonds from 14% to 11.35%, with some of the interest paid in bonds. In exchange, Trump would give up half of the ownership of the Trump Taj Mahal. This plan was confirmed by the bankruptcy court, and Trump upheld his end of the deal, giving 50% of the ownership to lenders. This plan, however, did not salvage the ‘eighth wonder of the world’, and it closed down in 2016 mainly because of a labor strike– with Trump’s 2009 10% stake and name on the casino, a deal made due to another bankruptcy. Carl Icahn had control over the Taj Mahal at the time of its closure. Hard Rock International and two Jersey investors bought it in 2017 for $50 million and rebranded it as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. [15] [16] [17]

Trump Airlines/Trump Shuttle, then the Eastern Airlines Shuttle Service, was acquired by the Trump Organization for $365 million dollars in 1988. The airline opened with a more luxurious spin in 1989. It operated between New York, Boston, and Washington. However, despite its looks, it never turned a profit (in fact, it even lost money– losing $128 million dollars in a year and a half) and was turned into U.S Air Shuttle in 1992. [18] [19]

Trump: The Game was released by Donald Trump and Milton Bradley in 1989. Many advertisements were made for it, and 2 million copies were expected to sell upon release. Of that, only 800,000 sold. Production was discontinued in 1990. [20]

In 2004, one of his most well-known and successful business ventures aired. The Apprentice was a reality competition show in which businesspeople competed for a $250,000 contract to manage one of Donald Trump’s properties. It was eventually rebranded as The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump was fired by NBC after making derogatory remarks during his 2015 presidential announcement. The show ended two years later. Trump ended up earning $427 million from the 14 seasons he was on the show, recouping much of the money he had lost in earlier, less successful business ventures. [21] [22] [23]

Lightning round! Trump Ice and Trump Natural Spring Water opened in 1995, and Trump Ice was discontinued in 2010. Trump Steaks was discontinued after 2 months on the market in 2007 due to poor sales. Trump Vodka debuted in 2005 and was discontinued in 2011 due to low sales and a dispute between Trump and the original product’s supplier, Drinks Americas; however, it was relaunched in 2025. The Trump Organization cut ties with Trump SoHo, which opened in 2010, in 2017, mainly due to election fallout, and it was rebranded as the Dominic Hotel. The Trump Ocean Club in Panama opened in 2011. The developer went bankrupt in 2013, and the Trump name was removed in 2018 after a legal dispute. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

He owned the Miss Universe Organization, including Teen U.S.A. and Miss U.S.A., from 1996 to 2015, after he bought it from ITT Corp., making it a larger brand for the 14 years he had it. However, his policy of making women wear small bathing suits and high heels, unlike what he claims, did not do wonders for ratings. According to the New Yorker, “...when Trump bought Miss Universe, the viewership in the United States had declined from around thirty-five million in 1984 to twelve million in 1997. The numbers kept falling during Trump’s ownership, and the American audience for the 2013 pageant consisted of fewer than four million.” He had a history of controversies about how he treated the women and girls while he owned the organization. He sold it to WME/IMG for 28 million dollars after buying NBC’s 50% share, following their cut ties with him over his election statements. [30] [31] [32]

Personal Life & Marriages

Donald Trump married Ivana Trump (née Zelníčková) in 1977. The same year, she gave birth to Donald Trump Jr. She had Ivanka Trump on October 30th, 1981, and Eric Trump on January 6th, 1984. The divorce started in 1990, Ivana citing reasons such as Trump’s public affair with Marla Maples in the previous year. This affair is most known by its most popular news headline, ‘Best Sex I Ever Had,’ which originated from a line Marla Maples allegedly said on a phone call Trump initiated with reporters trying to get them to report on the affair. Overall, after the divorce, they remained amicable coparents to their three kids until Ivana died in 2022. [33] [34]

Trump also purchased the Nabila yacht from the Sultan of Brunei, Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, for 29 million dollars in 1988. He later spent another 8.5 million dollars on renovations. Due to his other financial issues, the renamed Trump Princess yacht was sold for 20 million dollars in 1991 to Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. The yacht was later renamed Kingdom 5KR. [35]

After his divorce from Ivana Trump was finalized in 1992, he had his daughter, Tiffany Trump, on October 13th, 1993, and he married Marla Maples the same year. They informally separated in 1997 and officially divorced in 1999 due to differing values, parenting styles, and lifestyles. Marla Maples and Donald Trump also remain amicable to this day. [36]

After an on-and-off relationship, Donald Trump and Melania Trump got married in 2005. Barron Trump was born on March 20th, 2006. They are still together now. [37]

The Scandals

In 1973, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department sued Donald Trump, Fred Trump, and Trump Management for racial discrimination in renting their apartments. They alleged that Trump Management violated the Fair Housing Act of 1968 by misrepresenting what was available and engaging in differential treatment of Black people looking to rent, and by placing codes next to applicants’ names to identify if they were Black. The case was settled in 1975. The Trump Organization did not admit wrongdoing, but did take measures to enable equal opportunity, such as sending its vacancy lists to the Urban League and advertising to Black potential tenants. [38]

Trump used undocumented Polish laborers to demolish the Bonwit Teller building so that he could start building Trump Tower in 1980. They were paid low wages for 12-hour workdays and were provided with inadequate safety equipment for the work they were doing. Eventually, they were paid adequately for their work. Donald Trump consistently denied that he knew that the workers were undocumented. [39]

During the Central Park Five case in 1989, Trump put out full-page ads calling for the return of the death penalty. It did not name the Central Park Five, but it was at the height of the case being covered in the media. Trump maintains that they are guilty of the rape and assault of Trisha Meili as of 2024, and the Central Park Five maintain that Trump slandered them. A defamation lawsuit against Trump by the Central Park Five is ongoing. [40] [41]

Trump Plaza was fined $200,000 dollars in 1991 for moving Black and female gamblers in Trump Plaza from craps tables after Robert LiButti, known for his ties to John Gotti, for which he was banned from New Jersey casinos. Trump Castle was fined $30,000 dollars the same year for accepting an illegal $3.5 million loan from Fred Trump, his father. [42] [43]

In 1998, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts allegedly violated the Cuba embargo by spending 68,000 dollars to go to Havana. The trip’s funds went through Seven Arrows Investment and Development Corp to make it seem like a legitimate charity endeavor. [44]

Trump University, which operated from 2005 to 2010, was accused of using predatory sales tactics to advertise Trump’s expensive real estate seminars. Two class action lawsuits were filed against Trump University, and one from the New York Attorney General. Around 6,000 students were involved. A $25 million settlement was finalized in 2018, and students were eligible for up to 90% refunds for the classes they took. [45]

At least 28 women have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Ivana Trump recanted a rape allegation while they were getting a divorce. Women and girls in Miss U.S.A and Teen U.S.A allege that Trump would walk into their dressing rooms while they were undressed or partially undressed. Many other women also alleged sexual misconduct.[46]