Donald Trump is someone most people in the United States and around the world know by name. His start came in Queens, New York being born into a wealthy family. He went to a few boarding schools for school and later went to the Wharton Business school to study Business. He was able to dodge the draft with school exemptions and a medical exemption for heel spur. He was married three times and divorced twice. Donald Trump says he doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes or drugs. Mr. Trump has gained a lot of notoriety from the press some is good most is bad. Figuring out if the bad press over Donald Trump can be shown through his personal life as well as his business and presidential career.
Donald Trump has been in the news a lot for his personal life before and during his presidency. He started off as a businessman but soon became known for his loud mouth that gained him much popularity but not without scrutiny. Most people have seen him on The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice which he became the producer in 2003. He was best known for his comment “You’re Fired” when contestants were sent home. He was let go by NBC for his comments on immigrants. On top of The Apprentice he has appeared in multiple movies and a lot of these appearance are in his Trump towers. While on an interview Donald Trump stated “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.(ABC)” This comment has been confirmed real by the Billy Bush the man giving him the interview. This comment cost him many supporters because it is truly horrible. Especially in a time of Harvey Weinstein allegations many people are very sour on the subject. He has made a foundation by the name of Donald J. Trump foundation which gives to sports, health care, and conservative groups. Although Donald Trump has not given to the charity since 2008. His personal life can be seen as a mixture of good and bad.
The next major way to find his true character is through his businesses. As he states I “started off in Brooklyn, my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars.(Diamond 1)” One million dollars is a lot of money but in New York real estate it isn’t as large of a amount as it seems. He was able to make that one million dollar loan into a larger wealth and grow his business as well as his father’s whom he took over for. “Donald immediately sought out building projects that were larger and carried higher profiles than his father’s outer-borough apartment blocks. Fred was reluctant at first but eventually backed Donald’s projects in the heart of the Big Apple.(Investopedia) ” This is what turned the good business into a business empire. Donald Trump was able to look past the risk to the reward and in doing so became one of the richest men in the US. His most well known real estate projects are the Grand Hyatt, Wollman Rink, and The Taj Mahal Casino. The start of his bankruptcy was partly caused by his casino The Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. This was the beginning of his hardships with casinos that made him file for bankruptcy multiple times. His main problem stemming from the inability to generate enough profit to pay for the renovations made to them. This was the end of one part of his business life but after his failures he found a new way to succeed.
Mr. Trump’s new way to succeed was caused by his ability to use the system and his personal image to catapulte him out of the red and into the green. As stated by Trump “Chapter 11 is how you reshape and restructure a company that has problems. It doesn’t indicate anything nefarious or even bad management.”(O’Connor 3) He was able to use something generally see as a negative to help gain capital and pay off his debts. Whatever your thoughts on Donald Trump either political or personal you can’t deny his ability to adapt and overcome challenges that normally curb the typical entrepreneur. He saw that he could use bankruptcy to his advantage and used it four other times. People do think that his way of declaring bankruptcy was dishonest and not fair because it was taking advantage of the laws. Another way he was able to save his businesses was putting faith in his image. He realized that people liked his outspoken character and he used this to go on shows and movies which help him in his business by adding credibility. It also was a money maker for him he sold his name for companies to put their name on buildings. Free cash for Trump and this was able for him to rebuild his wealth. Donald Trump’s ability to overcome obstacles has shown by his successes in business.
Donald Trump’s road to presidency was not without picking up critics. At first many thought President Trump’s bid to become president was a bit like Kanye 2020 more of a joke with most people. Although he kept with it and quickly gained interest from many Americans who were fed up with the current state of politics. He was very similar to Jimmy Carter a rich peanut farmer that become president in 1974. Many of the things Donald Trump does gets him supporters and haters. His use of an unfiltered mouth is what makes him so different. The presidential race also had Hillary Clinton who stood at the opposite end of the spectrum. Donald Trump is very conservative republican and Hillary Clinton is a liberal democrat. The way President Trump was able to pull of a victory was his ability to attract typical democrats to his side partly due to Hillary swinging to far left. President “Trump won reliably red states as well as important swing states including Florida and Ohio, and racked up 306 electoral votes to his rival’s 232 votes.(History)” Although it was looking like a Democratic victory prior to the election Donald Trump was able to win the electoral college but not the popular vote. Not winning the popular vote has only added to the frustrations and negative feedback over President Trump.
One of the things Donald Trump said during his campaigning for presidency was his ideas on immigration. Donald Trump’s ideas on immigration are there are “three core principles: that the U.S. must build a wall across the southern border, that current immigration laws must be fully enforced, and that the interests of American citizens must be put first.(FairUS)” All of these ideas don’t seem far off from what most want. Although his way of expressing these ideas are what gives him a lot of heat. Since he has no filter his way of expressing his view of illegal immigrants is calling them murderers and rapist. Which is far from the truth as many immigrants are kind and respectful people who just wanted a better life. Although in the immigrants case a little leaven leavens the whole loaf. Another controversial issue is Donald Trump’s zero tolerance policy. Although the news is far from the truth. His plan is for “ adults detained while traveling with children and claiming to be their parents would have to take a DNA test to prove they were related.(TheHill)” This seems to be a great idea to cut down on human trafficking. Although most of the media sees Donald Trump and immigrants in a bad light and it will stay that way. In many ways the problem is how President Trump is portrayed by the media not his actual actions.
Another controversial decision was him setting up Israel’s capital in Jerusalem rather then in Tel Aviv. On one side you have people not wanting to incite future conflict with countries that are predominantly muslim. And on the other side this is seen as a progressive way forward in dealing with this ongoing conflict. Both sides are valid in certain aspects and the only way to see if the proposal was valid will come in the future. “I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” Trump said. “While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering(TheGuardian).” This may come as a surprise but it is true that President Bush and Clinton both wanted to move the capital. Although they both either didn’t see it as possible or feared the outcome of doing so. Donald Trump and the United States have both gotten a lot of hate from this. Countries like Saudi Arabia and britain are both calling it a bad move that will further tensions in the region. Although most of the world is calling it a dumb move it might not be. Conflict in this area has been going on forever and might continue forever but Trumps move could have helped fight the flames.
With all of this negative there has been something very positive in Donald Trump’s presidency. The United States has been able to strengthen and kickstart its economy after Trump took office. This is mostly caused by Donald Trump’s actions on cutting taxes. This has in turn lowered the US unemployment rate exponentially. Many people still question is this turn in the economy from Donald Trump and many believe it is. Donald Trump being a businessman gives other businesses the confidence needed to grow their business and in turn the US economy. It also helps the Donald Trump is republican because republicans usually don’t tax as much and let business run themselves without government intervention. “Employment growth slowed by 12 percent. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate kept dropping, reaching a 17-year low. The number of job vacancies rose, also to a nearly 17-year record.(Factcheck.org)” The stats speak for themselves unemployment down is a big win for America especially after the downturn in 2008. Another piece of news that has started recently is Trump’s tariffs on China. These come at a time of good economic status so they are a surprise. When looking at the tariffs they seem to be a pretty good idea cut down on chineses trade to help US markets. The only problem is that the US currently realize on China for a lot of our goods. Taking Chinese trade away will have devastating results on markets in the United States in the short term. In the long run they might be able to strengthen US manufacturing but at what cost in the current landscape will this cost us. As stated earlier many of Donald Trump’s successes in presidency are easily overshadowed by boneheaded comments but if your able to look past those their is some light at the end of the tunnel.
Another topic that has been in the news is Donald Trump on North Korea. He seems to be making good progress with them at times and at times it looks as if WW3 is not far off. Maybe this is what the United States needed to finally overcome our foe in the north. A man that is willing to show brinkmanship might scare off the North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un from his intimidation. Trump told Kim: “I know we’ll have tremendous success together and we’ll solve a big problem — a big dilemma — that until this point has been unable to be solved, and working together we’ll get it taken care of.(CNBC)” This doesn’t seem to be the same words as a president previously called mentally unstable. This meeting was able to set the United States and North Korea at a partnership close to Russia’s. What I mean by that is that both countries can work together even though there is still tension in the air. When Ronald Reagan made his first trip to Russia after the Cold War he was hailed a hero but it seems as if Donald Trump is not receiving the credit for this one. Partly because of his tweets blasting Kim Jong Un calling him a rocket man. And yet another issue that Donald Trump was able to handle using his own way. Which seems to not be the right way but the way that gets the job.
To summarize these points on Donald Trump’s life you need to take a step back at the whole story. His personal life left many wondering on his lack of integrity and ability. Although his business life showed he was able to become extremely successful when given the chances. And his presidential career is not yet over but from the situation seen it has not been without blemish but there has been a lot of positive parts. In researching Donald Trump you begin to realize that his face of a outspoken leader that has no filter might be a front for a deeper thinking man. His ability is there but sometimes lacking in his execution. It will be very interesting to see how the rest of his life plays out. Will he be able to overcome the media and persuade people of the man he is. Or will he be the outcome the media wants and his head get to inflated. To finalize my results I believe Donald Trump should be given better treatment by the media for his work although he does need to be called out for his pitfalls.
Work Cited
Borger, Julian, and Peter Beaumont. “Defiant Donald Trump Confirms US Will Recognise Jerusalem as Capital of Israel.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media. Web. 7 Dec. 2017.
Collinson, Stephen. “The Exhausting First Year of Donald Trump’s Presidency.” CNN, Cable News Network. Web. 15 Jan. 2018.
Diamond, Jeremy. “Donald Trump on Father’s ‘Small’ $1 Million Loan – CNNPolitics.” CNN, Cable News Network, 27 Oct. 2015.
History.com Staff. “Donald Trump.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2016.
Investopedia. “Donald Trump’s Success Story.” Investopedia. 9 Sept. 2017. Web. 19 July 2018
Jackson, Brooks. “Trump’s Numbers.” FactCheck.org, 16 May 2018, www.factcheck.org/2018/01/trumps-numbers/.
O’Connell, Ford. “Trump’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy Can Be a Political Winner for Republicans.” TheHill. Web. 26 June 2018.
O’Connor, Clare. “Fourth Time’s A Charm: How Donald Trump Made Bankruptcy Work For Him.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 Sept. 2015.
“President-Elect Trump’s Stance on Immigration | Federation for American Immigration Reform.” The Cost of Illegal Immigration to US Taxpayers | FAIR.
Rosenfeld, Everett, and Nyshka Chandran. “Trump Says He and Kim Are ‘Going Right Now for a Signing’.” CNBC, CNBC, 12 June 2018.
Staff, ABC. “Billy Bush Says Infamous ‘Grab Them by the p***y’ Comments Came from Trump.” ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Web. 4 Dec. 2017.