Donald J. Trump: An Unusual Journey to the Presidency

2024-11-02 21:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Donald J. Trump: An Unusual Journey to the Presidency

Former President Donald Trump

In just over nine years, former president and possibly future president Donald Trump has reformed the Republican Party in an increasingly divided country. Voice of America correspondent Tina Trinh takes a look at former President Trump's efforts for a historic political comeback.

"Now we can say that former Vice President Joe Biden has been elected president of the United States...", it was announced in the American media.

That had to be the end.

But when the end came, Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was unwilling to concede defeat.

"If you count the legal votes, I win easily. If the illegal votes are counted, they could try to steal our election," former President Trump said at the time.

He called on supporters to prevent Congress from certifying the results on January 6, 2021.

"We will fight with everything. And if you don't fight everything, you won't have your country anymore," said former President Trump.

What resulted was a scene unimaginable before in America, leading to a second impeachment in Congress. Mr. Trump's refusal to accept defeat was consistent with his continued rejection of the ordinary.

Former President Donald Trump

"I think what you see is someone who has tremendous faith in his intuition," says Russ Buettner of The New York Times.

Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig are investigative reporters at The New York Times and co-authors of "Lucky Loser," an unflattering look at the circumstances of how Mr. Trump turned himself into a self-reliant billionaire.

“Since the early '80s, he's really distrusted people who have domain expertise on almost everything. He always seeks to overturn their opinion and make things the way he wants them to be," says journalist Buettner.

Mr. Trump's buildings bore his name in large gold letters, a bold display of his ambitions.

"When he was giving an interview to the newspaper 'The New York Times', he had a fortune of 200 million dollars. That had grown to a billion when he was speaking a decade later on '60 Minutes,'" says journalist Susanne Craig, from "The New York Times."

Mr. Trump excelled at attracting attention and cultivating an image of himself as a deal-maker. He made millions of dollars just from licensing the use of his name.

But behind the success there were troubles. His companies filed for bankruptcy six times. His casinos lost revenue and closed. Mr. Trump rebounded with his TV show, "The Apprentice," which landed him his biggest role yet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States and we will make our country great again," he declared in June 2015.

Firm and no-nonsense, Mr Trump was a polarizing and nationalist candidate.

Former President Donald Trump

"When Mexico sends its people, they don't send their best... They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists and some, I suppose, are good people," Mr Trump said.

As president, he appointed three Supreme Court members who helped strike down federal abortion rights.

"The US death toll is now over 150,000," the media reported during the pandemic.

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic tested former President Trump. He accelerated the production of vaccines to save lives. But he also appeared to suggest that scientists study injecting chlorine to kill the virus.

With over 9 million Americans infected and the death toll exceeding 230,000, voters that November chose Joe Biden as their next president.

After leaving office, former President Trump faced multiple criminal charges and is the first former president to be found guilty of a criminal offense.

And yet, he has never been more popular than now.

Surviving two assassination attempts this year,... he has only strengthened his bond with his supporters.

"God has a plan for Trump. And he was absolutely spared for some purposes and reasons. And hopefully he will become the 47th president," says supporter Pam Smith, of Pennsylvania.

American politics has not been the same since Donald Trump became a part of it.

And the man who once co-authored the book "The Art of the Comeback" may now be making one of the greatest comebacks in American history./ VOA