#45. Trump, Donald John

Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas – Donald John Trump (b 1946) was the 45th President of the United States from 2017 to 2021. A media personality and businessman, he is the only president without prior military or government experience. And who was favored by 2.9 million fewer voters than the “other guy” (who, in fact, was a female). Nobody expected such a thing to happen, “ it just couldn’t” said all the polls. But it did. Donald Trump received 304 electoral votes, Hillary Clinton 227, and that’s what makes the win. Glued to our TVs as election returns came in state by state the evening of November 8, we watched it happen. The Associated Press called Pennsylvania for Trump at 1:35 AM EST, putting him at 267 electoral votes (270 needed to win). By 2:01, they had called both Maine and Nebraska’s second congressional districts for Trump, putting him at 269 electoral votes. At 2:29 the Associated Press called the election for Trump, with 279 electoral votes. By 2:37 Hillary Clinton had called Donald Trump and conceded the election. He gave his victory speech at 2:50 AM EST November 9, 2016.

Later that day, Hillary Clinton asked her supporters to accept the result. “Last night, I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country,” she said. “I hope he will be a successful president for all Americans. This is not the outcome we wanted or worked so hard for, and I’m sorry we did not win this election, but I feel pride and gratitude for this wonderful campaign we built together. This vast, diverse, creative, unruly and energized campaign. You represent the best of America, and being your candidate has been one of the greatest honors of my life.” Fighting back tears at times, she acknowledged the crowd’s disappointment, saying she — “and tens of millions of Americans” — felt it, too. “This is painful, and it will be for a long time. We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. But I still believe in America, and I always will.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton (b 1946), was the first female presidential nominee of a major political party, and one of five in 58 elections over 229 years where the popular vote winner was defeated by electoral votes, meaning, simply, that the majority of voters did not get the person they chose. Hillary did not lose due to lack of experience; as a member of President Obama’s cabinet Hillary served as US Secretary of State; she was an elected US Senator from New York, was First Lady of the United States during President Clinton’s eight years and First Lady of Arkansas during the five terms her husband was governor. She majored in political science; earned a law degree at Yale; worked in numerous campaigns for over 40 years. She understood politics. Why did she lose this election? Part of the answer is her identification with the Old School; were voters just itching for a change?

Or was it simply personality differences? Hillary acknowledged once that “I’m not a natural politician, in case you haven’t noticed.” Did “charisma” just slap the dickens out of quieter manners? And how did the bolder louder candidate function in the presidential role? The next four years were brash, surprising, unsettling. Rated today in the bottom three of the “worst presidents ever” Donald Trump was defeated in the 2020 election and, in a shock wave front porch stand during the 2021 transition, almost wouldn’t leave. For the first time since the US Constitution was ratified in 1788, “peaceful transition of power” was in jeopardy. So what is the back story? Who is this Donald Trump?

The Gold

Let me tell you a story. Some 23 million immigrants came to the United States from Europe between the 1880s and the early 1920s. Add up the wars, misrule, conflicts, food shortages, swelling populations, and shrinking opportunities and you can see why such great numbers of Europeans left their homelands in search of something better. The largest group of immigrants were Germans from Europe’s Austro-Hungary Empire, and one of those was Friedrich Trump.

He was just 16, US immigration records show “Friedr. Trumpf” born in Kallstadt, Germany, immigrated via Bremen to the United States aboard the steamship Eider, departing on October 7 and arriving at the Castle Garden Emigrant Landing Depot in New York City October 19, 1885. Friedrich’s sister was already there; he settled in with her and began work as a barber, carefully saving his money. In 1891, when Washington became a state, he headed cross country to Seattle where he bought a restaurant at 208 Washington Street in Pioneer Square, the “action spot” of a frontier town. He fixed it up with new tables and chairs and named it The Dairy; he sold food and liquor and Rooms For Ladies. And he made money.

Two years later he sold The Dairy and moved north of Seattle to a new hotbed for gold mining, building a new restaurant to serve the miners. The Monte Cristo “gold bubble” burst, but by 1897 the Klondike Gold Rush had begun; he funded two miners who staked a claim; in 1898 he headed for the Yukon himself. And he opened another restaurant – this one along the trail at White Horse Pass, a trail so treacherous the horses often would be beat to death trying to make the climb. (His menu included “fresh slaughtered horse.”) More money made; he moved again to Bennett, BC and opened The Artic Restaurant and Hotel, a two-story building among a sea of tents. The restaurant had one of the largest steel ranges in the area, offering fresh fruit and ptarmigan in addition to horse meat, it served over 3,000 meals a day. The hotel offered scales for measuring gold dust, gambling, private beds, and ladies, 24 hours a day. Until 1901, when the local government announced the suppression of prostitution, gambling, and liquor. Friedrich sold his shares, left the Yukon, and returned to Kallstadt, Germany at the age of 32 a wealthy man.

He met and soon proposed to Elisabeth Christ, they married in 1902 and moved to New York; a daughter was born in 1904. But Elisabeth was homesick, so back to Kallstadt. And a major slap. The Department of Interior announced an investigation to banish Friedrich from Germany! He had violated the “Resolution of the Royal Ministry of the Interior number 9916,” a law that punished immigration to North America to avoid military service with the loss of Bavarian and thus German citizenship. In February 1905, a royal decree was issued ordering Friedrich Trump to leave within eight weeks. He petitioned the ruling, but was unsuccessful. Friedrich and Elisabeth and daughter left for New York June 30, 1905.

The Business

Son Friedrich Christ Trump – Fred – was born October 24, 1905 in the Bronx, New York. And then another son, John, in 1907. Friedrich bought real estate on Jamaica Avenue, moving the family into the building and renting out rooms; he managed a hotel; he kept buying land. One day while on a walk with son Fred, he became extremely sick; the next day he was dead. His real estate holdings included a 2-story 7-room house in Queens, 5 vacant lots, $4,000 in savings, $3,600 in stocks, and 14 mortgages, placing his net worth at about $35,000 ($780,000 in 2024). The year was 1918; Fred was 13 years old. Elisabeth and Fred continued the real estate projects under the name Elisabeth Trump & Son. Fred grew up, married, and had five children. One of them was Donald Trump.

Donald John Trump was born June 14, 1946 at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York, the fourth of the five children of Fred and Mary MacLeod Trump: Maryanne, Fred Jr, Elisabeth, Donald, and Robert. Father Fred was unforgivingly strict; the Legend of Grandfather framed everything he taught his children. Make a lot of money, however you can. Hold it tight and make some more; hardship looms. Donald grew up in Queens; he attended private schools, and in 1968 when he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BS in economics he joined the family business. Father Fred stressed to Donald the art of deal-making. The rule: “Be a Killer.” The attitude: “Be A King.” When older brother Fred Jr declined leadership responsibility it came to Donald, passing into his hands in 1971 when he was 25.

The Trump Organization, through its various constituent companies and partnerships, has or has had interests in real estate development, investing, brokerage, sales and marketing, and property management. Trump Organization entities own, operate, invest in, and develop residential real estate, hotels, resorts, residential towers, and golf courses in various countries. They also operate or have operated in construction, hospitality, casinos, entertainment, book and magazine publishing, broadcast media, model management, financial services, food and beverages, business education, online travel, commercial and private aviation, and beauty pageants. Retail operations include or have included fashion apparel, jewelry and accessories, books, home furnishings, lighting products, bath textiles and accessories, bedding, home fragrance products, small leather goods, vodka, wine, barware, steaks, chocolate bars, and bottled spring water. No clear accounting of the value of these entities is available. Donald and his businesses have been plaintiffs or defendants in more than 4,000 legal actions.

The Finger

Did you watch The Apprentice? It ran from 2004-2015 with Donald as host, representing a successful businessman with a luxurious lifestyle. Opening theme was For the Love of Money, an R&B song by the O’Jays. The premise of the show was to conduct a job talent search for a person to head one of the Trump companies, offering the winner a one-year contract with a starting annual salary of $250,000. “Trumponomics” entered our lingo –a managerial concept meaning “impressing the boss is the only way to climb the corporate ladder.” The show is most remembered for its catchphrase “You’re fired!” shouted by a finger-pointing Donald.

On June 29, 2015, NBC announced that the network was cutting ties with Donald Trump over the Republican presidential candidate’s statements about Mexican immigrants. “Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBC Universal is ending its business relationship with Mr Trump.” Donald was fired for comments he made about immigrants. Well then. A bit ironic? Besides Grandpa Friedrich from Germany, Donald’s mother Mary Anne MacLeod immigrated from Scotland (naturalized 1942), his first wife Ivana Zelníčková immigrated from Czechoslovakia (naturalized 1988); his third wife Melanija Knavs immigrated from Slovenia (naturalized 2006). All with English as a second language; all seeking a better life in a land of opportunity, just like those Mexicans (who he continues to label as rapists and thieves trying to take our jobs). So there’s that.

The Twitter Finger

Fast forward to January 6, 2021. Donald was reaching the end of four years in the White House. And he’d been fired again. The 2020 presidential election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900. The Biden-Harris ticket received 306 electoral votes; the Trump-Pence 232. Everything was clear. Except to Donald. From early in the morning on November 4, 2020 with vote counts still going on in many states, Donald claimed he had won. He ordered government agencies not to cooperate with the Biden transition team. On December 2, he posted a 46-minute video to his social media in which he repeated claims that the election was “rigged” and called for state legislatures or courts to overturn the election and allow him to stay in office. In a December 18 meeting in the White House a suggestion to overturn the election by invoking martial law and rerunning it under military supervision was discussed. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Army Chief of Staff General James McConville issued a joint statement saying “There is no role for the US military in determining the outcome of an American election.”

The 117th US Congress was scheduled to count and certify the Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021; vice president Mike Pence was to preside over the session. In December, Donald called for his supporters to stage a massive protest in Washington on January 6 to argue against this certification using tweets such as “Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” By January, he began to pressure his vice-president to use his position to overturn election results and declare a Trump-Pence win. Mike Pence demurred; the law did not give him that power.

At noon on January 6, Donald made an hour-long televised speech at a rally on the Ellipse, with the White House as background, continuing to press claims that the election was fraudulent. The assembled crowd became a mob that stormed the US capitol, interrupting the Joint session of the US Congress where the Electoral College ballots were being certified, forcing lawmakers to flee for their lives.

We watched it happen, remember? The capitol was ransacked, five people died, damage to the building caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million. But the process of law took place despite the worst of terrors; Congress reconvened that same night, soon after the Capitol was cleared of trespassers. Leaders of both parties, including Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Speaker Mitch McConnell urged the legislators to confirm the electors. The Senate resumed its session around 8 pm and completed its work shortly before 4 am on Thursday, January 7, declaring Biden and Harris the winners 306–232. Vice President Pence affirmed the election result, formally declaring Biden the winner. Donald Trump did not attend the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on January 20, 2021.    Mike Pence did.

In February 2021 Donald Trump was impeached. The Senate voted 57–43 to convict him of inciting insurrection, but fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution, and he was therefore acquitted. Other charges of efforts to overturn the election that led to the attack on the capitol, of election tampering, of willful retention of national defense information and classified documents, of hush money and business fraud, still hang over his head, tangled and delayed, waiting.

On May 21, 2024 Donald Trump was convicted by a New York jury of 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. (And this is a man who’s had three wives, five children and ten grandchildren, ah.)

The Insanity

On July 15, 2024, Donald Trump was nominated for the third time as a Republican presidential candidate at the National Convention in Milwaukee. He selected Senator JD Vance as his running mate.

Stay tuned. He’s been fired, but keeps applying. Here’s what I’m thinking – before any of you decide to rehire the man, review the job requirements. They’re simple; they don’t specify male or female, and they don’t specify skin color. It doesn’t matter who your grandpa was, or where you started out in life. But in order to BE president, a real honest-to-goodness worth-our-time president, a person must be over 35, a US citizen who lives here, and must, absolutely MUST “faithfully preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

That’s the job. And frankly, I’d prefer someone who isn’t angry all the time. Just saying.