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Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th and current president of the United States since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
He was elected in 2016 on the Republican ticket with a campaign of populist nationalism, claiming an intent to "Make America Great Again". He is the first president with no prior government office or military command. He is the fifth president to win the office without winning a majority of the popular vote. While the Democratic Party's candidate, Hillary Clinton, carried some 3 million more popular votes than did Trump, Trump was able to win in the electoral college, and thus gain the presidency. He took office with by far the lowest approval rating in modern times; most of his supporters are white and skew older. Some of his most adamant supporters continue to be the so-called "alt-right", a modern manifestation of white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. Investigations by the FBI have determined that Russia intervened to secure Trump's victory, although whether Russian actions directly played a role are somewhat unclear.
During his presidency, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, citing security concerns; after legal challenges, the Supreme Court upheld the policy's third revision. He enacted a tax-cut package for individuals and businesses, rescinding the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but has failed to repeal and replace the ACA as a whole. He appointed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. In foreign policy, Trump has pursued an America First agenda, renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) and withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He imposed import tariffs which triggered a trade war with China, moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and withdrew U.S. troops from northern Syria. He met three times with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but talks on denuclearization broke down in 2019.
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 likely proved Trump's undoing. He deliberately reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, admitting to Bob Woodward that he downplayed the threat, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials, and promoted false information about unproven treatments and the availability of testing. States were left to their own devices in combatting the crisis, with Trump often criticizing communities that locked-down in efforts to curb the spread, and playing up the partisan divide. Concurrently, tensions between minority communities and law enforcement led to extended periods of protest and unrest throughout the summer of 2020.
By Election Day, 2020, some 200,000 Americans died of COVID-19. The presidential election of 2020 saw the highest turnout in the country's history, with Democratic challenger Joe Biden winning a solid electoral vote on Saturday, November 7, a few days after election day. Moreover, Biden received the most popular votes of any U.S. presidential candidate.
Trump refused to concede the election. As his time in office wound down, he routinely lied about election fraud, claiming that he'd actually won in a landslide. He and his surrogates filed some 60 legal claims over overturn the results, nearly all of which were dismissed.
His antics almost certainly helped the Democrats win Georgia's two Senate races, insuring Democratic control of the Congress as well as the presidency. During the counting of the electoral votes on January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the United States Capitol, which they then stormed, forcing Congress to temporarily evacuate and resulting in the deaths of five people. That evening, the certification process continued; although several members of Congress raised baseless objections to the votes of certain states, Vice President Mike Pence completed his duty, and the electoral vote was certified. Seven days later, the House of Representatives impeached him again for "incitement of insurrection", making him the only U.S. president or federal officeholder to be impeached twice.
Trump left office on January 20, 2021, having issued a flurry of pardons and clemencies the night before. He did not attend the inauguration of Joe Biden. His second impeachment trial began on February 9, 2021. He was acquitted February 13, 2021. He remains under investigation in a number of jurisdictions for his efforts to overturn the election, among other crimes. In 2023, Trump became the first former U.S. president to face state criminal charges and the first to face federal criminal charges. In March 2023, a Manhattan grand jury indicted him on 34 felony counts of fraud, and a federal grand jury indicted him in June in relation to his handling of classified documents. On August 1, 2023, a Washington, DC, federal grand jury indicted him on four felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On August 24, 2023, Trump voluntarily surrendered himself to authorities at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, following a state indictment of him on racketeering and related charges. Before he was released on bond, his mug shot, the first police booking photograph of a U.S. president, was taken and assigned the number 2313827. (Franklin Pierce and Ulysses S. Grant were each booked for minor traffic violations while in office, but mug shots were not common in their time.)
In addition to criminal charges, Trump is also subject to a number of civil matters. On May 9, 2023, regarding E. Jean Carroll's claims of defamation and sexual assault, an anonymous jury found Trump civilly liable for sexual abuse (but not rape) and defamation against Carroll and ordered Trump to pay her $5 million in damages. Based on subsequent remarks Trump made about Carroll and the outcome, Carroll has sought to amend her initial complaint.
On December 19, 2023, the State Supreme Court of Colorado ruled that Trump was disqualified from holding office and that his name must be removed from the Colorado Republican primary ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently overruled this decision.
Despite publicly available confirmation linking him to multiple criminal activities, Trump won a landslide 30-point victory, the largest margin ever for a non-incumbent, in the Iowa Republican caucuses on January 15, 2024. While Trump continued to win throughout the primary, he did not achieve the resounding victories expected for a former president.
Trump has been leaning into violent and authoritarian rhetoric throughout the campaign, notably saying he would be a "dictator" for at least part of his second term in office. Trump has increasingly used dehumanizing and violent rhetoric against his political enemies, including making racist puns on opponents' names. His 2024 campaign has been noted for heavily leaning into white supremacist, nativist, and anti-LGBT rhetoric.
On May 30, 2024, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying records relating to a sexual relationship with a pornographic actress.
Despite all of the foregoing, on November 5, 2024, Trump was reelected president, winning the popular and electoral votes, in a nonconsecutive term, the first such accomplishment since Grover Cleveland in the late 19th century.
Literary comment
Donald Trump is one of very few contemporary figures for whom Harry Turtledove has directly editorialized upon in his fiction. A Turtledove quote efficiently summarizing this figure is: "Trump's plan of government has always been, the only thing better than disgracing the country once is disgracing the country twice!"[1]
The administrators of this wiki have adopted a similar stance in reporting on Trump's activities, both within and out of the context of Turtledove stories in which Trump is referenced.
Donald Trump in The Disunited States of America
| The Disunited States of America POD: July, 1787 | |
| Type of Appearance: | Posthumous reference |
| Cause of Death: | Unrevealed |
Even in 2097, decades after his death, the name of Donald Trump "remained a byword for extravagant luxury" in the home timeline.[2] When Randolph Brooks jokingly said that the Crosstime domicile in the "quarantine alternate" wasn't up to the standards of Trump City, Justin Monroe thought of the pictures of Trump which showed him wearing clothes that looked funny and uncomfortable. Justin observed that these unappealing suits did not put off the pretty girls who were always clinging to Trump's arm.
Literary comment
This novel was written over a decade before Trump sought the presidency.
Donald Trump in Alpha and Omega
| Alpha and Omega Set in the Future of OTL | |
| Type of Appearance: | Contemporary(?) references |
Literary comment
Donald Trump and MAGA are referenced sporadically in the novel, however the in-universe president is never specifically connected with Trump. Due to the novel's indeterminate time frame, it is unclear whether Trump is the sitting president, a former president, or simply never became president in-universe.
Donald Trump in "The Terrific Leader"
| "The Terrific Leader" Future Dystopia | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct (unnamed), via televisor |
| Political Office(s): | "Terrific Leader" of the United States |
Under the rule of the Terrific Leader, the United States became an authoritarian regime. The Terrific Leader maintained a cult of personality to cement his power, insuring his rule for years.[3] The Terrific Leader established a policy of "America First" that rested on double-think. His slogan after several years of rule was "America is Great Again!", a slogan which appeared on the Terrific Leader's customary red ball cap. However, the Terrific Leader also publicly despaired of the ongoing crime and violence, routinely promising that they would end. He ordered the building of a border wall, which he later claimed prevented illegal immigrants from entering the country, slowed down gangs and drugs, and other "terrific" stuff. He also assured the American people that he respected the dignity of work and of working people, which trumped everything else.[4]
The Terrific Leader's cult of personality was buttressed by tight control on the media and communications. Radios had to be authorized by the state, and televisors were issued to communities as a whole, not to individuals, to insure the American people were not exposed to wicked lies. The state spied on citizens in their homes.[5] Even though villages found themselves in dire straits, facing freezing conditions in blizzards without sufficient food or power while villagers foraged for whatever they could get,[6] the American people believed whole-heartedly in the Terrific Leader's personal strength, foresight, and beneficence. In other words, they loved him.[7]
The Terrific Leader had initiated a dynastic movement. It was understood that one of his sons or perhaps his son-in-law would succeed him.[8]
Literary comment
While the Terrific Leader's real name isn't given, the character is obviously Donald Trump.
Donald Trump in "The Breaking of Nations"
| Shared Universe Story | |
| "The Breaking of Nations" Future History | |
| Type of Appearance: | Posthumous reference |
| Date of Death: | 2024 |
| Cause of Death: | COVID-19 |
| Political Office(s): | President of the United States |
Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States with the aid of Vladimir Putin of Russia.[9] At Putin's direction, Trump laid the foundation for increased right-wing authoritarianism in the United States, which in turn lead to the eventual dismemberment of the country.[10] Trump didn't live to see the break-down; he died in the second COVID-19 outbreak in 2024.[11]
Mike Pence succeeded to the Presidency and continued Trump's policies.[12]
Donald Trump in "Election Day"
Donald Trump was the Republican Party's presidential nominee for the 2016 presidential election. He ran on a healthy dose of populism and America Firstism. While his blunt, even vulgar traits appealed to a number of people, he ultimately lost to Democrat John F. Kennedy Jr.[13]
| "Election Day" POD: July 16, 1999 | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
The election was close, and it wasn't until the early morning hours that it was finally called. Trump gave his concession speech while surrounded by his family at Trump Tower. It was not a gracious speech: while Trump conditioned his concession on the presumption that the election was indeed "free and fair", he did gloat that he'd scared the elites and that he'd run again in 2020. To the relief of many, he did not refuse to concede or incite his supporters to violence. He did call Kennedy to congratulate him, but the call was a typically sour affair.[14]
See Also
- Andrew Johnson, the 17th US president, and the first to be impeached.
- Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th US president, who won in the Electoral College in the 1876 election, but lost the popular vote.
- Benjamin Harrison, 23rd US president, who won in the Electoral College in the 1888 election, but lost the popular vote.
- Bill Clinton, 42nd US president, and the second to be impeached.
- George W. Bush, 43rd US president, who won in the Electoral College in the 2000 election, but lost the popular vote. Bush is also the only other sitting president about whom Harry Turtledove has written a story, namely "Bedfellows."
- John F. Kennedy Jr., who is elected 45th president of the United States in "Election Day".
- Mike Pence, who was elected president in 2024 in "The Breaking of Nations."
- An unnamed president in the 2020s in Alpha and Omega.
- Joyce Peterman, a 2020s-era president in the Worldwar Franchise.
- An unnamed president in the 2020s in "Elder Skelter."
- John Nance Garner, 32nd Vice President of the United States in OTL. In the novel Joe Steele, Garner becomes the 33rd president and is subsequently impeached.
- Jake Featherston, fictional character from the Southern Victory series, who becomes the Confederate president and turns his democratic republic into a dictatorship.
- Joe Steele, the American alter-ego of Joseph Stalin, who in the eponymous novel becomes a dictatorial president of the United States.
- Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, who also created massive amounts of human suffering while destabilizing the geopolitical situation. Trump and some members of his inner circle have expressed admiration for Hitler.
References
- ↑ https://twitter.com/HNTurtledove/status/1345918742807527430
- ↑ The Disunited States of America, pg. 280
- ↑ Welcome to Dystopia: 45 Visions of What Lies Ahead, Gordon van Gelder, editor, loc. 1557, ebook.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 1617-1632.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 1617.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 1557-1617.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 1632.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 1617.
- ↑ And the Last Trump Shall Sound, pg. 71, loc. 1071, ebook.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 5-83, loc. 24-1260, ebook.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 12, loc. 24.
- ↑ Ibid., generally.
- ↑ Alternate Peace, loc. 527-719.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 653.
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