The Trump Years
2016-2020
On November 8, 2016, Republican Donald Trump stunned the political world by defeating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States. He lost the popular vote, but won the all-important Electoral College vote. During his first week in office, Trump issued executive orders trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership. He also announced plans to build a wall along the Southern border between Mexico and the U.S. A month after entering office, Trump started his re-election bid. The president successfully nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. In June of 2017, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. In April of 2018, the administration began a “zero tolerance” immigration policy and started to separate families at the Southern border. After many protests and the separation of more than 2,300 children from their parents, the program was halted in June of 2018.
Trump authorized military action in Syria, increased troop strength in Afghanistan, approved a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, and, in May of 2017, backed out of the Iran nuclear deal. On Dec. 6, 2017, President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He also initiated a trade war with China in January 2018, by imposing tariffs. Between June of 2018 and June of 2019, President Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un held three summits dealing with denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. So far, talks have been unsuccessful. Trump has had several meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including the July 16, 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland, where the U.S. president said he didn’t believe the Russians had interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections, contrary to what his own intelligence agencies had told him.
By the end of July 2018, 61% of Trump’s senior staffers had left his administration. According to the Washington Post, Trump had publicly told over 12,000 lies while in office. Twenty-two women have come forward with charges of sexual misconduct and there are currently 29 open investigations into the Trump administration. Donald Trump is the least popular president in the history of presidential polling.
In September of 2005, while taping a segment for the NBC/Universal show Access Hollywood, host Billy Bush and then businessman Donald Trump held a lewd conversation about women and sexual assault while onboard a bus on the NBC parking lot. (Credit: Access Hollywood)
Descending the escalator at Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, Donald Trump is on his way to declaring his intention to run for the Republican nomination for the office of President of the United States. (Credit: Richard Drew/AP)
Looking somewhat surprised, President-elect Donald Trump greets supporters at his campaign headquarters inside the New York Hilton on November 8, after winning the 2016 presidential election. (Credit: John Locher/AP)
At a first responders ceremony held at the White House on January 23, 2017, President Donald Trump greets FBI Director James Comey, commenting, “He’s more famous than me.” (Credit: Al Drago/NYT)
At the Helsinki Summit on July 16, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump, standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, told journalists he had no reason to believe that Russia had interfered with the 2016 U.S. elections. (Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty)
President Trump stands in front of a completed section of a replacement wall that stretches 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean to Otay Mesa along the U.S./Mexican border. The $147 million project takes the place of a Vietnam era wall that stood at same location. (Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP)
