President Donald Trump: America first for the second time

Donald J. Trump has been inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States. It is his second term in the White House. He was previously president from 2017 to 2021.

Though what awaits the United States and the rest of the world during Trump's second term is unpredictable, a look back at his first term and beyond could provide some insight into what is to come.

Trump's supporters have remained by the president's side. When Trump refused to accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden and claimed it was "stolen" from him, large numbers of conservatives believed him. Numerous reviews proved that claim to be untrue. Still, Trump stuck to the narrative that Democrats had committed election fraud despite all the courts where such claims were brought rejecting the accusations. 

On January 6, 2021, a group of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in Washington, DC, in an attempt to stop the formal certification of Biden's election win. Earlier that day, Trump had given a speech in front of thousands of supporters in which he repeated his false claims and said, "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." This and his persistent lies about election fraud were viewed by observers as having encouraged the violent mob to act.   

On January 13, 2021, a week before the end of his first term, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection. Ten Republican representatives voted in favor, the most pro-impeachment votes ever from a president's party and the first time a president impeached more than once. The Senate acquitted him the following month, but in 2023, Trump was indicted on four charges related to his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.

His legal team appealed the decision, and the case landed at the US Supreme Court. The court decided that presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution for their official conduct. Prosecutors reindicted Trump with slightly adjusted allegations. After Trump's 2024 election win, the case was dropped, since a sitting president cannot be prosecuted.

Trump was charged and convicted on 34 counts of falsification of business records to cover up hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He maintained his innocence after being convicted by a jury. Ten days before his inauguration, Trump received an unconditional discharge, which means that he will receive no punishment. That call was made at the discretion of the court. Someone convicted of the same crimes Trump committed here can be sentenced to a hefty fine or up to four years in prison.

Trump had to pay millions of dollars in damages to former journalist E. Jean Carroll after a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing her in the late 1990s, then later defaming her when he made malicious statements claiming she was lying about the incident. Trump did appeal the decision but lost in December 2024.

Trump's focus on 'America first'

Most Trump voters seem to care about his promise to put "America first." In this vein, Trump has been critical of NATO and pulled out of international organizations such the World Health Organization and abandoned the Paris Climate Agreement during his first term in office. Under President Biden, the US rejoined, but Trump plans to withdraw again. His unilateral approach drew the ire of his European allies the last time he was in the White House, yet pleased many US conservatives. 

Trump supporters also welcomed his tax cuts for the wealthy.

The 47th US president was born on June 14, 1946, in New York City's Queens borough. Trump's paternal grandfather had immigrated to the US in the late 19th century from the German town of Kallstadt, in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate. Donald Trump attended Philadelphia's prestigious Wharton School of Business, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1968.

During the 1970s and 1980s, he continued growing his family's real estate businesses, developing high-profile projects such as the Midtown Manhattan Trump Tower, where he also lived before moving to Florida. Over the years, his organization operated numerous hotels, casinos, and golf courses, many of which eventually went bankrupt. 

Trump also made a name for himself as the host of the US reality television show "The Apprentice." Launched in 2004, the format featured a group of contestants competing against each other to win a one-year contract with one of Trump's businesses. After each round, Trump would dismiss one of the contestants with his catchphrase: "You're fired."

In 2005, Trump married Melania Knavs, a former Slovenian model. The couple have a son, Barron Trump. Before marrying Melania, Trump was married to actress Marla Maples. She raised their daughter Tiffany alone in California.

Trump's first marriage, between 1977 and 1990 to Ivana Zelnickova, resulted in three children: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.

'Fake news' and hard-line immigration policies

Throughout Trump's presidency, his administration maintained a prickly relationship with the press and a track record of false and misleading claims. Trump has often dismissed facts he dislikes as "fake news," convincing many of his supporters that critical media outlets were spreading lies to tarnish his reputation.

During his first term, Trump pursued hard-line immigration policies and repeatedly made racist remarks. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Trump called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and "criminals." He subsequently pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border — and make Mexico foot the bill, which it never did. By the end of Trump's first term, in 2021, 732 kilometers (455 miles) along the 3,145-kilometer-long border had been built, costing US taxpayers about $16 billion. 

In his second term, Trump's focus is expected to be on large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants. While his campaign claim to deport 1 million a year is unrealistic based on costs and logistics, the number of deportations will likely increase sharply under Trump's leadership. Legal immigration will probably become more difficult, too. 

First impeachment and coronavirus pandemic

On December 18, 2019, impeachment proceedings were launched against Trump for the first time, making him the third president in US history to face such a trial. The impeachment trial focused on the claim that Trump had withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure Kyiv into offering help to get Trump re-elected in 2020 in the form of investigating Joe and Hunter Biden.

The president, meanwhile, rejected all accusations. The House of Representatives adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. But he was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate and not removed from office.

The coronavirus pandemic also left its mark on Trump's presidency. The death rate from COVID-19 was considerably higher in the United States than in other wealthy countries. Trump downplayed the severity of the situation and prioritized his country's quick return to pre-pandemic normality and economic productivity rather than heeding the advice of medical experts and researchers. Critics say his conduct contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. In an August 2020 interview, Trump conceded that people were dying — saying "it is what it is." 

Edited by: Rob Mudge

This article was originally published on November 6, 2024, and republished on January 20, 2025, to reflect Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th US president.