The latest to join the race for the 2016 Presidency is reality TV host and business mogul, Donald
Trump.
After talking about running multiple times since 1987, Trump has officially joined his
esteemed Republican rivals.
But besides his unconventional hairstyle and demanding to see Obama’s birth certificate
in 2011, what do we really know about the 69-year-old New Yorker?
Who exactly is Donald Trump?
Well, Trump is first and foremost a controversially successful business magnate and investor.
His start came as a result of his father, Fred Trump, who had already amassed a real
estate fortune before his death.
Donald Trump has controlled his father’s company since the 1970s.
He has primarily invested in hotel and casino real estate, and filed for business bankruptcy
four times.
He is also very well known for naming business holdings after himself, including buildings,
video games, buffets, magazines, clothing lines, and many others.
Trump also owns a large number of golf courses and beauty pageants.
He has stated that his net worth is around $9 billion, making him the wealthiest candidate
in the running, although Forbes says it is closer to $4 billion.
His net worth has been disputed in the past: a 2005 Deutsche (DOY-chuh) Bank assessment
pegged his worth at around only $800 million at the time.
Although Trump has never held public office, he has been very outspoken concerning his
political views.
His primary platform focuses on increasing US jobs, and building a wall along the Mexican
border, which Mexico would pay for.
In 1999, in order to wipe out the national debt, he proposed enacting a one-time 14%
tax on Americans with over $10 million.
On social issues he is fairly right leaning.
After years of being pro-choice, in 2011 he switched to being pro-life.
Additionally, he is against same-sex marriage.
Although he supported universal healthcare in 2000, he vehemently opposes Obamacare,
calling it a “trillion-ton weight” on the economy.
Despite claiming to have never indulged in any drugs or alcohol, he supports full drug
legalization as a method of increasing tax revenue for education.
His foreign policy worldview is largely oil-based, and believes we are drilling too slowly for
what he calls America’s “lifeblood”.
He is also extremely critical of China’s influence in the United States, and has called
for a 25% tax on imports in order to maintain US jobs.
However, many of his self-named products are made in China.
It should be clear that as a businessman and a showman, Trump’s politics tend to be financially
influenced rather than ideological.
Although Trump has withdrawn from his reality TV show in order to legally be a candidate,
there’s no question that he will continue entertaining viewers with his fiery rhetoric
over the coming months.
Money and politics go hand in hand in the United States, but billionaires on both sides
of the aisle actually share some common interests.
To learn more about what they’re really pushing for, check out our full video here.
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