From chaos to victory – Donald Trump’s political comeback
The president-elect’s political career has been marred in controversy, criminal charges, accusations of racism and sexism, and the US Capitol riots.
Donald Trump has won the race for the White House after escaping assassination attempts and resurrecting his political career from the chaos of the January 6 riots.
The 78-year-old property tycoon declared on Wednesday he had won a “magnificent victory for the American people”, defeating Democrat rival Kamala Harris.
His victory marks an extraordinary comeback in a political career which has been marred in controversy, criminal charges, accusations of racism and sexism, and the US Capitol riots on January 6 2021.
This year, the billionaire survived two failed assassination attempts during his presidential campaign which further emboldened him in his battle for the White House.
Born into the wealthy family of New York property tycoon Fred Trump, the entrepreneur took control of his father’s company in 1971, renaming it the Trump Organisation and erecting Trump Towers in Fifth Avenue in New York, in Mumbai, Istanbul and the Philippines.
The president-elect expanded his business empire to include hotels and casinos, and owned beauty pageants such as Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA from 1996 to 2015.
In 2003, he rose to a new level of celebrity through his starring role in the US version of the Apprentice.
Three of Mr Trump’s children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric, were born during his first marriage to Czech athlete and model Ivana Zelnickova before the couple divorced in 1990.
Actor Marla Maples gave birth to Mr Trump’s second daughter, Tiffany, ahead of their divorce in 1999.
Mr Trump married his third wife, Slovenian-born model Melania Knauss in 2005 and they welcomed their son Barron William Trump a year later.
His campaign for the 2016 presidential race was stained by controversy including a leaked audio recording of Mr Trump bragging about sexual assault, several allegations of sexual abuse, and his comments saying Mexico was sending rapists and criminals into the US.
Despite this, Mr Trump went on to beat Democrat Hilary Clinton to become the 45th US president, after pledging to “make America great again”.
During his presidency, Mr Trump withdrew the US from international climate agreements, imposed a travel ban on people from several majority-Muslim countries, lowered taxes, moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and initiated a trade war with China.
Despite mixed messaging on abortion rights over the years, Mr Trump has repeatedly taken credit for appointing the three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v Wade and for returning the abortion question to the states.
His handling of the coronavirus pandemic dominated the 2020 election year, where he faced widespread criticism for comments highlighting research on injecting bleach into the body as a way of tackling the disease and labelling it “kung flu”.
Mr Trump is the only US president in history to be impeached twice, firstly over a call to Volodymyr Zelensky in July 2019 in which he urged the Ukrainian president to investigate the then former US vice-president Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
His tumultuous relationship with Mr Zelensky has been under the spotlight for years, with Mr Trump repeatedly saying he would quickly “end” the Russia-Ukraine war.
The businessman’s foreign policy approach to the conflict remains largely unknown, as Mr Zelensky was quick to congratulate Mr Trump on Wednesday on his “impressive” election victory and remind him that Ukraine relies on “continued strong” support from the US.
Following the riots on January 6 2021, Mr Trump was impeached a second time for encouraging a mob of his supporters to storm the US Capitol after he refused to accept the election result and concede defeat to Joe Biden.
Mr Trump is still facing four criminal charges over the riot, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of citizens, which he denies.
Mr Biden branded the incident the “gravest threat to US democracy since the civil war”.
President-elect Mr Trump’s legal cases have rumbled on in recent years as a civil trial found he was liable for sexual assault against writer E Jean Carroll in May 2023.
In May this year, he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a 130,000 US dollar (£101,000) hush money payment to pornography actor Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
He is due to be sentenced in New York later this month.
Another criminal case, regarding allegations he mishandled classified documents when he left the White House for his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, was dismissed by a federal judge earlier this year.
Away from legal troubles, the property tycoon survived by millimetres when a bullet from a would-be assassin grazed his ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
Striking photos of Mr Trump surrounded by security personnel with his fist held defiantly in the air as blood streamed down the side of his face went viral globally.
A second assassination attempt was foiled in September when his Secret Service detail intercepted a gunman who had set up a rifle near where Mr Trump was playing golf in Florida.
Mr Trump still faces dozens of criminal charges as he won the race to become the 47th president of the United States.
