2023 Hamas attack on Israel
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This article is about the 7 October operation into Israel by Hamas. For the war, see 2023 Israel–Hamas war. For other attacks by Hamas in 2023, see List of engagements during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.
"7 October 2023" redirects here. For other events that happened on the same day, see 2023 § October 7.
2023 Hamas attack on Israel
Part of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Satellite view of widespread fires in Israel around the Gaza Strip on 7–13 October 2023.[5]
Date 7–13 October 2023[1]
Location
Southern Israel
Result
Ongoing
Attack repelled following heavy civilian and military casualties, full-scale war followed.
Beginning of the Israeli blockade and ground military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Belligerents
Hamas[1]
Islamic Jihad
PFLP[2]
DFLP[3]
Lions' Den[4]
Israel[1]
Units involved
Al-Qassam Brigades
Al-Quds Brigades[6]
Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades[7]
National Resistance Brigades[3]
Israel Defense Forces
Israel Police[8]
Israel Shin Bet[8]
Israel Israeli partisans[9][10]
Strength
Al-Qassam Brigades: 2,500 infiltrated Israel[a]
Casualties and losses
1,000 militants killed (per Israel)[12]
357 soldiers/security forces killed[13]
1,033 civilians killed[14]
200 civilians and soldiers taken captive[15]
100–200 civilians and soldiers missing[16]
vte
2023 Israel–Hamas war
TimelineOutline
Military engagements
Hamas attack on Israel
Be'eriRe'imSderotSufaZikimIsraeli ground operations in GazaJeninTulkarmQabatiya and Tammun
Attacks
Re'im music festivalNetiv HaAsaraBe'eriEin HaShloshaHolitKfar AzaKissufimNahal OzNir OzNirimIsrael-Lebanon borderJabaliaAl-ShatiHajji TowerPalestinians evacuating GazaAl-Ahli Arab HospitalUNRWA schoolChurch of Saint PorphyriusAl-Ansar MosqueErez
General topics
Kidnappings Shani LoukIsraeli blockade of GazaAl-Asad air base attackPalestinian rocket attacks on IsraelWider regional conflict
Effects
Casualties JournalistsIsraeli war cabinetEvacuations Operation AjayNorthern GazaMedia coverage DisinformationInternational reactions Islamic Summit ConferenceProtestsHate crimes Wadea Al-FayoumeArrasAlexandriaAnti-PalestinianismAntisemitismWar crimes
A series of coordinated attacks, conducted by the Palestinian Islamist militant group[b] Hamas, from the Gaza Strip onto bordering areas in Israel, commenced on Saturday 7 October 2023, a Sabbath day and date of several Jewish holidays. The attacks, referred to as Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (or Deluge) (Arabic: عملية طوفان الأقصى, romanized: ʿamaliyyat ṭūfān al-ʾAqṣā)[1] by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and Black Saturday in Israel,[17] initiated the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, nearly fifty years to the day after the Yom Kippur War that began on 6 October 1973.
The attack began in the early morning with a rocket barrage of at least 3,000 rockets against Israel and vehicle-transported incursions into its territory.[18][19] Palestinian militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, killing civilians in neighboring Israeli communities and attacking military bases. In a single day, over 1,200 Israelis, primarily civilians, including women and children, were killed in several towns and kibbutzim and at a music festival near the kibbutz of Re'im, where over 270 party-goers were murdered.[20][21][22][23] Around 200 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip of which the number of kidnapped children is slightly under 30.[24][25][26]
The day was described by various Western media outlets and politicians, like US President Joe Biden, as the bloodiest in Israel's history and the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust.[27][28][29]
Background
Further information: 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis and 2022 Al-Aqsa clashes
While there have been smaller conflicts, there were no other major engagements between Hamas and Israelis since the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. An anonymous source "close to Hamas" claimed that Hamas reduced military activity in a deliberate effort to deceive Israel into believing Hamas was not a threat.[30] Mohammed Deif, commander of the attack, named the operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" in reference to the 2022 Al-Aqsa clashes, in which Israeli police raided the mosque following clashes between Palestinians and police.[31][1]
Hamas militants prepared in at least six training camps across the Gaza Strip for two years before the attack. This involved conducting practice hostage takings, storming of mock Israeli settlements, and training with paragliders. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus stated that such training facilities were "nothing new" and that Israel had "struck many training areas over the years in the different rounds of escalation."[32] Documents later found on killed Hamas militants revealed extensive study of communities and army bases near the Gaza-Israel border, as well as plans to maximize Israeli civilian deaths, attack youth centers and elementary schools, and capture hostages and rapidly transfer them to Gaza.[33]
Timeline
For a more comprehensive list, see List of military engagements during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.
Rocket barrages and drone strikes
See also: Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
Aftermath of a rocket attack in Rishon LeZion
At around 6:30 a.m. Israel Summer Time (UTC+3) on Saturday 7 October 2023,[34] Hamas announced the start of the operation, stating that it had fired over 5,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel within a span of 20 minutes. Israeli sources reported that at least 3,000 projectiles had been launched from Gaza. At least five people were killed by the rocket attacks.[19][35][25][36] Explosions were reported in areas surrounding the Strip and in cities in the Sharon Plain including Gedera, Herzliyya,[5] Tel Aviv, and Ashkelon.[36] Air raid sirens were also activated in Beer Sheva, Jerusalem, Rehovot, Rishon Lezion, and Palmachim Airbase.[37][38][39] Hamas issued a call to arms, with senior military commander Mohammad Deif calling on "Muslims everywhere to launch an attack".[25]
Palestinian militants also opened fire on Israeli boats off the Gaza Strip, while clashes broke out between Palestinians and the Israel Defense Forces in the eastern section of the Gaza perimeter fence.[37] In the evening Hamas launched another barrage of about 150 rockets towards Israel, with explosions being reported in Yavne, Givatayim, Bat Yam, Beit Dagan, Tel Aviv, and Rishon Lezion.[35]
Incursions into Southern Israel
Further information: Battles at Re'im, Sderot, Zikim; Massacres at Re'im music festival, Be'eri, Holit, Kfar Aza, Netiv HaAsara, Nir Oz
Approximate situation on 7–8 October
Simultaneously, around 2,900[40] Palestinian militants infiltrated Israel from Gaza using trucks, pickup trucks, motorcycles, bulldozers, speedboats and paragliders.[41][34][42] Images and videos appeared to show heavily armed and masked militants dressed in black fatigues riding pickup trucks[36][39] and opening fire in Sderot, killing dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers and setting homes on fire.[43] Other videos appeared to show Israelis taken prisoner and a burning Israeli tank,[44][25] as well as militants driving Israeli military vehicles.[36] According to reports, militants were instructed to attack civilian populations, including elementary schools and a youth center, to "kill as many people as possible", and to take hostages for use in future negotiations.[45][33][46] Militants were prepared for different contingencies, such as killing all hostages, setting houses and other properties on fire, or using hostages as human shields.[47]
Initial reports
The morning of the attack, an Israeli military spokesman stated that the militants from Gaza had entered Israel through at least seven locations[41] and invaded four small rural Israeli communities, the border city of Sderot, and two military bases from both land and sea.[42] Israeli media reported that seven communities came under Hamas control, including Nahal Oz, Kfar Aza, Magen, Be'eri, and Sufa.[48] The Erez Crossing was reported to have come under Hamas control, enabling the militants to enter Israel from Gaza.[35] Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said that there were 21 active high-confrontation locations in southern Israel.[49]
At 10:00 am, less than five hours after the attacks began, fighting was reported at Re'im military base, headquarters of the Gaza Division.[50][51] It was later reported that Hamas took control of the base and had taken several Israeli soldiers captive[50] before the IDF regained control later in the day.[52][53] The base was reportedly the location of IDF drone and surveillance operations. Hamas reportedly posted video of dead Israeli soldiers it had killed at the base.[54] The police station of Sderot was reported to have come under Hamas control, with militants killing 30 Israelis, including policemen and civilians.[37][55]
Further attacks on October 7
On the same morning, a massacre unfolded at an outdoor music festival near Re'im, resulting in at least 270 dead, and many others missing. Witnesses recounted militants on motorcycles opening fire on fleeing participants, who were already dispersing due to rocket fire that had wounded some attendees; some were also taken hostage.[20][56][57] Militants killed civilians at Nir Oz,[39][58] Be'eri, and Netiv HaAsara, where they took hostages[59][60] and set fire to homes,[5] as well as in kibbutzim around the Gaza Strip.[5] 200 civilians were killed in the Kfar Aza massacre, 108 in the Be'eri massacre, and 15 people in the Netiv HaAsara massacre.[61][62]
Nir Am was attacked but no residents were harmed. Inbal Rabin-Lieberman, the 25-year-old security coordinator, alongside her uncle Ami, led a guard detail that killed multiple militants attempting to infiltrate a nearby chicken farm. They successfully deterred the rest of the invading militants from entering the community.[63][64][65]
Other Hamas militants carried out an amphibious landing in Zikim.[36][66] Palestinian sources claim that the local Israeli army base was stormed.[67] The IDF said it had killed two attackers on the beach and destroyed four vessels, including two rubber boats. A military base outside Nahal Oz was also taken by the militants, leaving at least two Israeli soldiers dead and at least six others captured.[68]
Hostages taken
In Be'eri, up to 50 people were taken hostage; after an 18-hour stand-off between militants and IDF forces, they were freed.[69] Hostages were also reported to have been taken in Ofakim, where policemen led by Chief Superintendent Jayar Davidov engaged Palestinian militants in a shootout;[when?] Davidov and three of his men were killed, and two Israeli hostages were later rescued by the IDF in the suburb of Urim.[69] There were reports of militants killing or kidnapping family pets.[70]
A number of hostages were taken back to Gaza. On 16 October, Hamas claimed it held 250 hostages.[71] Hamas said it took prisoners to force Israel to release its Palestinian prisoners.[72]
Participating and supporting organizations
In addition to Hamas, several Palestinian militant groups voiced their support for the operation. The National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the secular-socialist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) confirmed their participation in the operation through their military spokesman Abu Khaled,[73] saying it had lost three fighters in combat with the IDF.[74] The PFLP, another Palestinian socialist militant group, and the Lions' Den group voiced their support for the operation and declared maximum alertness and general mobilization amongst their troops, and the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades (armed wing of the PFLP) published videos of it storming Israeli watchtowers.[75][76]
Casualties
Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, met with the families of the kidnapped and missing persons held by the Hamas
See also: List of journalists killed in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
At least 1,400 Israelis were killed,[14] including 1,033 civilians[14], 299 soldiers and 58 police officers.[13] The attack left over 3,400 wounded,[77] and 200 soldiers and civilians taken hostage.[15] On 19 October 2023, Israeli officials reported a aditional 100 to 200 missing.[16] Israeli casualties include about 70 Arab Israelis, predominantly from Negev Bedouin communities.[78][79][80][81] On 7 October, over 100 civilians were killed in the Be'eri massacre, including women and children; and over 270 attendees were killed at a music festival in Re'im.[20] As of 10 October, over 100 people had been reported killed in the Kfar Aza massacre, with the total death toll unknown.[82] Nine people were fatally shot at a bus shelter in Sderot.[41] At least four people were reported killed in Kuseife.[35] At least 400 casualties were reported in Ashkelon,[83][39] while 280 others were reported in Beer Sheva, 60 of which were in a serious condition.[41] In the north, injuries from rocket attacks were reported in Tel Aviv.[84]
Former Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. striker Lior Asulin was among those killed in the Re'im music festival massacre.[85] The head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, Ofir Libstein, was killed in an exchange of fire with the militants.[86] The police commander of Rahat, Jayar Davidov, was also killed.[87] The IDF confirmed that 247 of its soldiers had been killed.[88] Among their confirmed dead were Colonel Yonatan Steinberg, the commander of the Nahal Brigade, who was killed near Kerem Shalom; Colonel Roi Levy, commander of the Multidimensional "Ghost" unit, who was killed near kibbutz Re'im;[89][90] and Lieutenant Colonel Eli Ginsberg, commander of the LOTAR Counter-terrorism Unit School.[91] The Druze deputy commander of the 300th "Baram" Regional Brigade, Lieutanant Colonel Alim Abdallah, was killed in action along with two other soldiers while responding to an infiltration from southern Lebanon on 9 October.[92]
At least 150 Israelis were taken hostage by Hamas and transported to the Gaza Strip.[93] On 8 October, Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed to be holding at least 30 captives.[94] At least four people were reportedly taken from Kfar Aza.[95] Videos from Gaza appeared to show captured people, with Gazan residents cheering trucks carrying dead bodies.[42] Four captives were later reported to have been killed in Be'eri,[96] while Hamas claimed that an IDF airstrike on Gaza on 9 October killed four captives.[97] Among those believed to have been abducted was Vivian Silver, a peace activist and former board member of the human rights organisation B'Tselem, who went missing following the attack on Be'eri.[98] Yedioth Ahronoth photographer Roy Edan was reported missing and likely captured alongside his child in Kfar Aza. His wife was killed and two of their children were able to hide in a closet until rescued.[99] Edan's body was identified ten days later as one of the casualties of the Kfar Aza massacre.[100] On 11 October, Hamas's Qassam Brigades released a video appearing to show the release of three hostages, namely an adult woman and two children, in an open area near a fence. Israel dismissed the video as "theatrics".[101]
Torture and mutilation
Israeli forces in Kfar Aza reported that they found bodies of victims mutilated. One IDF commander told a reporter from i24 News that 40 babies had been killed, out of what one estimate described as at least 100 civilian victims.[102][82][103][104][105][106]
According to Yossi Landau, head of the ZAKA volunteer emergency response organization, tactics displayed were severe compared to past Hamas actions, with bodies showing signs of torture and extreme violence. At one kibbutz, first responders stated that of 280 bodies recovered, around 80% showed evidence of torture. Groups of children were allegedly found tied up and burned alive. At the music festival, there was said to be mass killing but less time for torture compared to the kibbutz. Approximately 70% of bodies were claimed to have been shot in the back.[107]
First response personnel recovering the bodies reported being extremely distressed by the sight of atrocities they witnessed. The remains of Hamas militants were also handled and collected respectfully, despite the psychological difficulty for the responders in doing so given their actions.[107]
Reactions
Main article: 2023 Israel–Hamas war § Reactions
International reactions to the Hamas attack on Israel, 8 October 2023
Israeli response
Main article: 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Posters calling for the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza
The attack, which coincided with Shabbat and the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, appeared to have been a complete surprise to the Israelis.[38] The day is considered the bloodiest in Israel's history and the deadliest for Jews since The Holocaust.[27][28]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant conducted security assessments at Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters in Tel Aviv.[39][36] Gallant later approved the mobilisation of tens of thousands of army reservists[34][36] and declared a state of emergency for areas within 80 kilometers (50 mi) of the Gaza border.[48] He also said that Hamas "made a grave mistake" in launching its attack and pledged that "Israel will win".[41] The IDF declared a "state of readiness for war".[35] It also said that the reservists were to be deployed not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank and along the borders with Lebanon and Syria.[108] Residents in areas around the Gaza Strip were asked to stay inside, while civilians in southern and central Israel were "required to stay next to shelters".[36] Roads around the Gaza Strip were closed by the IDF.[41] The streets of Tel Aviv were also locked down.[36]
Following the assault, Israel declared a heightened state of preparedness for potential conflict.[109] The IDF declared a state of readiness for war, and Netanyahu convened an emergency gathering of security authorities. The IDF additionally reported their initiation of targeted actions in the Gaza Strip under what it called Operation Swords of Iron (or Iron Swords) (Hebrew: מבצע חרבות ברזל, romanized: Mivtsá charvót barzél).[110][111][112][35] Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai announced that a "state of war" existed, following what he called "a massive attack from the Gaza Strip".[113] He also announced the closure of the entire southern region of Israel to "civilian movement" as well as the deployment of the Yamam counterterrorism unit to the area.[49] The IDF's chief spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said four divisions were deployed to the area, augmenting 31 preexisting battalions.[41]
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the country was facing "a very difficult moment", and offered strength and encouragement to the IDF, other security forces, rescue services, and residents who were under attack.[39] In a televised broadcast, Netanyahu stated: "We are at war."[42] He also said that the IDF would reinforce its border deployments to deter others from 'making the mistake of joining this war'.[114] In a later address, he threatened to "turn Gaza into a deserted island", and urged its residents to "leave now".[115][disputed – discuss]
While Ben Gurion Airport and Ramon Airport remained operational, multiple airlines cancelled flights to and from Israel.[116][117][118] Israel Railways suspended service throughout portions of the country and replaced some routes with temporary bus routes,[119][120] while cruise ships removed ports such as Ashdod and Haifa from their itineraries.[121]
On 7 October, Israel's Security Cabinet voted to undertake a series of actions to bring about the "destruction of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad", according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office.[122] The Israel Electric Corporation, which supplies up to 80% of the Gaza Strip's electricity, cut off power to the area.[36] As a result, Gaza's power supply was reduced from 120 MW to only 20 MW, forcing it to rely on power plants paid for by the Palestinian Authority.[123]
See also
History of Hamas
Notes
Per Israel[11]
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, Paraguay, the United States, and the United Kingdom
References
From the United Nations:
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"At least 7 Nepali injured, 17 held captive by Hamas in Israel: Nepal's envoy". ANI. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
Williams, Dan (7 October 2023). "How the Hamas attack on Israel unfolded". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
"Israel says it regains control of Re'im army base". Defense Blog. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
Fabian, Emanuel (7 October 2023). "IDF regains control of Re'im military base from Hamas terrorists in southern Israel". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
Daniella Cheslow (10 October 2023). "Israel and the West reckon with a high-tech failure". Politico. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
Margulies, Joanie (8 October 2023). "IDF regains control over Sderot police station". Jerusalem Post.
Estrin, Daniel (7 October 2023). "In surprise deadly attacks, Israel says Palestinian militants infiltrated from Gaza". NPR. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
"Israeli music festival: 260 bodies recovered from site where people fled in hail of bullets". BBC News. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
חסון, ניר; מילרוד, מוטי (20 October 2023). "בניר עוז כמעט ולא היה קרב. תושבי הקיבוץ הסמוך לגבול נטבחו בשיטתיות". הארץ (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
"Militants infiltrate Israel from Gaza as Hamas claims major rocket attack". CNN. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
חסון, ניר (20 October 2023). "בקיבוצי העוטף מנסים להסתכל קדימה: "המטרה מול עיניי — לחזור הביתה"". הארץ (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
"Border town identifies at least 15 of its residents killed in Hamas attack". The Times of Israel. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
"10 Percent of Kibbutz Population Found Dead After Hamas Massacre in Southern Israel". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
"Israeli woman hailed as a hero for killing terrorists". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
"In Ofakim, one woman's graceful bravery offers precious solace to a grieving nation". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
"Israeli Woman Who Helped Save a Kibbutz: 'I'm Not a Hero, I Wasn't There by Myself'". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
O'Connor, Tom (7 October 2023). "What's happening in Israel right now as it battles full-scale Hamas assault". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
"This is How Al-Qassam's Navel Units Stormed Zakim's Fortified Military Base – VIDEO". Palestine Chronicle. 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
"Videos show new details on how Hamas launched surprise assault on Israel". CNN. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
Davies, Alys (8 October 2023). "What we know about Israeli hostages taken by Hamas". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
לשם, איתן (14 October 2023). ""הם היו בבית 3-4 ימים, חלקם בלי אוכל, חלקם לבד, לא מעט מהם הגיעו אלינו רועדים": הזוועה לא פסחה על חיות המחמד" [They were in their houses for 3-4 days, some of them without food, some of them alone, quite a few of them came to us trembling: The horror did not spare the pets]. הארץ (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
Sherwood, Harriet (17 October 2023). "Hamas says 250 people held hostage in Gaza". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
"Hamas says it has enough Israeli captives to free all Palestinian prisoners". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
""أبو خالد" الناطق العسكري لكتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية لتحرير فلسطين" [[statement from] "Abu Khalid," the military spokesperson for the National Resistance Brigades (the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine).] (in Arabic). مجلة التقدميين العرب على الانترنت. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
"خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية" [In a statement released just a short while ago... The National Resistance Brigades (the Martyr Omar Al-Qassem Forces), the military wing of the Democratic Front] (in Arabic). مجلة التقدميين العرب على الانترنت. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
"صادر عن كتائب الشهيد أبو علي مصطفى الجناح العسكري للجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين" [Issued by the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] (in Arabic). الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
"Side by side: Palestinian Resistance factions announce mobilization". Al Mayadeen English. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
"Israeli death toll from Hamas attack surpasses 1,000, top military officer says". The Hill. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
Johnston, Holly (12 October 2023). "Palestinian paramedic missing after Hamas attack at Israel music festival". The National. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
"Bedouin Leader in Israel Says Community Lost Lives in Attack". WSJ. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
Sharon, Jeremy; Bachner, Michael. "Ben Gvir widely panned for warning of renewed Jewish-Arab intercommunal riots". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
Khoury, Jack; Hasson, Nir (10 October 2023). "At least six Arab Israelis missing since Hamas attack, likely kidnapped". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
"Corpses and kid's bikes, burned homes and death in kibbutz where Hamas butchered 100". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
"'Nobody could help us' – Shock and anger in Israel's Ashkelon". BBC News. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
Sella, Adam (8 October 2023). "Tel Aviv's residents start venturing out". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
"Ex-soccer star Lior Asulin among those killed at nature party". The Times of Israel. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
Fabian, Emanuel (7 October 2023). "Head of Sha'ar Hanegev council Ofir Liebstein killed in gunfight with Hamas terrorists". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
"The Chief of the Rahat police, Sen. Giyar Davidov, was killed today". Cedar News (in Arabic). 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
"Palestinians rush to buy food and struggle under strikes as Israel readies possible ground operation". Associated Press. 12 October 2023. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
Fabian, Emanuel (8 October 2023). "IDF says commander of elite 'Ghost' unit among those killed in battles". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
"Commander of IDF's Nahal Brigade killed in clashes with Hamas on Gaza border". The Times of Israel. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
"Israel at war: IDF discloses names of personnel killed in line of duty". i24. 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
Fabian, Emanuel (9 October 2023). "Officer, 2 soldiers killed in clash with terrorists on Lebanon border; mortars fired". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
"Palestinians scramble for safety as Israel pounds sealed-off Gaza Strip to punish Hamas". Associated Press. 11 October 2023. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
Pacchiani, Gianluca (8 October 2023). "Islamic Jihad leader claims terror group is holding over 30 Israeli hostages". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
Goldenberg, Tia; Shurafa, Wafaa (8 October 2023). "Hamas fighters storm Israeli towns in surprise attack; Israel responds with deadly strikes on Gaza". Associated Press News. Archived from the original Joshua 5:2,3 "חַרְבוֹת"
"Hamas-Israel War - Real Time Updates". idf.il. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
"Two Israeli tourists and local guide shot dead in Egypt, Israel says". BBC News. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
"Missiles strike southern & central Israel; police declare state of war". JordanNews. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
@netanyahu (7 October 2023). דבריי בפתח ישיבת הקבינט [My words at the beginning of the cabinet meeting:] (Tweet) (in Hebrew). Retrieved 7 October 2023 – via Twitter.
"Fears of a ground invasion of Gaza grow as Israel vows 'mighty vengeance'". Al Jazeera. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
"Ben Gurion airport stays open as foreign airlines cancel flights". Globes. 10 August 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
"More than 200 killed in unprecedented Hamas assault on Israel, 232 killed in Gaza". France 24. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
"Israel-Hamas war live: Israel declares 'state of war' as battles rage". Al Jazeera. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
"עדכונים ושינויים בתנועת הרכבות, עד להודעה חדשה" [Updates and changes in train traffic until further notice]. רַכֶּבֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל [Israel Railways] (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
Goldberg, Jeremaya (10 October 2023). "War with Gaza cuts train services in Israel". International Railway Journal. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
Saunders, Aaron (10 October 2023). "Cruise Lines Change, Cancel Itineraries Following Israel Attack". Cruise Critic. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
"Security cabinet says Israel will destroy military, governmental abilities of Hamas, Islamic Jihad". The Times of Israel. 7 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
"Israeli strikes flatten buildings, mosques in Gaza". Al Jazeera. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
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2023 Israel–Hamas war
TimelineOutlineMilitary engagements
Battles
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood Battle of Re'imBattle of SderotBattle of SufaBattle of ZikimIsraeli ground operations in Gaza2023 Israel-Lebanon border clashesJenin incursionTulkarm incursionQabatiya and Tammun
Massacres
Re'im music festivalNetiv HaAsaraBe'eriEin HaShloshaHolitKfar AzaKissufimNahal OzNir OzNirim
Attacks
Jabalia market airstrikesAl-Shati airstrikeHajji Tower airstrikePalestinians evacuating Gaza CityUNRWA school airstrikeAl-Ahli Arab Hospital explosionChurch of Saint Porphyrius airstrikeErez airstrikeAl-Ansar Mosque airstrike
General topics
Kidnappings Shani LoukIsraeli blockade of the Gaza StripAl-Asad air base attackPalestinian rocket attacks on IsraelGaza–Israel conflictIran–Israel proxy conflict
Effects
Israeli war cabinetInternational reactions Islamic Summit ConferenceMedia coverage DisinformationProtestsHate crimes Killing of Wadea Al-FayoumeAntisemitismLeaders visiting IsraelEvacuations Operation AjayNorthern Gaza StripWar crimes
Casualties
Israelis
Alim AbdallahLior AsulinKim DamtiJayar DavidovRoy EdanEli GinsbergRoi LevyOfir LibsteinIzhar PeledYonatan SteinbergYahav Winner
Hamas
Abdul Fatah DukhanAli QadhiBillal Al KedraMurad Abu MuradOmar DaraghmehOsama MaziniAyman NofalJihad MuheisenJamila al-Shanti
PRC
Rafat Abu Hilal
Palestinian
civilians
Fouad Abu Butihan [ar]Omar FerwanaHiba Abu NadaAli Nasman [ar]Wael Al Zard [ar]Hiba Zaqout [ar]
Lebanese
Issam Abdallah
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Nimrod AloniInbal Rabin-LiebermanVivian SilverAmir Tibon
Category
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Jerusalem Old City shooting (21 November)
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2023
Neve Yaakov shooting (27 January)Ramot Junction attack (10 February)Huwara shooting (26 February)2023 Hamra junction shooting (7 April)Shooting incident on the Egypt–Israel border (2 June)Eli shooting (20 June)Tel Aviv attack (4 July)2023 Hamas attack on Israel (7 October):‡
Attacks launched by Palestinians from the West Bank Attacks launched by Palestinians from the Gaza Strip Attacks launched from Egypt Attacks carried out by Arab citizens of Israel
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Categories: Military operations of the 2023 Israel–Hamas warChild murder in IsraelPalestinian war crimesMassacres of ethnic groupsMassacres in 2023
Middle East
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with West Asia, MENA, or the Greater Middle East.
For other uses, see Middle East (disambiguation).
Middle EastMiddle East
Area 7,207,575 km2 (2,782,860 sq mi)
Population 371 million (2010)[1]
Countries
UN members (16)
Bahrain
Cyprus
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
UN observer (1)
Palestine
De facto (1)
Northern Cyprus
Dependencies
External (1)
Akrotiri and Dhekelia (United Kingdom)
Internal (2)
Kurdistan (Iraq)
Rojava (Syria)
Occupied (4)
East Jerusalem
Gaza Strip
Golan Heights
West Bank
UN buffers (2)
UNBZC
UNDOF Zone
Languages
60 languages
Official languages
Arabic
English
Greek
Hebrew
Kurdish
Persian
Turkish
Languages without official status (spoken by diaspora or other minorities)
Albanian
Armenian
Abaza
Abkhaz
Amharic
Azerbaijani
Balochi
Bosniak[dubious – discuss]
Chechen
Chinese
Circassian
Crimean Tatar
Coptic
Domari
French
Balkan Gagauz Turkish
Georgian
Gilaki
Hungarian
Hindi
Indonesian
Italian
Kazakh
Kumyk
Kurbet
Kyrgyz
Judæo-Spanish
Laz
Lurish
Marathi
Malayalam
Mazanderani
Neo-Aramaic
Nobiin
Qashqai
Romanian
Russian
Siwa
Somali
Syriac
Spanish
Punjabi
Tagalog
Talysh
Tatar
Turkmen
Turoyo
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uyghur
Yiddish
Zaza
Time zones UTC+02:00, UTC+03:00, UTC+03:30, UTC+04:00, UTC+04:30
Largest cities
10 largest cities in the Middle East
Turkey Istanbul
Egypt Cairo
Iran Tehran
Iraq Baghdad
Saudi Arabia Riyadh
Turkey Ankara
Egypt Alexandria
Turkey İzmir
Saudi Arabia Jeddah
Jordan Amman
Map of the Middle East between North Africa, Southern Europe, Central Asia, and Southern Asia.
Middle East map of Köppen climate classification.
The Middle East (term originally coined in English [see § Terminology][note 1]) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term Near East (as opposed to the Far East) beginning in the early 20th century. The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions,[2] and being seen as too Eurocentric.[3] The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of West Asia, but without the South Caucasus, and additionally includes all of Egypt (not just the Sinai) and all of Turkey (not just the part barring East Thrace).
Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 18) are part of the Arab world. The most populous countries in the region are Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, while Saudi Arabia is the largest Middle Eastern country by area. The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the geopolitical importance of the region being recognized for millennia.[4][5][6] Several major religions have their origins in the Middle East, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.[7] Arabs constitute the main ethnic group in the region,[8] followed by Turks, Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Copts, Jews, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen, Yazidis, and Greek Cypriots.
The Middle East generally has a hot, arid climate, especially in the Arabian and Egyptian regions. Several major rivers provide irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas here, such as the Nile Delta in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates watersheds of Mesopotamia, and the basin of the Jordan River that spans most of the Levant. These regions are collectively known as the Fertile Crescent, and comprise the core of what historians had long referred to as the cradle of civilization (a label now applied to multiple regions of the world). Conversely, the Levantine coast and most of Turkey have relatively temperate climates typical of the Mediterranean, with dry summers and cool, wet winters. Most of the countries that border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of petroleum, with monarchs of the Arabian Peninsula in particular benefiting economically from petroleum exports. Because of the arid climate and heavy reliance on the fossil fuel industry, the Middle East is both a heavy contributor to climate change and a region expected to be severely negatively impacted by it.
Other concepts of the region exist including the broader the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which includes states of the Maghreb and the Sudan, or the "Greater Middle East" which additionally also includes parts of East Africa, Mauritania, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and sometimes the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
Terminology
The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office.[9] However, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902[10] to "designate the area between Arabia and India".[11][12] During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, a rivalry which would become known as the Great Game. Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf.[13][14] He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East, and said that after Egypt's Suez Canal, it was the most important passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians from advancing towards British India.[15] Mahan first used the term in his article "The Persian Gulf and International Relations", published in September 1902 in the National Review, a British journal.
The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need its Malta, as well as its Gibraltar; it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. Naval force has the quality of mobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary absences; but it needs to find on every scene of operation established bases of refit, of supply, and in case of disaster, of security. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about Aden, India, and the Persian Gulf.[16]
Mahan's article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled "The Middle Eastern Question", written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol. During this series, Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of Middle East to include "those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India."[17] After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term.[18]
Until World War II, it was customary to refer to areas centered around Turkey and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the "Near East", while the "Far East" centered on China,[19] and the Middle East then meant the area from Mesopotamia to Burma, namely the area between the Near East and the Far East.[20][21] In the late 1930s, the British established the Middle East Command, which was based in Cairo, for its military forces in the region. After that time, the term "Middle East" gained broader usage in Europe and the United States, with the Middle East Institute founded in Washington, D.C. in 1946, among other usage.[22]
The corresponding adjective is Middle Eastern and the derived noun is Middle Easterner.
While non-Eurocentric terms such "Southwest Asia" or "Swasia" has been sparsedly used, the inclusion of an African country, Egypt, in the definition questions the usefulness of using such terms.[23]
Usage and criticism
13:25
1957 American film about the Middle East
The description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War, "Near East" was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while "Middle East" referred to the Caucasus, Persia, and Arabian lands,[20] and sometimes Afghanistan, India and others.[21] In contrast, "Far East" referred to the countries of East Asia (e.g. China, Japan and Korea).[24][25]
With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, "Near East" largely fell out of common use in English, while "Middle East" came to be applied to the re-emerging countries of the Islamic world. However, the usage "Near East" was retained by a variety of academic disciplines, including archaeology and ancient history, where it describes an area identical to the term Middle East, which is not used by these disciplines (see Ancient Near East).[citation needed]
The first official use of the term "Middle East" by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, which pertained to the Suez Crisis. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as "the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east, Syria and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia."[19] In 1958, the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined the region as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.[26]
The term Middle East has also been criticised by journalist Louay Khraish and historian Hassan Hanafi for being a Eurocentric and colonialist term.[2][3][27]
The Associated Press Stylebook says that Near East formerly referred to the farther west countries while Middle East referred to the eastern ones, but that now they are synonymous. It instructs:
Use Middle East unless Near East is used by a source in a story. Mideast is also acceptable, but Middle East is preferred.[28]
Translations
There are terms similar to Near East and Middle East in other European languages, but since it is a relative description, the meanings depend on the country and are different from the English terms generally. In German the term Naher Osten (Near East) is still in common use (nowadays the term Mittlerer Osten is more and more common in press texts translated from English sources, albeit having a distinct meaning) and in Russian Ближний Восток or Blizhniy Vostok, Bulgarian Близкия Изток, Polish Bliski Wschód or Croatian Bliski istok (meaning Near East in all the four Slavic languages) remains as the only appropriate term for the region. However, some languages do have "Middle East" equivalents, such as the French Moyen-Orient, Swedish Mellanöstern, Spanish Oriente Medio or Medio Oriente, and the Italian Medio Oriente.[note 2]
Perhaps because of the influence of the Western press, the Arabic equivalent of Middle East (Arabic: الشرق الأوسط ash-Sharq al-Awsaṭ) has become standard usage in the mainstream Arabic press, comprising the same meaning as the term "Middle East" in North American and Western European usage. The designation, Mashriq, also from the Arabic root for East, also denotes a variously defined region around the Levant, the eastern part of the Arabic-speaking world (as opposed to the Maghreb, the western part).[29] Even though the term originated in the West, apart from Arabic, other languages of countries of the Middle East also use a translation of it. The Persian equivalent for Middle East is خاورمیانه (Khāvar-e miyāneh), the Hebrew is המזרח התיכון (hamizrach hatikhon), the Turkish is Orta Doğu and the Greek is Μέση Ανατολή (Mesi Anatoli).
Countries and territory
Further information: List of Middle Eastern countries by population
Countries and territory usually considered within the Middle East
Traditionally included within the Middle East are Arabia, Asia Minor, East Thrace, Egypt, Iran, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and the Socotra Archipelago. The region includes 17 UN-recognized countries and one British Overseas Territory.
Arms Flag Country Area
(km2) Population
(2023)[30] Density
(per km2) Capital Nominal
GDP, bn (2023)[30] GDP per capita (2023)[30] Currency Government Official
language(s)
United Kingdom Akrotiri and Dhekelia Akrotiri and Dhekelia 254 18,195 72 Episkopi N/A N/A Euro De facto stratocratic dependency under a constitutional monarchy English
Bahrain Bahrain Bahrain 780 1,581,000 2,027 Manama $44.994 $28,464.173 Bahraini dinar Absolute monarchy Arabic
Cyprus Cyprus Cyprus 9,250 921,000 100 Nicosia $32.032 $34,790.581 Euro Presidential republic Greek,
Turkish
Egypt Egypt Egypt 1,010,407 105,672,000 105 Cairo $398.397 $3,770.133 Egyptian pound Presidential republic Arabic
Iran Iran 1,648,195 86,547,000 53 Tehran $366.438 $4,233.986 Iranian rial Islamic republic Persian
Iraq Iraq Iraq 438,317 43,345,000 99 Baghdad $254.993 $5,882.894 Iraqi dinar Parliamentary republic Arabic,
Kurdish
Israel Israel Israel 20,770 9,807,000 472 Jerusalema $521.688 $53,195.879 Israeli shekel Parliamentary republic Hebrew
Jordan Jordan Jordan 92,300 10,312,000 112 Amman $50.022 $4,850.663 Jordanian dinar Constitutional monarchy Arabic
Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait 17,820 4,957,000 278 Kuwait City $159.687 $32,215.034 Kuwaiti dinar Constitutional monarchy Arabic
Lebanon Lebanon 10,452 6,633,000 (2022) 635 Beirut $21.780 (2022) $3,283.414 (2022) Lebanese pound Parliamentary republic Arabic
Oman Oman 309,500 5,092,000 16 Muscat $108.282 $21,265.625 Omani rial Absolute monarchy Arabic
State of Palestine State of Palestine Palestine 6,220 5,479,000 881 Ramallaha $18.109 (2021) $3,464.383 (2021) Israeli shekel,
Jordanian dinar Semi-presidential republic Arabic
Qatar Qatar 11,437 2,873,000 251 Doha $235.500 $81,968.336 Qatari riyal Absolute monarchy Arabic
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 2,149,690 32,819,000 15 Riyadh $1,069.437 $32,586.172 Saudi riyal Absolute monarchy Arabic
Syria Syria Syria 185,180 21,393,000 (2010) 116 Damascus $60.043 (2010) $2,806.685 (2010) Syrian pound Presidential republic Arabic
Turkey Turkey 783,562 86,268,000 110 Ankara $1,154.600 $13,383.924 Turkish lira Presidential republic Turkish
United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 82,880 10,062,000 121 Abu Dhabi $509.179 $50,602.325 Emirati dirham Federal constitutional monarchy Arabic
Yemen Yemen Yemen 527,970 34,071,000 65 Sanaab
Aden (provisional) $21.045 $617.670 Yemeni rial Provisional presidential republic Arabic
a. ^ ^ Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital of Israel, which is disputed, and the actual location of the Knesset, Israeli Supreme Court, and other governmental institutions of Israel. Ramallah is the actual location of the government of Palestine, whereas the proclaimed capital of Palestine is East Jerusalem, which is disputed.
b. ^ Controlled by the Houthis due to the ongoing civil war. Seat of government moved to Aden.
Other definitions of the Middle East
Further information: Greater Middle East, MENA, and Near East
See also: Fertile Crescent and Levant
Various concepts are often being paralleled to the Middle East, most notably the Near East, Fertile Crescent, and Levant. The Near East, Fertile Crescent, and Levant are geographical concepts, which refer to large sections of the modern-day Middle East, with the Near East being the closest to the Middle East in its geographical meaning. Due to it primarily being Arabic speaking, the Maghreb region of North Africa is sometimes included.
The countries of the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia – are occasionally included in definitions of the Middle East.[31]
"Greater Middle East" is a political term coined by the second Bush administration in the first decade of the 21st century,[32] to denote various countries, pertaining to the Muslim world, specifically Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey.[33] Various Central Asian countries are sometimes also included.[34]
History
Main article: History of the Middle East
See also: Neolithic § Western Asia, Ancient Near East, History of the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Uruk period, Kish civilization, Ancient Egypt, History of the ancient Levant, History of Anatolia, History of Iran, Middle Eastern Empires, Pre-Islamic Arabia, and List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
Some henges at Göbekli Tepe were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, England, by over seven millennia. The site of the oldest known religious structure created by humans.[35]
Western Wall and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem
Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
The Kaaba, located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
The Middle East lies at the juncture of Africa and Eurasia and of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is the birthplace and spiritual center of religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Manichaeism, Yezidi, Druze, Yarsan, and Mandeanism, and in Iran, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Manicheanism, and the Baháʼí Faith. Throughout its history the Middle East has been a major center of world affairs; a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area. The region is one of the regions where agriculture was independently discovered, and from the Middle East it was spread, during the Neolithic, to different regions of the world such as Europe, the Indus Valley and Eastern Africa.
Prior to the formation of civilizations, advanced cultures formed all over the Middle East during the Stone Age. The search for agricultural lands by agriculturalists, and pastoral lands by herdsmen meant different migrations took place within the region and shaped its ethnic and demographic makeup.
The Middle East is widely and most famously known as the cradle of civilization. The world's earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia (Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia), ancient Egypt and Kish in the Levant, all originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valley regions of the ancient Near East. These were followed by the Hittite, Greek, Hurrian and Urartian civilisations of Asia Minor; Elam, Persia and Median civilizations in Iran, as well as the civilizations of the Levant (such as Ebla, Mari, Nagar, Ugarit, Canaan, Aramea, Mitanni, Phoenicia and Israel) and the Arabian Peninsula (Magan, Sheba, Ubar). The Near East was first largely unified under the Neo Assyrian Empire, then the Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire and after this to some degree by the Iranian empires (namely the Parthian and Sassanid Empires), the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. The region served as the intellectual and economic center of the Roman Empire and played an exceptionally important role due to its periphery on the Sassanid Empire. Thus, the Romans stationed up to five or six of their legions in the region for the sole purpose of defending it from Sassanid and Bedouin raids and invasions.
From the 4th century CE onwards, the Middle East became the center of the two main powers at the time, the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire. However, it would be the later Islamic Caliphates of the Middle Ages, or Islamic Golden Age which began with the Islamic conquest of the region in the 7th century AD, that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant Islamic Arab ethnic identity that largely (but not exclusively) persists today. The 4 caliphates that dominated the Middle East for more than 600 years were the Rashidun Caliphate, the Umayyad caliphate, the Abbasid caliphate and the Fatimid caliphate. Additionally, the Mongols would come to dominate the region, the Kingdom of Armenia would incorporate parts of the region to their domain, the Seljuks would rule the region and spread Turko-Persian culture, and the Franks would found the Crusader states that would stand for roughly two centuries. Josiah Russell estimates the population of what he calls "Islamic territory" as roughly 12.5 million in 1000 – Anatolia 8 million, Syria 2 million, and Egypt 1.5 million.[36] From the 16th century onward, the Middle East came to be dominated, once again, by two main powers: the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid dynasty.
The modern Middle East began after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with the Central Powers, was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nations, initially under British and French Mandates. Other defining events in this transformation included the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers, notably Britain and France by the end of the 1960s. They were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States from the 1970s onwards.
In the 20th century, the region's significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance. Mass production of oil began around 1945, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates having large quantities of oil.[37] Estimated oil reserves, especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran, are some of the highest in the world, and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countries.
During the Cold War, the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and their allies: NATO and the United States on one side, and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other, as they competed to influence regional allies. Besides the political reasons there was also the "ideological conflict" between the two systems. Moreover, as Louise Fawcett argues, among many important areas of contention, or perhaps more accurately of anxiety, were, first, the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in the region, second, the fact that the region contained some two-thirds of the world's oil reserves in a context where oil was becoming increasingly vital to the economy of the Western world [...][38] Within this contextual framework, the United States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the region has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict particularly between Sunnis and Shiites.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of the Middle East
See also: Largest metropolitan areas of the Middle East
Maunsell's map, a Pre-World War I British Ethnographical Map of the Middle East
Ethnic groups
Main article: Ethnic groups in the Middle East
Arabs constitute the largest ethnic group in the Middle East, followed by various Iranian peoples and then by Turkic peoples (Turkish, Azeris, Syrian Turkmen, and Iraqi Turkmen). Native ethnic groups of the region include, in addition to Arabs, Arameans, Assyrians, Baloch, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Greek Cypriots, Jews, Kurds, Lurs, Mandaeans, Persians, Samaritans, Shabaks, Tats, and Zazas. European ethnic groups that form a diaspora in the region include Albanians, Bosniaks, Circassians (including Kabardians), Crimean Tatars, Greeks, Franco-Levantines, Italo-Levantines, and Iraqi Turkmens. Among other migrant populations are Chinese, Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Romani, and Afro-Arabs.
Migration
"Migration has always provided an important vent for labor market pressures in the Middle East. For the period between the 1970s and 1990s, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf in particular provided a rich source of employment for workers from Egypt, Yemen and the countries of the Levant, while Europe had attracted young workers from North African countries due both to proximity and the legacy of colonial ties between France and the majority of North African states."[39]
According to the International Organization for Migration, there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arab nations in the world, of which 5.8 reside in other Arab countries. Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to the circulation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development. In 2009 Arab countries received a total of US$35.1 billion in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arab countries.[40] In Somalia, the Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora, as many of the best educated Somalis left for Middle Eastern countries as well as Europe and North America.
Non-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey, Israel and Iran are also subject to important migration dynamics.
A fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs, Iranians or Turks.[citation needed] Large numbers of Kurds, Jews, Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey for these reasons during the last century. In Iran, many religious minorities such as Christians, Baháʼís, Jews and Zoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.[41][42]
Religions
Main article: Religion in the Middle East
Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East. Here, Muslim men are prostrating during prayer in a mosque.
The Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions, many of which originated there. Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East, but other faiths that originated there, such as Judaism and Christianity,[43] are also well represented. Christian communities have played a vital role in the Middle East,[44] and they represent 40.5% of Lebanon, where the Lebanese president, half of the cabinet, and half of the parliament follow one of the various Lebanese Christian rites. There are also important minority religions like the Baháʼí Faith, Yarsanism, Yazidism,[45] Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Druze,[46] and Shabakism, and in ancient times the region was home to Mesopotamian religions, Canaanite religions, Manichaeism, Mithraism and various monotheist gnostic sects.
Languages
The six top languages, in terms of numbers of speakers, are Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, Hebrew and Greek. Arabic and Hebrew represent the Afro-Asiatic language family. Persian, Kurdish and Greek belong to the Indo-European language family. Turkish belongs to Turkic language family. About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the Middle East.
Arabic, with all its dialects, is the most widely spoken language in the Middle East, with Literary Arabic being official in all North African and in most West Asian countries. Arabic dialects are also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring Middle Eastern non-Arab countries. It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Several Modern South Arabian languages such as Mehri and Soqotri are also spoken Yemen and Oman. Another Semitic language such as Aramaic and its dialects are spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandaeans. There is also an Oasis Berber-speaking community in Egypt where the language is also known as Siwa. It is a non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic language.
Persian is the second most spoken language. While it is primarily spoken in Iran and some border areas in neighbouring countries, the country is one of the region's largest and most populous. It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the family of Indo-European languages. Other Western Iranic languages spoken in the region include Achomi, Daylami, Kurdish dialects, Semmani, Lurish, amongst many others.
The third-most widely spoken language, Turkish, is largely confined to Turkey, which is also one of the region's largest and most populous countries, but it is present in areas in neighboring countries. It is a member of the Turkic languages, which have their origins in East Asia. Another Turkic language, Azerbaijani, is spoken by Azerbaijanis in Iran.
Hebrew is one of the two official languages of Israel, the other being Arabic. Hebrew is spoken and used by over 80% of Israel's population, the other 20% using Arabic.
Greek is one of the two official languages of Cyprus, and the country's main language. Small communities of Greek speakers exist all around the Middle East; until the 20th century it was also widely spoken in Asia Minor (being the second most spoken language there, after Turkish) and Egypt. During the antiquity, Ancient Greek was the lingua franca for many areas of the western Middle East and until the Muslim expansion it was widely spoken there as well. Until the late 11th century, it was also the main spoken language in Asia Minor; after that it was gradually replaced by the Turkish language as the Anatolian Turks expanded and the local Greeks were assimilated, especially in the interior.
1911 Ottoman calendar shown in several different languages such as: Ottoman Turkish (in Arabic script), Greek, Armenian, Hebrew, Bulgarian, and French.
English is one of the official languages of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.[47][48] It is also commonly taught and used as a second language, especially among the middle and upper classes, in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Kurdistan, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.[49][50] It is also a main language in some Emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It is also spoken as native language by Jewish immigrants from Anglophone countries (UK, US, Australia) in Israel and understood widely as second language there.
French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Lebanon, and is taught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt and Syria. Maltese, a Semitic language mainly spoken in Europe, is also used by the Franco-Maltese diaspora in Egypt. Also, due to widespread immigration of French Jews to Israel, it is the native language of approximately 200,000 Jews of Israel.
Armenian speakers are also to be found in the region. Georgian is spoken by the Georgian diaspora.
Russian is spoken by a large portion of the Israeli population, because of emigration in the late 1990s.[51] Russian today is a popular unofficial language in use in Israel; news, radio and sign boards can be found in Russian around the country after Hebrew and Arabic. Circassian is also spoken by the diaspora in the region and by almost all Circassians in Israel who speak Hebrew and English as well.
The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found in Israel, where as of 1995 Romanian is spoken by 5% of the population.[note 3][52][53]
Bengali, Hindi and Urdu are widely spoken by migrant communities in many Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia (where 20–25% of the population is South Asian), the United Arab Emirates (where 50–55% of the population is South Asian), and Qatar, which have large numbers of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian immigrants.
Economy
Main articles: Economy of the Middle East and Middle East economic integration
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2016)
Oil and gas pipelines in the Middle-East
Middle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations (such as Qatar and UAE). Overall, as of 2007, according to the CIA World Factbook, all nations in the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growth.
According to the International Monetary Fund,[54] the three largest Middle Eastern economies in nominal GDP in 2023 were Saudi Arabia ($1.062 trillion), Turkey ($1.029 trillion), and Israel ($539 billion). Regarding nominal GDP per capita, the highest ranking countries are Qatar ($83,891), Israel ($55,535), the United Arab Emirates ($49,451) and Cyprus ($33,807).[54] Turkey ($3.573 trillion), Saudi Arabia ($2.301 trillion), and Iran ($1.692 trillion) had the largest economies in terms of GDP PPP.[54] When it comes to GDP PPP per capita, the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($124,834), the United Arab Emirates ($88,221), Saudi Arabia ($64,836), Bahrain ($60,596) and Israel ($54,997). The lowest-ranking country in the Middle East, in terms of GDP nominal per capita, is Yemen ($573).[54]
The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavily dependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait), others have a highly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus, Israel, Turkey and Egypt). Industries of the Middle Eastern region include oil and oil-related products, agriculture, cotton, cattle, dairy, textiles, leather products, surgical instruments, defence equipment (guns, ammunition, tanks, submarines, fighter jets, UAVs, and missiles). Banking is also an important sector of the economies, especially in the case of UAE and Bahrain.
With the exception of Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Israel, tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area of the economy, in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certain regions of the Middle East. In recent years,[when?] however, countries such as the UAE, Bahrain, and Jordan have begun attracting greater numbers of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-related restrictive policies.[citation needed]
Unemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region, particularly among young people aged 15–29, a demographic representing 30% of the region's total population. The total regional unemployment rate in 2005, according to the International Labour Organization, was 13.2%,[55] and among youth is as high as 25%,[56] up to 37% in Morocco and 73% in Syria.[57]
Climate change
This section is an excerpt from Climate change in the Middle East and North Africa.[edit]
Köppen climate classification maps for the Middle East at present (top) and predicted for North Africa for 2071–2100 (bottom).
Climate change in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) refers to changes in the climate of the MENA region and the subsequent response, adaption and mitigation strategies of countries in the region. In 2018, the MENA region emitted 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide and produced 8.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)[58] despite making up only 6% of the global population.[59] These emissions are mostly from the energy sector,[60] an integral component of many Middle Eastern and North African economies due to the extensive oil and natural gas reserves that are found within the region.[61][62] The region of Middle East is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. The impacts include increase in drought conditions, aridity, heatwaves and sea level rise.
Sharp global temperature and sea level changes, shifting precipitation patterns and increased frequency of extreme weather events are some of the main impacts of climate change as identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).[63] The MENA region is especially vulnerable to such impacts due to its arid and semi-arid environment, facing climatic challenges such as low rainfall, high temperatures and dry soil.[63][64] The climatic conditions that foster such challenges for MENA are projected by the IPCC to worsen throughout the 21st century.[63] If greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly reduced, part of the MENA region risks becoming uninhabitable before the year 2100.[65][66][67]
Climate change is expected to put significant strain on already scarce water and agricultural resources within the MENA region, threatening the national security and political stability of all included countries.[68] Over 60 percent of the region's population lives in high and very high water-stressed areas compared to the global average of 35 percent.[69] This has prompted some MENA countries to engage with the issue of climate change on an international level through environmental accords such as the Paris Agreement. Law and policy are also being established on a national level amongst MENA countries, with a focus on the development of renewable energies.[70]
Gallery
Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates
Amman – Jordan
Amman – Jordan
Ankara – Turkey
Ankara – Turkey
Baghdad, Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq
Beirut – Lebanon
Beirut – Lebanon
Cairo – Egypt
Cairo – Egypt
Damascus – Syria
Damascus – Syria
Doha – Qatar
Doha – Qatar
Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Istanbul – Turkey
Istanbul – Turkey
Jerusalem – Israel
Jerusalem – Israel
Kuwait City – Kuwait
Kuwait City – Kuwait
Manama – Bahrain
Manama – Bahrain
Muscat – Oman
Muscat – Oman
Nicosia – Cyprus
Nicosia – Cyprus
Ramallah – Palestine
Ramallah – Palestine
Riyadh – Saudi Arabia
Riyadh – Saudi Arabia
Sana'a – Yemen
Sana'a – Yemen
Tehran – Iran
Tehran – Iran
Tel Aviv – Israel
Tel Aviv – Israel
0:41
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the International Space Station.
0:23
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the International Space Station.
0:34
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan, east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China, just north-west of Hong Kong.
See also
iconGeography portalMiddle East portalmapAfrica portaliconAsia portal
Cinema of the Middle East – Filmmaking in the Middle East
Etiquette in the Middle East
MENA – Geographic region
Mental health in the Middle East
Middle East Studies Association of North America – Learned society
Middle Eastern cuisine – Regional cuisine
Middle Eastern music – Music of the Middle Eastern region
Orientalism – Imitation or depiction of Eastern culture
Russia and the Middle East – Relationships between
State feminism § Middle East
Timeline of Middle Eastern history
Notes
Translations of this term in some of the region's major languages include: Arabic: الشرق الأوسط, romanized: aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ; Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܕܢܚܐ ܡܨܥܝܬܐ, romanized: Madnḥā Miṣʿāyā; Hebrew: המזרח התיכון, romanized: ha-Mizrákh ha-Tikhón; Kurdish: Rojhilata Navîn; Persian: خاورمیانه, romanized: Xâvar-e-Miyâne; South Azerbaijani: اوْرتاشرق; Turkish: Orta Doğu.
In Italian, the expression "Vicino Oriente" (Near East) was also widely used to refer to Turkey, and Estremo Oriente (Far East or Extreme East) to refer to all of Asia east of Middle East
According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250,000 Romanian speakers in Israel, at a population of 5,548,523 (census 1995).
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"Middle East – Articles by Region" Archived 9 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine – Council on Foreign Relations: "A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysis"
"Middle East – Interactive Crisis Guide" Archived 30 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine – Council on Foreign Relations: "A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysis"
Middle East Department University of Chicago Library
Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957: "The leading information source on business in the Middle East" – meed.com
Carboun – advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in the Middle East
Middle East at Curlie
Middle East News from Yahoo! News
Middle East Business, Financial & Industry News – ArabianBusiness.com
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Middle East
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Regions of Africa
Central
Guinea region
Gulf of Guinea Cape Lopez Mayombe Igboland
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East
African Great Lakes
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West
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Macro-regions
Aethiopia Afromontane Arab world Commonwealth realm Equatorial Africa Françafrique Greater Middle East Guineo-Congolian region Islands of Africa List of countries where Arabic is an official language Mediterranean Basin MENASA Middle East Middle East and North Africa Miombo woodlands Mittelafrika Negroland Northeast Africa Portuguese-speaking African countries Sahara Sahel Southeast Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Sudan (region)
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Kazakh Steppe Betpak-Dala Eurasian Steppe
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Trans-Karakoram Tract Siachen Glacier Tibetan Plateau
East
(Northeast)
Orient Japanese Archipelago
Northeastern Japan Arc Sakhalin Island Arc Korea Gobi Desert Taklamakan Desert Greater Khingan Mongolian Plateau Inner Asia Inner Mongolia Outer Mongolia China proper Manchuria
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Donald Trump (disambiguation).
Donald Trump
Official White House presidential portrait. Head shot of Trump smiling in front of the U.S. flag, wearing a dark blue suit jacket with American flag lapel pin, white shirt, and light blue necktie.
Official portrait, 2017
45th President of the United States
In office
January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021
Vice President Mike Pence
Preceded by Barack Obama
Succeeded by Joe Biden
Personal details
Born Donald John Trump
June 14, 1946 (age 77)
Queens, New York City, U.S.
Political party Republican (1987–1999, 2009–2011, 2012–present)
Other political
affiliations
Reform (1999–2001)
Democratic (2001–2009)
Independent (2011–2012)
Spouses
Ivana Zelníčková
(m. 1977; div. 1990)
Marla Maples
(m. 1993; div. 1999)
Melania Knauss (m. 2005)
Children
Donald Jr.IvankaEricTiffanyBarron
Parents
Fred Trump
Mary Anne MacLeod
Relatives Family of Donald Trump
Residence(s) Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida
Alma mater University of Pennsylvania (BS)
Occupation
Politicianbusinessmanmedia personality
Awards List of awards and honors
Signature Donald J. Trump stylized autograph, in ink
Website
Official website
Presidential library
White House archives
Donald Trump's voice
5:03
Donald Trump speaks on the declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Recorded March 11, 2020
This article is part of
a series about
Donald Trump
Business and personal
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Tenure
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Policies
Economy tax cutstariffsChina trade warfarmer bailoutsEnvironment Paris withdrawalForeign policy America FirstSaudi Arabia arms dealIran nuclear deal withdrawalJerusalemGolan HeightsPalestine peace planAbraham AccordsUSMCADoha AgreementImmigration travel banwallfamily separationmigrant detentionstroop deploymentsnational emergencyInfrastructureSocial issues First Step ActcannabisSpace
Appointments
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Presidential campaigns
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Impeachments
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Prosecutions
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Interactions involving Russia
Business projects in RussiaElection interference timeline before July 2016July 2016 – election daytopicsAssociates' links with Russian officials and spiesSteele dossierTrump Tower meetingTrump Tower MoscowClassified information disclosuresMetadata seizuresMueller special counsel investigation Crossfire HurricanechargesDurham special counsel investigationlegal teamsMueller reportBarr letterSenate report
COVID-19 pandemic
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Seal of the President of the United States
vte
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump received a BS in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, and his father named him president of his real estate business in 1971. Trump renamed it the Trump Organization and expanded its operations to building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. After a series of business reversals in the late twentieth century, he successfully launched various side ventures that required little capital, mostly by licensing the Trump name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. He and his businesses have been plaintiff or defendant in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six business bankruptcies.
Trump won the 2016 presidential election as the Republican nominee against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote.[a] During the campaign, his political positions were described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. His election and policies sparked numerous protests. He was the first U.S. president with no prior military or government experience. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation established that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to favor Trump's campaign. Trump promoted conspiracy theories and made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist and many as misogynistic.
As president, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted military funding toward building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for migrants detained at the U.S. border. He weakened environmental protections, rolling back more than 100 environmental policies and regulations. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. He initiated a trade war with China and withdrew the U.S. from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times but made no progress on denuclearization. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials, used political pressure to interfere with testing efforts, and spread misinformation about unproven treatments.
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. He refused to concede defeat, falsely claiming widespread electoral fraud, and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, he urged his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, which many of them then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count.
Trump is the only American president to have been impeached twice. After he tried to pressure Ukraine in 2019 to investigate Biden, he was impeached in December by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress; he was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020. The House impeached him a second time in January 2021, for incitement of insurrection, and the Senate acquitted him the next month. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.[1][2]
Since leaving office, Trump has remained heavily involved in the Republican Party. In November 2022, he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election. In March 2023, a Manhattan grand jury indicted him on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. In June, a Miami federal grand jury indicted him on 40 felonies related to his handling of classified documents. In August, a Washington, D.C., federal grand jury indicted him on four felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Later in August, a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury indicted him on 19 charges for racketeering and other felonies committed in an effort to overturn the state's 2020 election results. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Personal life
Early life
A black-and-white photograph of Donald Trump as a teenager, smiling, wearing a dark pseudo-military uniform with various badges and a light-colored stripe crossing his right shoulder
Trump at the New York Military Academy in 1964
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York City,[3] the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens, and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade.[4][5][6] At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school,[7] and, in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics.[8][9] In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.[10]
While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era.[11] In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968, a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve.[12] In October 1968, he was classified 1-Y, a conditional medical deferment,[13] and in 1972, he was reclassified 4-F due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.[14]
Family
Main article: Family of Donald Trump
In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková.[15] They had three children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988.[16] The couple divorced in 1990, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples.[17] Trump and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993), who was raised by Marla in California.[18] In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss.[19] They have one son, Barron (born 2006).[20] Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.[21]
Religion
Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens.[22][23] In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church in America.[22][24] The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale,[22] ministered to the family until his death in 1993.[24] Trump has described him as a mentor.[25] In 2015, the church stated that Trump was not an active member.[23] In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison.[26] In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.[27]
Health habits
Trump has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course.[28] He considers exercise a waste of energy because he believes exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy".[29] In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency".[30] In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.[30][31]
Wealth
Main article: Wealth of Donald Trump
Ivana Trump and King Fahd shake hands, with Ronald Reagan standing next to them smiling. All are in black formal attire.
Trump (far right) and wife Ivana in the receiving line of a state dinner for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in 1985, with U.S. president Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan
In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth (equivalent to $606 million in 2022).[32] His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995.[33] After filing the mandatory financial disclosure report with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities.[34] Forbes estimated his net worth dropped by $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2018.[35] In their 2021 billionaires ranking, Trump's net worth was estimated to be $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world).[36]
Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported that Trump called him in 1984, pretending to be a fictional Trump Organization official named "John Barron". Greenberg said that Trump, speaking as "Barron", falsely asserted that he owned more than 90 percent of his father's business to get a higher ranking for himself on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.[37]
Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father and that he had to pay it back with interest.[38] He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father's company.[39][40] In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance started an investigation.[40] His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets.[41][42] Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product-licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.[43]
Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million (equivalent to $1.76 billion in 2022).[44][45][32]
In 2020, the New York Times obtained Trump's tax information extending over two decades. Its reporters found that Trump reported losses of hundreds of millions of dollars and had, since 2010, deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lower them to $750. During the 2010s, Trump balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.[46]
As of October 2021, Trump had over $1.3 billion in total debts, much of which is secured by his assets.[47] In 2020, he owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Bank of China, Deutsche Bank, and UBS, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.[48]
Health care
During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).[244] In office, he scaled back the Act's implementation through executive orders 13765[245] and 13813.[246] Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment.[247][248] Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA.[249] In June 2018, the Trump administration joined 18 Republican-led states in arguing before the Supreme Court that the elimination of the financial penalties associated with the individual mandate had rendered the ACA unconstitutional.[250][251] If they had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans.[250] During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020, he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.[252]
In response to the opioid epidemic, Trump signed legislation in 2018 to increase funding for drug treatments, but was widely criticized for failing to make a concrete strategy. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but surged to a record 50,052 deaths in 2019.[253]
Social issues
Main article: Social policy of Donald Trump
Trump barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals from receiving federal funds.[254] He said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue.[255] In March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.[256]
Trump has said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time.[257] After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation to curtail gun violence, but he abandoned that effort in November 2019.[258] His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.[259]
Trump is a long-time advocate of capital punishment.[260][261] Under his administration, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium.[262] In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding[263][264] but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.[265]
Pardons and commutations
Further information: List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump
Trump granted 237 requests for clemency, fewer than all presidents since 1900 with the exception of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.[266] Only 25 of them had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney; the others were granted to people with personal or political connections to him, his family, and his allies, or recommended by celebrities.[267][268]
From 2017 to 2019, he pardoned, amongst others, former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine;[269] and right-wing commentator Dinesh D'Souza.[270] Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking.[271] Trump also pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.[272]
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre;[273] white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik;[274] daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner;[268] and five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Among them were Michael Flynn; Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July; and Paul Manafort.[275]
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 73 pardons, including to Steve Bannon and Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and commuted 70 sentences.[276]
Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op
Main article: Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church
Trump and group of officials and advisors on the way from White House complex to St. John's Church
On June 1, 2020, federal law-enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House.[277][278] Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos.[277][279] Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".[280]
Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.[281] Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters.[282]
Immigration
Main article: Immigration policy of Donald Trump
Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it.[283] He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States,[284] and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies".[285] As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13,[286] though available research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.[287][288]
Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.[289][290]
From 2018 onward, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border[291] to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum. In 2020, his administration widened the public charge rule to further restrict immigrants who might use government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards.[292] Trump reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year.[293][294] Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.[295]
Travel ban
Main article: Trump travel ban
Further information: Executive Order 13769 and Executive Order 13780
Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.[296] He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".[297]
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning, causing confusion and chaos at airports.[298][299] Protests against the ban began at airports the next day.[298][299] Legal challenges to the order resulted in nationwide preliminary injunctions.[300] A March 6 revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, again was blocked by federal judges in three states.[301][302] In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".[303]
The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which restricted travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further banned travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials.[304] After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017,[305] and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.[306]
Family separation at border
Main article: Trump administration family separation policy
Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment
Children and juveniles in a wire mesh compartment, showing sleeping mats and thermal blankets on floor
Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment in the Ursula detention facility in McAllen, Texas, June 2018
The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017.[307][308] In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted.[309] This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors.[310] Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.[311]
The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage.[311][312] Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.[313][314][315]
Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he acceded to intense public objection and signed an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" doing so would pose a risk to the child.[316][317] On June 26, 2018, Judge Dana Sabraw concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification;[318] Sabraw ordered for the families to be reunited and family separations stopped except in limited circumstances.[319] After the federal-court order, the Trump administration separated more than a thousand migrant children from their families; the ACLU contended that the Trump administration had abused its discretion and asked Sabraw to more narrowly define the circumstances warranting separation.[308]
Trump wall and government shutdown
Main articles: Trump wall and 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown
Trump speaks with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Behind him are black SUVs, four short border wall prototype designs, and the current border wall in the background
Trump examines border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa, California.
One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it.[320] By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles [64 km] of new primary wall and 33 miles [53 km] of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles (587 km) of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.[321]
In 2018, Trump refused to sign any appropriations bill from Congress unless it allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall,[322] resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history.[323][324] Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay.[325] Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall.[323] The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office.[326] About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.[327]
To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles (89 km) of bollard border fencing.[328] Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes.[328] Trump vetoed a joint resolution to overturn the declaration, and the Senate voted against a veto override.[329] Legal challenges to the diversion of $2.5 billion originally meant for the Department of Defense's drug interdiction efforts[330][331] and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction[332][333] were unsuccessful.
Foreign policy
Main article: Foreign policy of the Donald Trump administration
See also: List of international presidential trips made by Donald Trump
Trump and other G7 leaders sit at a conference table
Trump with the other G7 leaders at the 45th summit in France, 2019
Trump described himself as a "nationalist"[334] and his foreign policy as "America First".[335] His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist, and authoritarian governments.[336] Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty,[335] a lack of a consistent foreign policy,[337] and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.[338] He criticized NATO allies and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.[339][340]
Trade
See also: Trump tariffs
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations,[341] imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports,[342] and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S.[343] While Trump said that import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury, they are paid by American companies that import goods from China.[344] Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the trade deficit in July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, "was the largest monthly deficit since July 2008".[345] Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.[346]
Russia
Trump and Putin, both seated, lean over and shake hands
Putin and Trump shaking hands at the G20 Osaka summit, June 2019
The Trump administration "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea.[347][348] Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance,[349] and supported a potential return of Russia to the G7.[350]
Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin[351][352] but opposed some actions of the Russian government.[353][354] After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.[355][356][357] Trump did not discuss alleged Russian bounties offered to Taliban fighters for attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin, saying both that he doubted the intelligence and that he was not briefed on it.[358]
China
Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S.[359] As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure,[360][361][362] sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran,[363] significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars,[364] and classified China as a currency manipulator.[365] Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping,[366] which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader.[367] After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic,[368] he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March 2020.[369]
Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations.[370] In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.[371]
North Korea
See also: 2018–19 Korean peace process
Trump and Kim shake hands on a stage with U.S. and North Korean flags in the background
Trump meets Kim Jong Un at the Singapore summit, June 2018.
In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat,[372] Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".[373][374] In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong Un.[373][375]
After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.[376][377] Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019.[378] Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil.[378] Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea.[379]
However, no denuclearization agreement was reached,[380] and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day.[381] While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.[382][383]
Afghanistan
U.S. and Taliban officials stand spaced apart in a formal room
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting with Taliban delegation in Qatar in September 2020
U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later,[384] reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan.[385] In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government.[386][387][388] By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.[388]
Israel
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[389] Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel[390] and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,[391] leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, and the Arab League.[392][393]
Saudi Arabia
Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi place their hands on a glowing white orb light at waist level
Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the 2017 Riyadh summit in Saudi Arabia
Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia,[394] In 2018, the U.S. provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention.[395][396] Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[397]
Syria
Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.[398][399]
In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS", contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria.[400][401] The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS.[402] One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.[403]
Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House in May 2017
In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area.[404] Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".[405][406]
Iran
After an Iranian missile test on January 29, 2017, and Houthi attacks on Saudi warships, the Trump administration sanctioned 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of being involved in Iran's missile program.[407] In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its nuclear program.[408][409] Analysts determined that, after the United States's withdrawal, Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon.[410]
In January 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who had planned nearly every significant operation by Iranian forces over the past two decades.[411] Trump threatened to hit 52 Iranian sites, including some "important to Iran & the Iranian culture", if Iran retaliated.[412] The threat to hit cultural sites was seen as illegal and both Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. would not attack such sites, but would "follow the laws of armed conflict" and "behave inside the system".[413] Iran did retaliate with ballistic missile strikes against two U.S. airbases in Iraq.[410] On the same day, amid the heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, Iran accidentally[414] shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran airport.[415][414][416]
In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to trigger a mechanism that was part of the agreement that would have led to the return of U.N. sanctions against Iran.[417]
Personnel
Main articles: Political appointments by Donald Trump and Cabinet of Donald Trump
The Trump administration had a high turnover of personnel, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned.[418] As of early July 2018, 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left[419] and 141 staffers had left in the previous year.[420] Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years.[421] Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Flynn (after just 25 days in office), and Press Secretary Sean Spicer.[421] Close personal aides to Trump including Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee, and Keith Schiller quit or were forced out.[422] Some, including Hicks and McEntee, later returned to the White House in different posts.[423] Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials, calling them incompetent, stupid, or crazy.[424]
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several.[425] Reince Priebus was replaced after seven months by retired Marine general John F. Kelly.[426] Kelly resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous tenure in which his influence waned, and Trump subsequently disparaged him.[427] Kelly was succeeded by Mick Mulvaney as acting chief of staff; he was replaced in March 2020 by Mark Meadows.[425]
On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey. While initially attributing this action to Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump said a few days later that he was concerned with Comey's roles in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigations, and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier.[428] At a private conversation in February, Trump said he hoped Comey would drop the investigation into Flynn.[429] In March and April, Trump asked Comey to "lift the cloud impairing his ability to act" by saying publicly that the FBI was not investigating him.[429][430]
Turnover was relatively high within the Trump Cabinet.[422] Trump lost three of his 15 original cabinet members within his first year.[431] Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft.[431][422] Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt resigned in 2018 and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in January 2019 amid multiple investigations into their conduct.[432][433]
Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were still hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee.[434] By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled (61 percent) and Trump had no nominee for 264 (37 percent).[435]
Judiciary
Further information: List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump and Donald Trump judicial appointment controversies
Donald Trump and Amy Coney Barrett walk side by side along the West Wing Colonnade; American flags hang between the columns to their right
Trump and his third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett
Trump appointed 226 Article III judges, including 54 to the courts of appeals and three to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.[436] Trump's Supreme Court nominees were noted as having politically shifted the Supreme Court to the right.[437][438][439][440] In the 2016 campaign, Trump pledged that Roe v. Wade would be overturned "automatically" if he were elected and provided the opportunity to appoint two or three pro-life justices. Trump later took credit when Roe was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization; all three of his Supreme Court nominees voted with the majority.[441][442][443]
Trump disparaged courts and judges he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. Trump's attacks on the courts drew rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, concerned about the effect of Trump's statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.[444][445][446]
COVID-19 pandemic
Main articles: COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
Further information: U.S. federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Communication of the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic
See also: Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
In December 2019, COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China; the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread worldwide within weeks.[447][448] The first confirmed case in the U.S. was reported on January 20, 2020.[449] The outbreak was officially declared a public health emergency by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar on January 31, 2020.[450]
Trump's public statements on COVID-19 were at odds with his private statements. In February 2020 Trump publicly asserted that the outbreak in the U.S. was less deadly than influenza, was "very much under control", and would soon be over.[451] At the same time he acknowledged the opposite in a private conversation with Bob Woodward. In March 2020, Trump privately told Woodward that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public so as not to create panic.[452][453]
Initial response
Trump was slow to address the spread of the disease, initially dismissing the threat and ignoring persistent public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration and Secretary Azar.[454][455] Throughout January and February he focused on economic and political considerations of the outbreak, and largely ignored the danger.[456] By mid-March, most global financial markets had severely contracted in response to the emerging pandemic.[457]
On March 6, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law, which provided $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies.[458] On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic,[447] and Trump announced partial travel restrictions for most of Europe, effective March 13.[459] That same day, he gave his first serious assessment of the virus in a nationwide Oval Office address, calling the outbreak "horrible" but "a temporary moment" and saying there was no financial crisis.[460] On March 13, he declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources.[461] Trump falsely claimed that "anybody that wants a test can get a test", despite the availability of tests being severely limited.[462]
In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad.[463][464] The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.[465][466]
On April 22, Trump signed an executive order restricting some forms of immigration to the United States.[467] In late spring and early summer, with infections and death counts continuing to rise, he adopted a strategy of blaming the states for the growing pandemic, rather than accepting that his initial assessments of the course of the pandemic were overly optimistic or his failure to provide presidential leadership.[468]
White House Coronavirus Task Force
Trump speaks in the West Wing briefing room with various officials standing behind him, all in formal attire and without face masks
Trump conducts a COVID-19 press briefing with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force on March 15, 2020.
Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020.[469] Beginning in mid-March, Trump held a daily task force press conference, joined by medical experts and other administration officials,[470] sometimes disagreeing with them by promoting unproven treatments.[471] Trump was the main speaker at the briefings, where he praised his own response to the pandemic, frequently criticized rival presidential candidate Joe Biden, and denounced the press.[470][472] On March 16, he acknowledged for the first time that the pandemic was not under control and that months of disruption to daily lives and a recession might occur.[473] His repeated use of the terms "Chinese virus" and "China virus" to describe COVID-19 drew criticism from health experts.[474][475][476]
By early April, as the pandemic worsened and amid criticism of his administration's response, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in his handling of the outbreak, instead blaming the media, Democratic state governors, the previous administration, China, and the World Health Organization (WHO).[477] The daily coronavirus task force briefings ended in late April, after a briefing at which Trump suggested the dangerous idea of injecting a disinfectant to treat COVID-19;[478] the comment was widely condemned by medical professionals.[479][480]
Donald Trump and Andrzej Duda sit in a packed Oval Office, surrounded by other officials and members of the press. Only the press are masked.
Poland's president Andrzej Duda visited the White House on June 24, 2020, the first foreign leader to do so since the start of the pandemic.
In early May, Trump proposed the phase-out of the coronavirus task force and its replacement with another group centered on reopening the economy. Amid a backlash, Trump said the task force would "indefinitely" continue.[481] By the end of May, the coronavirus task force's meetings were sharply reduced.[482]
World Health Organization
Prior to the pandemic, Trump criticized the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international bodies, which he asserted were taking advantage of U.S. aid.[483] His administration's proposed 2021 federal budget, released in February, proposed reducing WHO funding by more than half.[483] In May and April, Trump accused the WHO of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus" and alleged without evidence that the organization was under Chinese control and had enabled the Chinese government's concealment of the origins of the pandemic.[483][484][485] He then announced that he was withdrawing funding for the organization.[483] Trump's criticisms and actions regarding the WHO were seen as attempts to distract attention from his own mishandling of the pandemic.[483][486][487] In July 2020, Trump announced the formal withdrawal of the United States from the WHO effective July 2021.[484][485] The decision was widely condemned by health and government officials as "short-sighted", "senseless", and "dangerous".[484][485]
Testing
Further information: COVID-19 testing in the United States
In June and July, Trump said several times that the U.S. would have fewer cases of coronavirus if it did less testing, that having a large number of reported cases "makes us look bad".[488][489] The CDC guideline at the time was that any person exposed to the virus should be "quickly identified and tested" even if they are not showing symptoms, because asymptomatic people can still spread the virus.[490][491] In August 2020 the CDC quietly lowered its recommendation for testing, advising that people who have been exposed to the virus, but are not showing symptoms, "do not necessarily need a test". The change in guidelines was made by HHS political appointees under Trump administration pressure, against the wishes of CDC scientists.[492][493] The day after this political interference was reported, the testing guideline was changed back to its original recommendation, stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.[493]
Pressure to abandon pandemic mitigation measures
In April 2020, Republican-connected groups organized anti-lockdown protests against the measures state governments were taking to combat the pandemic;[494][495] Trump encouraged the protests on Twitter,[496] even though the targeted states did not meet the Trump administration's own guidelines for reopening.[497] In April 2020, he first supported, then later criticized, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's plan to reopen some nonessential businesses.[498] Throughout the spring he increasingly pushed for ending the restrictions as a way to reverse the damage to the country's economy.[499]
Trump often refused to wear a face mask at public events, contrary to his own administration's April 2020 guidance that Americans should wear masks in public[500] and despite nearly unanimous medical consensus that masks are important to preventing the spread of the virus.[501] By June, Trump had said masks were a "double-edged sword"; ridiculed Biden for wearing masks; continually emphasized that mask-wearing was optional; and suggested that wearing a mask was a political statement against him personally.[501] Trump's contradiction of medical recommendations weakened national efforts to mitigate the pandemic.[500][501]
Despite record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from mid-June onward and an increasing percentage of positive test results, Trump largely continued to downplay the pandemic, including his false claim in early July 2020 that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless".[502][503] He also began insisting that all states should open schools to in-person education in the fall despite a July spike in reported cases.[504]
Political pressure on health agencies
Main article: Trump administration political interference with science agencies
Trump repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored,[492] such as approving unproven treatments[505][506] or speeding up the approval of vaccines.[506] Trump administration political appointees at HHS sought to control CDC communications to the public that undermined Trump's claims that the pandemic was under control. CDC resisted many of the changes, but increasingly allowed HHS personnel to review articles and suggest changes before publication.[507][508] Trump alleged without evidence that FDA scientists were part of a "deep state" opposing him, and delaying approval of vaccines and treatments to hurt him politically.[509]
Outbreak at the White House
Main article: White House COVID-19 outbreak
Donald Trump, wearing a black face mask, boards Marine One, a large green helicopter, from the White House lawn
Trump boards Marine One for COVID-19 treatment on October 2, 2020.
On October 2, 2020, Trump tweeted that he had tested positive for COVID-19.[510][511] His wife, their son Barron, and numerous staff members and visitors also became infected.[512][513]
Later that day Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, reportedly due to labored breathing and a fever. He was treated with antiviral and experimental antibody drugs and a steroid. He returned to the White House on October 5, still struggling with the disease.[514] During and after his treatment he continued to downplay the virus.[512] In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of the disease.[513]
Effects on the 2020 presidential campaign
By July 2020, Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had become a major issue for the 2020 presidential election.[515] Biden sought to make the pandemic the central issue of the election.[516] Polls suggested voters blamed Trump for his pandemic response[515] and disbelieved his rhetoric concerning the virus, with an Ipsos/ABC News poll indicating 65 percent of respondents disapproved of his pandemic response.[517] In the final months of the campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was "rounding the turn" in managing the pandemic, despite increasing numbers of reported cases and deaths.[518] A few days before the November 3 election, the United States reported more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time.[519]
Investigations
After he assumed office, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, along with his private businesses, personal taxes, and charitable foundation.[520] There were 30 investigations of Trump, including ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve congressional investigations.[521]
In April 2019, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas seeking financial details from Trump's banks, Deutsche Bank and Capital One, and his accounting firm, Mazars USA. Trump then sued the banks, Mazars, and committee chair Elijah Cummings to prevent the disclosures.[522] In May, DC District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled that Mazars must comply with the subpoena,[523] and judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District Court of New York ruled that the banks must also comply.[524][525] Trump's attorneys appealed the rulings.[526] In September 2022, the committee and Trump agreed to a settlement about Mazars, and the accounting firm began turning over documents.[527]
Hush money payments
Main article: Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal
See also: Legal affairs of Donald Trump § Payments related to alleged affairs, Karen McDougal § Alleged affair with Donald Trump, and Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York § Hush money payments
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer,[528] and a company set up by Cohen paid Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels for keeping silent about their alleged affairs with Trump between 2006 and 2007.[529] Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws, saying he had arranged both payments at the direction of Trump to influence the presidential election.[530] Trump denied the affairs and claimed he was not aware of Cohen's payment to Daniels, but he reimbursed him in 2017.[531][532] Federal prosecutors asserted that Trump had been involved in discussions regarding non-disclosure payments as early as 2014.[533] Court documents showed that the FBI believed Trump was directly involved in the payment to Daniels, based on calls he had with Cohen in October 2016.[534][535] Federal prosecutors closed the investigation in 2019,[536] but the Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the Trump Organization and AMI for records related to the payments[537] and Trump and the Trump Organization for eight years of tax returns.[538] In November 2022, The New York Times reported that Manhattan prosecutors were "newly optimistic about building a case" against Trump.[539]
Russian election interference
Main articles: Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and Timelines related to Donald Trump and Russian interference in United States elections
See also: Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election and Steele dossier
In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump.[540][541] In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress, "[T]he FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."[542] Many suspicious[543] links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies were discovered and the relationships between Russians and "team Trump" were widely reported by the press.[544][545]
Manafort, one of Trump's campaign managers, worked from December 2004 to February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency.[546] Other Trump associates, including Flynn and Stone, were connected to Russian officials.[547][548] Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump.[549] Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election.[550][551] On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that were imposed that same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence.[552] Trump told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.[553]
Trump and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election—which was also promoted by Russia to frame Ukraine.[554] After the Democratic National Committee was hacked, Trump first claimed it withheld "its server" from the FBI (in actuality there were more than 140 servers, of which digital copies were given to the FBI); second, that CrowdStrike, the company that investigated the servers, was Ukraine-based and Ukrainian-owned (in actuality, CrowdStrike is U.S.-based, with the largest owners being American companies); and third that "the server" was hidden in Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration spoke out against the conspiracy theories.[555]
FBI Crossfire Hurricane and 2017 counterintelligence investigations
In July 2016, the FBI launched an investigation, codenamed Crossfire Hurricane, into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign.[556] After Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia.[557] Crossfire Hurricane was transferred to the Mueller investigation,[558] but deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein ended the investigation into Trump's direct ties to Russia while giving the bureau the false impression that Mueller would pursue the matter.[559][560]
Mueller investigation
Main articles: Mueller special counsel investigation, Mueller report, and Criminal charges brought in the Mueller special counsel investigation
In May 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, special counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ), ordering him to "examine 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government' and the Trump campaign". He privately told Mueller to restrict the investigation to criminal matters "in connection with Russia's 2016 election interference".[559] The special counsel also investigated whether Trump's dismissal of James Comey as FBI director constituted obstruction of justice[561] and the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.[562] Trump sought to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation multiple times but backed down after his staff objected or after changing his mind.[563]
In March 2019, Mueller concluded his investigation and gave his report to Attorney General William Barr.[564] Two days later, Barr sent a letter to Congress purporting to summarize the report's main conclusions. A federal court, as well as Mueller himself, said Barr mischaracterized the investigation's conclusions and, in so doing, confused the public.[565][566][567] Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the investigation exonerated him; the Mueller report expressly stated that it did not exonerate him.[568]
A redacted version of the report was publicly released in April 2019. It found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's.[569] Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the report found that the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference.[570][571] The report revealed sweeping Russian interference[571] and detailed how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged it, believing "[they] would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts".[572][573][574][575]
The report also detailed multiple acts of potential obstruction of justice by Trump but did not make a "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether Trump broke the law, suggesting that Congress should make such a determination.[576][577] Investigators decided they could not "apply an approach that could potentially result in a judgment that the President committed crimes" as an Office of Legal Counsel opinion stated that a sitting president could not be indicted,[578] and investigators would not accuse him of a crime when he cannot clear his name in court.[579] The report concluded that Congress, having the authority to take action against a president for wrongdoing, "may apply the obstruction laws".[578] The House of Representatives subsequently launched an impeachment inquiry following the Trump–Ukraine scandal, but did not pursue an article of impeachment related to the Mueller investigation.[580][581]
Several Trump associates pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Mueller's investigation and related cases, including Manafort, convicted on eight felony counts,[582] deputy campaign manager Rick Gates,[583] foreign policy advisor Papadopoulos,[584] and Flynn.[585][586] Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump's 2016 attempts to reach a deal with Russia to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said he had made the false statements on behalf of Trump, who was identified as "Individual-1" in the court documents.[587] In February 2020, Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering regarding his attempts to learn more about hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. The sentencing judge said Stone "was prosecuted for covering up for the president".[588]
First impeachment
Main articles: First impeachment of Donald Trump and Trump–Ukraine scandal
Nancy Pelosi presides over a crowded House of Representatives chamber floor during the impeachment vote
Members of House of Representatives vote on two articles of impeachment (H.Res. 755), December 18, 2019.
In August 2019, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Trump had pressured Zelenskyy to investigate CrowdStrike and Democratic presidential candidate Biden and his son Hunter.[589] The whistleblower said that the White House had attempted to cover up the incident and that the call was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani that may have included withholding financial aid from Ukraine in July 2019 and canceling Pence's May 2019 Ukraine trip.[590]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated a formal impeachment inquiry on September 24.[591] Trump then confirmed that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, offering contradictory reasons for the decision.[592][593] On September 25, the Trump administration released a memorandum of the phone call which confirmed that, after Zelenskyy mentioned purchasing American anti-tank missiles, Trump asked him to discuss investigating Biden and his son with Giuliani and Barr.[589][594] The testimony of multiple administration officials and former officials confirmed that this was part of a broader effort to further Trump's personal interests by giving him an advantage in the upcoming presidential election.[595] In October, William B. Taylor Jr., the chargé d'affaires for Ukraine, testified before congressional committees that soon after arriving in Ukraine in June 2019, he found that Zelenskyy was being subjected to pressure directed by Trump and led by Giuliani. According to Taylor and others, the goal was to coerce Zelenskyy into making a public commitment investigating the company that employed Hunter Biden, as well as rumors about Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[596] He said it was made clear that until Zelenskyy made such an announcement, the administration would not release scheduled military aid for Ukraine and not invite Zelenskyy to the White House.[597]
On December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment: one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress.[598] After debate, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on both articles on December 18.[599]
Impeachment trial in the Senate
Main article: First impeachment trial of Donald Trump
During the trial in January 2020, the House impeachment managers presented their case for three days. They cited evidence to support charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and asserted that Trump's actions were exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the Constitution's impeachment process.[600]
Trump displaying the front page of The Washington Post reporting his acquittal by the Senate
Trump displaying the headline "Trump acquitted"
Responding over the next three days, Trump's lawyers did not deny the facts as presented in the charges but said Trump had not broken any laws or obstructed Congress.[601] They argued that the impeachment was "constitutionally and legally invalid" because Trump was not charged with a crime and that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense.[601]
On January 31, the Senate voted against allowing subpoenas for witnesses or documents; 51 Republicans formed the majority for this vote.[602] The impeachment trial was the first in U.S. history without witness testimony.[603]
Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Republican majority, 52–48 on abuse of power and 53–47 on obstruction of Congress. Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump on one charge, the abuse of power.[604] Following his acquittal, Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.[605]
2020 presidential campaign
Trump points his finger at a campaign rally, with crowds behind him
Trump at a 2020 campaign rally in Arizona
Main article: Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
See also: 2020 United States presidential debates
Breaking with precedent, Trump filed to run for a second term with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency.[606] He held his first re-election rally less than a month after taking office[607] and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020.[608]
In his first two years in office, Trump's reelection committee reported raising $67.5 million and began 2019 with $19.3 million in cash.[609] By July 2020, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party had raised $1.1 billion and spent $800 million, losing their cash advantage over Biden.[610] The cash shortage forced the campaign to scale back advertising spending.[611]
Trump campaign advertisements focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Biden won the presidency.[612] Trump repeatedly misrepresented Biden's positions[613][614] and shifted to appeals to racism.[615]
2020 presidential election
Main article: 2020 United States presidential election
See also: 2020 United States Postal Service crisis
Starting in spring 2020, Trump began to sow doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that the election would be rigged and that the expected widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud.[616][617] In July, Trump raised the idea of delaying the election.[618] When, in August, the House of Representatives voted for a $25 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service for the expected surge in mail voting, Trump blocked funding, saying he wanted to prevent any increase in voting by mail.[619] He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results of the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power if he lost.[620][621]
Biden won the election on November 3, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent)[622][623] and 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232.[624]
False claims of voting fraud, attempt to prevent presidential transition
Further information: Big lie § Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election, Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020–21 United States election protests, and Election denial movement
Electoral college map, depicting Trump winning many states in the South and Rocky Mountains and Biden winning many states in the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific West
2020 Electoral College results; Trump lost 232–306.
At 2 a.m. the morning after the election, with the results still unclear, Trump declared victory.[625] After Biden was projected the winner days later, Trump stated that "this election is far from over" and baselessly alleged election fraud.[626] Trump and his allies filed many legal challenges to the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both the state and federal courts, including by federal judges appointed by Trump himself, finding no factual or legal basis.[627][628] Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voting fraud were also refuted by state election officials.[629] After Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Chris Krebs contradicted Trump's fraud allegations, Trump dismissed him on November 17.[630] On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Texas attorney general that asked the court to overturn the election results in four states won by Biden.[631]
Trump withdrew from public activities in the weeks following the election.[632] He initially blocked government officials from cooperating in Biden's presidential transition.[633][634] After three weeks, the administrator of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, allowing the disbursement of transition resources to his team.[635] Trump still did not formally concede while claiming he recommended the GSA begin transition protocols.[636][637]
The Electoral College formalized Biden's victory on December 14.[624] From November to January, Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results of the election, personally pressuring various Republican local and state office-holders,[638] Republican state and federal legislators,[639] the Justice Department,[640] and Vice President Pence,[641] urging various actions such as replacing presidential electors, or a request for Georgia officials to "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result.[639] On February 10, 2021, Georgia prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the election in Georgia.[642]
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration, leaving Washington for Florida hours before.[643]
Concern about a possible coup attempt or military action
In December 2020, Newsweek reported the Pentagon was on red alert, and ranking officers had discussed what they would do if Trump decided to declare martial law. The Pentagon responded with quotes from defense leaders that the military has no role to play in the outcome of elections.[644]
When Trump moved supporters into positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CIA director Gina Haspel became concerned about the threat of a possible coup attempt or military action against China or Iran.[645][646] Milley insisted that he should be consulted about any military orders from Trump, including the use of nuclear weapons, and he instructed Haspel and NSA director Paul Nakasone to monitor developments closely.[647][648]
January 6 Capitol attack
Main article: January 6 United States Capitol attack
See also: Timeline of the January 6 United States Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, while congressional certification of the presidential election results was taking place in the United States Capitol, Trump held a noon rally at the Ellipse, Washington, D.C.. He called for the election result to be overturned and urged his supporters to "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol to "show strength" and "fight like hell".[649][650] Many supporters did, joining a crowd already there. Around 2:15 p.m. the mob broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress.[651] During the violence, Trump watched TV and posted messages on Twitter without asking the rioters to disperse. At 6 p.m., Trump tweeted that the rioters should "go home with love & in peace", calling them "great patriots" and "very special" and repeating that the election was stolen from him.[652] After the mob was removed from the Capitol, Congress reconvened and confirmed the Biden election win in the early hours of the following morning.[653] According to the Department of Justice, more than 140 police officers were injured, and five people died.[654][655]
In March 2023, Trump collaborated with incarcerated rioters on a song to benefit the prisoners, and, in June, he said that, if elected, he would pardon a large number of them.[656]
Second impeachment
Main articles: Second impeachment of Donald Trump and Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi seated at a table and surrounded by public officials. She is signing the second impeachment of Trump.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi signing the second impeachment of Trump
On January 11, 2021, an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government was introduced to the House.[657] The House voted 232–197 to impeach Trump on January 13, making him the first U.S. president to be impeached twice.[658] Ten Republicans voted for the impeachment—the most members of a party ever to vote to impeach a president of their own party.[659]
On February 13, following a five-day Senate trial, Trump was acquitted when the Senate voted 57–43 for conviction, falling ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict; seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict, the most bipartisan support in any Senate impeachment trial of a president or former president.[660][661] Most Republicans voted to acquit Trump, although some held him responsible but felt the Senate did not have jurisdiction over former presidents (Trump had left office on January 20; the Senate voted 56–44 the trial was constitutional);[662] included in the latter group was Mitch McConnell.[663]
Post-presidency (2021–present)
See also: Legal affairs of Donald Trump
At the end of his term, Trump went to live at his Mar-a-Lago club.[664] As provided for by the Former Presidents Act,[665] he established an office there to handle his post-presidential activities.[665][666]
Trump's false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" in the press and by his critics. In May 2021, Trump and his supporters attempted to co-opt the term, using it to refer to the election itself.[667][668] The Republican Party used Trump's false election narrative to justify the imposition of new voting restrictions in its favor.[668][669] As late as July 2022, Trump was still pressuring state legislators to overturn the 2020 election by rescinding the state's electoral votes for Biden.[670]
Trump resumed his campaign-style rallies with an 85-minute speech at the annual North Carolina Republican Party convention on June 6, 2021.[671][672] On June 26, he held his first public rally since the January 6 rally that preceded the riot at the Capitol.[673]
Unlike other former presidents, Trump continued to dominate his party; he has been compared to a modern-day party boss. He continued fundraising, raising more than twice as much as the Republican Party itself, hinted at a third candidacy, and profited from fundraisers many Republican candidates held at Mar-a-Lago. Much of his focus was on the people in charge of elections and how elections are run. In the 2022 midterm elections he endorsed over 200 candidates for various offices, most of whom supported his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.[674][675][676] A majority of candidates endorsed by him won in Republican primary elections.[675]
Trump registered a new company in February 2021. Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) was formed for providing "social networking services" to "customers in the United States".[677][678] In October 2021, Trump announced the planned merger of TMTG with Digital World Acquisition,[679] a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A main backer of the SPAC is China-based financier ARC Group, who was reportedly involved in setting up the proposed merger. The transaction is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[680][681]
In February 2022, TMTG launched Truth Social, a Twitter-like social-media platform.[682] As of March 2023, Trump Media, which had taken $8 million from Russia-connected entities, was being investigated by federal prosecutors for possible money laundering.[683][684]
Investigations, criminal charges, civil lawsuits
Trump is the subject of numerous probes into his actions and business dealings before, during and after his presidency.[685] In February 2021, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, Fani Willis, announced a criminal probe into Trump's phone calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.[686] The New York State Attorney General's Office is conducting criminal investigations into Trump's business activities in conjunction with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.[687] By May 2021, a special grand jury was considering indictments.[688][689] In July 2021, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government".[690] In January 2023, the organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was sentenced to five months in jail and five years probation for tax fraud after a plea deal.[691]
FBI investigations
Main articles: FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents, FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, and Smith special counsel investigation
Classified intelligence material found during search of Mar-a-Lago
When Trump left the White House in January 2021, he took government documents and material with him to Mar-a-Lago. By May 2021, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the federal agency that preserves government records, realized that important documents had not been turned over to them at the end of Trump's term and asked his office to locate them. In January 2022, they retrieved 15 boxes of White House records from Mar-a-Lago. NARA later informed the Department of Justice that some of the retrieved documents were classified material.[692] The Justice Department began an investigation in April 2022 and convened a grand jury.[693] The Justice Department sent Trump a subpoena for additional material on May 11.[692] On June 3, Justice Department officials visited Mar-a-Lago and received some classified documents from Trump's lawyers.[692] One of the lawyers signed a statement affirming that all material marked as classified had been returned to the government.[694] Later that month an additional subpoena was sent requesting surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago, which was provided.[692][695][696]
On August 8, 2022, FBI agents searched Trump's residence, office, and storage areas at Mar-a-Lago to recover government documents and material Trump had taken with him when he left office in violation of the Presidential Records Act,[697][698] reportedly including some related to nuclear weapons.[696] The search warrant, authorized by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and approved by a federal magistrate judge, and the written inventory of the seized items were made public on August 12. The text of the search warrant indicates an investigation of potential violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice laws.[699] The items taken in the search included 11 sets of classified documents, four of them tagged as "top secret" and one as "top secret/SCI", the highest level of classification.[697][698]
On November 18, 2022, Garland appointed a special counsel, federal prosecutor Jack Smith, to oversee the federal criminal investigations into Trump retaining government property at Mar-a-Lago and examining Trump's role in the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.[700][701]
Criminal referral by the House January 6 Committee
Main article: United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
On December 19, 2022, the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack recommended criminal charges against Trump for obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and inciting or assisting an insurrection.[702]
Federal and state criminal cases against Trump
New York prosecution for falsifying business records
Main article: Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York
On March 30, 2023, a New York grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.[703][704] On April 4, he surrendered and was arrested and arraigned; he pleaded not guilty on all counts and was released.[705] The trial is scheduled to begin on March 25, 2024.[706]
Government and classified documents case
Main article: Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (classified documents case)
On June 8, the Justice Department indicted Trump in Miami federal court for 31 counts of "willfully retaining national defense information under the Espionage Act", one count of making false statements, and, jointly with a personal aide, single counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding government documents, corruptly concealing records, concealing a document in a federal investigation and scheming to conceal their efforts.[707] Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.[708] In July a superseding indictment added three additional criminal charges, bringing the number of charges in the case to 40.[709] The trial is scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024.[706]
Donald Trump
45th President of the United States (2017–2021)
Presidency
ElectionReactionsTransitionInaugurationTimeline first 100 days2017 Q1Q2Q3Q42018 Q1Q2Q3Q42019 Q1Q2Q3Q42020–2021 Q1Q2Q3Q4–January 2021domestic trips 2017201820192020–2021international tripsPolls 201720182019Cabinet formationwithdrawnAppointments ambassadorseconomic advisorsJudicial appointments Supreme Court candidatesNeil GorsuchBrett KavanaughAmy Coney BarrettcontroversiesU.S. attorneysshort tenuresDismissals U.S. attorneysinspectors generalJames ComeyPardons and commutations Joe ArpaioExecutive actions proclamationsGovernment shutdowns January 20182018–2019Trump wallFirst impeachment first trialCOVID-19 pandemicPresidential transition of Joe BidenTrump–Raffensperger phone call2020–21 United States election protestsJanuary 6 United States Capitol attackSecond impeachment (second trial)
Life and
politics
Business career legal affairswealthtax returnsMedia career The ApprenticeAmerican footballGolfHonors and awardsPolitical positions TrumpismEconomy tariffsEnvironment Paris withdrawalAmerica's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018Clean Water ActSafe Drinking Water ActForeign policy positions as candidateAmerica FirstChina–United States trade warIsrael–Palestine Jerusalem recognitionGolan Heights recognitionPeace planAbraham Accords UAEBahrainSudanMoroccoKosovo–Serbia agreementIran nuclear-deal withdrawalRussia summit HelsinkiNorth Korea summits SingaporeHanoiDMZDeath of Abu Bakr al-BaghdadiAssassination of Qasem SoleimaniImmigration family separationtravel banwallSocial issues cannabisSpace policyProtests timelineassassination attemptefforts to impeachRacial viewsFalse or misleading statementsPhoto op at St. John's ChurchPolitical interference with science agenciesNational Garden of American HeroesEndorsements
Books
Trump: The Art of the Deal (1987)Trump: Surviving at the Top (1990)Trump: The Art of the Comeback (1997)The America We Deserve (2000)The Way to the Top (2004)Trump 101 (2006)Why We Want You to Be Rich (2006)Think Big and Kick Ass (2007)Time to Get Tough (2011)Midas Touch (2011)Crippled America (2015)
Speeches
Inaugural address (2017)Joint session of Congress (2017)Riyadh summit (2017)Warsaw speech (2017)National Scout Jamboree (2017)State of the Union Address 201820192020Oval Office address 20192020Farewell address (2021)CPAC (2021)
Campaigns
2000 presidential campaign2016 presidential campaign "Make America Great Again"rallies2016 Republican primaries endorsementsdebatesrunning mate selectionconvention2016 general election endorsementsdebatesNever Trump movementRepublican opposition 2016 Mitt Romney speech20202024Sexual misconduct allegations Access Hollywood recording2020 presidential campaign rallies2020 Republican primaries convention2020 general election endorsements politicalnon-politicaldebatesRepublican reactions to Trump's election fraud claims2024 presidential campaign rallies2024 Republican primaries endorsementsdebates
Legal affairs
Pre-2020 electionPost-election ArizonaGeorgiaMichiganNevadaPennsylvaniaWisconsinTexas v. PennsylvaniaCarroll v. TrumpTrump v. United StatesState prosecution GeorgiaNew YorkFederal prosecution classified documents2020 electionTrump mug shot
Investigations
Crossfire Hurricane (FBI investigation)Durham special counsel investigationFBI investigation into handling of government documentsFBI search of Mar-a-LagoInvestigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential electionMueller special counsel investigationNew York investigations of The Trump Organization civilcriminalRussia investigation origins counter-narrativeSmith special counsel investigationTimeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia
Related
FoundationIn popular culture filmographyin musicSNL parodiesResidences 85-15 Wareham PlaceTrump Tower Trump Tower penthouse of Donald TrumpBedminsterMar-a-Lago (FBI search)The VisionaryOn social media wiretapping allegationsReal News UpdateCovfefeTrump Media & Technology GroupDonald J. Trump State ParkNicknames usedTrump Force OneTrump derangement syndromeFort TrumpWhite House COVID-19 outbreakTrumpism Women for TrumpBlacks for TrumpBlack Voices for TrumpGays for TrumpControversies pseudonymsStormy Daniels scandalTrump–Ukraine scandalAttempts to overturn the 2020 election Stop the StealJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack "Justice for All"Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol [2021]Four Hours at the Capitol [2021]Wikipedia coverage
Family
Spouses
Ivana Trump (first wife)Marla Maples (second wife)Melania Trump (third wife)
Children
Donald Trump Jr. (son)Ivanka Trump (daughter)Eric Trump (son)Tiffany Trump (daughter)Barron Trump (son)
Ancestors
Fred Trump (father)Mary Anne Trump (mother)Frederick Trump (grandfather)Elizabeth Trump (grandmother)
Siblings
Maryanne Trump Barry (sister)Fred Trump Jr. (brother)Robert Trump (brother)
In-laws
Jared Kushner (son-in-law)Lara Trump (daughter-in-law)Vanessa Trump (former daughter-in-law)Blaine Trump (former sister-in-law)
Others
John G. Trump (uncle)Mary L. Trump (niece)John Whitney Walter (cousin)
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Presidents of the United States
Presidents and
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William Henry Harrison (1841)
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James K. Polk (1845–1849)
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Presidency
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Category List
Offices and distinctions
Party political offices
Preceded by
Mitt Romney
Republican nominee for President of the United States
2016, 2020 Most recent
Political offices
Preceded by
Barack Obama
President of the United States
2017–2021 Succeeded by
Joe Biden
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Barack Obama
as former president Order of precedence of the United States
former president Succeeded by
Dan Quayle
former vice president
Business positions
Preceded by
Fred Trump
Chairman of The Trump Organization
1971–2017 Succeeded by
Donald Trump Jr.
Eric Trump
vte
Media by and about Donald Trump
See also: Media career of Donald Trump – Donald Trump in popular culture – Trump Productions – List of things named after Donald Trump
Books
By
Trump
Trump: The Art of the Deal (1987)Trump: Surviving at the Top (1990)Trump: The Art of the Comeback (1997)The America We Deserve (2000)The Way to the Top (2004)Trump 101 (2006)Why We Want You to Be Rich (2006)Think Big and Kick Ass (2007)Trump Tower (2011)Time to Get Tough (2011)Midas Touch (2011)Crippled America (2015)
About
Trump
Trumped! (1991)TrumpNation (2005)Never Enough (2015)The Conservative Case for Trump (2016)The Day of the Donald (2016)The Making of Donald Trump (2016)The Plot to Hack America (2016)Trump Revealed (2016)In Trump We Trust (2016)The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump (2017)The Case for Impeachment (2017)Insane Clown President (2017)Understanding Trump (2017)The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump (2017)Devil's Bargain (2017)Raising Trump (2017)Let Trump Be Trump (2017)Fire and Fury (2018)Media Madness (2018)The Faith of Donald J. Trump (2018)Liars, Leakers, and Liberals (2018)Unhinged (2018)Fear: Trump in the White House (2018)The Fifth Risk (2018)Team of Vipers (2019)Siege: Trump Under Fire (2019)A Warning (2019)A Very Stable Genius (2020)Hiding in Plain Sight (2020)The Room Where It Happened (2020)Too Much and Never Enough (2020)Melania and Me (2020)Hoax (2020)Rage (2020)Disloyal: A Memoir (2020)Speaking for Myself (2020)Landslide (2021)I Alone Can Fix It (2021)The Reckoning (2021)Peril (2021)I'll Take Your Questions Now (2021)Midnight in Washington (2021)Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America (2022)The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017–2021 (2022)The Trump Tapes (2022)
Radio,
TV and
film
By
Trump
The Apprentice franchise The Apprentice (U.S.) (2004–2010)The Celebrity Apprentice (2008–2017)The Ultimate Merger (2010–2011)Trumped! (2004–2008)Pageant Place (2007)
About
Trump
Trump: What's the Deal? (1991)Trump Unauthorized (2005)You've Been Trumped (2011)A Dangerous Game (2014)Michael Moore in TrumpLand (2016)Trumped (2017)Trump: The Kremlin Candidate? (2017)Dirty Money: The Confidence Man (2018)Trump: An American Dream (2018)Death of a Nation (2018)Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)The Trump Prophecy (2018)America's Great Divide (2020)Trump Card (2020)The Choice 2020 (2020)The Comey Rule (2020)Totally Under Control (2020)The Curve (2020)
Satires
Pizza Man (1991)The Art of the Deal: The MovieLast Week Tonight February 28, 2016, episode"Demise of the Planet of the Apes / The Celebrity Ape-rentice" (Mad)Our Cartoon PresidentThe President Show"The Thanksgiving Special" (Regular Show)Saturday Night LiveHerbert Garrison (South Park)Spitting Image (2020)Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)"Trump: The Rusical"Trump vs. BernieYou Got Trumped: The First 100 DaysHarvey Birdman: Attorney GeneralSassy JusticeTrump vs the Illuminati"Trump Guy"Biff Tannen
Music
"Donald Trump (Black Version)" (1990)"Las Vegas (In the Hills of Donegal)" (1991)"Country Grammar (Hot Shit)" (2000)"Donald Trump" (2011)Up Like Trump (2014)Make America Psycho Again (2015 album)"FDT" (2016)1,000 Days, 1,000 Songs "Million Dollar Loan" (2016)"Campaign Speech" (2016)"We the People...." (2016)"Land of the Free" (2017)"Tiny Hands" (2017)Too Dumb for Suicide: Tim Heidecker's Trump Songs (2017)"Ye vs. the People" (2018)
Portraits
The VisionaryMake Everything Great AgainThe Emperor Has No Balls
Games
Trump: The GameTrump Castle IIReal Estate Tycoon
Websites
r/The_Donald
Related
Cultural depictions of Ivanka TrumpCultural depictions of Melania Trump
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