Businessman Donald Trump of New York (R)
Potential 2012 Candidate for President of the United States
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American business magnate, socialite, author and television personality. He
is the Chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, a US-based real-estate developer. Trump is also the founder of Trump
Entertainment Resorts, which operates numerous casinos and hotels across the world. Trump's extravagant lifestyle and outspoken
manner have made him a celebrity for years, a status amplified by the success of his NBC reality show The Apprentice
(where he serves as host and executive producer).
Donald was the fourth of five children of Fred Trump, a wealthy real estate developer based in New York City. Donald was strongly
influenced by his father in his eventual goals to make a career in real estate development, and upon his graduation from the Wharton
School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, Donald Trump joined his father's company, The Trump Organization.
Starting with the renovation of the Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt with the Pritzker family, he continued with Trump Tower
in New York City and several other residential projects. Trump would later expand into the airline industry (buying the Eastern Shuttle
routes), and Atlantic City casino business, including buying the Taj Mahal Casino from the Crosby family before taking it into
bankruptcy. This expansion, both personal and business, led to mounting debt. Much of the news about him in the early 1990s involved
his much publicized financial problems, creditor-led bailout, extramarital affair with Marla Maples (whom he later married), and the
resulting divorce from his first wife, Ivana Trump.
The late 1990s saw a resurgence in Trump's financial situation and fame. In 2001, he completed Trump World Tower, a 72-story residential
tower across from the United Nations Headquarters. Also, he began construction on Trump Place, a multi-building development along the Hudson
River. Trump owns commercial space in Trump International Hotel and Tower, a 44-story mixed-use (hotel and condominium) tower on Columbus
Circle. Trump currently owns several million square feet of prime Manhattan real estate, and remains a major figure in the field of real
estate in the United States and a celebrity for his prominent media exposures.
In October 2010 Trump told Fox News, "For the first time in my life, I'm actually thinking about it [running for President]." Trump also
expressed interest in the Presidency in 1988 and 2000.
Sources: Associated Press, nypost.com, wikipedia.org
