Donald Trump's 81st Birthday Countdown

Donald Trump Timeline

About Donald Trump

Before politics, Trump built a career as a real-estate developer and television personality, hosting The Apprentice for fourteen seasons. He won the presidency in 2016 and again in 2024, becoming only the second U.S. president to serve non-consecutive terms.

From the Commodore to 'You're fired'

Trump learned real estate from his father Fred's outer-borough business, then crossed into Manhattan with a bold first move: taking on the faded Commodore Hotel beside Grand Central Terminal in the late 1970s and reopening it in 1980 as the glass-clad Grand Hyatt. Trump Tower followed in 1983, and his 1987 book The Art of the Deal spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In 2004 he became a television fixture hosting The Apprentice, delivering its 'You're fired' catchphrase across 14 seasons.

A comeback 132 years in the making

In 2016, Trump became the first U.S. president elected without previously holding public office or serving in the military, defeating Hillary Clinton. After losing in 2020, he ran again and won the 2024 election with 312 electoral votes, returning to the White House as the 47th president. That made him only the second president in American history to serve non-consecutive terms - the first was Grover Cleveland, whose second term began in 1893, some 132 years earlier.

The $400,000 he gave back

During his first term, Trump pledged to donate his $400,000 presidential salary, and quarter after quarter checks went out to federal agencies. The first, for $78,333.32, went to the National Park Service in 2017 to help restore historic battlefields; later installments went to the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, the Small Business Administration and others. Reviews of the donations verified the large majority of the quarterly gifts across the four years, totaling well over a million dollars returned to government programs.

Quick facts

• Born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York
• 45th and 47th President of the United States
• Second president to serve non-consecutive terms (after Grover Cleveland)
• His birthday falls on Flag Day
• Hosted The Apprentice for 14 seasons before entering politics
• Donated his presidential salary to federal agencies throughout his first term

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