The Story of Donald Trump: From Debt Struggles to Rebirth and American Domination

Donald Trump, born in 1946 in Queens, New York, into a wealthy family, has had a life marked by entrepreneurial ambitions, financial crises, media successes, and a controversial political career. The son of a real estate developer, Trump inherited and renamed the family business the Trump Organization in the 1970s, focusing on skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses in Manhattan and Chicago. Among his early successful projects are the Grand Hyatt Hotel (1980), Trump Tower (1983, a symbol of his branding empire), and the Plaza Hotel (1988).

Early Debt Struggles in the 1990s

In the 1990s, Trump faced severe financial difficulties due to excessive expansion, high-interest loans, and the economic recession. His debts exceeded $3 billion, with personal guarantees exceeding $900 million. This led to six Chapter 11 bankruptcies between 1991 and 2009, primarily related to Atlantic City casinos such as the Trump Taj Mahal (1991), the Trump Plaza Hotel (1992), and the Trump Castle. The causes included reckless financial management and the decline of the casino industry. Trump restructured his debts and sold assets such as the Plaza Hotel (1995), his yacht, and the Trump Shuttle airline, avoiding personal bankruptcy but damaging his reputation with mismanagement lawsuits.

Rebirth Through Media and Real Estate

Since the late 1990s, Trump has orchestrated a spectacular resurgence. He has focused on stable projects such as the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago (2008) and transformed Mar-a-Lago into a private club, generating over $100 million. His media breakthrough came with the reality show The Apprentice (2004–2015), which made him a billionaire celebrity and boosted his branding through product, hotel, and golf course licensing deals. He stabilized his finances by selling assets and focusing on licensing deals, recovering his net worth and exploring politics, including an unsuccessful 2000 candidacy with the Reform Party.

Political Dominance: From the 2016 Presidency to Reelection in 2024

Trump entered politics in 2015 as the Republican candidate, winning the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton by 304 electoral votes, despite losing the popular vote. As the 45th president (2017–2021), he pushed through reforms such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017), deregulation in energy and finance, and judicial appointments (three Supreme Court justices). He negotiated the Abraham Accords (2020), launched Operation Warp Speed ​​for COVID-19 vaccines, and built portions of the border wall. However, his tenure was marked by controversies: the ban on Muslim-majority countries, family separation at the border (over 4,400 children), withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the trade war with China, and two impeachments (2019 for Ukraine, 2021 for the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol).

After his 2020 defeat against Joe Biden, Trump contested the results by promoting the "big lie" of electoral fraud, culminating in the attack on the Capitol. He launched Truth Social (2022) and faced legal challenges: convicted of sexual abuse and corporate fraud (2023), 34 counts of falsifying documents (2024, sentence suspended in 2025 due to presidential immunity), and millions of dollars in fines in civil lawsuits.

In 2024, Trump defeated Kamala Harris with 312 electoral votes, returning to the White House as the 47th president (inaugurated on January 20, 2025), the oldest, and the first with a felony conviction. In his second term, which runs until December 2025, he passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (July 2025, making permanent the 2017 tax cuts and adding $4.5 trillion in tax deductions), imposed steep tariffs, negotiated a ceasefire in Gaza (October 2025), and issued over 100 executive orders on immigration, energy, and bureaucracy. He fired over 30,000 federal employees, dismantled agencies through the Department of Government Efficiency (led by Elon Musk), pardoned over 1,500 January 6th rioters, and banned transgender military service. These actions sparked controversies over authoritarianism, Democratic backsliding, and over 300 lawsuits, with average approval ratings hovering around 41%.

Trump's trajectory symbolizes resilience and polarization: from a struggling entrepreneur to a media icon and political leader who reshaped America, influencing the economy, foreign policy, and social debates to this day.