What You Need to Know About Donald Trump

Running in his 3rd-straight U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump has had a commanding grip on the Republican party since first winning the nomination in 2016. But the 2024 election could be his last as the 78-year-old former President seeks a 2nd term.

Trump’s opponent this time is Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who could become the first woman to hold the mantle of President of the United States. Trump already denied Hillary Clinton that type of victory in 2016, and he seeks to do it again with his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

But the 2024 election figures to be decided by a razor-thin margin. With Election Day around the corner on November 5, here is everything you need to know about Donald Trump as a presidential candidate.

Updated U.S. Presidential Election Odds

Donald Trump: Political Experience

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is one of a kind. Unlike every other president in U.S. history, Trump had no prior political experience before announcing his desire to run as a Republican in 2015.

Before that historic moment, Trump was known for decades as a New York businessman and celebrity. He was in the real estate business with many ventures in hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He made memorable cameo appearances in movies such as Home Alone 2 and The Little Rascals. He had a New York Times Best Seller with his 1st book The Art of the Deal. He was also the host of the TV reality series The Apprentice right before his transition into politics.

As a registered voter, Trump switched political parties several times in his life. He was once a member of the Independence Party, he was a registered Democrat in 2001, he was briefly unaffiliated in 2011, and he again registered as Republican in 2012, which has since not changed.

The Presidential Campaign

It’s not like the idea of Trump running for president came out of the blue. He was asked in a famous 1980 interview with Rona Barrett about running for office someday, and the then 34-year-old Trump did not seem keen on the idea at the time as he believed it’s a “mean life” to hold that job.

But Trump’s foray into politics was built on several factors, including his distrust of career politicians on both sides of the aisle, which allowed Trump to paint himself as an outsider with a new approach to “drain the swamp” in Washington. He was dissatisfied with the country’s trade deals, including NAFTA, and he also was a vocal critic of Barack Obama’s Democratic administration.

While many doubted him in 2016, Trump won the Republican nomination with his maverick approach. Then as a heavy underdog in the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, Trump pulled off one of the biggest upsets in U.S. election history with his running mate Mike Pence.

As the 45th President of the United States, Trump had a controversial 1st term. He was impeached twice, the first POTUS to ever do so. He was impeached for an abuse of power in dealings with Ukraine, and then a 2nd time for his alleged involvement in what happened on January 6, 2021, with the U.S. Capitol attack. Neither impeachment held up in the Senate, however.

Trump’s 2020 reelection bid was also dealt a blow by the COVID-19 pandemic and his response to it. He lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but he has said to this day that he believes the election was stolen from him.

Trump’s Eventful 2024

Trump’s path to the party nomination for the 3rd-straight election was largely assumed in the last few years, though he did face Nikki Haley as his only real challenger for several months before he won the nomination again.

But 2024 has proven to be the most difficult year of Trump’s political career, if not his entire life. He has faced 4 different indictments this year for a variety of charges. He has already been found guilty of 34 felonies in New York relating to the Stormy Daniels hush money case, making him the first U.S. president convicted of a crime. Trump has yet to be sentenced over that.

Given that the 2020 election results were certified by Pence, Trump had to replace him with J.D. Vance, the young Ohio Senator, as his running mate for 2024.

In June, Trump defeated President Biden in the 1st presidential debate of 2024. But just weeks later on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump survived an assassination attempt by an active shooter at one of his rallies.

Not long after that, Biden dropped out and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris, causing the Trump campaign to refocus its line of attack on Harris. Trump debated Harris once in early September, and the majority of viewers declared her the winner of that debate.

But Trump has recently gained the edge in betting odds for the 2024 election with some of his best weeks since Harris entered the race. However, it should still be one of the closest elections in history.

In the following sections, we will objectively state some of Trump’s policy stances, new proposals, and things he already achieved in his 1st term with no analysis. It is up to the voter to decide who they want to support.

The Economy

The economy is always on voters’ minds as inflation has led to higher costs, which hits voters directly when it comes to paying bills and buying groceries and gas.

Trump seeks to lower inflation and “Make America Affordable Again” as his “Agenda 47” plan says. Here are some of the ways he plans to achieve this:

• Trump believes inflation can be improved by lowering energy costs, which he plans to do by drilling and getting oil, which he refers to as “drill, baby, drill.”
• Trump’s new “American First” plan is to add a tariff of 10% to 20% to all non-domestic goods sold in America, and he wants to add a 60% tariff on goods from China.
• Trump would ban U.S. companies from investing in Chinese companies and ban Chinese companies from investing in U.S. companies.
• Trump would like to adopt a 4-year plan to phase out Chinese imports.
• Trump is a huge proponent of tax cuts, especially for high earners and corporations, and he believes that will trickle down through the economy and help everyone.
• Trump said he would lower the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% for companies that make their products in America.
• Trump said he would extend the provisions he passed for tax cuts in 2017, given some are set to expire in 2025, if he is elected again.
• Trump believes the U.S. dollar should be the world’s reserve currency.
• Trump wants to propose no taxes on tips for service workers, a policy that Kamala Harris later copied from him.
• Trump wants to eliminate tax on Social Security, though he did not add any details to how this would be paid for.
• Trump wants to stop outsourcing jobs and turn the U.S. into a manufacturing superpower.
• Trump proposes to protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts and no changes to the retirement age.
• Trump wants to cancel any electric vehicle mandate and cut costly regulations.

Healthcare

Healthcare is often on the minds of U.S. voters. Donald Trump has said many things about healthcare over the years, but it is a subject where he has not been very consistent, and his online agendas do not contain much information about these topics. We can only go by things he did in his 1st term, and what he has said recently.

During his run in office, Trump did try to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), but it did not pass in his favor in the Senate. Republicans have not shared their alternative to the ACA despite Trump saying during this campaign that he would try repealing the ACA again. When asked during the September debate about his healthcare plan, Trump admitted he has “concepts of a plan”.

On the controversial topic of abortion, Trump has taken credit for appointing 3 Supreme Court Justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, which allowed states to start making it illegal for women to have abortions.

Trump’s most recent and consistent language on abortion is that he believes it should be left up to the states to decide the law. He has said he would not sign a federal ban on abortion and will leave it up to states’ rights.

Trump has recently called himself the “father of IVF” and has suggested that the government or insurers pay for IVF treatments for couples trying to have babies that way.

Trump has expressed a desire to end veteran homelessness, a problem that persists in the country. Trump has also suggested creating “tent cities” where homeless people can be moved to.

Foreign Policy

There have been some significant international conflicts that started while Trump was not in office. Russia has been invading Ukraine since 2022, and last October, a Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel killed over 1,100 people, took hundreds hostage, and it has escalated into a war between Israel and Palestine, a conflict that does have very old roots but continues to be a problem in the Middle East.

Trump has pledged to prevent World War III, and his argument is that these conflicts wouldn’t have happened if he was in office because he led with strength, and leaders like Putin in Russia would not have done this on his watch.

Trump has gone on record as saying he could end the Russia-Ukraine conflict in less than 24 hours by negotiating a deal. He has not given details beyond that. We also know that Trump is not in favor of continuing to give aid to Ukraine in their fight with Putin’s forces.

Similarly, Trump believes he could negotiate a deal for a ceasefire in Israel. He believes Israel should get the conflict over with as quickly as possible. He supports Israel as a strong ally to America. Trump has said he would deport pro-Hamas radicals to make American campuses safer and patriotic, but he has not given any details on how that would work.

Trump praises the fact that he did not start any wars during his presidency. He wants to increase military funding to make sure the U.S. has the strongest military in the world. He has noted his desire to build an Iron Dome missile defense over the country similar to the one Israel has.

In addition to his tariffs on China, Trump would like to hold them financially responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in China.

Trump has expressed a desire for the U.S. to leave the World Health Organization (WHO), which he has criticized for its closeness to China.

Immigration

Another significant topic in the 2024 U.S. election is the immigration problem at the southern border. Trump had ideas for this in his 1st term that he would like to carry out if given a 2nd term, including the completion of the southern border wall that started during his presidency. He believes the wall would keep out immigrants from entering the country.

For something newer than the wall, Trump has proposed the largest mass deportation operation in American history to remove illegal immigrants from the country in an effort to reduce migrant crime. He has said he would use local law enforcement and the National Guard to help in this effort.

Trump would try again to end birthright citizenship, which is where people become U.S. citizens if they are born in the U.S. regardless of their parents’ immigration status. He was unsuccessful at this during his presidency.

Trump would restore and expand on the travel ban that he had during his presidency. It banned citizens from 7 Muslim-centric countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days. It was undone in an executive order by President Biden on Day 1 of his presidency.

Trump has also talked about revoking the temporary protected status of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, the same group of people that Trump and Vance falsely claimed were eating people’s pets.

Climate

Trump is not a big believer in climate change. He infamously pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accords, an Obama-era deal that Biden later put the U.S. back into. But Trump would pull the U.S. out of the Paris accord again, citing that it was a bad deal for the U.S. and how we use energy.

Trump favors fossil fuels over renewable energy. He doesn’t believe in wind energy development. He wants the U.S. to become the world’s dominant energy producer, and his goal is to lower energy costs by 50% in his 1st year in office.

Trump supports fracking, and he wants to drill as much as possible to give the U.S. a large reserve of oil. He has also proposed to build new electric grid systems.

Crime

Trump is in favor of the death penalty and says it should be used for child rapists and child traffickers. He has also said in the past that drug dealers could be eligible for the death penalty.

Trump says he would pardon people convicted of crimes at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, the insurrection event after the 2020 election.

Trump fully supports the right to bear arms via the Second Amendment. He wants to expand concealed carry rights. The only form of gun control that Trump has supported was banning bump stocks, which the Supreme Court later invalidated.

Other Issues

Finally, here are some other campaign issues for the Trump-Vance ticket:

Trump said he would abolish the Department of Education. He has not said how this would work or what the replacement would be to keep K-12 schools funded. Trump has also said that he would cut funding to schools that teach about slavery, or schools that push a DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) platform.

Trump wants to keep men out of women’s sports, a reference to transgender athletes participating in sports. Trump would bring back the transgender ban in the military, and he ultimately would like to pass a law that states male and female are the only 2 recognized genders. He would also sign legislation to outlaw gender-related surgery for minors.

Trump has pushed for voter ID cards for people to legally vote in elections. He also has expressed interest in only using paper ballots, only doing in-person voting, and voters must provide proof of citizenship at the polls.