Born on June 14, 1946, Donald Trump’s journey to the presidency of the United States was not by accident. Having made his mark in the business world, there was nothing left for him to achieve in life other than becoming the number one citizen of the world’s most powerful country.
He first sought presidential nomination in 2000 under the platform of the Reformed Party after withdrawing his membership of the Republican Party in 1999. Always a boastful, Trump told whoever cared to listen that he was ready to spend $100 million to win both the nomination and the presidential election. Formed by Ross Perot, the Reformed Party’s performance in 1992 and 1996 gave Trump the confidence that he could blast himself into the White House under its ticket.
At the time, Trump said, “I understand this stuff,” he said. “I understand good times and I understand bad times. I mean, why is a politician going to do a better job than I am?” His candidacy was enmeshed in controversies as there was no love lost between and the other candidates, particularly Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura (who eventually won the party nomination) and former independent Connecticut Gov. Lowell Weicker Jr. Interestingly, it was Ventura who encouraged Trump to take a shot at the presidency. Many believed that Ventura used Trump as a stalking horse.
Irked by Trump’s megalomaniac conduct, Ventura in a “veiled attack” warned that “I don’t believe the Reform Party nomination can be bought, and I don’t believe the presidency can be bought.”
Convinced that he was not going to get the nomination, Trump dumped the Reformed Party but with a caveat. He said “in a number of years, I might consider it,” an indication that he was keeping alive his presidential ambition.
And this was exactly what happened in 2016 when he re-appeared in the race for the presidency uner the platform of the Republican party. This time, Trump did not only win the party nomination but he also clinched the presidency, becoming America’s 45th president. Confident that he will win again, Trump made his third attempt at the presidency in 2020, seeking a second term. He fought hard but he failed this time.
It is of note that controversies trailed the three times Trump campaigned for the presidency. He showed disdain for those he perceived to be opponents within the Republican Party just as he lampooned his rival(s) in the opposition party, the Democratic Party. His megalomaniac conduct and use of gutter language was a source of concern to many politicians within and outside the Republican party, his aides and indeed many Americans.
Onslaughts from family
Among the fierce critics of Trump were his elder sister and former federal judge, Maryanne Trump Barry, 83, and his niece Mary Trump, 55. The rage of the two women brought to fore the deep cracks in the family. Barry retired as judge of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
They did not exercise restrain when they brought the president to the public glare.
Maryanne described the president as a “cruel man” who had no “principles.”She described her brother as incompetent to occupy the White House. She expressed her support for Donald’s political rival, Joe Biden who eventually defeat the president in the November 2020 poll.
In the center of her frosty relationship with the president was the will of their father (Fred Trump Sr.) and Donald’s arrogance when she sought his help when she was seeking appointment as judge during the administration of former President Ronald Reagan.
“All he wants to do is appeal to his base,” Barry said. “He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people. Not do this. His g——- tweet and lying, oh my God, I’m talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy s—.” She said.
Barry revealed how she asked Donald to help her secure a nomination from Reagan to the federal judiciary via his lawyer Roy Cohn, who was known to be close to Reagan. “He had Roy Cohn call Reagan about needing to appoint a woman as a federal judge in New Jersey,” Barry said “Because Reagan’s running for reelection, and he was desperate for the female vote.”
Though Barry received the nomination, she expressed resentment when President Trump “tried to take credit for me.” The sister and brother had altercation over the issue when Trump asked her “Where would you be without me?” a question that made Barry furious, warning him: “You say that one more time and I will level you.”
Though President Trump claims to be a graduate, controversy trails his academic qualification. Barry’s comments may give insight into what may have happened. Barry was quoted as saying she worked to help get her brother into college, including by doing his homework for him. She also said Trump did not take his college entrance exams. “He got into University of Pennsylvania because he had somebody take the exams,” she said. “SATs or whatever, that’s what I believe.”
On her part, Mary (daughter of President Trump’s late brother Fred Trump Jr.) her book: ‘Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,’alleged that Trump was involved in “fraudulent” tax schemes. She also mentioned how Barry did not support Trump becoming United States president.
In the book Mary said that “Trump and his father, Fred Trump Sr, contributed to the death of her alcoholic father by failing to help him. Mary said Trump lied when he said he was a self made businessman. According to her book, Trump had received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire. It is of note that the management of the proceeds from the estate were also source of the rift between Barry and the president.
According to the media, the bad blood between Trump and his niece dates back 20 years, to a fight over Fred Trump Sr.’s will, and the actions he took to cut off financial and medical support for her brother’s ill child.
Summary of Mary’s evaluation of Trump: She insists that her uncle is greedy. “Nothing is ever enough” for Trump, she claims, adding “This is far beyond garden-variety narcissism.” “Donald is not simply weak, his ego is a fragile thing that must be bolstered every moment because he knows deep down that he is nothing of what he claims to be.”
Trump formulated “dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents”. So, “ I had to take Donald down,” she said.
On the allegation that Trump cheated to gain admission into the university, Mary who had doctorate in clinical psychology said Trump had to hire somebody to write his SAT test for him because he was “worried that his grade point average, which put him far from the top of his class, would scuttle his efforts to get accepted”.
He hired “a smart kid with a reputation for being a good test taker, to take his SATs for him,” she said in her book, adding: “Donald, who never lacked for funds, paid his buddy well.”
. . . Confused over nationality of his father
It is on record that Trump has repeatedly claimed that his father is a German. “My father is German . . . was German,” Trump said. “Born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany.” This is not true. The president’s father, is of German descent, and his father was a German immigrant. He was born in New York
Trump’s father, Frederick Christ Trump was born in New York in 1905 to Elizabeth Christ and Frederick Trump who emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1885.
Frederick (the grandfather) became US citizen on October 27, 1892 in Seattle where he finally settled.
According to records available to US media, Frederick was expelled from Germany in 1905, apparently because he had emigrated illegally.
He and his wife, Elisabeth Trump, returned to the United States when she was pregnant with Fred Trump, the president’s father, according to The Post’s reporting and Blair’s book.
So about the only way you could say Trump’s father has claim to the German homeland is that he may have been conceived there.
Analysts familiar with the history of the Trump family disagree with President Trump that his father is a German.
They say Trump is either confused or lack the understanding of the requirements of citizenship of a country (in this case Germany). And the verdict: Trump is not a good student of history.
