Tess Peterson
Lamp Staff
Donald Trump was born in Queens, New York City in 1946 as the fourth of five children to Fred and Mary Anne Trump. He grew up in Queens. His father was a builder and real estate developer with projects in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island, specializing in apartment buildings for middle income residents.
Donald’s parents sent him to the New York Military Academy at age 13, with the hope that the discipline provided there would help to focus his energy in a positive manner. He did
well at the boarding school, participating in sports and graduated in 1964. He spent his summers working in his father’s business on construction sites.
After High School, Donald started his undergraduate career at Fordham University. After just one year, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1968 with a degree in Economics.
Donald was fascinated with his father’s real estate and development business, and joined the business upon graduation. His dream was to live in Manhattan, and he moved there for good in 1971. He tried unsuccessfully to convince his father to develop projects in Manhattan, but Fred Trump thought that was not their market.
Donald had much grander ideas than his father and started to become involved in large building projects in Manhattan hoping to earn large profits, but also to gain public recognition. His first major project was the Convention Center in New York City, built on property obtained from the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, after its bankruptcy. Trump offered to waive his fees if the city would name the Convention Center after him. The city refused, but this was the beginning of Trump’s idea to brand his name.
In 1974 Trump gained the rights to the Hyatt Hotel at Grand Station. He worked out a deal to remodel the hotel and renamed it the Grand Hyatt. The hotel was an instant success due to its location in midtown Manhattan.
In 1977 Trump met and married a fashion model, Ivana Zelnikova’. Ivana quickly became involved in the Trump business as vice president of design. She was very involved in the renovation of another Trump hotel, The Commodore.
The first big project that Trump took on in Manhattan, without Fred, was the site next to Tiffany & Company on Fifth Avenue. Trump built a $200 million apartment-retail complex and named it Trump Tower. This building attracted high end retail stores and famous celebrity renters.
Trump was finally on the radar of the New York City upper crust. Trump used this early success to buy and build a number of Manhattan properties including the Plaza Hotel at Central Park. By 1980, Trump made the move to develop hotels and Casinos in Atlantic City. He bought, redeveloped and renamed three Hotels with the Trump Brand, the most
famous being the Trump Taj Mahal.
By the early 1990’s the real estate market began to decline precipitously which significantly reduced the value of Trump’s properties, many of which were highly leveraged. Trump took on massive loans to stay afloat. Trump’s net worth plummeted from an estimated $1.7 billion to less than $500 million.
Although his image was tarnished, Trump was able to use bankruptcy to climb out of an economic disaster.
During this period Donald was publicly having an affair with actress Marla Maples, eventually leading to his divorce from Ivana. Trump and Maples had a daughter, Tiffany, two months before being married in 1993. In 1997, Trump filed for divorce from Maples in 1997.
Trump became a household name when he began a television career as host of NBC’s The Apprentice. This reality TV series was popular for over ten years, and gained Trump a reputation as a billionaire businessman. During this time Trump also purchased and produced the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. Trump gained his reputation as a billionaire bachelor during these years.
Trump explored running on the Reform Party Ticket for President in 2000, but due to issues in the Reform Party, decided not to run. He pursued the idea again in 2012, but again decided against it.
Trump is currently the Republican candidate for President.
