On January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.
As clock counts down to the Swearing In Ceremony that will take place on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building, we take a look back at Trump’s rise in politics from 2011 to his Nov. 8 election victory.
March 23, 2011:Trump calls on President Barack Obama to produce his birth certificate and prove he was born in the United States. "I want him to show his birth certificate. I want him to show his birth certificate," Trump said on ABC's "The View. "There's something on that birth certificate that he doesn't like."
March 30, 2011: Discussing President Obama’s birth certificate with radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, Trump elaborates on what he thinks might be on it, saying" maybe it says he's a Muslim, I don't know."
April 07, 2011: In an interview on The Today Show, Trump says he has sent his own investigators to Hawaii to look into the matter of President Obama’s birth in Hawaii.
April 15, 2011: In an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump says President Obama's real birth name is "Barry Soetero." This is later debunked.
April 20, 2011: Research polls indicate that Trump would be the preferred Republican presidential candidate among voters. Trump continues to ask for the release of President Obama’s long-form birth certificate.
April 27, 2011: In response to the conspiracy theories by Trump and others, President Obama releases his birth certificate.
April 30, 2011: Trump attends the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner where President Obama pokes fun at him.
May 16, 2011: Trump announces he will not run for president.
December 23, 2011: Trump changes his political party affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated. According to his aide Michael Cohen, he changed his affiliation "in order to preserve his right to run for president as an independent if he's not satisfied with who the Republicans nominate."
February 2, 2012: Trump endorses Republican candidate Mitt Romney for president.
April 4, 2012: In a video blog, Trump posits: “President Obama made a deal with the Saudis to flood the markets with oil before the election, so he can at least keep it down a little bit.”
May 29, 2012: Trump maintains that President Obama's birthplace is a matter of opinion on CNN's The Situation Room. “A lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate," he says regarding the president's Hawaiian birth certificate.
October 11, 2012: Trump tweets linking to an article from a conspiracy website, that says President Obama wears a "secret ring" with "Arabic writing" on it that could mean he's a Muslim.
Why does Barack Obama's ring have an arabic inscription? http://t.co/upa00265 Who is this guy?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2012
October 29, 2012: On the Late Show with David Letterman, Trump describes China as a "country that is ripping our heart out” and how Mitt Romney can turn it around. When Letterman points out that Trump's clothing line tags say the garments are "Made in Bangladesh" or "Made in China," he agrees with Letterman's idea to close down his foreign factories and open one in the Jamaica neighbourhood of Queens, New York.
November 06, 2012: Trump tweets a correlation between global warming and China.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
May 07, 2013: Trump tweets about military sexual assault:
26,000 unreported sexual assults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2013
June 18, 2013: Trump tweets about the Miss Universe pageant and how he hopes Vladimir Putin will attend and "become my new best friend."
Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2013
October 3, 2013: On Larry King Live, Trump praises Vladimir Putin for how he has "outsmarted our country."
November 18, 2013: Trump tweets his opinions on who voted in the 2012 election.
Maybe some of the dead voters who helped get President Obama elected can be brought back to life after signing up for ObamaCare.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2013
December 12, 2013: Trump tweets his speculations when the Hawaiian State Health Director dies in a plane crash.
How amazing, the State Health Director who verified copies of Obama’s “birth certificate” died in plane crash today. All others lived
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2013
March 21, 2014: Trump praises Vladimir Putin on Twitter.
I believe Putin will continue to re-build the Russian Empire. He has zero respect for Obama or the U.S.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2014
May 27, 2014: At a National Press Club luncheon, Trump discusses meeting Vladimir Putin, and how Putin "does not respect our president, which is very sad."
September 03, 2014: Trump tweets his thoughts on vaccines.
No more massive injections. Tiny children are not horses—one vaccine at a time, over time.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2014
October 16, 2014: An interview with Iowa conservative talk show host Steve Deace, Trump warns of Mexican immigrants bringing Ebola Virus into the U.S.
October 23, 2014: On Twitter, Trump demands President Obama resign because of the Ebola Virus crisis.
If this doctor, who so recklessly flew into New York from West Africa,has Ebola,then Obama should apologize to the American people & resign!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2014
November 17, 2014: Trump tweets accusing President Obama of manipulating deportation statistics.
Deportations are now at a record low. Obama manipulated the numbers to lie to the public that they were at a record high. Secure the border!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2014
November 25, 2014: Trump tweets his thoughts on future American presidents:
Sadly, because president Obama has done such a poor job as president, you won't see another black president for generations!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2014
February 25, 2015: Trump decides not to renew his Apprentice contract and says he is turning his attention to “seriously considering” running for president.
April 16, 2015: Trump retweets a Twitter user who attacks Hillary Clinton on the social media platform on Twitter. He quickly deletes the retweet, but it is already archived on a Boston Globe live blog.
Hey @realDonaldTrump - In case you're looking for that tweet you deleted .. I got it right here. pic.twitter.com/a6F98q5xGU
— Lenny Jacobson (@Lennyjacobson) April 17, 2015
June 16, 2015: Trump announces his candidacy for the 2016 Republican Party nomination and talks about illegal immigration: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
June 28, 2015: In an interview with CNN, Trump clarifies his position on Mexico. "I like Mexico. I love the Mexican people. I do business with the Mexican people. But you have people coming through the border that are from all over. And they're bad. They're really bad."
July 11, 2015: Trump debuts his plan to build a wall on the Southern border and make Mexico pay for it, at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona.
July 14, 2015: In a poll released by USA TODAY/Suffolk University, for the first time Trump leads the entire GOP field.
July 18, 2015: Trump shares his thoughts on Senator John McCain's war record. "He's a war hero because he was captured," he said. "I like people that weren't captured, OK?"
August 16, 2016: Trump releases his immigration plan. It focuses on border control, enforcement of immigration laws, and American job and wage security among other things.
September 10, 2015: In a survey released by CNN/ORC, Trump hits an all-time polling high of 32 per cent.
September 28, 2015: Trump releases his tax plan. Among other things, it focuses on tax relief for middle class, simplifying the tax code, discouraging corporate inversions, adding more jobs, and making America globally competitive again.
October 15, 2015: Trump's campaign raises more than $3.7 million in individual contributions from July to August, according to documents filed with the FEC, contradicting his self-funded campaign claims.
October 19, 2015: According to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey, with 25 per cent of GOP primary voters backing him, Trump hits his highest polling mark since announcing his campaign in June.
November 19, 2015: In an interview with a Yahoo reporter, Trump says he will implement a national database to track all Muslims in the United States. Later on, he backtracks on his comment on Twitter.
December 07, 2015: Following the deadly attacks in Paris by ISIS, Trump calls for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representative can figure out what is going on."
February 01, 2016: Trump comes in second in the Iowa caucuses, losing to Ted Cruz.
February 06, 2016: ABC News hosts eighth GOP primary debate in Manchester, N.H.
February 09, 2016: Trump wins the New Hampshire GOP primary.
February 13, 2016: CBS News hosts ninth GOP primary debate in Greenville, S.C.
February 18, 2016: Trump tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper how he would repeal and replace Obamacare in New Hampshire. When pressed on the logistics, he is unable to give a clear answer on how it will be achieved.
February 20, 2016: Trump wins the South Carolina GOP primary.
February 23, 2016: Trump wins the Nevada GOP caucuses.
February 25, 2016: CNN hosts tenth GOP primary debate in Houston, Texas.
March 01, 2016: Trump wins seven of the 11 states that vote on Super Tuesday, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.
March 03, 2016: Fox News hosts eleventh GOP primary debate in Detroit, Mich.
March 05, 2016: Trump wins Kentucky and Louisiana in GOP primaries.
March 8, 2016: Trump wins Hawaii, Michigan and Mississippi in GOP primaries.
March 15, 2016:Trump wins Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and the Northern Mariana Islands Republicans in GOP primaries.
March 22, 2016: Trump wins Arizona in GOP primary.
March 30, 2016: In a town hall Q&A with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Trump shares his views on women who get abortions. “The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment,” he says, when pressed on the issue.
April 19, 2016: Trump wins New York in GOP primary.
April 26, 2016: Trump makes wins Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island in GOP primaries.
May 03, 2016: Trump wins Indiana in GOP primary and becomes the party's presumptive nominee.
May 10, 2016: Trump wins West Virginia and Nebraska in GOP primaries.
May 20, 2016: The NRA endorses Trump for president.
May 26, 2016: Trump wins a majority of delegates, secures his nomination and puts an end to the possibility of a contested Republican national convention.
July 15, 2016:Trump announces Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate.
July 21, 2016: Trump accepts the Republican Party's nomination on the final day of the party's convention in Cleveland.
August 17, 2016: Trump selects Stephen Bannon, the chairman of the right-wing news website Breitbart News, as his campaign's chief executive. He also promotes senior adviser Kellyanne Conway to the post of campaign manager.
August 31, 2016: Trump visits Mexico to meet with the country's president, Enrique Peña Nieto. A brief diplomatic scuffle ensues following his return. He and Peña Nieto dispute whether or not they discussed Trump's plan to have Mexico pay for the border wall.
September 26, 2016: In the first presidential debate. Clinton accuses Trump of racism, sexism and tax avoidance.
October 01, 2016: According to a New York Times article, Trump's 1995 tax records suggest he could have avoided federal taxes for years.
October 07, 2016: A 2005 recording of Trump surfaces. The audio reveals him boasting about how his celebrity status allows him to grope women and "grab them by the p****."
October 09, 2016: Trump and Clinton face off in second presidential debate. Trump dismisses the 2005 remarks about groping women as "locker room talk."
October 12, 2016: A few women accuse Trump of inappropriately touching them in a New York Times story. Trump denies the allegations. His attorney sends a letter to the publication, calling the story "reckless" and "defamatory."
October 23, 2016: Trump’s poll numbers dip down following the stories of his treatment of women and his reluctance to endorse the election’s legitimacy.
October 30, 2016: There is a new investigation into Clinton's emails and polls show Trump climbing back into contention.
November 8, 2016: Trump wins the U.S. presidential election.
