Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American business magnate, socialite, television personality, and author. He is the Chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, a US-based real-estate developer. Trump is also the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which operates numerous casinos and hotels across the world. Trump's extravagant lifestyle and outspoken manner have made him a celebrity for years, a status which was only amplified by the success of his NBC reality show, The Apprentice (of which he serves as host and executive producer).

Donald was the fourth of five children of Fred Trump, a wealthy real estate developer based in New York City. Donald was strongly influenced by his father in his eventual goals to make a career in real estate development. , and upon his graduation from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, Donald Trump joined his father's company, The Trump Organization.

Starting with the renovation of the Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt with the Pritzker family, he continued with Trump Tower in New York City and several other residential projects. Trump would later expand into the airline industry (buying the Eastern Shuttle routes), and Atlantic City casino business, including buying the Taj Mahal Casino from the Crosby family, then taking it into bankruptcy. This expansion, both personal and business, led to mounting debt. Much of the news about him in the early 1990s involved his much publicized financial problems, creditor-led bailout, extramarital affair with Marla Maples, and the resulting divorce from his first wife, Ivana Trump.

The late 1990s saw a resurgence in his financial situation and fame. In 2001, he completed Trump World Tower, a 72-story residential tower across from the United Nations Headquarters. Also, he began construction on Trump Place, a multi-building development along the Hudson River. Trump owns commercial space in Trump International Hotel and Tower, a 44-story mixed-use (hotel and condominium) tower on Columbus Circle. Trump currently owns several million square feet of prime Manhattan real estate, and remains a major figure in the field of real estate in the United States and a celebrity for his prominent media exposures.

Background and Education

He was the son of Fred Christ Trump (Woodhaven, New York, 11 October 1905  25 June 1999) and wife, married in 1936, Mary A. MacLeod (Stornoway, Scotland, 10 May 1912  7 August 2000). His paternal grandparents were German immigrants Frederick Trump (Kallstadt, Rheinland-Pfalz, 14 March 1869  30 March 1918), who immigrated to the United States in 1885 and naturalized US Citizen in 1892, and wife, married at Kallstadt, Rheinland-Pfalz, in 1902, Elisabeth Christ (10 October 1880  6 June 1966).