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Donald J. Trump (b. 1946) is the current (as of February 2025) President of the United States. As a billionaire business magnate, Trump has always been close to power, and amid unrest after Barack Obama’s eight-year presidency, decided to run for president in 2016. He took advantage of growing racist sentiment against people of color and the influx of immigrants in an increasingly multicultural America to capture the fears and resentment of right-wing, white, low-income voters, campaigning for a return to American “norms” in the face of so much change. He was able to enact some policies based on this shortly after his election in 2016, such as his ban on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries.
Under Trump’s influence, even after he was voted out in 2020 in favor of Joe Biden, the American Republican Party has shifted even further to the right. While the American right wing had already been trending toward authoritarianism, Trump’s anti-immigrant, homophobic, and racist rhetoric has accelerated that trend, according to Ben-Ghiat.
The main focuses in his campaigns for President in 2016, 2020, and 2024 included the demonization of predominantly Latino immigrants, the discrediting of journalists and other news media under the banner of “fake news,” the disparagement of movements such as MeToo and Black Lives Matter, and accusations of election fraud perpetrated by the left wing. These sentiments allegedly culminated in the January 6, 2021, riots in Washington, D.C., yet still proved popular enough to grant Trump a reelection in 2024.
