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Donald Trump 2016 Republican presidential nominee Running mate:Mike Pence

Election Republican National Convention •Polls •Debates • Presidential election by state

On the issues Domestic affairs •Economic affairs and government regulations •Foreign affairs and national security •Trump University •Republican officials on Trump •Litigation and Trump's campaign •Violence and Trump's campaign •The Trump Foundation •Media's coverage of Trump

Other candidates Hillary Clinton (D) •Jill Stein (G) •Gary Johnson (L) •Vice presidential candidates

Ballotpedia's presidential election coverage 2028 •2024 •2020 •2016

This page was current as of the 2016 election.

See also:Donald Trump

Donald Trump won the2016 presidential election. He was the 2016 Republican nominee for president of the United States. He declared his candidacy on June 16, 2015, and officially received the nomination of the Republican Party on July 19, 2016, at theRepublican National Convention.

A New York-based real estate developer, author, chairman of The Trump Organization, and former executive producer of “The Apprentice”— a reality television show in which he also starred—Trump had never before sought or held elected public office prior to his 2016 run, though he flirted with political bids off and on between the late 1980s and 2015. He became more active in national politics in 2011 when he began publicly questioning whetherBarack Obama was a natural citizen. That same year, Trump indicated some interest in seeking the Republican nomination for president but ultimately declined to run.

Trump’s candidacy for the Republican nomination in 2016 was initially seen as something of a long shot, but the New York businessman’s outsider status, mastery of the media, and no-holds-barred campaign style propelled him to the front of the field. Trump racked up victories in key early states, and by May the race had dwindled from more than a dozen candidates to three: Trump, Texas SenatorTed Cruz, and Ohio GovernorJohn Kasich. After a critical victory inIndiana on May 3, Cruz and Kasich dropped out, leaving Trump unchallenged for the nomination. When the dust settled, 13.3 million primary voters had backed Trump, a new record in the history of Republican primaries.

Featured page

The featured page on Trump isHistory of Donald Trump's political donations, 1989-2015.

For more information about Trump's political donations, visitthis page.

Trump on domestic affairs

Trump’s domestic platform focused heavily on immigration and scaling back environmental regulations. He proposed strengthening U.S. immigration laws. He pushed for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the costs of which he says the Mexican government will cover. During the Republican primaries, he called for the deportation of all undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.—about 11 million people—but in August 2016 he suggested that those who have not committed crimes could possibly be allowed to stay if they paid back taxes. Trump advocated rescinding and reforming environmental regulations supported by the Obama administration and has called climate change “a total hoax.” He supported repealing the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and proposed his own healthcare reform plan.

The NRA endorsed Trump, and he voiced opposition to gun-free zones, such as in schools. On social and cultural issues, Trump vowed to nominate judges opposed to abortion and once suggested that women who have abortions should be punished. Trump also stated that while he opposes abortion, he believes there should be exceptions in the case of rape, incest, and risks to the mother’s life. He said that he supports “traditional marriage” and argued that states should decide whether transgender people should use restrooms corresponding to their gender identity.

Abortion

Black Lives Matter

Branches of government

Civil liberties

Climate change

Constitution

Crime and justice

DACA and DAPA

Education

Energy and environmental policy

Epidemic control

Federal assistance programs

LGBTQ rights

Gun control

Healthcare

Immigration

Infrastructure

Marriage equality

Puerto Rico

Stop and frisk

Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland

Supreme Court vacancy

Transgender restroom access

Zika virus

Trump on economic affairs and government regulations

Trump supported cutting taxes at all levels, and his opposition to international free-trade deals was a trademark of his campaign. His tax proposals included cuts at all income levels, an end to the estate tax, and a tax deduction for childcare expenses. He called international trade deals like NAFTA and TPP “a disaster” and pushed for increased tariffs on imports. Trump voiced support for raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour but also said that changes to the minimum wage should happen at the state level. He was critical of financial regulatory legislation such as Dodd-Frank, which he called “terrible.” He called government regulations, in general, a “stealth tax.”

Agriculture and food policy

Budgets

Labor and employment

Taxes

Trade

Trans-Pacific Partnership

Wall Street and banking policy

Trump on foreign affairs and national security

Trump promoted what he calls an “America First” approach to foreign affairs and national security. This approach involved potentially reassessing U.S. commitments to NATO countries, a more aggressive foreign policy in the fight against the Islamic State and in the war on terror, and increases in military spending. Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country from nations with “a history of exporting terrorism,” and he advocated for what he calls “extreme vetting” of Muslims visiting the U.S. Trump voiced support for using enhanced interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, and he criticized the Iran deal, calling it a “bad deal.” Trump also called for improving U.S. relations with Russia by finding “common ground” in the fight against the Islamic State.

Foreign affairs

Iran nuclear deal

ISIS and terrorism

Military and veterans

National security

North Korea

Russia

Syrian refugees

Technology, privacy, and cybersecurity

Polls

Clinton-Trump 2016 head-to-head presidential polls (September-October 2016)
Poll	Hillary Clinton	Donald Trump	Unsure or Other	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Quinnipiac October 17-18, 2016	50%	44%	6%	+/-3.1	1,007
Economist/YouGov October 15-18, 2016	47%	43%	10%	+/-3.9	925
Fox News October 15-17, 2016	49%	42%	9%	+/-3	912
Bloomberg October 14-17, 2016	50%	41%	9%	+/-3.1	1,006
Monmouth October 14-16, 2016	53%	41%	6%	+/-3.6	726
CBS News October 12-16, 2016	51%	40%	9%	+/-3	1,189
NBC News/SurveyMonkey October 10-16, 2016	51%	43%	6%	+/-1	24,804
ABC News/Washington Post October 10-13, 2016	50%	46%	4%	+/-4	740
NBC News/Wall St. Journal October 10-13, 2016	51%	41%	8%	+/-3.3	905
Fox News October 10-12, 2016	49%	41%	10%	+/-3	917
NBC News/Wall Street Journal October 8-10, 2016	50%	40%	10%	+/-3.5	806
Reuters/Ipsos October 6-10, 2016	44%	37%	19%	+/-2.2	2,363
PRRI/The Atlantic October 5-9, 2016	49%	38%	13%	+/-3.9	886
NBC News/SurveyMonkey October 3-9, 2016	51%	44%	5%	+/-1	23,329
Economist/YouGov October 7-8, 2016	48%	43%	9%	+/-4.2	971
Quinnipiac October 5-6, 2016	50%	44%	6%	+/-3	1,064
Fox News October 3-6, 2016	48%	44%	8%	+/-3	896
Economist/YouGov October 1-October 3, 2016	48%	43%	9%	+/-3.9	911
Reuters/Ipsos September 29-October 3, 2016	44%	37%	19%	+/-3.2	1,239
CBS News September 28-October 2, 2016	49%	43%	8%	+/-4	1,217
CNN/ORC September 28-October 2, 2016	51%	45%	4%	+/-3	1,213
NBC News/SurveyMonkey September 26-October 2, 2016	50%	44%	6%	+/-1	26,925
Fox News September 27-29, 2016	49%	44%	7%	+/-3	911
Public Policy Polling September 27-28, 2016	49%	45%	6%	+/-3.2	933
Reuters/Ipsos September 22-26, 2016	44%	38%	18%	+/-3.5	1,041
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign advisors and staff

Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign saw a number of hirings and staff departures, beginning even before Trump announced his candidacy. The most notable of these campaign shifts came in March 2016 whenPaul Manafort was hired as the campaign's convention manager. Manafort's hiring, seen in the press as a demotion for then-campaign managerCorey Lewandowski, began a series of disputes within the Trump campaign over who would direct the campaign's strategy and personnel decisions. In May 2016, Manafort was promoted to campaign chair and chief strategist; Lewandowski was fired from the campaign on June 20, 2016. Manafort then resigned in August 2016, two days after the Trump campaign hiredBreitbart News executiveSteve Bannon as campaign chief executive and promoted pollsterKellyanne Conway to campaign manager.

The following timeline details some of the highlights of Trump's staff hires and dismissals throughout the campaign.

For more information about the Trump campaign, visitDonald Trump presidential campaign key staff and advisors, 2016 andDonald Trump presidential campaign staff tensions.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the termDonald + Trump + 2016

See also

• Presidential election, 2016
• Presidential candidates, 2016
• Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
• Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2016
• Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2016

External links

• ProCon.org's "Donald Trump (R)"

Footnotes

v • e 2016 United States Presidential Election Overviews 2016 presidential election •2016 presidential candidates •2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules •2016 vice presidential candidates •Possible vice presidential picks Candidate profiles Hillary Clinton Donald Trump Jill Stein Gary Johnson Path to the presidency Republican Convention •Republican Primary Democratic Convention •Democratic Primary Policy positions Abortion •Defunding Planned Parenthood •Agricultural subsidies •Black Lives Matter movement •Budgets •Education •Energy and environmental policy •Federal assistance programs •Federalism •Foreign affairs •LGBTQ rights •Government regulations •Healthcare •Immigration •DACA and DAPA •International trade •Rural policy •Taxes On the campaign trail Ballotpedia's battleground poll • Campaign preparations • Political and leadership attributes •Presidential campaign trackers and opposition researchers Campaign staff Presidential campaign staff transfers, resignations and terminations •Staff leaks from 2016 presidential campaigns Clinton staffers •O'Malley staffers •Sanders staffers Bush staffers •Carson staffers •Christie staffers •Cruz staffers •Fiorina staffers •Huckabee staffers •Kasich staffers •Paul staffers •Rubio staffers •Santorum staffers •Trump staffers Debates PBS, February 11, 2016 (Milwaukee) •PBS, February 4, 2016 (Durham, N.H.) •NBC News, January 17, 2016 (Charleston, S.C.) •ABC, December 19, 2015 (Manchester, N.H.) •CBS, November 14, 2015 (Des Moines) •CNN, October 13, 2015](Las Vegas) February 13, 2016 (Greenville, S.C.) •ABC, February 6, 2016 (Manchester, N.H.) •Fox News, January 28, 2016 (Des Moines) •Fox Business, January 14, 2016 (North Charleston, S.C.) •CNN, December 15, 2015 (Las Vegas) •Fox Business, November 10, 2015 (Milwaukee) •CNBC, October 28, 2015 (Boulder) •CNN, September 16, 2015 (Reagan Library) •Fox News, August 6, 2015 (Cleveland) Analysis The media's coverage of Donald Trump •The media's coverage of Hillary Clinton Post-debate analysis overview Democratic:April 14, 2016 (CNN) •March 9, 2016 (Univision) •March 6, 2016 (CNN) •February 11, 2016 (PBS) •February 4, 2016 (MSNBC) •January 17, 2016 (NBC) •December 19, 2015 (ABC) •November 14, 2015 (CBS) •October 13, 2015 (CNN) Republican:March 10, 2016 (CNN) •March 3, 2016 (FNC) •February 25, 2016 (CNN) •February 13, 2016 (CBS) •February 6, 2016 (ABC) •January 28, 2016 (FNC) •January 14, 2016 (FBN) •December 15, 2015 (CNN) •November 10, 2015 (FBN) •October 28, 2015 (CNBC) •September 16, 2015 (CNN) Insiders Poll: First Democratic debate (October 13, 2015) •Presidential Nominating Index: Clinton remains choice of Democratic Insiders •Presidential Nominating Index: Bush remains choice of Republican Insiders •Insiders Poll: Winners and losers from the Fox News Republican Debate

v • e Donald Trump Overviews Donald Trump •Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016 Business career Trump University Political career and donations Republicans and their declared positions on Donald Trump •Republicans supporting Donald Trump •Republicans opposing Donald Trump, 2016 •Republican state legislators changing their party to protest Donald Trump •NeverTrump movement •History of Donald Trump's political donations •Violence and Donald Trump's presidential campaign Trump and the media The media's coverage of Donald Trump Campaign staff Chief executive:Steve Bannon • Campaign manager:Kellyanne Conway • Deputy campaign manager:David Bossie • National spokesperson:Katrina Pierson • Co-chair:Sam Clovis • Senior advisor:Michael Biundo On the issues Taxes •Banking policy •Government regulations •International trade •Budgets •Federal assistance programs •Labor and employment •Foreign affairs •Federalism •Energy and environmental policy •Healthcare •Immigration •Education •Abortion •Gay rights •Civil liberties