Money, Motivation and Store

A crucial message for EVERYONEFollow @trwconnect for fresh inspiring clips, updates, news, entertainment and learn more about money inside The Real World (LlNK in BlO)

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, and his father named him president of his real estate business in 1971. Trump renamed it the Trump Organization and reoriented the company toward building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. After a series of business failures in the late twentieth century, he successfully launched side ventures that required little capital, mostly by licensing the Trump name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. He and his businesses have been plaintiff or defendant in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six business bankruptcies. Trump won the 2016 presidential election as the Republican Party nominee against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote.[a] During the campaign, his political positions were described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. His election and policies sparked numerous protests. He was the first U.S. president with no prior military or government experience. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation established that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to favor Trump's campaign. Trump promoted conspiracy theories and made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist and many as misogynistic. As president, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted military funding toward building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for migrants detained at the U.S. border. He weakened environmental protections, rolling back more than 100 environmental policies and regulations. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials, used political pressure to interfere with testing efforts, and spread misinformation about unproven treatments. Trump initiated a trade war with China and withdrew the U.S. from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times but made no progress on denuclearization. Trump refused to concede after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, falsely claiming widespread electoral fraud, and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, he urged his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, which many of them then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count. Trump is the only American president to have been impeached twice. After he tried to pressure Ukraine in 2019 to investigate Biden, he was impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress; he was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020. The House impeached him again in January 2021, for incitement of insurrection, and the Senate acquitted him in February. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.[1][2] Since leaving office, Trump has remained the de facto leader of the Republican Party and is a candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries. In 2023, a civil trial jury found that Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. He was also indicted in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, in Florida on 40 felony counts related to his mishandling of classified documents, in Washington, D.C., on four felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction for efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and in Georgia on 13 charges of racketeering and other alleged felonies committed in an effort to overturn the state's 2020 election results. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Personal life Early life A black-and-white photograph of Donald Trump as a teenager, smiling, wearing a dark pseudo-military uniform with various badges and a light-colored stripe crossing his right shoulder Trump at the New York Military Academy in 1964 Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York City,[3] the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens, and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade.[4][5][6] At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school,[7] and, in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics.[8][9] In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.[10] While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era.[11] In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968, a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve.[12] In October 1968, he was classified 1-Y, a conditional medical deferment,[13] and in 1972, he was reclassified 4-F due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.[14] Family Main article: Family of Donald Trump In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková.[15] They had three children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988.[16] The couple divorced in 1990, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples.[17] Trump and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993), who was raised by Marla in California.[18] In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss.[19] They have one son, Barron (born 2006).[20] Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.[21] Religion Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens.[22][23] In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church in America.[22][24] The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale,[22] ministered to the family until his death in 1993.[24] Trump has described him as a mentor.[25] In 2015, the church stated that Trump was not an active member.[23] In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison.[26] In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.[27] Health habits Trump has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course.[28] He considers exercise a waste of energy because he believes exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy".[29] In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency".[30] In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.[30][31] Wealth Main article: Wealth of Donald Trump Ivana Trump and King Fahd shake hands, with Ronald Reagan standing next to them smiling. All are in black formal attire. Trump (far right) and wife Ivana in the receiving line of a state dinner for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in 1985, with U.S. president Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth (equivalent to $606 million in 2022).[32] His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995.[33] After filing the mandatory financial disclosure report with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities.[34] Forbes estimated his net worth dropped by $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2018.[35] In their 2021 billionaires ranking, Trump's net worth was estimated to be $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world).[36] Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported that Trump called him in 1984, pretending to be a fictional Trump Organization official named "John Barron". Greenberg said that Trump, speaking as "Barron", falsely asserted that he owned more than 90 percent of his father's business to get a higher ranking for himself on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.[37] Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father and that he had to pay it back with interest.[38] He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (2018 dollars adjusted for inflation) from his father's company.[39][40] In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance started an investigation.[40] His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets.[41][42] Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product-licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.[43] Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million (equivalent to $1.76 billion in 2022).[44][45][32] In 2020, the New York Times obtained Trump's tax information extending over two decades. Its reporters found that Trump reported losses of hundreds of millions of dollars and had, since 2010, deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lower them to $750. During the 2010s, Trump balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.[46] As of October 2021, Trump had over $1.3 billion in total debts, much of which is secured by his assets.[47] In 2020, he owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Bank of China, Deutsche Bank, and UBS, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.[48] Business career Main article: Business career of Donald Trump Further information: Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia Real estate Exterior ground view of Trump tower, a contemporary skyscraper with a glass curtain and stepped façade Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned racially segregated middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs.[49][50] In 1971, he became president of the company and began using the Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.[51] Between 1991 and 2009, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six of his businesses, the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company.[52] Manhattan developments Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.[53] The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged for Trump by his father who also, jointly with Hyatt, guaranteed a $70 million bank construction loan.[50][54] The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel,[55] and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.[56] The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.[57][58] In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel with a loan from a consortium of sixteen banks.[59] The hotel filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and a reorganization plan was approved a month later, with the banks taking control of the property.[60] In 1995, Trump defaulted on over $3 billion of bank loans, and the lenders seized the Plaza Hotel along with most of his other properties in a humiliating restructuring that allowed Trump to avoid personal bankruptcy.[61][62] The lead bank's attorney said of the banks' decision that they "all agreed that he'd be better alive than dead."[62] In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later rebranded as the Trump Building, and renovated it.[63] In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a 70-acre (28 ha) tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance the project's completion, Riverside South.[64] Atlantic City casinos The entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal, a casino in Atlantic City. It has motifs evocative of the Taj Mahal in India. Entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation.[65] It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control.[66] In 1985, Trump bought the unopened Atlantic City Hilton Hotel and renamed it Trump Castle.[67] His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.[68] Both casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992.[69] Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990.[70][71] Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991. Under the provisions of the restructuring agreement, Trump gave up half his initial stake and personally guaranteed future performance.[72] To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold the Trump Shuttle airline; his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked; and other businesses.[73] In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of the Trump Plaza.[74] THCR purchased the Taj Mahal and the Trump Castle in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004 and 2009, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership.[65] He remained chairman until 2009.[75] Mar-a-Lago Main article: Mar-a-Lago In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.[76] In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence.[77] In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.[58] Golf courses Main article: Donald Trump and golf The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999.[78] It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide.[78][79] Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1,461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.[80] Licensing of the Trump brand See also: List of things named after Donald Trump The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings.[81][82] According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than 50 licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, and they have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies.[83] By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.[81] Side ventures Trump, Doug Flutie, and an unnamed official standing behind a lectern with big, round New Jersey Generals sign, with members of the press seated in the background Trump and New Jersey Generals quarterback Doug Flutie at a 1985 press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (when they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.[84][85] Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall, adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.[86][87] In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.[88] From 1986 to 1988, Trump purchased significant blocks of shares in various public companies while suggesting that he intended to take over the company and then sold his shares for a profit,[44] leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail.[89] The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".[44] In 1988, Trump purchased the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle, financing the purchase with $380 million (equivalent to $940 million in 2022)[32] in loans from a syndicate of 22 banks. He renamed the airline Trump Shuttle and operated it until 1992.[90] Trump defaulted on his loans in 1991, and ownership passed to the banks.[91] The airline was eventually sold to US Airways.[90] A red star with a bronze outline and "Donald Trump" and a TV icon written on it in bronze, embedded in a black terrazzo sidewalk Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups.[40][92] The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.[40] From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.[93][94] Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002.[95][96] In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe.[97] NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015.[98] Trump University Main article: Trump University In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000.[99] After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law (as it was not an academic institution), its name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.[100] In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers.[101] In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students.[102][103][104] Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.[105] Foundation Main article: Donald J. Trump Foundation The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988.[106][107] In the foundation's final years, its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014.[108] The foundation gave to health-care- and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.[109] In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion.[110] Also in 2016, the New York Attorney General determined the foundation to be in violation of state law for soliciting donations and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York.[111] Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.[112] In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties.[113][114] In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed its assets to other charities.[115] In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.[116][117] Legal affairs and bankruptcies Main article: Legal affairs of Donald Trump Roy Cohn was Trump's fixer, lawyer, and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s.[118] According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship.[118] In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million (equivalent to $659 million in 2022)[32] over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump's counterclaims were dismissed, and the government's case went forward, ultimately resulting in a settlement.[119] In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things.[120] Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.[121] According to a review of state and federal court files conducted by USA Today in 2018, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions.[122] While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009.[123] They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.[123] During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion.[124] After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him.[125] After the January 6 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.[126] Media career Main article: Media career of Donald Trump Books Main article: Bibliography of Donald Trump Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name.[127] His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz.[128] According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon."[128] Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.[129] Film and television Main article: Media career of Donald Trump Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.[130] Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s.[131] He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.[132] Trump, in a suit, sits in a crowded baseball stadium Trump at a New York Mets baseball game in 2009 Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show.[133] He also had his own short form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008.[134][135] From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.[136][137] From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump played a flattering, highly fictionalized version of himself as a superrich and successful chief executive who eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired". The shows remade his image for millions of viewers nationwide.[138][139] With the related licensing agreements, they earned him more than $400 million which he invested in largely unprofitable businesses.[140] In February 2021, Trump resigned from the Screen Actors Guild he had been a member of since 1989 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists".[141] Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.[142] Political career Further information: Political career of Donald Trump Donald Trump shakes hands with Bill Clinton in a lobby; Trump is speaking and Clinton is smiling, and both are wearing suits. Trump and President Bill Clinton in June 2000 Trump's political party affiliation has changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987;[143] a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999;[144] a Democrat in 2001; a Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012.[143] In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers,[145] expressing his views on foreign policy and on how to eliminate the federal budget deficit.[146] He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.[145] In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater, asking to be put into consideration to be Republican nominee George H. W. Bush's running mate. Bush found the request "strange and unbelievable".[147] Presidential campaigns (2000–2016) In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000.[148][149][150] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[151] Trump, leaning heavily onto a lectern, with his mouth open mid-speech and a woman clapping politely next to him Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states.[152][153] In May 2011, he announced he would not run,[152] and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012.[154] Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.[155] 2016 presidential campaign Main article: Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Further information: 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries and 2016 United States presidential election § General election campaign Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries.[156] He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style.[128][157] His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive,[158] and a record number of them were false.[159][160][161] The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has."[162][163] Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.[164][165] Trump speaking in front of an American flag behind a lectern, wearing a black suit and red hat. The lectern sports a blue "TRUMP" sign. Trump campaigning in Arizona, March 2016 Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015.[166][167] His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls.[168] He became the front-runner in March 2016[169] and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee in May.[170] Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign, but, in early July, her lead narrowed.[171][172] In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate,[173] and the two were officially nominated at the 2016 Republican National Convention.[174] Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.[175] Campaign rhetoric and political positions Main article: Political positions of Donald Trump Trump's political positions and his rhetoric were right-wing populist.[176][177][178] Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health-care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly".[179] NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign.[180] Trump questioned the need for NATO and espoused views that were described as isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist.[181] His campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries[182] to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".[183][184] Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream.[185] Trump was slow to disavow an endorsement from David Duke after he was questioned about it during a CNN interview on February 28, 2016.[186] Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back".[187][188] In August 2016, Trump hired Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.[189] The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[190][191][192] Financial disclosures Further information: Tax returns of Donald Trump Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.[34][193] Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office.[194][195] He said his tax returns were being audited, and that his lawyers had advised him against releasing them.[196] After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.[197][198] In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.[199] Election to the presidency Main article: 2016 United States presidential election Electoral college map, depicting Trump winning many states in the South and Midwest and Biden winning many states in the Northeast and Pacific West 2016 electoral vote results. Trump won 304–227 On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton, though, after elector defections on both sides, the official count was ultimately 304 to 227.[200] Trump, the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote, received nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Clinton.[201] He also was the only president who neither served in the military nor held any government office prior to becoming president.[202] Trump's victory was a political upset.[203] Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.[204] Trump won 30 states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, states which had been considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.[205] Pennsylvania Ave., completely packed with protesters, mostly women, many wearing pink and holding signs with progressive feminist slogans Women's March in Washington on January 21, 2017 Trump's election victory sparked protests in major U.S. cities in the days following the election.[206][207] On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches.[208] Presidency (2017–2021) Main article: Presidency of Donald Trump For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Donald Trump presidency. Early actions See also: Presidential transition of Donald Trump and First 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency Trump, with his family watching, raises his right hand and places his left hand on the Bible as he takes the oath of office. Roberts stands opposite him administering the oath. Trump is sworn in as president by Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders, which authorized: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, advancement of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcement of border security, and a planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.[209] Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.[210][211] Conflicts of interest Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., and a business associate.[212][213] Though he said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic. Trump continued to profit from his businesses and to know how his administration's policies affected his businesses.[213][214] He was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated.[215] One case was dismissed in lower court.[216] Two were dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court as moot after the end of Trump's term.[217] Domestic policy Economy Main article: Economic policy of the Donald Trump administration Trump speaks at a lectern, with a crowd in front of and behind him. A banner behind him reads "Buy American – Hire American" Trump speaks to automobile workers in Michigan, March 2017. Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history,[218] which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.[219] In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the penalty associated with Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.[220][221] The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6 percent lower than projected.[222] Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1 trillion in 2019.[223] Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75 trillion by the end of his term, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio hit a post-World War II high.[224] Trump also failed to deliver the $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan on which he had campaigned.[225] Trump is the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce than when he took office, by 3 million people.[218] Climate change, environment, and energy Main article: Environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.[226][227] He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40 percent and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change.[228] In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.[229] Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels.[230][231] Natural gas expanded under Trump, but coal continued to decline.[232][233] Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump's actions while president have been called "a very aggressive attempt to rewrite our laws and reinterpret the meaning of environmental protections".[234] Deregulation In January 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that, for every new regulation, federal agencies "identify" two existing regulations for elimination, though it did not require elimination.[235] He dismantled many federal regulations on health,[236][237] labor,[238][237] and the environment,[239][237] among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, including a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns.[240] During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended, or reversed ninety federal regulations,[241] often "after requests by the regulated industries".[242] The Institute for Policy Integrity found that 78 percent of Trump's proposals were blocked by courts or did not prevail over litigation.[243] Health care During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).[244] In office, he scaled back the Act's implementation through executive orders 13765[245] and 13813.[246] Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment.[247][248] Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA.[249] In June 2018, the Trump administration joined 18 Republican-led states in arguing before the Supreme Court that the elimination of the financial penalties associated with the individual mandate had rendered the ACA unconstitutional.[250][251] If they had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans.[250] During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020, he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.[252] In response to the opioid epidemic, Trump signed legislation in 2018 to increase funding for drug treatments but was widely criticized for failing to make a concrete strategy. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018 but surged to a record 50,052 deaths in 2019.[253] Social issues Main article: Social policy of Donald Trump Trump barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals from receiving federal funds.[254] He said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue.[255] In March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.[256] Trump's attempted rollback of anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients in August 2020 was halted by a federal judge after the Supreme Court's ruling in July had extended employees' civil rights protections to gender identity and sexual orientation.[257] Trump has said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time.[258] After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation related to guns, but he abandoned that effort in November 2019.[259] His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.[260] Trump is a long-time advocate of capital punishment.[261][262] Under his administration, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium.[263] In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding[264][265] but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.[266] Pardons and commutations Further information: List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump Trump granted 237 requests for clemency, fewer than all presidents since 1900 with the exception of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.[267] Only 25 of them had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney; the others were granted to people with personal or political connections to him, his family, and his allies, or recommended by celebrities.[268][269] From 2017 to 2019, he pardoned, amongst others, former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine;[270] and right-wing commentator Dinesh D'Souza.[271] Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking.[272] Trump also pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.[273] In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre;[274] white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik;[275] daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner;[269] and five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Among them were Michael Flynn; Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July; and Paul Manafort.[276] In his last full day in office, Trump granted 73 pardons, including to Steve Bannon and Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and commuted 70 sentences.[277] Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op Main article: Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church Trump and group of officials and advisors on the way from White House complex to St. John's Church On June 1, 2020, federal law-enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House.[278][279] Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos.[278][280] Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".[281] Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.[282] Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters.[283] Immigration Main article: Immigration policy of Donald Trump Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it.[284] He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States,[285] and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies".[286] As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13,[287] though available research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.[288][289] Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.[290][291] From 2018 onward, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border[292] to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum. In 2020, his administration widened the public charge rule to further restrict immigrants who might use government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards.[293] Trump reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year.[294][295] Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.[296] Travel ban Main article: Trump travel ban Further information: Executive Order 13769 and Executive Order 13780 Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.[297] He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".[298] On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning, causing confusion and chaos at airports.[299][300] Protests against the ban began at airports the next day.[299][300] Legal challenges to the order resulted in nationwide preliminary injunctions.[301] A March 6 revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, again was blocked by federal judges in three states.[302][303] In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".[304] The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which restricted travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further banned travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials.[305] After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017,[306] and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.[307] Family separation at border Main article: Trump administration family separation policy Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment Children and juveniles in a wire mesh compartment, showing sleeping mats and thermal blankets on floor Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment in the Ursula detention facility in McAllen, Texas, June 2018 The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017.[308][309] In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted.[310] This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors.[311] Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.[312] The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage.[312][313] Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.[314][315][316] Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he acceded to intense public objection and signed an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" doing so would pose a risk to the child.[317][318] On June 26, 2018, Judge Dana Sabraw concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification;[319] Sabraw ordered for the families to be reunited and family separations stopped except in limited circumstances.[320] After the federal-court order, the Trump administration separated more than a thousand migrant children from their families; the ACLU contended that the Trump administration had abused its discretion and asked Sabraw to more narrowly define the circumstances warranting separation.[309] Trump wall and government shutdown Main articles: Trump wall and 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown Trump speaks with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Behind him are black SUVs, four short border wall prototype designs, and the current border wall in the background Trump examines border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa, California. One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it.[321] By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles [64 km] of new primary wall and 33 miles [53 km] of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles (587 km) of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.[322] In 2018, Trump refused to sign any appropriations bill from Congress unless it allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall,[323] resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history.[324][325] Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay.[326] Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall.[324] The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office.[327] About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.[328] To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles (89 km) of bollard border fencing.[329] Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes.[329] Trump vetoed a joint resolution to overturn the declaration, and the Senate voted against a veto override.[330] Legal challenges to the diversion of $2.5 billion originally meant for the Department of Defense's drug interdiction efforts[331][332] and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction[333][334] were unsuccessful. Foreign policy Main article: Foreign policy of the Donald Trump administration See also: List of international presidential trips made by Donald Trump Trump and other G7 leaders sit at a conference table Trump with the other G7 leaders at the 45th summit in France, 2019 Trump described himself as a "nationalist"[335] and his foreign policy as "America First".[336] His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist, and authoritarian governments.[337] Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty,[336] a lack of a consistent foreign policy,[338] and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.[339] He criticized NATO allies and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.[340][341] Trade See also: Trump tariffs Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations,[342] imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports,[343] and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S.[344] While Trump said that import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury, they are paid by American companies that import goods from China.[345] Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the trade deficit in July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, "was the largest monthly deficit since July 2008".[346] Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.[347] Russia Trump and Putin, both seated, lean over and shake hands Putin and Trump shaking hands at the G20 Osaka summit, June 2019 The Trump administration, according to Reuters, "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea.[348][349] Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance,[350] and supported a potential return of Russia to the G7.[351] Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin[352][353] but opposed some actions of the Russian government.[354][355] After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.[356][357][358] Trump did not discuss alleged Russian bounties offered to Taliban fighters for attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin, saying both that he doubted the intelligence and that he was not briefed on it.[359] China Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S.[360] As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure,[361][362][363] sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran,[364] significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars,[365] and classified China as a currency manipulator.[366] Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping,[367] which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader.[368] After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic,[369] he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March 2020.[370] Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations.[371] In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.[372] North Korea See also: 2018–19 Korean peace process Trump and Kim shake hands on a stage with U.S. and North Korean flags in the background Trump meets Kim Jong Un at the Singapore summit, June 2018. In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat,[373] Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".[374][375] In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong Un.[374][376] After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.[377][378] Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019.[379] Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil.[379] Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea.[380] However, no denuclearization agreement was reached,[381] and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day.[382] While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.[383][384] Afghanistan U.S. and Taliban officials stand spaced apart in a formal room U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting with Taliban delegation in Qatar in September 2020 U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later,[385] reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan.[386] In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government.[387][388][389] By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.[389] Israel Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[390] Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel[391] and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,[392] leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, and the Arab League.[393][394] Saudi Arabia Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi place their hands on a glowing white orb light at waist level Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the 2017 Riyadh summit in Saudi Arabia Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia,[395] In 2018, the U.S. provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention.[396][397] Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[398] Syria Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.[399][400] In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS", contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria.[401][402] The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS.[403] One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.[404] Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House in May 2017 In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area.[405] Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".[406][407] Iran In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive

Céline Dept Height, Weight, Age, Boyfriend, Family FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsAppReddItMix Céline Dept Quick Info Height 5 ft 11½ in Weight 64 kg Date of Birth December 8, 1999 Zodiac Sign Sagittarius Boyfriend Michiel Callebaut Céline Dept is a Belgian YouTuber and TikTok star known for her pranks, popular trendy dances, and soccer-related content that she posts to her TikTok account titled celinedept which has more than 14.5 million followers. Céline Dept is currently 24 according to her birthdate December 08, 1999 Sun Sign Sagittarius Born Place Ostend, Belgium Residence Bredene, Belgium Nationality Belgian Occupation YouTuber, TikTok Star Build Athletic Height 5 ft 11½ in or 182 cm Weight 64 kg or 141 lbs Boyfriend / Spouse Céline Dept has dated – Michiel Callebaut (2018-Present) – Céline started dating fellow YouTube star Michiel Callebaut in 2018. Together, they run the YouTube channel Celine and Michiel. Céline Dept as seen in a picture with her beau Michiel Callebaut that was taken in July 2022 Céline Dept as seen in a picture with her beau Michiel Callebaut that was taken in July 2022 (Céline Dept / Instagram) Race / Ethnicity White Hair Color Dark Brown Eye Color Dark Brown Sexual Orientation Straight Distinctive Features Raised eyebrows Tall height She has a heart-shaped face. Brand Endorsements Using her strong social media presence, Dept has promoted several brands and services including Adidas Football, PlayStation, VTM GO (Dance Academy), etc. Céline Dept as seen in a picture that was taken in September 2023 Céline Dept as seen in a picture that was taken in September 2023 (Céline Dept / Instagram) Céline Dept Facts She was born and raised in Belgium. Céline started her TikTok account titled celinedept in April 2019. She was chosen to be an ambassador for Mercedes-Benz Rogiers in the past. In January 2019, Dept traveled to Madrid, Spain. Aside from being a social media star, Céline is a soccer player who plays professionally. The earliest post that Céline uploaded to her Instagram account was on July 20, 2018. Celine and Michiel started their YouTube channel on June 30, 2019, with the first video being WIJ GAAN HARD IN ONZE ALLEREERSTE VLOG! #1 uploaded to their channel on July 1. She started her personal YouTube channel on May 4, 2023. Some of their most-watched vlog videos on the channel as of December 2023, were OVERNACHTEN IN EEN SPOOKHOTEL.. *Challenge* #82, HARDE VAL TIJDENS VOETBALWEDSTRIJD! *CREATORS FC VLOG* #523, 8 JARIGE VS 18 JARIGE – GEKKE DANCE BATTLE MET TOPTALENT #64, and GEKKE FIFA 23 VOETBAL CHALLENGE!! *ULTIMATE TEAM* #482. 2024

Armando Christian Pérez (born January 15, 1981), known professionally as Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, businessman and actor. He began his career in the early 2000s, recording reggaeton, Latin hip hop, and crunk music under a multitude of labels. In 2004, he released his debut album M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records and the executive production of Lil Jon. Pitbull later released his second album, El Mariel, in 2006 and his third, The Boatlift, in 2007.[4] His fourth album, Rebelution (2009), included his breakthrough hit single "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)", which peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the UK Singles Chart. After rebranding himself as a pop artist, Pitbull's sixth and seventh albums, Planet Pit (2011) and Global Warming (2012) achieved similar commercial success; the former spawned his first single to peak the Billboard Hot 100 with "Give Me Everything" (featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer), while the latter spawned the top ten hit "Feel This Moment" (featuring Christina Aguilera).[5] In 2013, he received his second US number one single with "Timber" (featuring Kesha), which also peaked the charts in eighteen other countries. In 2014, he found continued success with his next top ten single, "Time of Our Lives" (with Ne-Yo), which led his eighth album, Globalization (2014). The same year, he performed the song "We Are One (Ole Ola)" (with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte), which served as the official theme of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, Pitbull made numerous guest appearances on a number of hit songs, including the Billboard Hot 100-top four singles "I Like It" by Enrique Iglesias, "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" by Usher, and "On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez. His subsequent albums, Dale (2015) and Climate Change (2017) trailed commercially. His eleventh album and first independent release, Libertad 548 (2019) focused on Latin hip hop with its singles "No Lo Trates" (with Daddy Yankee and Natti Natasha) and "Me Quedaré Contigo" (featuring Ne-Yo); the former became certified nonuple platinum by RIAA Latin. Pitbull has sold over 25 million studio albums and over 100 million singles worldwide. He has over 15 billion views on YouTube as of May 2020.[6] He was ranked by Billboard as the 45th Top Artist of the 2010s and the 24th Top Latin Artist of the 2010s.[7][8] Pitbull's other ventures include brand ambassadorship and for various entities, activism and philanthropy in the Latino American community, a radio station (Pitbull's Globalization) on Sirius XM Radio and ownership of the Trackhouse Racing NASCAR team.[9] As of May 2019, Pitbull has won 35 Billboard Latin Music Awards.[10][11] Early life and background Armando Christian Pérez was born on January 15, 1981, in Miami, Florida,[12][13] to Cuban immigrant parents. While growing up, he was strongly encouraged by his family to "take advantage" of the privilege of living in America, and the opportunities it came with.[14] His family has a history of fighting against the Castro regime in Cuba.[15] When he was three, he could recite the works of Cuban national hero and poet José Martí in Spanish.[16] He learned English by watching Sesame Street as a child.[17] His father was largely absent from his childhood; his parents separated when he was young, and he was raised mostly by his mother,[18] later stating: "my mom is my father and my mother."[19] He briefly stayed with a foster family in Roswell, Georgia. His parents struggled with substance abuse; as a teenager, he was also involved with drug use and dealing, which eventually led to him getting kicked out of the family house.[18] He attended South Miami Senior High School and Miami Coral Park High School. While growing up, he was influenced by the Miami bass genre of pop music[4] and has cited Celia Cruz and Willy Chirino as sources of inspiration,[20] in addition to rappers such as Nas, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg. He stated that Miami's melting pot characteristics exposed him to various cultures which influenced his artistry and himself as a person.[14] It's a melting pot. You know, it's a melting pot. You get a chance to grow up around so many different - you know, I've grown up in good neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods, worse neighborhoods. But growing up around so many cultures, it's always allowed me to think out of the box and try new sounds and try new things. You learn something new from every culture, just like I learn something new from every record. — Pitbull in 2019 He said he chose his stage name of Pitbull because the dogs "bite to lock. The dog is too stupid to lose. And they're outlawed in Dade County. They're basically everything that I am. It's been a constant fight".[18] After meeting Lil Jon in Miami,[18] Pitbull was featured on Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz' album Kings of Crunk in 2002.[4] Pitbull's song "Oye" was featured on the soundtrack to the film 2 Fast 2 Furious the following year.[18] In addition, Pitbull released several mixtapes, composed of freestyles and remixes of popular rap music. Pitbull also worked with Uncle Luke during his early career, being featured on Luke's 2001 album Somethin' Nasty, including the single "Lollipop" along with Lil' Zane.[4] Career 2001–2003: Luke Records and TVT Records In 2001, Pitbull was signed to Luther Campbell's Luke Records by Jullian Boothe, then the label's vice-president of A&R.[21] In 2001, Pitbull was introduced to Robert Fernandez of Famous Artist Music & Management, an independent label and management company specializing in developing artists, by the Diaz Brothers, a producer duo signed to the company. Fernandez "saw the eagerness and hunger he had" and, with the Luke Records deal ending, began working to develop Pitbull. Together they focused on creating a more radio-friendly sound. Fernandez later told HitQuarters: "At that time his music had a lot of verses and took a long time to get into the hook, and so we took time in getting the songs catchier and less on the rap side."[citation needed] Fernandez introduced Pitbull to Lil Jon, hoping to secure the rapper a small guest intro spot on Lil Jon's upcoming album Kings of Crunk. According to Fernandez, Jon took a liking to Pérez and offered him a track on the album; it is called "Pitbull's Cuban Ride Out". This track helped raise the young rapper's profile.[22] 2004–2005: M.I.A.M.I. In 2004, Pitbull released his debut album M.I.A.M.I., with the lead single being "Culo" produced by Lil Jon and the Diaz Brothers. It peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 11 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. Other singles included "Dammit Man", "Back Up", "Toma", and "That's Nasty" (both featuring Lil Jon). He joined the Anger Management Tour, the 2000 hip-hop concert tour headlined by Eminem and 50 Cent.[23] Pitbull also appeared on the Ying Yang Twins' single "Shake", which peaked at No.41 on the Hot 100 and No.12 on the rap chart, Adassa's chart topping single "Kamasutra" & Twista's "Hit the Floor" (#94 Hot 100, No. 20 Rap). Remix album Money Is Still a Major Issue was released in November 2005; it included new track "Everybody Get Up", a duet with hip-hop/R&B group Pretty Ricky. TVT Records, Pitbull's label at the time, and Slip-n-Slide Records disputed over the release of Welcome to the 305, an unreleased album by Slip-n-Slide that Pitbull recorded in 2001.[24] A Miami judge ruled that Slip-n-Slide had a legal right to release the album as it was recorded when Pitbull was a Slip-N-Slide artist, and prior to him signing with TVT Records.[25] A US District Court judge affirmed the decision further.[26] TVT was then ordered in March 2007 to pay Slip-n-Slide $9.1 million for attempting to block the album's release to record stores and digital download entities.[27] In 2005, Pitbull and rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs co-founded Bad Boy Latino, a subsidiary of Combs' Bad Boy Records label. It primarily focuses on Latin hip hop, Latin soul, Latin pop and other tropical music and has offices in New York and Miami, Florida.[28][29] Along with co-founding it, Pérez currently heads the A&R division of the label.[30][31][32] 2006–2007: El Mariel and The Boatlift In January 2006, Pitbull guest-starred in UPN's South Beach. Pitbull recorded "Nuestro Himno" in collaboration with Wyclef Jean, Carlos Ponce, and Olga Tañón.[33] On Listennn... the Album, the debut album by Terror Squad member and Miami radio personality DJ Khaled, Pitbull performed on three singles: "Holla at Me" and "Born-N-Raised" alongside other Southern-based rappers. He dedicated the album to his father, who died in May that year.[34] Along with the usual party-oriented tracks, Pitbull also included politically themed tracks in El Mariel.[35] The album was released on October 31, 2006, and included singles "Bojangles", "Ay Chico (Lengua Afuera)", "Fuego", and duet with Puerto Rican singer Ken-Y, "Dime (Remix)". El Mariel topped the Billboard independent albums chart[36] and peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the rap chart. Pitbull's third album, titled The Boatlift, was released on November 27, 2007, spawned by the single "Secret Admirer" featuring Lloyd on the chorus. Earlier, Pitbull announced that this album would have a more gangsta rap edge than his earlier albums.[37] Subsequent singles included "Go Girl" featuring Trina, and "The Anthem" featuring and produced Lil Jon, that song sampling the hook from the song "El Africano" by Wilfrido Vargas and the beat from the song "Calabria" by Rune RK. "Go Girl" peaked at No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 36 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart; "The Anthem" No. 36 on the Hot 100 and No.11 on the Hot Rap Tracks. His variety show, Pitbull's La Esquina, debuted May 2007 and ran through 2009 on the mun2 cable network.[38][39][40] Pitbull also appeared on DJ Laz' "Move Shake Drop" and DJ Felli Fel's "Feel It". 2008–2010: Pitbull Starring in Rebelution and Armando Pitbull performing at the Allstate Arena, B96 Jingle Bash, Chicago For his fourth studio album Pitbull Starring in Rebelution, Pitbull released "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" through Ultra Records after his former label TVT Records went out of business. "Krazy" peaked at No. 30 on the Hot 100 and No. 11 on the Hot Rap Tracks charts. "I Know You Want Me" peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and peaked within the top ten spots of charts in the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands. The song reached No. 1 in France and the European Hot 100 in the week ending August 29, 2009 according to Billboard magazine. "I Know You Want Me" ended at position 17 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2009. He later signed with Polo Grounds Music through Sony Music and created his own label Mr. 305 Inc.[41] The single "Hotel Room Service", which samples "Push the Feeling On", peaked at No. 9 on the Hot 100. The album went on to sell over 7.5 million worldwide digital singles and albums combined.[42][43] On their second collaboration since "Go Girl", Pitbull appeared on the debut single of rapper David Rush (formerly Young Bo$$), "Shooting Star", also with Kevin Rudolf and LMFAO. An amateur video of Pitbull punching a disruptive audience member at a Colorado concert leaked onto the Internet in late May 2009. Pitbull explained to MTV News that it was because the fan kept throwing cash around the stage, and after Pitbull pulled him up to the stage, he threw a stash of money right in Pitbull's face.[44] He was tapped by the Miami Dolphins to work alongside T-Pain and Jimmy Buffett to release a new fight song for the Dolphins.[45] The city of Miami granted Pitbull a "Key to the City" honor on August 19, 2009.[46] Another popular single from 2009 was "Blanco", featuring Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes from the soundtrack to the movie Fast & Furious. Pitbull recorded a remix with Mexican pop diva Paulina Rubio for her single "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" in November 2009. In 2010, Pitbull performed the rap section in the Haiti benefit song "Somos El Mundo", a Spanish version of "We Are the World", that included a huge group of Latin artists led by Emilio and Gloria Estefan. He was also a featured guest on Janet Jackson's "Heart, Beat, Love" in addition to "Armada Latina", the fourth single off the album Rise Up by Latin rap legends, Cypress Hill.[47] The song was produced by Jim Jonsin and also features American salsa singer Marc Anthony. Pitbull then collaborated with Alexandra Burke on the single "All Night Long".[48] He was also featured on "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" by Usher. Pitbull released his full-length debut Spanish-language album titled Armando on November 2, 2010. He was also one of the most nominated artists of the 2011 Billboard Latin Music Awards.[49] He garnered seven nominations for "Latin Rhythm Airplay, Song of the Year" for "Bon, Bon"; "Latin Rhythm Airplay, Artist of the Year, Solo Artist"; "Latin Rhythm Albums, Album of the Year" for Armando; "Latin Rhythm Albums, Artist of the Year, Solo Artist"; "Social 50, Latin Artist of the Year"; "Latin Digital Download of the Year" for "Bon, Bon" and "Hot Latin Song of the Year, Vocal Event" for the song "I Like It" alongside Enrique Iglesias. He also won Telehit's award for "Most Popular Artist".[50] 2011: Planet Pit Further information: Planet Pit Pitbull performing in 2011 In April 2011, Jennifer Lopez released Love?, which featured Pitbull on two singles. "Fresh Out the Oven" did not meet with critical or popular success, but the second cut, "On the Floor", was a certified hit. The single went on to make its Billboard Hot 100 debut at number nine, becoming the highest debuting Hot 100 single of Lopez's career.[51] Pitbull released Planet Pit on June 17, 2011. Pitbull collaborated with T-Pain on its first single, which became a moderate hit; "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)", which peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100.[52] On March 22, 2011, Pitbull released his second single, "Give Me Everything", which features American R&B singer Ne-Yo, American singer Nayer and Dutch DJ Afrojack, who also produced the song and co-wrote it with Matt Howard, Pitbull and Ne-Yo.; three months later, the song became Pitbull's first single to top the Billboard Hot 100. It was ranked No. 5 on the 2011 Billboard Year-End Chart.[53][54] In August 2011, Lindsay Lohan sued Pitbull, Ne-Yo and Afrojack in response to the song's lyrics referencing her name, "I've got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan." Lohan objected to the negative connotation of the line and claimed that she should have been compensated for the use of her name in the song. The case was dismissed by a federal judge, who ruled the tune's lyrics are protected by the First Amendment, which covers freedom of speech and creative expression.[55][56] 2012–2013: Global Warming, Meltdown & Men in Black 3 Pitbull in 2013 On October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, Pitbull (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) would release future material on the RCA Records brand. On May 8, 2012, he collaborated with the Italian DJ Gabry Ponte for the song "Beat on My Drum".[57] Pitbull's seventh studio album was titled "Global Warming" and released on November 16, 2012. Pitbull explained that the title reflected the fact that, much like the phenomenon of global warming, he has been around for a while but all of a sudden, people are paying attention.[58] The lead single from the album was "Get It Started" featuring singer Shakira. The third single was "Feel This Moment" featuring Christina Aguilera. The second single, entitled "Back in Time", was for the film Men in Black 3. It was the first lead single for the Men in Black franchise not performed by Will Smith.[59] The song, which plays during the end credits but is not featured on the soundtrack album, samples "Love Is Strange" by Mickey & Sylvia. Pitbull supported the album with a world tour in the summer of 2013. In 2013, Pitbull released a diss track towards Lil Wayne called "Welcome 2 Dade County" shortly after Lil Wayne's rant on the Miami Heat.[60] Pitbull made his film debut in Epic with a voice role of the character "Bufo". He embarked on the North American/Australian Summer Tour with Kesha to promote both their albums, which extends from May to November. He released his song "Feel This Moment" featuring Christina Aguilera on January 18, 2013, and they performed it live at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, as well as on the fourth season of The Voice. The song was a commercial success, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later he released the final single from his Global Warming album, Outta Nowhere featuring Danny Mercer, in late May. At the 2013 Latin Grammy Awards, Pitbull won the award for Best Urban Performance for his song "Echa Pa'lla (Manos Pa'rriba)".[61] Pitbull announced via Twitter that he would release the extended play to his studio album Global Warming, named Global Warming: Meltdown on November 25, featuring guest appearances from Kesha, Kelly Rowland, Inna, Mohombi and Mayer Hawthorne. The lead single, "Timber", featuring recording artist and tourmate Kesha, was released on October 7. The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 18 countries. Pitbull was featured on the early summer single "Live It Up", marking his third collaboration with Jennifer Lopez and Redone. Lopez and Pitbull performed the song at the Billboard Music Awards, American Idol and Premios Juventud. He also made album appearances for Priyanka Chopra, Flo Rida, Jessica Mauboy, Belinda, Jason Derulo and other artists. Pitbull provided the post-race concert at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on November 17, 2013.[62] Pitbull hosted the 2013 American Music Awards on November 24, 2013. 2014–2015: Globalization and Dale Pitbull performing with Enrique Iglesias at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, 2015 Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte performed the song "We Are One" at the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup.[63] On February 25, 2014, Pitbull released a new single titled "Wild Wild Love" featuring American recording artist group G.R.L.[64] It has peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.[65] On April 15, 2014, Pitbull released a single featuring Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte called "We Are One (Ole Ola) from the compilation album for the FIFA 2014 World Cup One Love, One Rhythm. In May 2014, it was announced that Pitbull would host and co-produce a live New Year's Eve concert special from Miami for Fox, Pitbull's New Year's Revolution, on December 31, 2014.[66] Pitbull (left) with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte performing at the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony. On June 12, 2014, Pitbull performed at the Arena de São Paulo as part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony. This performance saw him joined by Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte to perform the tournament's official song "We Are One (Ole Ola)".[67] In June 2014, it was announced that Pitbull would be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[68] On July 8, 2014, Pitbull released a Spanish-language single titled "Como Yo Le Doy" featuring Don Miguelo.[69][70] On July 23, 2014, Pitbull released another single titled "Fireball", which features singer John Ryan Produced by Honua Music. Around the same time, he announced his eighth studio album Globalization, which was released on November 21, 2014.[71] On October 18, 2014, Pitbull released another single titled "Celebrate" which was included on the Penguins of Madagascar soundtrack and later included on the album Globalization. Globalization was released alongside single "Time of Our Lives", which was Pitbull's first top ten hit since "Timber", peaking at #9 on the Hot 100. It also topped the Hot Dance Club Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic charts. On November 20, 2014, Pitbull released another Spanish-language single titled "Piensas (Dile la Verdad)" featuring Gente de Zona. On April 21, 2015, Pitbull released his sixth single on the Globalization album titled "Fun" featuring Chris Brown and peaked at number 40 on the Hot 100. On May 8, 2015, Pitbull released a teaser video on Twitter of his upcoming second Spanish studio album and ninth studio album overall titled Dale. The album was officially released on July 17, 2015, and included the singles "Como Yo Le Doy", "Piensas (Dile la Verdad)", "El Taxi", and "Baddest Girl in Town".[72] The album led to Pitbull winning his Grammy Award in the category of Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album.[73] 2015–2018: Climate Change, Greatest Hits, and Gotti On October 26, 2015, Pitbull released a new single titled "Free.K", which samples Adina Howard's "Freak like Me" in the chorus. The song was set to be the first single off his tenth studio album titled Climate Change.[citation needed] On January 7, 2016, Pitbull premiered the second single from his new album titled "Freedom", which also samples The Rolling Stones song "I'm Free" in the chorus. To coincide with the release of the single, the artist also teased a 2017 Norwegian party cruise. There is a campaign that launched in January 2016 in support of the cruise that is expected to last until later in the year.[74] That same month, Pitbull recorded a song for the movie Ride Along 2 titled "I'm 'Bout That". The song is unavailable on music platforms for unknown reasons. On February 14, 2017, Pitbull announced that Climate Change would be released on March 17, with pre-orders starting on February 17.[75] Pitbull collaborated with American girl group Fifth Harmony on "Por Favor" (released October 27, 2017) before announcing his 5th compilation album, titled Pitbull Greatest Hits. The thirteen track album features eleven of Pitbull's most successful leading artist songs, accompanied by "Jungle (with Stereotypes featuring Abraham Mateo and E-40)" and "Locas (featuring Lil Jon)", two brand new Pitbull songs. The deluxe edition of the album released exclusively in Japan featured a 14th track, "Celebrate". The compilation album was released worldwide on December 1, 2017. Pitbull released his first full-length soundtrack album for the film Gotti alongside Jorge Gómez on June 16, 2018. Pitbull is featured on two tracks on the album, "So Sorry" and "Amore" (featuring Leona Lewis). 2019–2020: YouTube history and Libertad 548 Pitbull collaborated with Indian singer-songwriter Guru Randhawa on the song "Slowly Slowly", released by T-Series on April 19, 2019.[76][77][78] The song's music video received 38 million views on YouTube within 24 hours, becoming one of the world's all-time most-viewed music videos in 24 hours.[79] Pitbull's eleventh studio album, Libertad 548, was released on September 27, 2019. The album included the Spanish hit single "No Lo Trates" featuring Daddy Yankee and Natti Natasha, which is RIAA Latin certified 6× Platinum (360,000+ sales). The album's second single "3 to Tango" went viral for John Travolta's surprise guest appearance in the song's official music video. The album's third single "Me Quedaré Contigo" was premiered at the 2019 Latin American Music Awards, and peaked at #1 on the Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay Billboard charts in the United States. The album's first promotional single, "Winning" featuring Yomil y El Dany, is a part of the Boost Mobile "Dale Más" advertising campaign.[80] The album's fourth single "Get Ready" featuring Blake Shelton, which was premiered live by Pitbull at the Super Bowl LIV Tailgate Tropicale pre-game show, was later added to the "Dale Más" advertising campaign for a series of pre-game Super Bowl commercials for Super Bowl LIV, and a remixed version of the single serves as the official theme song for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series. The album's second promotional single, "Cinco de Mayo" with Lil Jon featuring Chesca, was released on May 5, 2020. The promotional single was performed live at the Premio Lo Nuestro 2020, and the performance gained over 2 million views on YouTube as of July 2020.[81] The album's fifth single, "Mueve La Cintura" featuring Tito El Bambino and Guru Randhawa, was released on June 8, 2020. An accompanying music video, which was filmed in 2019 and directed by David Rousseau, was also premiered on that same date.[82] On July 17, 2020, the remix of "Mala", the original of which is found on Libertad 548, was released as a single. The song, titled "Mala (Remix)", features Becky G and additional guest vocals from De La Ghetto.[83] In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, LiveXLive launched a partnership with Pitbull, which would grant the platform exclusive rights to concerts, behind-the-scenes, videos and more from Pitbull to be streamed to LiveXLive's premium subscribers.[84] On August 14, 2020, Pitbull released a new single, titled "Te Quiero Baby (I Love You Baby)" with Latin pop singer Chesca and American singer Frankie Valli. The single serves as a Latin interpolation of the original Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons 1967 smash hit single "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".[85] 2021–present: Returning to touring, Trackhouse On June 22, 2021, Pitbull announced across all of his official social media platforms the I Feel Good Tour, named after his single of the same name, and his first dedicated tour since 2017's Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull Live! North American tour. The 32 city tour featured special guest Iggy Azalea and began on August 20, 2021, in Clarkston, Michigan and spanned across the United States through October 13, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.[86] On February 24, 2022, Pitbull performed with IAMCHINO and DJ Deorro on the live-debut of their late-2021 single, "Discoteca", at the 2022 Premio Lo Nuestro awards.[87] The song samples "Around the World (La La La La La)" by Eurodance group ATC.[88] On April 11, 2022, Pitbull announced the Can't Stop Us Tour with Iggy Azalea and Sean Paul. This marks the second consecutive year Pitbull has toured with Iggy Azalea. Pitbull and Sean Paul have previously collaborated on their hit song, "Shake Señora", from Pitbull's sixth studio album, Planet Pit (2011). The tour began on July 28, 2022, in Raleigh, North Carolina and concluded in Hollywood, Florida on October 19, 2022.[89] [needs update] On April 20, 2023, Pitbull performed a medley of his songs "Let's Take A Shot", "Me Pone Mal" and "JUMPIN" with Vikina, Omar Courtz and Lil Jon at the 2023 Latin American Music Awards. On October 6, 2023, Pitbull released his long awaited twelfth studio album Trackhouse, featuring guest appearances from T-Pain, El Micha, Lil Jon, Elvis Crespo, Vikina, Omar Courtz, Nile Rodgers, Gipsy Kings and Zac Brown. It entered number one on the US iTunes Latin Album Charts. Product endorsements In 2010, Pitbull took part in the "So Kodak" campaign for the Kodak brand[90][91] with Drake, Rihanna, and Trey Songz. He also launched a partnership with the soft drink giant Dr Pepper[92] as part of the campaign "Vida 23" for which he recorded a song that featured on his album Armando. Pitbull also announced he has become the spokesperson for Voli Vodka,[93] in which he holds a majority equity stake,[94] and Budweiser has chosen Pitbull to promote its Bud Light line of beer. The commercials currently highlight Pitbull dancing and gyrating on stage holding up a bottle of Bud Light. Pitbull has also purchased an equity stake in Miami Subs Pizza and Grill.[95][96] In 2012, Pitbull was involved in an advertising campaign with Walmart, in which the Walmart store that received the most Facebook "likes" from June 18 to July 15, 2012, would have Pitbull visit and put on a show there. An orchestrated campaign entitled "#exilepitbull" started by The Boston Phoenix reporter David Thorpe[97] and SomethingAwful.com writer Jon Hendren urged people to vote for a remote location, namely Kodiak, Alaska.[98] In an email to the Associated Press, Walmart confirmed that Kodiak was the winning location.[99] Pitbull visited Kodiak on July 30, where he received a key to the city from Mayor Patricia Branson and performed. David Thorpe, who had started the "#exilepitbull" campaign, was invited to attend and showed up.[100][101] In November 2013, he started a fragrance with Jacavi Worldwide and Parlux Ltd.[102] On May 19, 2015, Pitbull launched a new radio channel on Sirius XM Radio, called Pitbull's Globalization Radio, which is centered around Rhythmic, Dance/EDM, and R&B/Hip-Hop product from artists from around the world.[103][104] The artist celebrated the channel's debut with a private concert at New York City's Apollo Theater. In addition to launching his customized radio station, Pitbull also plans to launch a pair of projects with Endemol for digital television.[105] In 2019, Pitbull joined Boost Mobile to create a series of advertisements to expand Boost Mobile to Spanish communities. The promotional single "Winning" featuring Yomil y El Dany from Pitbull's 2019 album "Libertad 548" was used in the Boost Mobile "Dale Más" advertising campaign that has been actively rolling out advertisements starring Pitbull and his backup dance group The Most Bad Ones. The song "Get Ready" by Pitbull featuring Blake Shelton was later added to the advertising campaign, also from the Pitbull album Libertad 548.[80] On February 2, 2020, Pitbull was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Super Bowl LIV, alongside Jennifer Lopez, DJ Khaled, Alex Rodriguez, and Steven Van Zandt. The commercial was produced to promote Hard Rock and its affiliations; the commercial premiered during the 2nd quarter of Super Bowl LIV.[106] The commercial showcases the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which is also where the music video for "Get Ready" by Pitbull featuring Blake Shelton was filmed. The music video was released on February 10, 2020.[107] Controversies Pitbull has been criticized for the way women are depicted in some of his music.[108] For example, song lyrics such as "She say she won't, but I bet she will," and "I like that when you fight back" have attracted discussion about whether or not they could be contributing to the "legitimization" of rape.[109][110] Campaign described him as an artist "whose lyrics are routinely labeled sexist";[111] Complex similarly noted that "many view Pitbull as sexist."[112] Pitbull's song "We Are One (Ole Ola)" (featuring Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte), which served as the official FIFA World Cup 2014 song, drew some controversy for not being a good enough representation of Brazil, which was the host country of the World Cup that year. Critics condemned the song's lyrical content for being filled with cliches about Brazilian culture, as well as for not containing enough lyrics in Portuguese. Others called it a "bad, boring, replaceable pop song."[113] In December 2019, Cuban music duo Gente de Zona were banned from performing at a New Year's Eve concert in Miami alongside Pitbull due to their support of the Cuban government.[114] During the concert, Pitbull voiced his support for the duo amid the ban, stating that "music is music, politics is politics." He received immediate backlash for the comments, including from fellow Cuban musicians, such as Albita Rodríguez and Arturo Sandoval, and the Miami community. He later apologized, acknowledged he "screwed up," and claimed he was not fully aware of the extent of Gente de Zona's controversial political stances.[115] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pitbull made an appearance in a podcast episode where he claimed the pandemic was a conspiracy, called it a "scamdemic, plandemic," and spread false claims about the origins of it. A shorter clip of the podcast episode started going viral in early 2021, as social media users shared it hundreds of thousands of times.[116] He received backlash for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, and was labeled a "conspiracy theorist" by some.[117] Business activities On January 15, 2021, it was announced that Pitbull became a co-owner of the NASCAR Cup Series team Trackhouse Racing.[118][119] Impact and activism Determined to help the Latino community in his hometown, Pitbull's social impact focus for the last decade has been closing the poverty gap through educational initiatives. He helped start a Tuition-Free Public charter for middle and high school called Sports Leadership and Management (SLAM!), which opened in 2013 in Miami's Little Havana, the neighborhood where Pitbull grew up. SLAM! now operates nationwide, including in Miami, Las Vegas and Atlanta, with a 96 percent graduation rate. The school will be run by the non-profit Mater Academy.[120] In response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria, Pitbull announced he will use his private plane to bring cancer patients from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States for treatment.[121] On April 13, 2020, Pitbull released a single titled "I Believe That We Will Win (World Anthem)" (which samples the "I believe that we will win!" chant) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The song aims to inspire those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak to "face everything and rise". An accompanying music video was released on May 7, 2020, on YouTube,[122] and made its television debut on MTV.[123] Pitbull is donating all proceeds from song sales, streaming and views to Feeding America and the Anthony Robbins Foundation.[124] Pitbull is a vocal critic of communism and the Cuban government, having called on world leaders to support the 2021 protests against the Communist Party of Cuba.[125] On December 31, 2020, Pitbull performed for a crowd of first responders in Times Square during the COVID-19 pandemic for New Year's Eve.

Sara Al Madani: Wiki, Bio, Age, Height, Family, Husband, Kids, Net-Worth Sara Al Madani: Wiki, Bio, Age, Height, Weight, Education, Profession, Husband, Net-Worth: Sara Al Madani has gained fame as a popular business woman, fashion designer, reality TV Star and restaurant owner from Dubai. She first made an appearance in the first season of ‘Real Housewives of Dubai.

Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in Friday After Next, was a recurring guest on Wild 'n Out, portrayed Bobby Shaw in My Wife and Kids, provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks and Seamus in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and portrayed Lord Have Mercy in Norbit. In 2008, he voiced himself in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Early life Micah Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 2, 1971.[1][2][3] He was raised in Dayton, Ohio by Jehovah's Witness parents.[4][3] Williams has stated that he learned to read at 3 years old and was communicating in multiple languages, including French and Creole. He emancipated himself from his parents at age 13, moved to Florida and supported himself as a street vendor.[5][6] This was due to his father being intolerant and unsupportive of a life outside of the Jehovah's Witnesses and him wanting a future that was without the religion. He was homeless in Florida and lived at a park.[4] Career Stand-up career Williams started performing comedy in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati.[7][8] He honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs around the country and had become an established comic by 1999, appearing at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and The Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably, he appeared on BET's Comic View as Katt "N da Hatt" Williams.[7][8] Williams starred in his first comedy special, Let a Playa Play, in 2006. His first HBO stand-up special came in 2006 with The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1.[7] In 2007, he co-wrote and starred as himself in the comedy film Katt Williams: American Hustle. The film had critical success and established Williams as a mainstream comedian.[7][9] In 2008, he released his second HBO comedy special, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'.[10][11] Keeping busy releasing comedy DVDs and touring, Williams had a comedy tour that was named the best of 2008 by Billboard.[11] After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, Kattpacalypse.[12] Later that year, one day after a bizarre incident at a bar in Seattle that landed him in jail, he announced the end of his stand-up comedy career.[13] However, three days later, he announced he would not retire.[14] During late 2013, Williams was on his Growth Spurt Tour.[15] On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee.[16][17] In September 2015, during an interview, Williams announced and described his upcoming Conspiracy Theory Tour: "The conspiracy conversation is a conversation that we are all familiar with. We know that there are conspiracies out there, but this is a conversation that encompasses a lot of things that aren't being discussed other places. That's the basis for all conspiracy theories: the fact that there is hidden information out there, and how our process changes about things that we thought we used to know. We all, at some point, if we're are at a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. This is probably going to go down as one of my finest works, just because it's a collection of forbidden topics that we can't seem to get answered. I am one of the rare urban public officials. Part of my guarantee in my ticket price is that I'm going to be talking about what we are talking about now, and discussing from now to the next time we see [me] again. This is the open discussion that we've had since 2003. This is what it is about."[18] In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix called Great America and shot in Jacksonville, Florida.[19] In 2022, he released a new stand-up special on Netflix called World War III. Film and television career In 2002, Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue. He gained notoriety on Wild 'n Out, in which he appeared for several seasons.[7][8] He appeared in the official music video for Wild 'n Out colleague Nick Cannon's single "Gigolo" in 2003. In 2007, Williams provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks. He plays himself as an on-stage stand-up comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV performing several routines, including an abbreviated version of one of his routines from Katt Williams: American Hustle. He has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.[7][8] Williams has also played supporting characters in films, such as First Sunday and Norbit, but is more widely recognized for his character Money Mike in Friday After Next.[7][8] In 2018, he played the character Willy in the season 2 premiere of Atlanta, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Music career Williams has also used the stage name "Money Mike" when rapping for songs by such artists as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. In 2006, he joined rapper Cam'ron's group the Diplomats, but was never signed as an official artist for the label.[20] On January 29, 2009, he released his debut studio/live album, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'. On November 19, 2013, he and Hell Rell released a diss song to Atlanta rapper Trinidad James entitled "Lames in the Game" due to comments made by James about the state of current hip hop music.[21] Controversy On August 27, 2011, Williams' performance at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix was marred by an incident during which he responded to a heckler (who was identified as having Mexican ancestry) with an angry tirade that included shouting "so if you love Mexico, bitch, get the fuck over there".[22] In an interview following the performance, he stated that the incident was caused by the heckler: "If a person starts their heckling with 'f' America, then that gives me the right to defend my country." He offered no apology for his remarks during the performance and said, "I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-American."[23] Two live performances in November 2012 ended early because of Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1 performance at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver ended after he jumped off the stage to confront a heckler,[24] while a November 16 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland ended after he engaged in a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler and was assisted off stage by his own security.[25] In January 2024, Williams was featured on former football tight end Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay. This episode gained significant attention, with over 18.5 million YouTube views in less than 48 hours, for Williams' forthright and humorous discussion on various topics including his experiences in the entertainment industry, his approach to comedy, and perspectives on fellow comedians. During the interview, Williams remarked, "Well as a comedian, you get free drinks at the club. So... All comedians either turn out to be connoisseurs like myself or straight up and down alcoholics like 60% of Hollywood."[26] He also shared his candid views on acting, saying: "[Rickey Smiley] and Tyler Perry, he can't play a man to save his life. They play good women, and I believe that the best actor should be in the best role." In the same interview, when describing his childhood, Williams said, "I'm probably reading 3,000 books a year from the time that I'm 8 years old to the time that I'm 12." [27] That figure averages out to over 8 books per day. Legal issues On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase.[28] On December 14, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay restitution, and given credit for the three days he spent in jail.[2] In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond.[29] Police later charged him with burglary and criminal trespass.[30] On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30 p.m. local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries.[31] Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon, and arrested Williams for felony intimidation of a witness.[32] He was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail.[32] On November 15, 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he had allegedly beaten an 18-year-old man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus in Berkeley, California.[33] An attendee of Williams' shortened performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 16, 2012, filed a class action lawsuit days after the event, seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money for a show and got nothing but Katt Williams' nonperformance".[34] On December 2, 2012, Williams was arrested in Seattle after he allegedly got into a dispute at a bar in the South Lake Union neighborhood. His arrest came after he no-showed the first night of a planned two-night performance at the Paramount Theatre.[35] Five days later, he was arrested in Dunnigan, California, on a bench warrant arising from an incident the previous month in Sacramento, California, during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike onto a sidewalk and refused to stop for police. The resulting chase was halted due to safety concerns, and the bench warrant was issued after Williams narrowly missed several bystanders.[36] On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles on child endangerment charges. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and four of his adopted children were placed in protective custody.[37] On January 8, 2013, Williams was arrested at his Los Angeles home after failing to appear in Sacramento to answer the November 25 motorbike charges.[38] On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for the theft of a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5.[39] In April 2017, Williams pled no contest to the charge of robbery and was ordered to undertake a year of anger management classes as well as receiving three years' probation.[40] On February 29, 2016, Williams was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia, when a clerk at a swimming pool store said Williams had hit him. When police arrived, they found Williams already lying face down with his hands behind his back, waiting to be handcuffed.[41] On March 23, 2016, a video went viral of the 44-year-old Williams getting into a fight with a 17-year-old boy following a dispute during a soccer game in Gainesville. The authorities planned to review the incident with the DA in addition to his ongoing court cases.[42][43] On April 27, 2016, Williams was arrested and charged with battery in Atlanta, Georgia, after allegedly throwing a salt shaker at the manager of a local restaurant. The manager claimed to have been hit in the mouth with the salt shaker when Williams' group was denied preferential seating.[44] On July 24, 2016, Williams was arrested on suspicion of battery after an altercation with a woman at the Sportsman's Lodge, a hotel in Sherman Oaks, California.[45] On September 15, 2016, Williams was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, on a charge of second-degree criminal damage to property, after having turned himself in on a warrant for failing to appear in court for the April 27 incident. This new arrest involved an allegation from February 28, 2016, stating that Williams had thrown a man's cellphone.[46] On October 6, 2018, Williams was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a charge of assault in the fourth degree, after he assaulted a driver during an argument about his dog. He was additionally arrested on an outstanding warrant from Georgia.[47] Personal life Williams is a Christian and often wears a cross during his shows as a symbol of his faith, though he briefly joined the Nation of Islam while living in Oakland.[48] Williams has seven adopted children.[49]

Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He's regarded as one of the most prominent artists in R&B music,[note 1] being credited as an evolver of the genre,[8] and often being referred to by contemporaries as the "King of R&B".[note 2] His R&B has been characterized by several influences from other genres, mainly pop music and hip hop. His lyrics develop predominantly over emotional and hedonistic themes.[note 3] Brown has had wide comparisons to Michael Jackson for his singing and dancing abilities, as well as for his stage presence.[note 4] In 2004, Brown signed with Jive Records and released his eponymous debut studio album the following year, which was later certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[27][28] With his debut single "Run It!" (featuring Juelz Santana) peaking atop the Billboard Hot 100, Brown became the first male artist since 1995 to have his debut single top the chart. His second album, Exclusive (2007), was met with further commercial success worldwide, and spawned his second Billboard Hot 100 number one "Kiss Kiss" (featuring T-Pain).[29] In 2009, Brown received much media attention after pleading guilty to felony assault of his then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna; he was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community service, with his personal life and legal issues being highly publicized by media outlets in the following years.[30] This foresaw the release of his third album, Graffiti which was considered to be a commercial failure compared to his previous works.[31] Following Graffiti, Brown released his fourth album F.A.M.E. (2011), which became his first album to top the Billboard 200. The album contained the commercially successful singles: "Yeah 3x", "Look at Me Now" (featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes) and "Beautiful People" (featuring Benny Benassi), and earned him the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.[32][33] His fifth album, Fortune, released in 2012, also topped the Billboard 200. Following the releases of X (2014) and Royalty (2015), both peaking in the top three of the Billboard 200, his eighth album, Heartbreak on a Full Moon, a double-disc LP consisting of 45 tracks, was certified gold by the RIAA for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 after one week, and was later certified double platinum. Brown's ninth studio album, Indigo (2019) found similar success, debuting atop the Billboard 200.[34] It included the single "No Guidance" (featuring Drake) which broke the record for the longest-running number one on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.[35][36] Its chart success was outdone with the single "Go Crazy" (with Young Thug) released the following year, which broke Brown's own record for the longest-running number one on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart set previously by "No Guidance".[37][38][39] In 2022, his Indigo album spawned a sleeper hit with its song "Under the Influence", which was re-released as a single.[38][40] Brown has sold over 217 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He gained a cult following,[41][42][43][44] being as well one of the highest-grossing African American touring artists of all time.[45] In terms of charts and certifications, Brown holds different records, including the most Billboard Hot 100 entries of any male singer in history,[2] the most top 40 hits of any R&B singer in history,[3] the most RIAA gold certified singles of any male singer in history,[46][47] and the most RIAA multi-platinum singles of any male singer in history.[48] At the end of 2019, Billboard named Brown the third most successful artist of the 2010s decade in R&B and hip-hop music, behind Drake and Rihanna in first and second, respectively.[49] Additionally, Brown has won a total of 199 awards from 507 nominations over the course of his career. Brown has also pursued an acting career. In 2007, he made his on-screen feature film debut in Stomp the Yard, and appeared as a guest on the television series The O.C. Other films Brown has appeared in include This Christmas (2007), Takers (2010), Think Like a Man (2012), Battle of the Year (2013) and She Ball (2021). Early life Christopher Maurice Brown was born on May 5, 1989,[50] in the small town of Tappahannock, Virginia,[51] to Joyce Hawkins, a former day care center director, and Clinton Brown, a corrections officer at a local prison.[52][53] He has an older sister, Lytrell Bundy,[54] who works in a bank.[52] Music was always present in Brown's life beginning in his childhood. He would listen to soul albums that his parents owned,[53] and eventually began to show interest in the hip-hop scene.[50] Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age and often cites Michael Jackson as his inspiration.[52] He began to perform in his church choir and in several local talent shows.[55] Brown said, during a 2023 interview with Shannon Sharpe, that he started to take in consideration music as his job after winning a talent show during a summer camp when he was 11 years old, performing Sisqó’s "Thong Song": "The camp leaders, they laughed, but everybody kinda went crazy in there and I was like 'I think I can do this'."[56] When he mimicked an Usher performance of "My Way", his mother recognized his vocal talent, and they began to look for the opportunity of a record deal.[28] At the same time, Brown was going through personal issues. His parents had divorced, and his mother's boyfriend terrified him by subjecting her to domestic violence.[57] In a 2017 self-documentary, Welcome to My Life, Brown goes into detail about the abusive relationship. Brown said that when he was six, his mother's partner shot himself in the head, but did not die. The gunshot blinded him, the physical impairment only adding to his rage. His mother's partner took his anger and frustration out on Hawkins: "I had to hear my mom get beat up every night. I’d pee on myself, just scared to even walk out into the hallway, because I didn’t want to see nothing".[58] Career 2002–2004: Career beginnings At age 13, Brown was discovered by Hitmission Records, a local production team that visited the gas station where his father worked, while searching for new talent.[59] Around the same time, he performed with one of his production managers’ son, named TJ, for hip hop artist Puff Daddy, but the rapper refused to sign him to his record label Bad Boy Records.[60] Hitmission's Lamont Fleming provided voice coaching for Brown. The team helped to arrange a demo package, under the name of "C. Sizzle", and approached contacts in New York. Tina Davis, senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings, heard the demo package that Brown's local team had sent to Def Jam, and among the artists contained in the CD she was impressed by Brown with his track "Whose Girl Is That".[61] Davis later had Brown auditioning in her New York office, and she immediately took him to meet the former president of the Island Def Jam Music Group, Antonio "L.A." Reid, who offered to sign him that day, but Brown refused his proposal because Reid wouldn't talk to his mother.[62] Brown then started to sojourn in Harlem, New York, to seek a record deal.[63] The negotiations with Def Jam continued for two months, and ended when Davis lost her job due to a corporate merger. Brown asked her to be his manager, and once Davis accepted, she promoted the singer to other labels such as Jive Records, J-Records and Warner Bros. Records. "I knew that Chris had real talent," says Davis. "I just knew I wanted to be part of it."[64] Brown attended Essex High School in Virginia until late 2004, when he moved to New York to pursue his music career.[65] According to Mark Pitts, in an interview with HitQuarters, Davis presented Brown with a video recording, and Pitts' reaction was: "I saw huge potential ... I didn't love all the records, but I loved his voice. It wasn't a problem because I knew that he could sing, and I knew how to make records."[66] Brown ultimately chose Jive due to its successful work with then-young acts such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Brown stated, "I picked Jive because they had the best success with younger artists in the pop market, [...] I knew I was going to capture my African American audience, but Jive had a lot of strength in the pop area as well as longevity in careers."[64] Brown said in a 2013 interview, that during his permanence in Harlem, when he was trying to get his music heard by major labels, his artistic intention was to both rap and sing on his records, but Jive convinced him to stick to just singing, because according to him "it wasn't acceptable yet" for an R&B singer to also rap on records.[67] 2005–2006: Chris Brown and acting debut Main article: Chris Brown (album) Brown performing at KISS 106.1 Seattle Jingle Bell Bash 8, December 4, 2005 After signing to Jive Records in 2004, Brown began recording his self-titled debut studio album in February 2005. By May, there were 50 songs already recorded, 14 of which were picked to the final track listing.[52] The singer worked with several producers and songwriters—Scott Storch, Cool & Dre, Sean Garrett and Jazze Pha among them—commenting that they "really believed in [him]".[68] Brown co-wrote half of the tracks.[52] "I write about the things that 16 year olds go through every day," says Brown. "Like you just got in trouble for sneaking your girl into the house, or you can't drive, so you steal a car or something."[69] The whole album took less than eight weeks to produce.[69] In 2023, Brown described working on his first album as a "learning experience", recalling that he felt "insecure" about releasing "Run It!" as his first single.[56] The album's lead single, "Run It!", was a great commercial success, making Brown the first male act (since Montell Jordan in 1995) to have his debut single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot 100—later remaining for four additional weeks.[50] Three of the other singles—"Yo (Excuse Me Miss)", "Gimme That" and "Say Goodbye"—found similar success, peaking within the top twenty at the same chart.[70] Released on November 29, 2005, the self-titled Chris Brown album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 154,000 copies.[71][72] Decca Aitkenhead of The Guardian defined it as "a smooth slice of commercial R&B".[73] Chris Brown sold over three million copies in the United States—where it was certified three times platinum by the RIAA—and six million copies worldwide.[74][75] On June 13, 2006, Brown released a DVD entitled Chris Brown's Journey, which shows footage of him traveling through England and Japan, getting ready for his first visit to the Grammy Awards, behind the scenes of his music videos and bloopers. On August 17, 2006, to further promote the album, Brown began his major co-headlining tour, The Up Close and Personal Tour. Due to the tour, production for his next album was pushed back two months. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received $10,000 in ticket proceeds from Brown's 2006 "Up Close & Personal" tour. Brown has made appearances on UPN's One on One and The N's Brandon T. Jackson Show on its pilot episode.[76][77] 2007–2008: Exclusive Main article: Exclusive (album) In January 2007, Brown landed a small role as a band geek in the fourth season of the American television series The O.C..[78] Brown then made his film debut in Stomp the Yard, alongside Ne-Yo, Meagan Good and Columbus Short on January 12, 2007.[79] In April 2007, Brown was the opening act for Beyoncé, on the Australian leg of her The Beyoncé Experience tour. On July 9, 2007, Brown was featured in an episode of MTV's My Super Sweet 16 (for the event, it was retitled: Chris Brown: My Super 18) celebrating his eighteenth birthday in New York City.[80] Brown singing at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in 2008. Shortly after ending his summer tour with Ne-Yo, Brown quickly began production for his second studio album, Exclusive. The album's lead single, "Wall to Wall" was released, and it didn't reach the chart success of his previous singles, peaking at number 79 on US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 22 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, being his lowest charting single at the time. However, "Kiss Kiss", featuring and produced by T-Pain, released as the album's second single, received huge success, reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and becoming Brown's second number one single following "Run It!" in 2005. "With You", produced by Stargate (duo of producers known at the time for their work with R&B singer Ne-Yo), was released as the third single from Exclusive, and had even bigger worldwide success than "Kiss Kiss", becoming one of the all-time best-selling singles, and reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Exclusive was released in the United States on November 6, 2007. According to The Guardian the album demonstrated "his agility in fusing R&B with the era’s auto-tuned strain of pop-leaning hip-hop".[81] The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 294,000 copies in its first week,[82] becoming a bigger commercial success than his previous outing.[83] Exclusive was certified four times platinum by the RIAA.[84] In November 2007, Brown starred as a video host for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Math-A-Thon program. He showed his support by encouraging students to use their math skills to help children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.[85] On November 21, 2007, Brown appeared as a leading role in This Christmas, a family drama starring Regina King.[86] He also contributed to the soundtrack of the movie, that contains his cover versions of "Try a Little Tenderness" and "This Christmas", the latter has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. To further support the album Exclusive, Brown embarked on his The Exclusive Holiday Tour, visiting over thirty venues in United States. The tour began in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 6, 2007, and concluded on February 9, 2008, in Honolulu, Hawaii. In March 2008, Brown was featured on Jordin Sparks' single "No Air", which received worldwide success, peaking at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.[87] He also made a guest appearance on David Banner' single "Get Like Me" alongside Yung Joc. The song peaked at number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100, and number two on the US Hot Rap Songs chart. In 2008, Brown did of a commercial spot for Doublemint gum, creating a jingle commissioned by an advertising company working for Wrigley. Brown first created the short version for the commercial, then extended and expanded it into a full song named "Forever" during another recording session.[88] "Forever" was later released as a single anticipating Brown's re-issue of Exclusive. The song was noted for being Brown's first record to adventure into the dance-pop genre, becoming one of his biggest singles, reaching number two on Billboard Hot 100. Billboard wrote positively of the single, stating in its 2008 review that Brown "has proved as 2008's pop/R&B prince that he has talent and charm to command the charts for as long he chooses".[89] The re-issue titled Exclusive: The Forever Edition was released on June 3, 2008, seven months after the original version, featuring four new tracks, and pushed the album's success further. In August 2008, Brown guest-starred on Disney's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody as himself.[90] Towards the end of 2008, Brown was named Artist of the Year by Billboard magazine, with the songs "With You", "Forever" and "No Air" resulting three of the top 10 most sold singles in the United States of 2008.[91] 2009–2010: Graffiti and mixtapes Main article: Graffiti (Chris Brown album) Brown with Usher and Elephant Man at the Reggae Sumfest in 2010 In 2008, Brown began work on his third studio album, announced to be called Graffiti, promising to experiment with a different musical direction inspired by singers Prince and Michael Jackson. He stated, "I wanted to change it up and really be different. Like my style nowadays, I don't try to be typical urban. I want to be like how Prince, Michael and Stevie Wonder were. They can cross over to any genre of music."[92] Following the domestic violence scandal involving Brown and his then-girlfriend Rihanna on February 8, 2009, a major part of mass media took positions against the singer. The scandal also caused Brown to lose significant endorsements, including the one with Doublemint, with some music stations across the United States briefly banning Brown's songs.[93] The singer later participated in numerous television appearances during the year to express himself publicly about it. He spoke about it to ABC News: "I never ever had problems with anger. No, no domestic violence with any of my past girlfriends or any altercations. I never was that kind of person. I look at it, and it's really, like really difficult. It's like, 'How could I be that person?'".[94] Graffiti's lead single "I Can Transform Ya" was released on September 29, 2009. The song peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Crawl" was released as the album's second single on November 23, 2009. The song reached number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100. Graffiti was then released on December 8, 2009. Brown, with this album, started to take full control of his art, managing the artistic direction, and writing every song of the album (with the exception of the song "I'll Go", written and produced by Brian Kennedy and James Fauntleroy). He said that his decision to entirely direct and write his albums and songs came from the fact that he wanted to give his "own perspective of the music [he] wanted to make" and by his wanting to "verbalize whatever [he] was going through". Critics noted that with the album's sound Brown aimed to expand his music beyond the genres of his previous works.[95] According to Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times, the album is made of an "upbeat" part, that "can be considered the sonic sequel to "Forever"", mixed with power ballads, observed to express his remorse and feelings following the Rihanna incident.[96] The album, compared to its two precessors, was a commercial and critical failure, debuting at number 7 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 102,000 copies in its first week,[97] and receiving generally negative reviews from critics.[83] Despite this, Graffiti was nominated for two Grammy Awards; including one for the Best Contemporary R&B Album and the other for the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the track, "Take My Time" featuring Tank. As of March 23, 2011, it has sold 341,000 copies in the United States.[84] While performing a Michael Jackson Tribute at the 2010 BET Awards, Brown started to cry and fell to his knees while singing Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".[98] The performance and his emotional turmoil resonated with several celebrities present at the ceremony, including Trey Songz, Diddy and Taraji P. Henson.[99] Songz said, "He left his heart on the stage. He gave genuine emotion. I was proud of him and I was happy for him for having that moment".[99] Michael's brother, Jermaine Jackson, expressed similar sentiments stating, "it was very emotional for me, because it was an acceptance from his fans from what has happened to him and also paying tribute to my brother".[100] Later during the award ceremony, Brown stated, "I let y'all down before, but I won't do it again...I promise", while accepting the award for the AOL Fandemonium prize.[99] In August 2010, Brown starred alongside an ensemble cast, including Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Hayden Christensen and T.I. in the crime thriller Takers,[101] and also served as executive producer of the film. During 2010, Brown released the 3 free mixtapes In My Zone (Rhythm & Streets), Fan of a Fan (collaborative mixtape with rapper Tyga), and In My Zone 2, which featured a new style of writing for the singer, and a different musical style, mixing R&B with hip hop. For the mixtapes he worked with new producers, most notably Kevin McCall. The mixtapes received a great response from the artist's core audience, consolidating it. The single "Deuces", extracted from the Fan of a Fan mixtape, obtained critical and commercial success, peaking at number 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song was later remixed by the biggest names in the hip-hop scene of that time, including Drake, Kanye West, André 3000, Rick Ross, Fabolous, and T.I. He later released the solo track "No BS" as his second single from Fan of a Fan, and decided to include the two singles from the mixtape as anticipation singles for his next album. 2011–2012: F.A.M.E. and Fortune Main articles: F.A.M.E. (Chris Brown album) and Fortune (Chris Brown album) In September 2010 Brown announced his album, F.A.M.E. [backronym for "Forgiving All My Enemies"], releasing in October the first official single from the album, "Yeah 3x", a dance-pop song, different from the urban content of the previous mixtapes. The single received big international success, entering the top-ten in eleven countries, including Australia, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It was succeeded by the hip-hop single "Look at Me Now", featuring rappers Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, that reached number one on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart,[102] where it remained for eight consecutive weeks.[103] It also reached number one on the US Hot Rap Songs chart.[104] The single became the best-selling rap song of 2011, as well as one of all-time best-selling singles in the United States. Stereogum while critiquing Brown's public image during a review, praised his musical ability and the track, stating that "It brings me no joy to report that “Look At Me Now” is a 10".[105] Brown's fourth studio album F.A.M.E. was first released on March 18, 2011. Defined by critics as a "musical kaleidoscope" for its versatile sound, the album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 270,000 copies, giving Brown his first number-one album in the United States.[106] Steve Jones of USA Today said that the album showed "a more mature, confident and adventurous Brown who has emerged in the wake of all the drama, and he has delivered the strongest album of his career".[107] The album's third single, "Beautiful People", featuring Benny Benassi, peaked at number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and became the first number-one single on the chart for both Brown and Benassi.[108] "She Ain't You" was released as the album's fourth US single, while "Next 2 You", featuring Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber, served as the album's fourth international single. To further promote the album, Brown embarked on his F.A.M.E. Tour in Australia and North America. Brown performing at Supafest in Sydney, Australia (2012) Brown received six nominations at the 2011 BET Awards and ultimately won five awards, including Best Male R&B Artist, Viewers Choice Award, The Fandemonium Award, Best Collaboration and Video of the Year for "Look at Me Now".[109] He also won three awards at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards, including the People's Champ Award, Reese's Perfect Combo Award and Best Hip Hop Video for "Look at Me Now".[110] At the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards, F.A.M.E. won Album of the Year.[111] The album has also earned Brown three Grammy Award nominations at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album, as well as Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for "Look at Me Now".[112] On February 12, 2012, Brown won his first Grammy Award, for Best R&B Album. During the ceremony, Brown performed several songs marking his first appearance at the awards show since his conviction of felony assault.[32] Originally, Brown wanted F.A.M.E. to be a double-disc, consisting of 25–30 tracks, but the label was contrary to that. Right before the release of F.A.M.E. Brown decided to follow his intentions in an acceptable way for the label, working on a sequel of F.A.M.E. called Fortune, that would be a whole new album that contained new material and even some tracks that didn't make the cut of the previous album.[113] On October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, Brown (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release future material on the RCA Records brand.[114][115] Brown's fifth studio album Fortune was anticipated with the release of "Strip", "Sweet Love", "Till I Die", and the top 10 singles "Turn Up the Music" and "Don't Wake Me Up". Fortune was released on July 3, 2012. The album's musical style was noted for mixing Brown's R&B with pop and electronic music. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200,[116] but received negative reviews from critics.[83] Los Angeles Times wrote that the album is "brash and commercial", stating that "Brown’s “F.A.M.E.” hit with a solid combination of freaky, heavy-duty R&B bangers and the requisite sex-in-bed seduction numbers. But “Fortune,” his fifth studio album, is the work of an artist who has gone all-in with a handful of commercial tracks designed to get Our Hero paid and back in America’s good graces".[117] Despite the negative reception, it was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 55th Grammy Awards. To further promote the album, Brown embarked on his Carpe Diem Tour in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Trinidad. 2013–2015: X and Royalty Main articles: X (Chris Brown album) and Royalty (Chris Brown album) After concluding his Carpe Diem Tour in 2012, Brown's next studio album started to develop. On February 15, 2013, the singer unofficially released the song "Home", where he expresses a reflection on the dark side of fame, and on how the only moment of respite from that thought is when he returns to the neighborhood where he grew up with people who knew him from the start.[118] On March 26, 2013, Brown announced the release of X, in various interviews and listening sessions.[119] In an interview with Ebony, Brown spoke of taking his music in a different direction and changing his sound from pop-infused and sexually explicit of the previous album Fortune, to a more mature, soulful and vulnerable theme for the album.[120] On March 29, 2013, he released the critically acclaimed "Fine China" as the lead single of the album.[120] Following the release of two other anticipation singles of X, "Don't Think They Know" and "Love More", on August 9, 2013, at 1:09 am PDT, Brown was reported to have suffered a seizure from Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California as a 9-1-1 call was made. When paramedics arrived, Brown allegedly refused to receive treatment and also refused to be transported to the local hospital. (Brown has reportedly suffered from seizures since his childhood.[121][122]) The next day, Brown's representative reported the seizure was caused by "intense fatigue and extreme emotional stress, both due to the continued onslaught of unfounded legal matters and the nonstop negativity."[122][123] On November 20, 2013, Brown was sentenced to an anger management rehabilitation center for three months,[124] putting the December 2013 release of X in jeopardy. To "hold [fans] over until [the X album] drops," Brown released a mixtape, titled X Files on November 19, 2013.[125] Brown revealed in 2022, that at the time, when he was on the way to go to the counseling, he received a phone call from Prince, that told him to "don't lose focus", wanting a conversation with him about "being special". Brown described the phone call as "one of [his] most influential" moments.[61] On February 22, 2014, it was announced that the album would be released on Brown's birthday, May 5, 2014. On April 14, 2014, Brown released a teaser of the new track "Don't Be Gone Too Long" featuring Ariana Grande. However, following Brown's arrest for felony assault in Washington, D.C., on October 27, 2013, the collaboration ended up never being released and the album was again delayed due to Brown's prison sentence.[126][127] While incarcerated, "Loyal" was released as the album's fourth single, becoming one of Brown's most successful songs, by peaking in the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100 and in the United Kingdom. "New Flame" featuring Usher and Rick Ross was later released as the album's final single. The title track "X" was released as an instant-gratification track alongside the album pre-order on iTunes on August 25, 2014.[128] Brown said in a 2022 interview that following his release from jail he experienced more episodes of fans explaining to him how some of his records helped them through life-changing situations, making him realize that he was making music for an "actual purpose".[61] Brown's sixth studio album, X was released on September 16, 2014.[129] The album received positive reviews from critics, that considered it a big improvement compared to its critically panned predecessor Fortune. Brad Wete of Billboard reviewing X described Brown as "a talent whose skill for hit singles and agile performances is only matched by his knack for cannonballing into career-threatening pools of legal and PR problems",[130] At the 2015 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for the Best Urban Contemporary Album, while "New Flame" was nominated for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song. Commercially, the album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 selling 146,000 copies in its first week, becoming his sixth consecutive top ten debut in the United States. X has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Pushing the promotion for the album further, Brown performed and appeared at several televised music events and music festivals across the United States. On February 24, 2015, Brown released his first collaborative studio album with Tyga, titled Fan of a Fan: The Album. The album was a follow-up to the pairs 2010 mixtape Fan of a Fan.[131] In early 2015, Brown also embarked on his Between The Sheets Tour with Trey Songz.[132] In April 2015 he discovered that he had a daughter and broke up with his ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran, contemporarily starting his One Hell of a Nite Tour.[133] Brown in January 2016 performing "Back to Sleep" in Miami In spring of 2015, Brown was featured on DJ Deorro's song "Five More Hours", which received worldwide success.[134] On June 24, Brown released a new song titled "Liquor" as the first single from his seventh studio album, titled Royalty, being dedicated to his daughter.[135][136][137] On October 16 he revealed the album cover.[138] On October 13, 2015, Brown announced that Royalty would be released on November 27, 2015.[138][139][140] After it was revealed that the album has been pushed back to December 18, 2015,[141] in exchange on November 27, 2015, he released a free 34-track mixtape called Before the Party as a prelude to Royalty, which features guest appearances from Rihanna, Wiz Khalifa, Pusha T, Wale, Tyga, French Montana and Fetty Wap.[142] On October 16, 2015, the album cover was revealed.[143][144] The album was released on December 18, 2015, and it debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200, selling 184,000 units (162,000 in pure album sales) in its first week.[145][146] Brown directed and released eight music videos for the songs of Royalty, serializing them to construct a linear story.[147] According to Iyana Robertson of Vibe, Brown on the album "sticks to the absence of a sonic script", showcasing "a pure, palpable display of an “outside of the box” approach to music".[148] Robertson said that lyrically the album "waves goodbye to amour on its way out the door", noting it to be a "a stark contrast to 2014’s X, which included professions of affection".[148] 2016–2017: Heartbreak on a Full Moon Main article: Heartbreak on a Full Moon Brown started working and recording tracks for his next album few weeks before the release of Royalty, in late 2015. From the first days of 2016, Brown started to preview on his social media accounts several unreleased songs from his recording sessions.[149][150][151] In March 2016, he collaborated again with the Italian DJ Benny Benassi for the song "Paradise" from the album Danceaholic.[152] On May 3 he announced the single "Grass Ain't Greener", showing its cover art and announcing it as the first single from a new album titled Heartbreak on a Full Moon.[153] The single was released on May 5, 2016. On July 7, 2016, after 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers, Brown released on his SoundCloud page two piano ballads, "My Friend" and "A Lot of Love", saying that the songs are "released for free for anybody dealing with injustice or struggle in their lives."[154][155] In 2016 he released two hip hop collaborative mixtapes with his OHB crew, Before the Trap: Nights in Tarzana and Attack the Block. Brown (left) in the studio working on Heartbreak on a Full Moon, in June 2016 Throughout 2016 and 2017 he continued sharing several snippets from songs that he was recording. He also built a recording studio inside of his home to work on the album. During this period he embarked two concert tours as well: the European leg of the One Hell of a Nite Tour in 2016 and The Party Tour in 2017.[156][157][158] On December 16, 2016, he released the second official single from the album, "Party", featuring guest vocals from American R&B singer Usher and rapper Gucci Mane. Around this time, Brown decided to create Heartbreak on a Full Moon as a 40-track album. Talking about this decision, he stated in a 2017 interview that he wanted to "outdo expectations" and "push the boundaries on artistry".[159] RCA Records, the record label of the singer, initially wasn't agreeable of satisfying Brown's intentions to make a 40-track album, thinking that it would've damaged its commercial performance, but the singer ended up convincing them. "Privacy" was later released as the album's third single.[160][161][162] On June 7 he released Welcome to My Life, a self-documentary focused on his life and career, directed by Andrew Sandler.[163] Numerous celebrities participated in the movie, describing Brown from a personal and professional point of view. Among them there are Jennifer Lopez, Mike Tyson, Rita Ora, Usher and Tyga.[163] On August 4, 2017, he released the album's fourth single "Pills & Automobiles", that features guest vocals from American trap artists Yo Gotti, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Kodak Black,[164] while shortly after he released the fifth single, "Questions".[165] On October 25, 2017, Brown organized with Tidal a free pop-up concert in New York City to perform the singles on the album and promote it.[166][167] Heartbreak on a Full Moon was eventually released as a double-disc album on October 31, 2017, via digital retailers and onto CD, three days later by RCA Records.[168] Its lyrical content is thought to have been inspired by Brown's breakup with Karrueche Tran. He explained the concept for the album in August 2017 during an interview for Complex, saying: "I thought Heartbreak on a Full Moon was a depiction of what my soul wanted to say. It's funny because we're doing a double album. I've done so many records, but all of the records, to me, are personal favorites and I feel like it gets what I want to say across".[169] Cultural critic and media personality Joe Budden defined Heartbreak on a Full Moon as his best album.[170] Despite being counted for only three days of sales, Heartbreak on a Full Moon debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, becoming Brown's ninth consecutive top 10 album on the chart.[171] One week after its release Heartbreak on a Full Moon was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States, and Brown became the first R&B male artist that went gold in a week since Usher's Confessions in 2004.[172] In 2019 the album has been certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On December 13, 2017, he released a 12-track surprise deluxe edition of the album called Cuffing Season – 12 Days of Christmas.[173][174] Brown eventually embarked on his US "Heartbreak on a Full Moon Tour" in June 2018 to further promote the album. The opening acts for the tour were 6lack, H.E.R., Rich the Kid, and Jacquees.[175] 2018–2019: Indigo Main article: Indigo (Chris Brown album) In February 2018, Brown and rapper Joyner Lucas announced a collaboration project, titled Angels & Demons, with the release of the single "Stranger Things".[176] However the project ended up never being released. On March 15, 2018, Brown was featured in Lil Dicky's smash hit single "Freaky Friday". The song became one of the most successful comedy songs in contemporary pop music, topping the charts in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, also entering the top 10 in the United States.[177] Following the end of the "Heartbreak On A Full Moon tour", Brown started to work of his ninth album, Indigo. On January 4, 2019, Brown released "Undecided", its lead single. "Undecided" saw Brown reunite with producer Scott Storch, who previously worked with Brown in 2005 on his breakout hit "Run It!". The single marked Brown's first release after signing an extension and a new license agreement with RCA Records, that gave him the owning of his master recordings, making him one of the youngest artists to do so at the age of 29.[178][179] On April 11, he released the second single off the album titled "Back to Love". Andy Kellman of AllMusic described the song as a "career highlight",[180] although it failed to chart in the US.[181] The third single, "Wobble Up", was released a week later featuring Nicki Minaj and G-Eazy, and a summer tour with Nicki Minaj was announced, but it ended up never happening.[182] On April 25, he appeared on a track with Marshmello and Tyga called "Light It Up".[183] In an announcement on May 2, Brown revealed the list of artists he had been working with for his album, including Nicki Minaj, Tory Lanez, Tyga, Justin Bieber, Juicy J, Juvenile, H.E.R, Tank, Lil Jon, Lil Wayne, Joyner Lucas, Gunna and Drake.[184][185] The announcement of the Drake collaboration sparked headlines, due to their public feud that lasted for several years. On May 31, he appeared on the commercially successful single "Easy", where he duetted with singer DaniLeigh.[186] On June 8, Brown released "No Guidance" featuring Drake as a single. It debuted at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it Brown's 15th top-ten song, and later peaked at number five.[187] The single won Best Collaboration Performance, Best Dance Performance and Song of the Year at the 2019 Soul Train Music Awards and received a nomination for Best R&B Song at the 62nd Grammy Awards.[188] Brown performing during his Indigoat Tour in 2019 Indigo was eventually released on June 28, 2019, marking Brown's second double album.[189] Musically the album explored his R&B roots, and other genres such as Afrobeats, pop, dancehall and bounce music.[190] According to A.D. Amorosi of The Inquirer, the album's themes mix spiritual awakening with sexuality.[191] In the United States, Indigo debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 108,000 album-equivalent units, which included 28,000 pure album sales in its first week, making it his third number-one album in the country.[192] Indigo was further promoted with the release of the single "Heat", which topped the Billboard Rhythmic Airplay chart, and earned Brown his 13th number one on the chart, and second during 2019. On October 4, 2019, Brown eventually released a deluxe version of Indigo entitled Indigo Extended, which included 10 additional songs, making the extended version a total of 42 songs. On June 10, 2019, Brown announced an official headlining concert tour where he performed the album throughout United States, titled "Indigoat Tour". The tour began on August 20, and ended on October 19. Jay Cridlin of Tampa Bay Times attended the Tampa concert, and reviewing it he said it was "a guilty pleasure", wondering if enjoying his stage presence should be wrong, considering the controversies surrounding his public figure, expressing "At what point do we -- can we, should we -- forget about the blowups and restraining orders, and just marvel at the way Brown splits into a backflip and kick-spins a 360 during Drunk Texting?".[193] "Indigoat Tour" grossed over $30,100,000 in its 37 shows, selling out most of the venues.[194] Brown was ranked 3rd in the Billboard top R&B/Hip-Hop artists of the decade for the 2010s, behind peers Rihanna and Drake in 2nd and 1st, respectively.[49] 2020–2023: Breezy Main article: Breezy (album) In December 2019, Brown revealed that he started working on new material for his tenth studio album.[195] Later, on April 29, 2020, Brown announced the release of a collaborative mixtape with Young Thug, Slime & B. The mixtape was released on May 5, 2020, and features the hit single "Go Crazy", which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Brown's first song to spend one full year on the chart.[196] In April 2021, "Go Crazy" broke the record for the longest running No. 1 song on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, a record that was previously held by Brown's 2019 hit single "No Guidance".[197] On May 1, 2020, Brown was featured on Drake's Dark Lane Demo Tapes mixtape on the track "Not You Too". The song earned Brown his 100th career entry on the US Billboard Hot 100, as it entered and debuted at number 25.[198] On July 9, 2020, Brown announced via Instagram that the title of his tenth album would be Breezy, a reference to his stage nickname.[199] Also in July, Brown stated that while working on the album he wanted to make some "really endearing music" that "talk to women's soul".[200] On August 2, 2021, he announced on his Instagram account that his Breezy album would be accompanied by a short film of the same name, however it ended up never happening.[201] On January 14, 2022, he released the single "Iffy", which peaked to #1 of the Rhythmic Radio Chart on April 3, 2022.[202] On April 1, 2022, Brown released the album's second single "WE (Warm Embrace)". The song was listed on the "Top 5 R&B songs of 2022" list by Vibe magazine, that stated ""We" will go down in history as one of Chris Brown’s most timeless songs".[203] On April 26, 2022, Brown announced his U.S. summer tour "One of Them Ones" with rapper Lil Baby.[204] The tour included 27 stops in North America and kicked off on July 15.[205] Brown performed at Drai's After Hours Nightclub at The Cromwell Las Vegas Hotel and Casino on June 11, 2022 in Las Vegas to mark the launch of his new multi-year residency at the venue.[206] On June 17, 2022, one week ahead of the album release, Brown released the audio for an Afrobeats collaboration with Nigerian singer Wizkid titled "Call Me Every Day".[207] Breezy was released on June 24, 2022, by RCA Records and CBE and debuted at numer 4 on the Billboard 200.[208] On July 8, an expanded version of the album with nine new songs was released.[209] At the 65th Grammy Awards, the deluxe edition of Breezy was nominated for Best R&B Album, but lost to Robert Glasper's Black Radio III.[210] Following Glasper's winning, Brown publicly attacked him and The Recording Academy on his social media accounts, later apologizing to the American musician, congratulating him for the accolade, stating he was not the intended target.[211][212] Brown performing at the O2 Arena in London during his Under the Influence Tour (2023) On September 4, 2022, Brown won international artiste of the year at the 15th annual Headies awards. The category is designed for non-African artists or groups with outstanding achievements and impact on Afrobeats.[213] In the summer of 2022, his song "Under the Influence", contained in the extended edition of his 2019 album Indigo, went viral on the TikTok platform, giving the song great commercial success globally. With "Under the Influence", Brown became the first R&B singer in history to chart over fifty top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[214] On October 14, 2022, Brown appeared as a special guest at Usher's Las Vegas Residency to perform few songs. At the end of his performance Usher told Brown: "You're a legend. We love you and we gon' continue to keep lifting you up".[215] On November 16, 2022, Brown released two Christmas themed songs titled "No Time Like Christmas" and "It's Giving Christmas".[216] On November 18, 2022, Brown took to his Instagram page to announce that the American Music Awards had canceled his scheduled tribute performance to Michael Jackson in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1982 album Thriller. Brown also shared rehearsal footage of the cancelled tribute and stated the performance was cancelled for unknown reasons.[217] The cancelled tribute prompted backlash against the AMAs from fans and industry peers alike. Jermaine Dupri stated the decision to pull the tribute signals something grave for celebration of Black music stating that "If the American Music Awards canceled the Chris Brown performance, then that means they canceled the 40th anniversary of Thriller. Which means they canceled the Michael Jackson tribute. Black Music, we in trouble."[218] Similarly John Branca, the co-executor of the Michael Jackson Estate stated that the AMAs should be ashamed of themselves and that the cancellation is an attack on Black Music.[219] Following the global success of "Under the Influence", the title of the song gave its name to the European tour that Brown subsequently embarked in 2023, the "Under the Influence Tour", which registered sold out during all the 24 arena dates scheduled, with 7 additional dates being later added, also registering sold out.[220] The tour included six nights at London's O2 Arena, three nights at Accor Arena in Paris, three nights at Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam and more. Prior to the start of the "Under The Influence tour", the original opening act Skillibeng withdrew from the tour and was replaced by South African singer Tyla.[221][222] The tour marked Brown's first tour in Europe since the 2016 European leg of his One Hell of a Nite Tour. The tour also marked Brown's first concerts in the United Kingdom following the revoking of his ban from entering the country implemented in 2010.[223][224] In January 2023, Brown surpassed Elvis Presley for the most RIAA gold certified singles among all male vocalists in history, after previously passing Presley for the most Billboard Hot 100 entries among all male vocalists.[225] In March 2023, Brown became the fifth artist in Billboard's history to reach 10 No. 1s on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart with his hit record Under the Influence.[226] Additionally, Brown earned his 18th No. 1 on the Billboard's Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart with Under the Influence. Making him the artist with the third most No. 1s on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart behind Drake and Lil Wayne in first and second, respectively.[227] On August 4, 2023, the single "How We Roll" in collaboration with Ciara was released.[228][229] On August 27, 2023, Brown headlined a one off concert from Jamaica National Stadium, titled Chris Brown and Friends Live In Jamaica, as apart his 'Under the Influence Tour'.[230][231] 2023–Present: 11:11 Main article: 11:11 (Chris Brown album) Brown performing in Kingston, Jamaica during his "Under the Influence Tour" In June 2023, Brown released "Summer Too Hot", the lead single of his eleventh album. The song is nominated at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance.[232] Brown announced that his next album would be titled 11:11, revealing the album's concept being connected to the homonym numerological belief. Moreover, he shared that the album will contain 11 songs, a much shorter tracklist than his previous albums Heartbreak on a Full Moon, Indigo, and Breezy. On October 20, 2023, Brown released the Afrobeats song "Sensational" featuring Nigerian artists Lojay and Davido, as 11:11's second single.[233] On October 21, 2023, Brown clarified that the album would actually contain 22 songs as opposed to the 11 he had stated previously.[233] On November 6, 2023, Brown confirmed that there would be 7 featured artists on the album, including Lojay, Davido, Future, Fridayy, Byron Messia and 2 other artists who were listed as hidden features prior to its release.[234][235] On November 7, 2023, Brown released the single "Nightmares" featuring Byron Messia.[236] On November 9, he announced that 11:11 would be released on November 10, a day earlier than what previously announced.[237] A few hours before the release of 11:11, its last track was changed from the previously announced "Double Negative", which features Justin Bieber, to a track called "Views". Brown explained the last minute change on his Instagram account on the album's release day with the following statement "Double negative unfortunately did not make the deadline in time with the lawyers, so we couldn't put it on the album. Justin my little brother for life, so we will make that moment happen soon. Sorry to the fans that really wanted it to be on the album".[238] 11:11 was released on November 10, 2023. The album marks Brown's third double album, with its two sides containing 11 tracks each.[239] The album's musical style mixes R&B, pop music, Afrobeats and dancehall.[240] Reviewing 11:11, Kayla Sandiford of Renowned for Sound stated that on the record "Brown does well to demonstrate his dynamic vocal quality".[240] In the United States, 11:11 debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200, making it his 12th consecutive top-ten album in the country.[241][242] 11:11 marks the lowest debut for a Chris Brown's solo studio album on the US Billboard 200, surpassing Graffiti (2009) which debuted at number seven on the chart.[243] Towards the end of 2023, Brown performed different concerts located in the Middle East.[244][245] The singer addressed the ongoing war in Gaza at the end of a Dubai, UAE concert, saying there’s ‘a lot of evil and a lot of genocide going on in the world right now’, urging his audience, particularly the younger generation, to embrace love and positivity and expressed his appreciation for the support of his fans using words in Arabic. ‘InshaAllah, mashaAllah, I love you,’ he said.[246] Artistry Influences Michael Jackson in 1988. He is cited as the main inspiration for Brown to make music. Brown has cited a number of artists as his inspiration, predominantly Michael Jackson. Brown emphasizes "Michael Jackson is the reason why I do music and why I am an entertainer."[247] In "She Ain't You", "Fine China" and "Back to Love", he exemplifies Jackson's influence both musically and visually.[248][249] Ebony magazine's Britini Danielle asserted that "Fine China" was "reminiscent of Michael Jackson's Off the Wall".[250] Choreographically, MTV noticed that it "takes distinct visual cues from classic clips like 'Smooth Criminal' and 'Beat It'",[251] while Billboard complimented his appearance by calling it "a modern way to channel the King of Pop".[252] Usher is also another influence who comes across as a more contemporary figure for Brown. He tells Vibe magazine "He was the one who the youngsters looked up to. I know that we, in the dancing and singing world, looked up to him",[253] and maintains "If it wasn't for Usher, then Chris Brown couldn't exist".[254] Other influences include Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Ginuwine, Phil Collins, Bobby Brown and R. Kelly.[255] When it comes to his rapping he cited Naughty by Nature, Tupac, Lil' Wayne and Rakim as the rappers he's inspired by.[256] Musical style Brown's musical style typically blends the traditional sound of R&B with different influences from other genres, most importantly hip hop and pop.[148] His pure side of R&B is densely shown throughout his discography, being examplified by songs like "No BS", "Don't Judge Me", "Back To Sleep" and "WE (Warm Embrace)". Music critics have commended Brown's musical contribution, recognizing his versatility,[257][258] and considering him an evolver of R&B music.[8] Lyana Robertson of Vibe, talking about his introduction to the genre, said: "As traditional R&B flourished around him, the young singer began an evolution of the genre". She saw his debut single "Run It!" as a "prelude to what Brown would continue to do for the next decade: relentlessly disrupt the constructs of rhythm and blues." By his second album Exclusive, she says he was "tapping more electric up-tempos, swimming deep in hip-hop waters and annihilating the pop arena". Describing the Grammy Award winning F.A.M.E. as "his most diverse offering to date", containing songs that mixed many genres including R&B, pop, hip hop, dancehall, rock and Europop, she remarked "There was no level of musical flexibility comparable. There still isn't."[8] F.A.M.E. is considered to be the album that defined Brown's musical style and persona.[259] Fortune was noted for featuring a more electronic musical direction, containing genres such as house music and EDM.[260] According to AllMusic, different tracks of the X album are "soul-driven", while on others "Brown combines memorable hooks with some stellar production work on rubbery disco-funk".[261] Disco and funk are also showcased on singles like "Zero" and "Fine China".[262] Royalty and Heartbreak on a Full Moon further explored alternative R&B and trap, with the latter also containing dancehall records.[263] Throughout his career Brown has always had a strong influence from hip hop in his music,[264][265] and following his 2010 mixtapes, he approached the genre differently, starting to rap frequently on mixtapes and features, adding to his albums fully hip-hop songs like "Look at Me Now", "Till I Die" and "Pills & Automobiles", or by doing performances that switch from his R&B singing to his rapping, like he did in several tracks from his album Heartbreak on a Full Moon. His dance-pop side in the single "Forever" off his second album Exclusive opened the door for other Europop songs like "Yeah 3x", "Beautiful People", "Turn Up The Music" and "Don't Wake Me Up", but started to be less present in his music from his album X.[16] On the albums Indigo and 11:11 Brown incorporated Afrobeats in his music.[190][240] Themes Brown's lyrical production is typically considered to be "emotional" or "hedonistic".[13][14][15] His songs mainly cover themes of sex, desire, regret, romantic love, heartbreak, recklessness and internal conflict, also having some introspections over the dark side of fame.[16][266] Along with his vocal and dancing abilities, his songwriting is considered to be one of the things that distincts him for the better compared to other R&B singers of his time.[267] American media executive and radio personality Ebro Darden stated that Brown is the "most all-around talented person in R&B. Trey Songz is talented, but he can't dance like Chris Brown. Usher is probably the only one that could come close to him, but he doesn't have the songwriting abilities that Chris Brown has".[268] Brown said in 2013, during an interview for Rolling Stone, that his songs are always "derived from personal experiences. Then again, I always like mixing reality with art."[269] Billboard reviewing Royalty found its content to be "an art imitating life thing".[270] Vulture's writer Craig Jenkins, while reviewing Heartbreak on a Full Moon, noted in its "breakup tracks" a usage of "shattered, jilted reflection", while the sexual records' lyrics were described for being explicit.[271] Voice Brown possesses a light lyric tenor voice, which spans three and a half octaves, rising from the bass F♯ (F2) to its peak at the soprano C♯.(C♯6)[272][better source needed] His vocal ability was first recognized by his mother at a young age, as Brown tells People magazine "I was 11 and watching Usher perform 'My Way', and I started trying to mimic it. My mom was like, 'You can sing?' And I was like, 'Well, yeah, Mama.'" subsequently leading to the start of his career.[28] "Take You Down" most notably earned him a Grammy award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2009.[273] Often described as a dynamic vocalist,[4][240] Brown's vocal performances are characterized by harmonization, vocal runs and melisma.[274] Stereogum stated that "Brown’s voice is an undeniably powerful instrument, one of those endlessly elastic soulful tenors, and he knows exactly how to flex it without flaunting it".[275] While his voice on his first two albums, Chris Brown and Exclusive, was considered to be "youthful", due to his age,[276] with subsequent projects like Graffiti and F.A.M.E. it was noted for maturing to a more distinctive voice, with Brown "coming into his own as a singer".[277] On F.A.M.E. critics noted huge flexibility in his voice, with Steve Jones of USA Today praising the singer's ability to "give top notch vocal performances in R&B, Europop, rap, rock and acoustic records".[259] X and Indigo were noted for displaying his timbre, exemplifying his singing performances.[278][279] According to Billboard, his singles "Liquor" and "Go Crazy" are representative of Brown's harmonizing.[280] "Lost & Found", "Time for Love", "No Guidance" and "Red", feature "energic" vocal performances, being noted for displaying a "wide emotional range" in his singing.[281] On "Another Round", "Don't Judge Me" and "It Won't Stop", he showcases "soft vocals" through a "soothing tone".[282] According to Slant Magazine, different tracks from his Heartbreak on a Full Moon album showcase the singer's falsetto, being "a reminder that Brown’s voice is capable of sublime beauty".[283] Jake Indiana of Highsnobiety said that his feature on Kanye West's song "Waves" is one of his best vocal performances, and that it "sounds like ascending to heaven with a choir of angels at your back".[284] On "Look at Me Now", "No Romeo No Juliet" and "Stranger Things" he displayed his ability of fast-rapping.[285][286] Dancing Brown dancing on stage during his Party Tour in 2017 Brown's dancing abilities and stage presence are widely praised,[287][288] receiving broad comparisons to those of Michael Jackson.[289][290][291] According to Brown, he taught himself how to dance by imitating Jackson's moves since childhood, then developing his own distinct style throughout his career.[52] Most of his music videos feature complex choreographies,[292] including the "futuristic" "Turn Up the Music",[293] the Jackson-inspired choreography of "Fine China", "Zero", where he displayed different dancing styles, including popping and his "signature spin move",[292] "Party", where he showcased his remarked footwork,[294] and "Heat", described by The Source as a "silky smooth choreography that shows Brown's unmatchable dancing talent".[295][292][296] Some of his most notable dancing live performances include his "Thriller" recreation at the 2006 World Music Awards, his medley at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, where he performed a choreography that included flying parts, and his 2015 freestyled dancing over Future's "March Madness" at the Vestival The Hague Malieveld, that included an acclaimed front-flip.[297][298][299] In films such as Stomp the Yard and Battle of the Year, Brown displayed his ability to breakdance while in-character. Street art Aside from his musical career, Brown was noted for markedly producing graffiti art.[300][301][302] His visual works have been described as "manga-inspired" and "abstract".[303] Brown said that he painted since his childhood, saying "my first approach with it was painting school walls" saying that he's always been captivated by the fact that drawing and painting "gives you the chance to express yourself in whatever way, showing to the world your own dimension".[304] Chris Brown painting a shop shutter in Amsterdam (2016) Brown has produced street art under the pseudonym Konfused, partnering with street artist Kai to produce works for the Miami Basel.[305][306][307] The singer painted the buildings of different radio stations such as Hot 97.[308][309] In 2015 he worked on some of the walls of The Grammy Museum, mixing his spray paint drawings with images of James Brown, Prince, Michael Jackson and himself.[310] Brown has made graffiti works for different cities worldwide, including Los Angeles, London and Amsterdam.[311][312] His painting and dancing abilities were shown at the same time when Brown, partnering with Spotify's Rap Caviar, painted Heartbreak on a Full Moon's album cover, mostly from dancing around the canvas.[313] In 2020 he painted a mural in memory of Kobe Bryant, doing a portray that includes Kobe's face, a mamba, and a few pictures of Kobe dribbling and dunking a basketball.[314][315] Acting Brown has also pursued an acting career. In 2007, he made his on-screen feature film debut as a supporting role in the dance drama Stomp the Yard and took a leading role in the Christmas comedy film This Christmas (2007). He portrayed Will Tutt in three episodes on the Fox television series The O.C. in 2007. He also guest starred as himself on the children's programs Sesame Street in 2007, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody in 2008, and in the Comedy Central series Tosh.O in 2011. He has continued to act inconsistently in films such as the heist thriller, Takers (2010), which he also executive produced, the romantic comedy Think Like a Man (2012), and the dance film Battle of the Year (2013). He produced and starred in a documentary on himself entitled, Welcome to My Life (20

Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in Friday After Next, was a recurring guest on Wild 'n Out, portrayed Bobby Shaw in My Wife and Kids, provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks and Seamus in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and portrayed Lord Have Mercy in Norbit. In 2008, he voiced himself in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Early life Micah Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 2, 1971.[1][2][3] He was raised in Dayton, Ohio by Jehovah's Witness parents.[4][3] Williams has stated that he learned to read at 3 years old and was communicating in multiple languages, including French and Creole. He emancipated himself from his parents at age 13, moved to Florida and supported himself as a street vendor.[5][6] This was due to his father being intolerant and unsupportive of a life outside of the Jehovah's Witnesses and him wanting a future that was without the religion. He was homeless in Florida and lived at a park.[4] Career Stand-up career Williams started performing comedy in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati.[7][8] He honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs around the country and had become an established comic by 1999, appearing at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and The Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably, he appeared on BET's Comic View as Katt "N da Hatt" Williams.[7][8] Williams starred in his first comedy special, Let a Playa Play, in 2006. His first HBO stand-up special came in 2006 with The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1.[7] In 2007, he co-wrote and starred as himself in the comedy film Katt Williams: American Hustle. The film had critical success and established Williams as a mainstream comedian.[7][9] In 2008, he released his second HBO comedy special, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'.[10][11] Keeping busy releasing comedy DVDs and touring, Williams had a comedy tour that was named the best of 2008 by Billboard.[11] After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, Kattpacalypse.[12] Later that year, one day after a bizarre incident at a bar in Seattle that landed him in jail, he announced the end of his stand-up comedy career.[13] However, three days later, he announced he would not retire.[14] During late 2013, Williams was on his Growth Spurt Tour.[15] On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee.[16][17] In September 2015, during an interview, Williams announced and described his upcoming Conspiracy Theory Tour: "The conspiracy conversation is a conversation that we are all familiar with. We know that there are conspiracies out there, but this is a conversation that encompasses a lot of things that aren't being discussed other places. That's the basis for all conspiracy theories: the fact that there is hidden information out there, and how our process changes about things that we thought we used to know. We all, at some point, if we're are at a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. This is probably going to go down as one of my finest works, just because it's a collection of forbidden topics that we can't seem to get answered. I am one of the rare urban public officials. Part of my guarantee in my ticket price is that I'm going to be talking about what we are talking about now, and discussing from now to the next time we see [me] again. This is the open discussion that we've had since 2003. This is what it is about."[18] In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix called Great America and shot in Jacksonville, Florida.[19] In 2022, he released a new stand-up special on Netflix called World War III. Film and television career In 2002, Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue. He gained notoriety on Wild 'n Out, in which he appeared for several seasons.[7][8] He appeared in the official music video for Wild 'n Out colleague Nick Cannon's single "Gigolo" in 2003. In 2007, Williams provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks. He plays himself as an on-stage stand-up comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV performing several routines, including an abbreviated version of one of his routines from Katt Williams: American Hustle. He has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.[7][8] Williams has also played supporting characters in films, such as First Sunday and Norbit, but is more widely recognized for his character Money Mike in Friday After Next.[7][8] In 2018, he played the character Willy in the season 2 premiere of Atlanta, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Music career Williams has also used the stage name "Money Mike" when rapping for songs by such artists as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. In 2006, he joined rapper Cam'ron's group the Diplomats, but was never signed as an official artist for the label.[20] On January 29, 2009, he released his debut studio/live album, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'. On November 19, 2013, he and Hell Rell released a diss song to Atlanta rapper Trinidad James entitled "Lames in the Game" due to comments made by James about the state of current hip hop music.[21] Controversy On August 27, 2011, Williams' performance at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix was marred by an incident during which he responded to a heckler (who was identified as having Mexican ancestry) with an angry tirade that included shouting "so if you love Mexico, bitch, get the fuck over there".[22] In an interview following the performance, he stated that the incident was caused by the heckler: "If a person starts their heckling with 'f' America, then that gives me the right to defend my country." He offered no apology for his remarks during the performance and said, "I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-American."[23] Two live performances in November 2012 ended early because of Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1 performance at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver ended after he jumped off the stage to confront a heckler,[24] while a November 16 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland ended after he engaged in a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler and was assisted off stage by his own security.[25] In January 2024, Williams was featured on former football tight end Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay. This episode gained significant attention, with over 18.5 million YouTube views in less than 48 hours, for Williams' forthright and humorous discussion on various topics including his experiences in the entertainment industry, his approach to comedy, and perspectives on fellow comedians. During the interview, Williams remarked, "Well as a comedian, you get free drinks at the club. So... All comedians either turn out to be connoisseurs like myself or straight up and down alcoholics like 60% of Hollywood."[26] He also shared his candid views on acting, saying: "[Rickey Smiley] and Tyler Perry, he can't play a man to save his life. They play good women, and I believe that the best actor should be in the best role." In the same interview, when describing his childhood, Williams said, "I'm probably reading 3,000 books a year from the time that I'm 8 years old to the time that I'm 12." [27] That figure averages out to over 8 books per day. Legal issues On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase.[28] On December 14, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay restitution, and given credit for the three days he spent in jail.[2] In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond.[29] Police later charged him with burglary and criminal trespass.[30] On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30 p.m. local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries.[31] Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon, and arrested Williams for felony intimidation of a witness.[32] He was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail.[32] On November 15, 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he had allegedly beaten an 18-year-old man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus in Berkeley, California.[33] An attendee of Williams' shortened performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 16, 2012, filed a class action lawsuit days after the event, seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money for a show and got nothing but Katt Williams' nonperformance".[34] On December 2, 2012, Williams was arrested in Seattle after he allegedly got into a dispute at a bar in the South Lake Union neighborhood. His arrest came after he no-showed the first night of a planned two-night performance at the Paramount Theatre.[35] Five days later, he was arrested in Dunnigan, California, on a bench warrant arising from an incident the previous month in Sacramento, California, during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike onto a sidewalk and refused to stop for police. The resulting chase was halted due to safety concerns, and the bench warrant was issued after Williams narrowly missed several bystanders.[36] On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles on child endangerment charges. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and four of his adopted children were placed in protective custody.[37] On January 8, 2013, Williams was arrested at his Los Angeles home after failing to appear in Sacramento to answer the November 25 motorbike charges.[38] On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for the theft of a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5.[39] In April 2017, Williams pled no contest to the charge of robbery and was ordered to undertake a year of anger management classes as well as receiving three years' probation.[40] On February 29, 2016, Williams was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia, when a clerk at a swimming pool store said Williams had hit him. When police arrived, they found Williams already lying face down with his hands behind his back, waiting to be handcuffed.[41] On March 23, 2016, a video went viral of the 44-year-old Williams getting into a fight with a 17-year-old boy following a dispute during a soccer game in Gainesville. The authorities planned to review the incident with the DA in addition to his ongoing court cases.[42][43] On April 27, 2016, Williams was arrested and charged with battery in Atlanta, Georgia, after allegedly throwing a salt shaker at the manager of a local restaurant. The manager claimed to have been hit in the mouth with the salt shaker when Williams' group was denied preferential seating.[44] On July 24, 2016, Williams was arrested on suspicion of battery after an altercation with a woman at the Sportsman's Lodge, a hotel in Sherman Oaks, California.[45] On September 15, 2016, Williams was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, on a charge of second-degree criminal damage to property, after having turned himself in on a warrant for failing to appear in court for the April 27 incident. This new arrest involved an allegation from February 28, 2016, stating that Williams had thrown a man's cellphone.[46] On October 6, 2018, Williams was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a charge of assault in the fourth degree, after he assaulted a driver during an argument about his dog. He was additionally arrested on an outstanding warrant from Georgia.[47]

Not to be confused with Kat Williams or William Katt. Katt Williams Williams in February 2018 Birth name Micah Williams Born September 2, 1971 (age 52) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. Medium Stand-up comedy, television, film, music Genres Black comedy, blue comedy, satire, observational comedy, physical comedy Subject(s) African-American culture, racism, politics, celebrities, sex Children 8 (1 biological, 7 adopted) Website https://kattwilliamslive.com Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in Friday After Next, was a recurring guest on Wild 'n Out, portrayed Bobby Shaw in My Wife and Kids, provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks and Seamus in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and portrayed Lord Have Mercy in Norbit. In 2008, he voiced himself in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Early life Micah Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 2, 1971.[1][2][3] He was raised in Dayton, Ohio by Jehovah's Witness parents.[4][3] Williams has stated that he learned to read at 3 years old and was communicating in multiple languages, including French and Creole. He emancipated himself from his parents at age 13, moved to Florida and supported himself as a street vendor.[5][6] This was due to his father being intolerant and unsupportive of a life outside of the Jehovah's Witnesses and him wanting a future that was without the religion. He was homeless in Florida and lived at a park.[4] Career Stand-up career Williams started performing comedy in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati.[7][8] He honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs around the country and had become an established comic by 1999, appearing at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and The Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably, he appeared on BET's Comic View as Katt "N da Hatt" Williams.[7][8] Williams starred in his first comedy special, Let a Playa Play, in 2006. His first HBO stand-up special came in 2006 with The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1.[7] In 2007, he co-wrote and starred as himself in the comedy film Katt Williams: American Hustle. The film had critical success and established Williams as a mainstream comedian.[7][9] In 2008, he released his second HBO comedy special, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'.[10][11] Keeping busy releasing comedy DVDs and touring, Williams had a comedy tour that was named the best of 2008 by Billboard.[11] After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, Kattpacalypse.[12] Later that year, one day after a bizarre incident at a bar in Seattle that landed him in jail, he announced the end of his stand-up comedy career.[13] However, three days later, he announced he would not retire.[14] During late 2013, Williams was on his Growth Spurt Tour.[15] On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee.[16][17] In September 2015, during an interview, Williams announced and described his upcoming Conspiracy Theory Tour: "The conspiracy conversation is a conversation that we are all familiar with. We know that there are conspiracies out there, but this is a conversation that encompasses a lot of things that aren't being discussed other places. That's the basis for all conspiracy theories: the fact that there is hidden information out there, and how our process changes about things that we thought we used to know. We all, at some point, if we're are at a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. This is probably going to go down as one of my finest works, just because it's a collection of forbidden topics that we can't seem to get answered. I am one of the rare urban public officials. Part of my guarantee in my ticket price is that I'm going to be talking about what we are talking about now, and discussing from now to the next time we see [me] again. This is the open discussion that we've had since 2003. This is what it is about."[18] In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix called Great America and shot in Jacksonville, Florida.[19] In 2022, he released a new stand-up special on Netflix called World War III. Film and television career In 2002, Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue. He gained notoriety on Wild 'n Out, in which he appeared for several seasons.[7][8] He appeared in the official music video for Wild 'n Out colleague Nick Cannon's single "Gigolo" in 2003. In 2007, Williams provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks. He plays himself as an on-stage stand-up comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV performing several routines, including an abbreviated version of one of his routines from Katt Williams: American Hustle. He has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.[7][8] Williams has also played supporting characters in films, such as First Sunday and Norbit, but is more widely recognized for his character Money Mike in Friday After Next.[7][8] In 2018, he played the character Willy in the season 2 premiere of Atlanta, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Music career Williams has also used the stage name "Money Mike" when rapping for songs by such artists as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. In 2006, he joined rapper Cam'ron's group the Diplomats, but was never signed as an official artist for the label.[20] On January 29, 2009, he released his debut studio/live album, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'. On November 19, 2013, he and Hell Rell released a diss song to Atlanta rapper Trinidad James entitled "Lames in the Game" due to comments made by James about the state of current hip hop music.[21] Controversy On August 27, 2011, Williams' performance at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix was marred by an incident during which he responded to a heckler (who was identified as having Mexican ancestry) with an angry tirade that included shouting "so if you love Mexico, bitch, get the fuck over there".[22] In an interview following the performance, he stated that the incident was caused by the heckler: "If a person starts their heckling with 'f' America, then that gives me the right to defend my country." He offered no apology for his remarks during the performance and said, "I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-American."[23] Two live performances in November 2012 ended early because of Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1 performance at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver ended after he jumped off the stage to confront a heckler,[24] while a November 16 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland ended after he engaged in a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler and was assisted off stage by his own security.[25] In January 2024, Williams was featured on former football tight end Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay. This episode gained significant attention, with over 18.5 million YouTube views in less than 48 hours, for Williams' forthright and humorous discussion on various topics including his experiences in the entertainment industry, his approach to comedy, and perspectives on fellow comedians. During the interview, Williams remarked, "Well as a comedian, you get free drinks at the club. So... All comedians either turn out to be connoisseurs like myself or straight up and down alcoholics like 60% of Hollywood."[26] He also shared his candid views on acting, saying: "[Rickey Smiley] and Tyler Perry, he can't play a man to save his life. They play good women, and I believe that the best actor should be in the best role." Legal issues On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase.[27] On December 14, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay restitution, and given credit for the three days he spent in jail.[2] In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond.[28] Police later charged him with burglary and criminal trespass.[29] On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30 p.m. local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries.[30] Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon, and arrested Williams for felony intimidation of a witness.[31] He was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail.[31] On November 15, 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he had allegedly beaten an 18-year-old man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus in Berkeley, California.[32] An attendee of Williams' shortened performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 16, 2012, filed a class action lawsuit days after the event, seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money for a show and got nothing but Katt Williams' nonperformance".[33] On December 2, 2012, Williams was arrested in Seattle after he allegedly got into a dispute at a bar in the South Lake Union neighborhood. His arrest came after he no-showed the first night of a planned two-night performance at the Paramount Theatre.[34] Five days later, he was arrested in Dunnigan, California, on a bench warrant arising from an incident the previous month in Sacramento, California, during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike onto a sidewalk and refused to stop for police. The resulting chase was halted due to safety concerns, and the bench warrant was issued after Williams narrowly missed several bystanders.[35] On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles on child endangerment charges. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and four of his adopted children were placed in protective custody.[36] On January 8, 2013, Williams was arrested at his Los Angeles home after failing to appear in Sacramento to answer the November 25 motorbike charges.[37] On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for the theft of a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5.[38] In April 2017, Williams pled no contest to the charge of robbery and was ordered to undertake a year of anger management classes as well as receiving three years' probation.[39] On February 29, 2016, Williams was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia, when a clerk at a swimming pool store said Williams had hit him. When police arrived, they found Williams already lying face down with his hands behind his back, waiting to be handcuffed.[40] On March 23, 2016, a video went viral of the 44-year-old Williams getting into a fight with a 17-year-old boy following a dispute during a soccer game in Gainesville. The authorities planned to review the incident with the DA in addition to his ongoing court cases.[41][42] On April 27, 2016, Williams was arrested and charged with battery in Atlanta, Georgia, after allegedly throwing a salt shaker at the manager of a local restaurant. The manager claimed to have been hit in the mouth with the salt shaker when Williams' group was denied preferential seating.[43] On July 24, 2016, Williams was arrested on suspicion of battery after an altercation with a woman at the Sportsman's Lodge, a hotel in Sherman Oaks, California.[44] On September 15, 2016, Williams was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, on a charge of second-degree criminal damage to property, after having turned himself in on a warrant for failing to appear in court for the April 27 incident. This new arrest involved an allegation from February 28, 2016, stating that Williams had thrown a man's cellphone.[45] On October 6, 2018, Williams was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a charge of assault in the fourth degree, after he assaulted a driver during an argument about his dog. He was additionally arrested on an outstanding warrant from Georgia.[46] Personal life Williams is a Christian and often wears a cross during his shows as a symbol of his faith, though he briefly joined the Nation of Islam while living in Oakland.[47] Williams has one biological son and seven adopted children

At CES 2024, tech companies are transforming the kitchen with AI and robots that do the cooking AP Reporter Rio Yamat BY RIO YAMAT Updated 4:43 PM CET, January 10, 2024 Share LAS VEGAS (AP) — Chef-like robots, AI-powered appliances and other high-tech kitchen gadgets are holding out the promise that humans don’t need to cook — or mix drinks — for themselves anymore. There was plenty new in the food and beverage world at CES 2024, the multi-day trade event put on by the Consumer Technology Association. Displays included a cocktail-mixing machine akin to a Keurig, and a robot barista whose movements are meant to mimic a human making a vanilla latte. Here’s some of the newest tech that’s transforming the way meals are prepped, cooked and delivered: ONE TOUCH IS ALL IT TAKES OTHER NEWS Mariam Almheiri, United Arab Emirates Minister of Climate Change and Environment, left, speaks next to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel) U.S. and UAE-backed initiative announces $9 billion more for agricultural innovation projects Tech startup Chef AI is unveiling what it calls a “real one-touch” air fryer. Unlike the air fryer you might have on your kitchen counter right now, Chef AI’s iteration of the popular appliance doesn’t require any tinkering with settings. Just place the food in the air fryer, press Start, and it uses artificial intelligence to detect what type of food it is cooking, says the company’s CEO, Dean Khormaei. He said the air fryer would turn even the worst cooks into chefs. Chef AI will be available in the U.S. in September for $250. YOUR OWN PERSONAL BARTENDER What’s the secret to a perfect dirty martini? Don’t worry about it — Bartesian’s cocktail-mixing appliance takes the guesswork out of bartending. Bartesian’s latest iteration, the Premier, can hold up to four different types of spirits. It retails for $369 and will be available later this year. Use a small touch screen on the appliance to pick from 60 recipes, drop a cocktail capsule into the machine, and in seconds you have a premium cocktail over ice. If you fancy a homemade beer instead, iGulu’s new automated brewing machine lets you make your own beer — a pale ale, an amber lager or a wheat beer. Just pour a pre-mixed recipe into the machine’s keg, add water and scan the sticker that comes with the beer mix. In nine to 13 days, you’ll have a gallon of DIY beer. ROBOT BARISTA THAT MOVES LIKE YOU MOVE Artly Coffee’s barista bot mimics the way a human behind the counter of your favorite coffee shop might prepare your usual order. “What we’re really trying to do is preserve the craft of fine coffee,” said Alec Roig, a hardware developer for the Seattle-based tech startup that now is operating at 10 locations across the Pacific Northwest and in New York City. Roig said the company’s resident barista, who is behind all of Artly’s coffee recipes, was hooked up with motion sensors that recorded his movements as he prepared each recipe, from packing the coffee grounds into the filter to frothing the milk and pouring latte art.

Christopher Tucker (born August 31, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Tucker made his debut in 1992 as a stand-up performer on the HBO comedy series Def Comedy Jam, where he frequently appeared on the show during the 1990s. He acted in the films Friday, The Fifth Element, Money Talks, and Jackie Brown, and later gained widespread fame and popularity in the 2000s for playing Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour series. Early life, education, and career Christopher Tucker was born on August 31, 1971[1][2][3] in Atlanta, Georgia, the youngest son of Mary Louise (née Bryant) and Norris Tucker.[2] One of six children, Tucker learned early in life that humor had the power to draw attention to himself both at school and at home.[4] His father was an independent businessman who owned a janitorial service.[5][6] Tucker grew up in a Pentecostal Christian household; his parents were members of the Church of God in Christ during his childhood.[7] Tucker grew up in Decatur, Georgia, and after graduating from Columbia High School, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his comedy career. His comedy influences were Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, and Tucker was known by his teachers and high school classmates for making people laugh by doing impressions of Murphy, Michael Jackson, and others.[8] Career Tucker in 2000 Tucker began showcasing his comedy skills before an audience in local Atlanta comedy clubs until he decided to move to Los Angeles in 1990 to further pursue his stand-up comedy career.[9] In 1992, Tucker was a frequent performer on the HBO comedy series Def Comedy Jam.[10] He made his cinematic debut in House Party 3 in 1994[11] and gained greater film recognition alongside N.W.A rapper Ice Cube in Friday the following year.[11] In 1997, he co-starred in the films The Fifth Element and Money Talks. He also played a supporting role in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and had a starring role in the spy comedy Double-O-Soul, but was never released.[12] Along with Hong Kong martial artist Jackie Chan, Tucker starred as LAPD detective James Carter in the martial arts action comedy film series Rush Hour. After the commercial success of the first Rush Hour film, he held out for a $20 million salary for Rush Hour 2, and was paid $25 million for Rush Hour 3.[13] The latter was part of a $40 million two-movie contract with New Line Cinema that also included an unnamed future film. He was also to receive 20% of the gross from Rush Hour 3.[14] Tucker did not reprise his role as Smokey in Next Friday (2000) or Friday After Next (2002) for religious reasons, later explaining that he didn't want to encourage others to smoke weed.[15] He starred in Michael Jackson's video "You Rock My World" and made a cameo appearance in Tupac Shakur's "California Love".[16] On February 13, 2009, Tucker participated in the NBA All-Star Weekend's Celebrity Game. Other celebrities participating included rapper Master P, NBA Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins, wide receiver Terrell Owens, and four Harlem Globetrotters. Tucker was announced in 2007 to star in the New Line drama film Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra, directed by Brett Ratner and based on George Jacobs's autobiography of working as Frank Sinatra's valet during the Rat Pack era of 1953–68.[17] In 2011, Tucker made a comeback to stand-up comedy. The next year, he returned to film in Silver Linings Playbook, co-starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro. Tucker's performance in the film was well received by critics and audiences alike.[18] The film itself received numerous nominations and awards including the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast. He also hosted the 2013 BET Awards. In 2016, he appeared in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. In 2023, he portrayed Nike executive, Howard White, in the film Air. Philanthropy and political views He endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 primaries.[19][20] In 2021, Tucker joined the Heal Los Angeles Foundation as an official ambassador. The Foundation is co-founded by Michael Jackson’s son, Prince Jackson, and their purpose is to help inner-city youth in Los Angeles by ending homelessness, child abuse, and hunger in the city.[21] During the 2022 Halloween Thriller Night hosted by the Heal Los Angeles Foundation, Tucker and Steve Harvey were honored and received the inaugural "Man in The Mirror" Award. The award is given to influential individuals using their platforms for good. Tucker accepted the award that was presented by Prince Jackson.[22] Personal life Tucker has a son named Destin with his ex-wife Azja Pryor.[23] He divides his time between Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Atlanta.[24] Tucker once owned a home in Montverde, Florida, in the Orlando, Florida area. Tucker is good friends with fellow Rush Hour co-star Jackie Chan. He was also close with singer Michael Jackson: introducing and dancing with him at his 30th Anniversary Celebration; appearing in his video "You Rock My World" from the 2001 album Invincible; and attending his memorial service. Tucker's career was also influenced by Jackson, as he is seen dancing and singing to "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" in a scene in Rush Hour 2 and imitating Jackson's dancing style in Friday. Tucker participated in professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s 2006 PBS documentary on the genetic makeup of African Americans, African American Lives, that specifically focused on stories of Native American heritage in African-American communities. Tucker's DNA test results showed African, European, and "likely some Native American" ancestors.[25] Tucker's patrilineal ancestry was also traced back to the Ambundu ethnic group of Angola and one line of his mother's to the Bamileke of Cameroon.[26][27] He also traced his family tree back to the 1830s.[28] Tucker and Gates were shown visiting Angola, the birthplace of some of his ancestors.[29] In 2014, Tucker settled a $2.5 million tax debt. A representative blamed "poor accounting and business management".[30] In November 2021, the IRS sued Tucker seeking $9.6 million in back taxes.[31] Also in 2014, Tucker told an interviewer that he refrains from using harsh profanity in his performances due to his Christian faith.[32] Tucker's connection to Jeffrey Epstein was covered in the 2020 Netflix documentary series Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich. In 2002, Tucker traveled in Epstein's airplane alongside Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey for humanitarian purposes in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.[33]

Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in Friday After Next, was a recurring guest on Wild 'n Out, portrayed Bobby Shaw in My Wife and Kids, provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks and Seamus in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and portrayed Lord Have Mercy in Norbit. In 2008, he voiced himself in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Early life Micah Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 2, 1971.[1][2][3] He was raised in Dayton, Ohio by Jehovah's Witness parents.[4][3] Williams has stated that he learned to read at 3 years old and was communicating in multiple languages, including French and Creole. He emancipated himself from his parents at age 13, moved to Florida and supported himself as a street vendor.[5][6] This was due to his father being intolerant and unsupportive of a life outside of the Jehovah's Witnesses and him wanting a future that was without the religion. He was homeless in Florida and lived at a park.[4] Career Stand-up career Williams started performing comedy in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati.[7][8] He honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs around the country and had become an established comic by 1999, appearing at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and The Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably, he appeared on BET's Comic View as Katt "N da Hatt" Williams.[7][8] Williams starred in his first comedy special, Let a Playa Play, in 2006. His first HBO stand-up special came in 2006 with The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1.[7] In 2007, he co-wrote and starred as himself in the comedy film Katt Williams: American Hustle. The film had critical success and established Williams as a mainstream comedian.[7][9] In 2008, he released his second HBO comedy special, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'.[10][11] Keeping busy releasing comedy DVDs and touring, Williams had a comedy tour that was named the best of 2008 by Billboard.[11] After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, Kattpacalypse.[12] Later that year, one day after a bizarre incident at a bar in Seattle that landed him in jail, he announced the end of his stand-up comedy career.[13] However, three days later, he announced he would not retire.[14] During late 2013, Williams was on his Growth Spurt Tour.[15] On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee.[16][17] In September 2015, during an interview, Williams announced and described his upcoming Conspiracy Theory Tour: "The conspiracy conversation is a conversation that we are all familiar with. We know that there are conspiracies out there, but this is a conversation that encompasses a lot of things that aren't being discussed other places. That's the basis for all conspiracy theories: the fact that there is hidden information out there, and how our process changes about things that we thought we used to know. We all, at some point, if we're are at a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. This is probably going to go down as one of my finest works, just because it's a collection of forbidden topics that we can't seem to get answered. I am one of the rare urban public officials. Part of my guarantee in my ticket price is that I'm going to be talking about what we are talking about now, and discussing from now to the next time we see [me] again. This is the open discussion that we've had since 2003. This is what it is about."[18] In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix called Great America and shot in Jacksonville, Florida.[19] In 2022, he released a new stand-up special on Netflix called World War III. Film and television career In 2002, Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue. He gained notoriety on Wild 'n Out, in which he appeared for several seasons.[7][8] He appeared in the official music video for Wild 'n Out colleague Nick Cannon's single "Gigolo" in 2003. In 2007, Williams provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks. He plays himself as an on-stage stand-up comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV performing several routines, including an abbreviated version of one of his routines from Katt Williams: American Hustle. He has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.[7][8] Williams has also played supporting characters in films, such as First Sunday and Norbit, but is more widely recognized for his character Money Mike in Friday After Next.[7][8] In 2018, he played the character Willy in the season 2 premiere of Atlanta, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Music career Williams has also used the stage name "Money Mike" when rapping for songs by such artists as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. In 2006, he joined rapper Cam'ron's group the Diplomats, but was never signed as an official artist for the label.[20] On January 29, 2009, he released his debut studio/live album, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'. On November 19, 2013, he and Hell Rell released a diss song to Atlanta rapper Trinidad James entitled "Lames in the Game" due to comments made by James about the state of current hip hop music.[21] Controversy On August 27, 2011, Williams' performance at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix was marred by an incident during which he responded to a heckler (who was identified as having Mexican ancestry) with an angry tirade that included shouting "so if you love Mexico, bitch, get the fuck over there".[22] In an interview following the performance, he stated that the incident was caused by the heckler: "If a person starts their heckling with 'f' America, then that gives me the right to defend my country." He offered no apology for his remarks during the performance and said, "I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-American."[23] Two live performances in November 2012 ended early because of Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1 performance at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver ended after he jumped off the stage to confront a heckler,[24] while a November 16 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland ended after he engaged in a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler and was assisted off stage by his own security.[25] In January 2024, Williams was featured on former football tight end Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay. This episode gained significant attention, with over 18.5 million YouTube views in less than 48 hours, for Williams' forthright and humorous discussion on various topics including his experiences in the entertainment industry, his approach to comedy, and perspectives on fellow comedians. During the interview, Williams remarked, "Well as a comedian, you get free drinks at the club. So... All comedians either turn out to be connoisseurs like myself or straight up and down alcoholics like 60% of Hollywood."[26] He also shared his candid views on acting, saying: "[Rickey Smiley] and Tyler Perry, he can't play a man to save his life. They play good women, and I believe that the best actor should be in the best role." Legal issues On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase.[27] On December 14, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay restitution, and given credit for the three days he spent in jail.[2] In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond.[28] Police later charged him with burglary and criminal trespass.[29] On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30 p.m. local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries.[30] Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon, and arrested Williams for felony intimidation of a witness.[31] He was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail.[31] On November 15, 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he had allegedly beaten an 18-year-old man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus in Berkeley, California.[32] An attendee of Williams' shortened performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 16, 2012, filed a class action lawsuit days after the event, seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money for a show and got nothing but Katt Williams' nonperformance".[33] On December 2, 2012, Williams was arrested in Seattle after he allegedly got into a dispute at a bar in the South Lake Union neighborhood. His arrest came after he no-showed the first night of a planned two-night performance at the Paramount Theatre.[34] Five days later, he was arrested in Dunnigan, California, on a bench warrant arising from an incident the previous month in Sacramento, California, during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike onto a sidewalk and refused to stop for police. The resulting chase was halted due to safety concerns, and the bench warrant was issued after Williams narrowly missed several bystanders.[35] On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles on child endangerment charges. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and four of his adopted children were placed in protective custody.[36] On January 8, 2013, Williams was arrested at his Los Angeles home after failing to appear in Sacramento to answer the November 25 motorbike charges.[37] On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for the theft of a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5.[38] In April 2017, Williams pled no contest to the charge of robbery and was ordered to undertake a year of anger management classes as well as receiving three years' probation.[39] On February 29, 2016, Williams was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia, when a clerk at a swimming pool store said Williams had hit him. When police arrived, they found Williams already lying face down with his hands behind his back, waiting to be handcuffed.[40] On March 23, 2016, a video went viral of the 44-year-old Williams getting into a fight with a 17-year-old boy following a dispute during a soccer game in Gainesville. The authorities planned to review the incident with the DA in addition to his ongoing court cases.[41][42] On April 27, 2016, Williams was arrested and charged with battery in Atlanta, Georgia, after allegedly throwing a salt shaker at the manager of a local restaurant. The manager claimed to have been hit in the mouth with the salt shaker when Williams' group was denied preferential seating.[43] On July 24, 2016, Williams was arrested on suspicion of battery after an altercation with a woman at the Sportsman's Lodge, a hotel in Sherman Oaks, California.[44] On September 15, 2016, Williams was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, on a charge of second-degree criminal damage to property, after having turned himself in on a warrant for failing to appear in court for the April 27 incident. This new arrest involved an allegation from February 28, 2016, stating that Williams had thrown a man's cellphone.[45] On October 6, 2018, Williams was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a charge of assault in the fourth degree, after he assaulted a driver during an argument about his dog. He was additionally arrested on an outstanding warrant from Georgia.[46] Personal life Williams is a Christian and often wears a cross during his shows as a symbol of his faith, though he briefly joined the Nation of Islam while living in Oakland.[47] Williams has one biological son and seven adopted children.[

Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in Friday After Next, was a recurring guest on Wild 'n Out, portrayed Bobby Shaw in My Wife and Kids, provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks and Seamus in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and portrayed Lord Have Mercy in Norbit. In 2008, he voiced himself in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Early life Micah Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 2, 1971.[1][2][3] He was raised in Dayton, Ohio by Jehovah's Witness parents.[4][3] Williams has stated that he learned to read at 3 years old and was communicating in multiple languages, including French and Creole. He emancipated himself from his parents at age 13, moved to Florida and supported himself as a street vendor.[5][6] This was due to his father being intolerant and unsupportive of a life outside of the Jehovah's Witnesses and him wanting a future that was without the religion. He was homeless in Florida and lived at a park.[4] Career Stand-up career Williams started performing comedy in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati.[7][8] He honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs around the country and had become an established comic by 1999, appearing at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and The Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably, he appeared on BET's Comic View as Katt "N da Hatt" Williams.[7][8] Williams starred in his first comedy special, Let a Playa Play, in 2006. His first HBO stand-up special came in 2006 with The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1.[7] In 2007, he co-wrote and starred as himself in the comedy film Katt Williams: American Hustle. The film had critical success and established Williams as a mainstream comedian.[7][9] In 2008, he released his second HBO comedy special, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'.[10][11] Keeping busy releasing comedy DVDs and touring, Williams had a comedy tour that was named the best of 2008 by Billboard.[11] After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, Kattpacalypse.[12] Later that year, one day after a bizarre incident at a bar in Seattle that landed him in jail, he announced the end of his stand-up comedy career.[13] However, three days later, he announced he would not retire.[14] During late 2013, Williams was on his Growth Spurt Tour.[15] On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee.[16][17] In September 2015, during an interview, Williams announced and described his upcoming Conspiracy Theory Tour: "The conspiracy conversation is a conversation that we are all familiar with. We know that there are conspiracies out there, but this is a conversation that encompasses a lot of things that aren't being discussed other places. That's the basis for all conspiracy theories: the fact that there is hidden information out there, and how our process changes about things that we thought we used to know. We all, at some point, if we're are at a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. This is probably going to go down as one of my finest works, just because it's a collection of forbidden topics that we can't seem to get answered. I am one of the rare urban public officials. Part of my guarantee in my ticket price is that I'm going to be talking about what we are talking about now, and discussing from now to the next time we see [me] again. This is the open discussion that we've had since 2003. This is what it is about."[18] In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix called Great America and shot in Jacksonville, Florida.[19] In 2022, he released a new stand-up special on Netflix called World War III. Film and television career In 2002, Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue. He gained notoriety on Wild 'n Out, in which he appeared for several seasons.[7][8] He appeared in the official music video for Wild 'n Out colleague Nick Cannon's single "Gigolo" in 2003. In 2007, Williams provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks. He plays himself as an on-stage stand-up comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV performing several routines, including an abbreviated version of one of his routines from Katt Williams: American Hustle. He has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.[7][8] Williams has also played supporting characters in films, such as First Sunday and Norbit, but is more widely recognized for his character Money Mike in Friday After Next.[7][8] In 2018, he played the character Willy in the season 2 premiere of Atlanta, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Music career Williams has also used the stage name "Money Mike" when rapping for songs by such artists as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. In 2006, he joined rapper Cam'ron's group the Diplomats, but was never signed as an official artist for the label.[20] On January 29, 2009, he released his debut studio/live album, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'. On November 19, 2013, he and Hell Rell released a diss song to Atlanta rapper Trinidad James entitled "Lames in the Game" due to comments made by James about the state of current hip hop music.[21] Controversy On August 27, 2011, Williams' performance at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix was marred by an incident during which he responded to a heckler (who was identified as having Mexican ancestry) with an angry tirade that included shouting "so if you love Mexico, bitch, get the fuck over there".[22] In an interview following the performance, he stated that the incident was caused by the heckler: "If a person starts their heckling with 'f' America, then that gives me the right to defend my country." He offered no apology for his remarks during the performance and said, "I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-American."[23] Two live performances in November 2012 ended early because of Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1 performance at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver ended after he jumped off the stage to confront a heckler,[24] while a November 16 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland ended after he engaged in a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler and was assisted off stage by his own security.[25] In January 2024, Williams was featured on former football tight end Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay. This episode gained significant attention, with over 18.5 million YouTube views in less than 48 hours, for Williams' forthright and humorous discussion on various topics including his experiences in the entertainment industry, his approach to comedy, and perspectives on fellow comedians. During the interview, Williams remarked, "Well as a comedian, you get free drinks at the club. So... All comedians either turn out to be connoisseurs like myself or straight up and down alcoholics like 60% of Hollywood."[26] He also shared his candid views on acting, saying: "[Rickey Smiley] and Tyler Perry, he can't play a man to save his life. They play good women, and I believe that the best actor should be in the best role." Legal issues On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase.[27] On December 14, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay restitution, and given credit for the three days he spent in jail.[2] In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond.[28] Police later charged him with burglary and criminal trespass.[29] On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30 p.m. local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries.[30] Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon, and arrested Williams for felony intimidation of a witness.[31] He was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail.[31] On November 15, 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he had allegedly beaten an 18-year-old man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus in Berkeley, California.[32] An attendee of Williams' shortened performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 16, 2012, filed a class action lawsuit days after the event, seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money for a show and got nothing but Katt Williams' nonperformance".[33] On December 2, 2012, Williams was arrested in Seattle after he allegedly got into a dispute at a bar in the South Lake Union neighborhood. His arrest came after he no-showed the first night of a planned two-night performance at the Paramount Theatre.[34] Five days later, he was arrested in Dunnigan, California, on a bench warrant arising from an incident the previous month in Sacramento, California, during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike onto a sidewalk and refused to stop for police. The resulting chase was halted due to safety concerns, and the bench warrant was issued after Williams narrowly missed several bystanders.[35] On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles on child endangerment charges. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and four of his adopted children were placed in protective custody.[36] On January 8, 2013, Williams was arrested at his Los Angeles home after failing to appear in Sacramento to answer the November 25 motorbike charges.[37] On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for the theft of a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5.[38] In April 2017, Williams pled no contest to the charge of robbery and was ordered to undertake a year of anger management classes as well as receiving three years' probation.[39] On February 29, 2016, Williams was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia, when a clerk at a swimming pool store said Williams had hit him. When police arrived, they found Williams already lying face down with his hands behind his back, waiting to be handcuffed.[40] On March 23, 2016, a video went viral of the 44-year-old Williams getting into a fight with a 17-year-old boy following a dispute during a soccer game in Gainesville. The authorities planned to review the incident with the DA in addition to his ongoing court cases.[41][42] On April 27, 2016, Williams was arrested and charged with battery in Atlanta, Georgia, after allegedly throwing a salt shaker at the manager of a local restaurant. The manager claimed to have been hit in the mouth with the salt shaker when Williams' group was denied preferential seating.[43] On July 24, 2016, Williams was arrested on suspicion of battery after an altercation with a woman at the Sportsman's Lodge, a hotel in Sherman Oaks, California.[44] On September 15, 2016, Williams was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, on a charge of second-degree criminal damage to property, after having turned himself in on a warrant for failing to appear in court for the April 27 incident. This new arrest involved an allegation from February 28, 2016, stating that Williams had thrown a man's cellphone.[45] On October 6, 2018, Williams was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a charge of assault in the fourth degree, after he assaulted a driver during an argument about his dog. He was additionally arrested on an outstanding warrant from Georgia.[46] Personal life Williams is a Christian and often wears a cross during his shows as a symbol of his faith, though he briefly joined the Nation of Islam while living in Oakland.[47] Williams has one biological son and seven adopted children.[

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, and his father named him president of his real estate business in 1971. Trump renamed it the Trump Organization and reoriented the company toward building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. After a series of business failures in the late twentieth century, he successfully launched side ventures that required little capital, mostly by licensing the Trump name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. He and his businesses have been plaintiff or defendant in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six business bankruptcies. Trump won the 2016 presidential election as the Republican Party nominee against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote.[a] During the campaign, his political positions were described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. His election and policies sparked numerous protests. He was the first U.S. president with no prior military or government experience. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation established that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to favor Trump's campaign. Trump promoted conspiracy theories and made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist and many as misogynistic. As president, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted military funding toward building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for migrants detained at the U.S. border. He weakened environmental protections, rolling back more than 100 environmental policies and regulations. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials, used political pressure to interfere with testing efforts, and spread misinformation about unproven treatments. Trump initiated a trade war with China and withdrew the U.S. from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times but made no progress on denuclearization. Trump refused to concede after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, falsely claiming widespread electoral fraud, and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, he urged his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, which many of them then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count. Trump is the only American president to have been impeached twice. After he tried to pressure Ukraine in 2019 to investigate Biden, he was impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress; he was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020. The House impeached him again in January 2021, for incitement of insurrection, and the Senate acquitted him in February. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.[1][2] Since leaving office, Trump has remained the de facto leader of the Republican Party and is a candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries. In 2023, a jury found that Trump sexually abused a woman. He was also indicted in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, in Florida on 40 felony counts related to his mishandling of classified documents, in Washington, D.C., on four felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction for efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and in Georgia on 13 charges of racketeering and other alleged felonies committed in an effort to overturn the state's 2020 election results. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Personal life Early life A black-and-white photograph of Donald Trump as a teenager, smiling, wearing a dark pseudo-military uniform with various badges and a light-colored stripe crossing his right shoulder Trump at the New York Military Academy in 1964 Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York City,[3] the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens, and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade.[4][5][6] At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school,[7] and, in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics.[8][9] In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.[10] While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era.[11] In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968, a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve.[12] In October 1968, he was classified 1-Y, a conditional medical deferment,[13] and in 1972, he was reclassified 4-F due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.[14] Family Main article: Family of Donald Trump In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková.[15] They had three children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988.[16] The couple divorced in 1990, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples.[17] Trump and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993), who was raised by Marla in California.[18] In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss.[19] They have one son, Barron (born 2006).[20] Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.[21] Religion Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens.[22][23] In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church in America.[22][24] The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale,[22] ministered to the family until his death in 1993.[24] Trump has described him as a mentor.[25] In 2015, the church stated that Trump was not an active member.[23] In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison.[26] In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.[27] Health habits Trump has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course.[28] He considers exercise a waste of energy because he believes exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy".[29] In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency".[30] In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.[30][31] Wealth Main article: Wealth of Donald Trump Ivana Trump and King Fahd shake hands, with Ronald Reagan standing next to them smiling. All are in black formal attire. Trump (far right) and wife Ivana in the receiving line of a state dinner for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in 1985, with U.S. president Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth (equivalent to $606 million in 2022).[32] His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995.[33] After filing the mandatory financial disclosure report with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities.[34] Forbes estimated his net worth dropped by $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2018.[35] In their 2021 billionaires ranking, Trump's net worth was estimated to be $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world).[36] Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported that Trump called him in 1984, pretending to be a fictional Trump Organization official named "John Barron". Greenberg said that Trump, speaking as "Barron", falsely asserted that he owned more than 90 percent of his father's business to get a higher ranking for himself on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.[37] Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father and that he had to pay it back with interest.[38] He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (2018 dollars adjusted for inflation) from his father's company.[39][40] In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance started an investigation.[40] His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets.[41][42] Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product-licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.[43] Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million (equivalent to $1.76 billion in 2022).[44][45][32] In 2020, the New York Times obtained Trump's tax information extending over two decades. Its reporters found that Trump reported losses of hundreds of millions of dollars and had, since 2010, deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lower them to $750. During the 2010s, Trump balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.[46] As of October 2021, Trump had over $1.3 billion in total debts, much of which is secured by his assets.[47] In 2020, he owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Bank of China, Deutsche Bank, and UBS, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.[48] Business career Main article: Business career of Donald Trump Further information: Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia Real estate Exterior ground view of Trump tower, a contemporary skyscraper with a glass curtain and stepped façade Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned racially segregated middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs.[49][50] In 1971, he became president of the company and began using the Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.[51] Between 1991 and 2009, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six of his businesses, the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company.[52] Manhattan developments Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.[53] The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged for Trump by his father who also, jointly with Hyatt, guaranteed a $70 million bank construction loan.[50][54] The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel,[55] and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.[56] The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.[57][58] In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel with a loan from a consortium of sixteen banks.[59] The hotel filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and a reorganization plan was approved a month later, with the banks taking control of the property.[60] In 1995, Trump defaulted on over $3 billion of bank loans, and the lenders seized the Plaza Hotel along with most of his other properties in a humiliating restructuring that allowed Trump to avoid personal bankruptcy.[61][62] The lead bank's attorney said of the banks' decision that they "all agreed that he'd be better alive than dead."[62] In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later rebranded as the Trump Building, and renovated it.[63] In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a 70-acre (28 ha) tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance the project's completion, Riverside South.[64] Atlantic City casinos The entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal, a casino in Atlantic City. It has motifs evocative of the Taj Mahal in India. Entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation.[65] It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control.[66] In 1985, Trump bought the unopened Atlantic City Hilton Hotel and renamed it Trump Castle.[67] His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.[68] Both casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992.[69] Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990.[70][71] Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991. Under the provisions of the restructuring agreement, Trump gave up half his initial stake and personally guaranteed future performance.[72] To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold the Trump Shuttle airline; his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked; and other businesses.[73] In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of the Trump Plaza.[74] THCR purchased the Taj Mahal and the Trump Castle in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004 and 2009, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership.[65] He remained chairman until 2009.[75] Mar-a-Lago Main article: Mar-a-Lago In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.[76] In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence.[77] In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.[58] Golf courses Main article: Donald Trump and golf The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999.[78] It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide.[78][79] Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1,461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.[80] Licensing of the Trump brand See also: List of things named after Donald Trump The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings.[81][82] According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than 50 licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, and they have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies.[83] By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.[81] Side ventures Trump, Doug Flutie, and an unnamed official standing behind a lectern with big, round New Jersey Generals sign, with members of the press seated in the background Trump and New Jersey Generals quarterback Doug Flutie at a 1985 press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (when they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.[84][85] Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall, adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.[86][87] In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.[88] From 1986 to 1988, Trump purchased significant blocks of shares in various public companies while suggesting that he intended to take over the company and then sold his shares for a profit,[44] leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail.[89] The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".[44] In 1988, Trump purchased the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle, financing the purchase with $380 million (equivalent to $940 million in 2022)[32] in loans from a syndicate of 22 banks. He renamed the airline Trump Shuttle and operated it until 1992.[90] Trump defaulted on his loans in 1991, and ownership passed to the banks.[91] The airline was eventually sold to US Airways.[90] A red star with a bronze outline and "Donald Trump" and a TV icon written on it in bronze, embedded in a black terrazzo sidewalk Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups.[40][92] The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.[40] From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.[93][94] Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002.[95][96] In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe.[97] NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015.[98] Trump University Main article: Trump University In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000.[99] After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law (as it was not an academic institution), its name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.[100] In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers.[101] In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students.[102][103][104] Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.[105] Foundation Main article: Donald J. Trump Foundation The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988.[106][107] In the foundation's final years, its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014.[108] The foundation gave to health-care- and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.[109] In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion.[110] Also in 2016, the New York Attorney General determined the foundation to be in violation of state law for soliciting donations and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York.[111] Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.[112] In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties.[113][114] In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed its assets to other charities.[115] In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.[116][117] Legal affairs and bankruptcies Main article: Legal affairs of Donald Trump Roy Cohn was Trump's fixer, lawyer, and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s.[118] According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship.[118] In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million (equivalent to $659 million in 2022)[32] over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump's counterclaims were dismissed, and the government's case went forward, ultimately resulting in a settlement.[119] In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things.[120] Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.[121] According to a review of state and federal court files conducted by USA Today in 2018, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions.[122] While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009.[123] They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.[123] During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion.[124] After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him.[125] After the January 6 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.[126] Media career Main article: Media career of Donald Trump Books Main article: Bibliography of Donald Trump Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name.[127] His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz.[128] According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon."[128] Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.[129] Film and television Main article: Media career of Donald Trump Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.[130] Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s.[131] He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.[132] Trump, in a suit, sits in a crowded baseball stadium Trump at a New York Mets baseball game in 2009 Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show.[133] He also had his own short form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008.[134][135] From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.[136][137] From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump played a flattering, highly fictionalized version of himself as a superrich and successful chief executive who eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired". The shows remade his image for millions of viewers nationwide.[138][139] With the related licensing agreements, they earned him more than $400 million which he invested in largely unprofitable businesses.[140] In February 2021, Trump resigned from the Screen Actors Guild he had been a member of since 1989 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists".[141] Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.[142] Political career Further information: Political career of Donald Trump Donald Trump shakes hands with Bill Clinton in a lobby; Trump is speaking and Clinton is smiling, and both are wearing suits. Trump and President Bill Clinton in June 2000 Trump's political party affiliation has changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987;[143] a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999;[144] a Democrat in 2001; a Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012.[143] In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers,[145] expressing his views on foreign policy and on how to eliminate the federal budget deficit.[146] He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.[145] In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater, asking to be put into consideration to be Republican nominee George H. W. Bush's running mate. Bush found the request "strange and unbelievable".[147] Presidential campaigns (2000–2016) In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000.[148][149][150] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[151] Trump, leaning heavily onto a lectern, with his mouth open mid-speech and a woman clapping politely next to him Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states.[152][153] In May 2011, he announced he would not run,[152] and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012.[154] Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.[155] 2016 presidential campaign Main article: Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Further information: 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries and 2016 United States presidential election § General election campaign Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries.[156] He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style.[128][157] His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive,[158] and a record number of them were false.[159][160][161] The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has."[162][163] Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.[164][165] Trump speaking in front of an American flag behind a lectern, wearing a black suit and red hat. The lectern sports a blue "TRUMP" sign. Trump campaigning in Arizona, March 2016 Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015.[166][167] His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls.[168] He became the front-runner in March 2016[169] and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee in May.[170] Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign, but, in early July, her lead narrowed.[171][172] In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate,[173] and the two were officially nominated at the 2016 Republican National Convention.[174] Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.[175] Campaign rhetoric and political positions Main article: Political positions of Donald Trump Trump's political positions and his rhetoric were right-wing populist.[176][177][178] Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health-care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly".[179] NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign.[180] Trump questioned the need for NATO and espoused views that were described as isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist.[181] His campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries[182] to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".[183][184] Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream.[185] Trump was slow to disavow an endorsement from David Duke after he was questioned about it during a CNN interview on February 28, 2016.[186] Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back".[187][188] In August 2016, Trump hired Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.[189] The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[190][191][192] Financial disclosures Further information: Tax returns of Donald Trump Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.[34][193] Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office.[194][195] He said his tax returns were being audited, and that his lawyers had advised him against releasing them.[196] After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.[197][198] In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.[199] Election to the presidency Main article: 2016 United States presidential election Electoral college map, depicting Trump winning many states in the South and Midwest and Biden winning many states in the Northeast and Pacific West 2016 electoral vote results. Trump won 304–227 On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton, though, after elector defections on both sides, the official count was ultimately 304 to 227.[200] Trump, the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote, received nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Clinton.[201] He also was the only president who neither served in the military nor held any government office prior to becoming president.[202] Trump's victory was a political upset.[203] Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.[204] Trump won 30 states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, states which had been considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.[205] Pennsylvania Ave., completely packed with protesters, mostly women, many wearing pink and holding signs with progressive feminist slogans Women's March in Washington on January 21, 2017 Trump's election victory sparked protests in major U.S. cities in the days following the election.[206][207] On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches.[208] Presidency (2017–2021) Main article: Presidency of Donald Trump For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Donald Trump presidency. Early actions See also: Presidential transition of Donald Trump and First 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency Trump, with his family watching, raises his right hand and places his left hand on the Bible as he takes the oath of office. Roberts stands opposite him administering the oath. Trump is sworn in as president by Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders, which authorized: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, advancement of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcement of border security, and a planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.[209] Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.[210][211] Conflicts of interest Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., and a business associate.[212][213] Though he said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic. Trump continued to profit from his businesses and to know how his administration's policies affected his businesses.[213][214] He was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated.[215] One case was dismissed in lower court.[216] Two were dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court as moot after the end of Trump's term.[217] Domestic policy Economy Main article: Economic policy of the Donald Trump administration Trump speaks at a lectern, with a crowd in front of and behind him. A banner behind him reads "Buy American – Hire American" Trump speaks to automobile workers in Michigan, March 2017. Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history,[218] which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.[219] In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the penalty associated with Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.[220][221] The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6 percent lower than projected.[222] Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1 trillion in 2019.[223] Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75 trillion by the end of his term, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio hit a post-World War II high.[224] Trump also failed to deliver the $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan on which he had campaigned.[225] Trump is the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce than when he took office, by 3 million people.[218] Climate change, environment, and energy Main article: Environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.[226][227] He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40 percent and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change.[228] In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.[229] Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels.[230][231] Natural gas expanded under Trump, but coal continued to decline.[232][233] Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump's actions while president have been called "a very aggressive attempt to rewrite our laws and reinterpret the meaning of environmental protections".[234] Deregulation In January 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that, for every new regulation, federal agencies "identify" two existing regulations for elimination, though it did not require elimination.[235] He dismantled many federal regulations on health,[236][237] labor,[238][237] and the environment,[239][237] among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, including a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns.[240] During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended, or reversed ninety federal regulations,[241] often "after requests by the regulated industries".[242] The Institute for Policy Integrity found that 78 percent of Trump's proposals were blocked by courts or did not prevail over litigation.[243] Health care During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).[244] In office, he scaled back the Act's implementation through executive orders 13765[245] and 13813.[246] Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment.[247][248] Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA.[249] In June 2018, the Trump administration joined 18 Republican-led states in arguing before the Supreme Court that the elimination of the financial penalties associated with the individual mandate had rendered the ACA unconstitutional.[250][251] If they had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans.[250] During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020, he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.[252] In response to the opioid epidemic, Trump signed legislation in 2018 to increase funding for drug treatments but was widely criticized for failing to make a concrete strategy. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018 but surged to a record 50,052 deaths in 2019.[253] Social issues Main article: Social policy of Donald Trump Trump barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals from receiving federal funds.[254] He said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue.[255] In March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.[256] Trump's attempted rollback of anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients in August 2020 was halted by a federal judge after the Supreme Court's ruling in July had extended employees' civil rights protections to gender identity and sexual orientation.[257] Trump has said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time.[258] After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation related to guns, but he abandoned that effort in November 2019.[259] His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.[260] Trump is a long-time advocate of capital punishment.[261][262] Under his administration, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium.[263] In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding[264][265] but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.[266] Pardons and commutations Further information: List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump Trump granted 237 requests for clemency, fewer than all presidents since 1900 with the exception of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.[267] Only 25 of them had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney; the others were granted to people with personal or political connections to him, his family, and his allies, or recommended by celebrities.[268][269] From 2017 to 2019, he pardoned, amongst others, former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine;[270] and right-wing commentator Dinesh D'Souza.[271] Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking.[272] Trump also pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.[273] In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre;[274] white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik;[275] daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner;[269] and five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Among them were Michael Flynn; Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July; and Paul Manafort.[276] In his last full day in office, Trump granted 73 pardons, including to Steve Bannon and Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and commuted 70 sentences.[277] Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op Main article: Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church Trump and group of officials and advisors on the way from White House complex to St. John's Church On June 1, 2020, federal law-enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House.[278][279] Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos.[278][280] Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".[281] Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.[282] Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters.[283] Immigration Main article: Immigration policy of Donald Trump Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it.[284] He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States,[285] and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies".[286] As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13,[287] though available research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.[288][289] Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.[290][291] From 2018 onward, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border[292] to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum. In 2020, his administration widened the public charge rule to further restrict immigrants who might use government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards.[293] Trump reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year.[294][295] Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.[296] Travel ban Main article: Trump travel ban Further information: Executive Order 13769 and Executive Order 13780 Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.[297] He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".[298] On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning, causing confusion and chaos at airports.[299][300] Protests against the ban began at airports the next day.[299][300] Legal challenges to the order resulted in nationwide preliminary injunctions.[301] A March 6 revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, again was blocked by federal judges in three states.[302][303] In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".[304] The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which restricted travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further banned travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials.[305] After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017,[306] and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.[307] Family separation at border Main article: Trump administration family separation policy Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment Children and juveniles in a wire mesh compartment, showing sleeping mats and thermal blankets on floor Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment in the Ursula detention facility in McAllen, Texas, June 2018 The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017.[308][309] In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted.[310] This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors.[311] Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.[312] The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage.[312][313] Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.[314][315][316] Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he acceded to intense public objection and signed an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" doing so would pose a risk to the child.[317][318] On June 26, 2018, Judge Dana Sabraw concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification;[319] Sabraw ordered for the families to be reunited and family separations stopped except in limited circumstances.[320] After the federal-court order, the Trump administration separated more than a thousand migrant children from their families; the ACLU contended that the Trump administration had abused its discretion and asked Sabraw to more narrowly define the circumstances warranting separation.[309] Trump wall and government shutdown Main articles: Trump wall and 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown Trump speaks with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Behind him are black SUVs, four short border wall prototype designs, and the current border wall in the background Trump examines border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa, California. One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it.[321] By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles [64 km] of new primary wall and 33 miles [53 km] of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles (587 km) of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.[322] In 2018, Trump refused to sign any appropriations bill from Congress unless it allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall,[323] resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history.[324][325] Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay.[326] Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall.[324] The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office.[327] About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.[328] To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles (89 km) of bollard border fencing.[329] Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes.[329] Trump vetoed a joint resolution to overturn the declaration, and the Senate voted against a veto override.[330] Legal challenges to the diversion of $2.5 billion originally meant for the Department of Defense's drug interdiction efforts[331][332] and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction[333][334] were unsuccessful. Foreign policy Main article: Foreign policy of the Donald Trump administration See also: List of international presidential trips made by Donald Trump Trump and other G7 leaders sit at a conference table Trump with the other G7 leaders at the 45th summit in France, 2019 Trump described himself as a "nationalist"[335] and his foreign policy as "America First".[336] His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist, and authoritarian governments.[337] Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty,[336] a lack of a consistent foreign policy,[338] and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.[339] He criticized NATO allies and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.[340][341] Trade See also: Trump tariffs Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations,[342] imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports,[343] and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S.[344] While Trump said that import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury, they are paid by American companies that import goods from China.[345] Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the trade deficit in July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, "was the largest monthly deficit since July 2008".[346] Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.[347] Russia Trump and Putin, both seated, lean over and shake hands Putin and Trump shaking hands at the G20 Osaka summit, June 2019 The Trump administration, according to Reuters, "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea.[348][349] Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance,[350] and supported a potential return of Russia to the G7.[351] Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin[352][353] but opposed some actions of the Russian government.[354][355] After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.[356][357][358] Trump did not discuss alleged Russian bounties offered to Taliban fighters for attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin, saying both that he doubted the intelligence and that he was not briefed on it.[359] China Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S.[360] As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure,[361][362][363] sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran,[364] significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars,[365] and classified China as a currency manipulator.[366] Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping,[367] which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader.[368] After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic,[369] he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March 2020.[370] Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations.[371] In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.[372] North Korea See also: 2018–19 Korean peace process Trump and Kim shake hands on a stage with U.S. and North Korean flags in the background Trump meets Kim Jong Un at the Singapore summit, June 2018. In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat,[373] Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".[374][375] In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong Un.[374][376] After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.[377][378] Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019.[379] Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil.[379] Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea.[380] However, no denuclearization agreement was reached,[381] and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day.[382] While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.[383][384] Afghanistan U.S. and Taliban officials stand spaced apart in a formal room U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting with Taliban delegation in Qatar in September 2020 U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later,[385] reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan.[386] In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government.[387][388][389] By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.[389] Israel Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[390] Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel[391] and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,[392] leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, and the Arab League.[393][394] Saudi Arabia Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi place their hands on a glowing white orb light at waist level Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the 2017 Riyadh summit in Saudi Arabia Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia,[395] In 2018, the U.S. provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention.[396][397] Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[398] Syria Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.[399][400] In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS", contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria.[401][402] The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS.[403] One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.[404] Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House in May 2017 In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area.[405] Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".[406][407] Iran In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPO

Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context.[1][2][3] The primary functions which distinguish money are: medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value and sometimes, a standard of deferred payment. Money was historically an emergent market phenomenon that possessed intrinsic value as a commodity; nearly all contemporary money systems are based on unbacked fiat money without use value.[4] Its value is consequently derived by social convention, having been declared by a government or regulatory entity to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private", in the case of the United States dollar. The money supply of a country comprises all currency in circulation (banknotes and coins currently issued) and, depending on the particular definition used, one or more types of bank money (the balances held in checking accounts, savings accounts, and other types of bank accounts). Bank money, whose value exists on the books of financial institutions and can be converted into physical notes or used for cashless payment, forms by far the largest part of broad money in developed countries. Etymology The word money derives from the Latin word moneta with the meaning "coin" via French monnaie. The Latin word is believed to originate from a temple of Juno, on Capitoline, one of Rome's seven hills. In the ancient world, Juno was often associated with money. The temple of Juno Moneta at Rome was the place where the mint of Ancient Rome was located.[5] The name "Juno" may have derived from the Etruscan goddess Uni and "Moneta" either from the Latin word "monere" (remind, warn, or instruct) or the Greek word "moneres" (alone, unique). In the Western world a prevalent term for coin-money has been specie, stemming from Latin in specie, meaning "in kind".[6] History Main article: History of money A 640 BC one-third stater electrum coin from Lydia The use of barter-like methods may date back to at least 100,000 years ago, though there is no evidence of a society or economy that relied primarily on barter.[7][8] Instead, non-monetary societies operated largely along the principles of gift economy and debt.[9][10] When barter did in fact occur, it was usually between either complete strangers or potential enemies.[11] Many cultures around the world eventually developed the use of commodity money. The Mesopotamian shekel was a unit of weight, and relied on the mass of something like 160 grains of barley.[12] The first usage of the term came from Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. Societies in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia used shell money—often, the shells of the cowry (Cypraea moneta L. or C. annulus L.). According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coins.[13] It is thought by modern scholars that these first stamped coins were minted around 650 to 600 BC.[14] Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money The system of commodity money eventually evolved into a system of representative money.[citation needed] This occurred because gold and silver merchants or banks would issue receipts to their depositors, redeemable for the commodity money deposited. Eventually, these receipts became generally accepted as a means of payment and were used as money. Paper money or banknotes were first used in China during the Song dynasty. These banknotes, known as "jiaozi", evolved from promissory notes that had been used since the 7th century. However, they did not displace commodity money and were used alongside coins. In the 13th century, paper money became known in Europe through the accounts of travellers, such as Marco Polo and William of Rubruck.[15] Marco Polo's account of paper money during the Yuan dynasty is the subject of a chapter of his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, titled "How the Great Kaan Causeth the Bark of Trees, Made Into Something Like Paper, to Pass for Money All Over his Country."[16] Banknotes were first issued in Europe by Stockholms Banco in 1661 and were again also used alongside coins. The gold standard, a monetary system where the medium of exchange are paper notes that are convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold, replaced the use of gold coins as currency in the 17th–19th centuries in Europe. These gold standard notes were made legal tender, and redemption into gold coins was discouraged. By the beginning of the 20th century, almost all countries had adopted the gold standard, backing their legal tender notes with fixed amounts of gold. After World War II and the Bretton Woods Conference, most countries adopted fiat currencies that were fixed to the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar was in turn fixed to gold. In 1971 the U.S. government suspended the convertibility of the dollar to gold. After this many countries de-pegged their currencies from the U.S. dollar, and most of the world's currencies became unbacked by anything except the governments' fiat of legal tender and the ability to convert the money into goods via payment. According to proponents of modern money theory, fiat money is also backed by taxes. By imposing taxes, states create demand for the currency they issue.[17] Functions See also: Monetary economics Part of a series on Macroeconomics Bank of England Basic concepts Policies Models Related fields Schools People See also icon Money portal icon Business portal vte In Money and the Mechanism of Exchange (1875), William Stanley Jevons famously analyzed money in terms of four functions: a medium of exchange, a common measure of value (or unit of account), a standard of value (or standard of deferred payment), and a store of value. By 1919, Jevons's four functions of money were summarized in the couplet: Money's a matter of functions four, A Medium, a Measure, a Standard, a Store.[18] This couplet would later become widely popular in macroeconomics textbooks.[19] Most modern textbooks now list only three functions, that of medium of exchange, unit of account, and store of value, not considering a standard of deferred payment as a distinguished function, but rather subsuming it in the others.[4][20][21] There have been many historical disputes regarding the combination of money's functions, some arguing that they need more separation and that a single unit is insufficient to deal with them all. One of these arguments is that the role of money as a medium of exchange conflicts with its role as a store of value: its role as a store of value requires holding it without spending, whereas its role as a medium of exchange requires it to circulate.[22] Others argue that storing of value is just deferral of the exchange, but does not diminish the fact that money is a medium of exchange that can be transported both across space and time. The term "financial capital" is a more general and inclusive term for all liquid instruments, whether or not they are a uniformly recognized tender. Medium of exchange Main article: Medium of exchange When money is used to intermediate the exchange of goods and services, it is performing a function as a medium of exchange. It thereby avoids the inefficiencies of a barter system, such as the inability to permanently ensure "coincidence of wants". For example, between two parties in a barter system, one party may not have or make the item that the other wants, indicating the non-existence of the coincidence of wants. Having a medium of exchange can alleviate this issue because the former can have the freedom to spend time on other items, instead of being burdened to only serve the needs of the latter. Meanwhile, the latter can use the medium of exchange to seek for a party that can provide them with the item they want. Measure of value Main article: Unit of account A unit of account (in economics)[23] is a standard numerical monetary unit of measurement of the market value of goods, services, and other transactions. Also known as a "measure" or "standard" of relative worth and deferred payment, a unit of account is a necessary prerequisite for the formulation of commercial agreements that involve debt. Money acts as a standard measure and a common denomination of trade. It is thus a basis for quoting and bargaining of prices. It is necessary for developing efficient accounting systems like double-entry bookkeeping. Standard of deferred payment Main article: Standard of deferred payment While standard of deferred payment is distinguished by some texts,[22] particularly older ones, other texts subsume this under other functions.[4][20][21][clarification needed] A "standard of deferred payment" is an accepted way to settle a debt—a unit in which debts are denominated, and the status of money as legal tender, in those jurisdictions which have this concept, states that it may function for the discharge of debts. When debts are denominated in money, the real value of debts may change due to inflation and deflation, and for sovereign and international debts via debasement and devaluation. Store of value Main article: Store of value To act as a store of value, money must be able to be reliably saved, stored, and retrieved—and be predictably usable as a medium of exchange when it is retrieved. The value of the money must also remain stable over time. Some have argued that inflation, by reducing the value of money, diminishes the ability of the money to function as a store of value.[4][failed verification] Properties The functions of money are that it is a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value.[24] To fulfill these various functions, money must be:[25] Fungible: its individual units must be capable of mutual substitution (i.e., interchangeability). Durable: able to withstand repeated use. Divisible: divisible to small units. Portable: easily carried and transported. Acceptable: most people must accept the money as payment Scarce: its supply in circulation must be limited.[25] Money supply Main article: Money supply Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. In economics, money is any financial instrument that can fulfill the functions of money (detailed above). These financial instruments together are collectively referred to as the money supply of an economy. In other words, the money supply is the number of financial instruments within a specific economy available for purchasing goods or services. Since the money supply consists of various financial instruments (usually currency, demand deposits, and various other types of deposits), the amount of money in an economy is measured by adding together these financial instruments creating a monetary aggregate. Economists employ different ways to measure the stock of money or money supply, reflected in different types of monetary aggregates, using a categorization system that focuses on the liquidity of the financial instrument used as money. The most commonly used monetary aggregates (or types of money) are conventionally designated M1, M2, and M3. These are successively larger aggregate categories: M1 is currency (coins and bills) plus demand deposits (such as checking accounts); M2 is M1 plus savings accounts and time deposits under $100,000; M3 is M2 plus larger time deposits and similar institutional accounts. M1 includes only the most liquid financial instruments, and M3 relatively illiquid instruments. The precise definition of M1, M2, etc. may be different in different countries. Another measure of money, M0, is also used. M0 is base money, or the amount of money actually issued by the central bank of a country. It is measured as currency plus deposits of banks and other institutions at the central bank. M0 is also the only money that can satisfy the reserve requirements of commercial banks. Creation of money Main article: Money creation In current economic systems, money is created by two procedures:[citation needed] Legal tender, or narrow money (M0) is the cash created by a Central Bank by minting coins and printing banknotes. Bank money, or broad money (M1/M2) is the money created by private banks through the recording of loans as deposits of borrowing clients, with partial support indicated by the cash ratio. Currently, bank money is created as electronic money. Bank money, whose value exists on the books of financial institutions and can be converted into physical notes or used for cashless payment, forms by far the largest part of broad money in developed countries.[26][27][28] In most countries, the majority of money is mostly created as M1/M2 by commercial banks making loans. Contrary to some popular misconceptions, banks do not act simply as intermediaries, lending out deposits that savers place with them, and do not depend on central bank money (M0) to create new loans and deposits.[29] Market liquidity Main article: Market liquidity "Market liquidity" describes how easily an item can be traded for another item, or into the common currency within an economy. Money is the most liquid asset because it is universally recognized and accepted as a common currency. In this way, money gives consumers the freedom to trade goods and services easily without having to barter. Liquid financial instruments are easily tradable and have low transaction costs. There should be no (or minimal) spread between the prices to buy and sell the instrument being used as money. Types Commodity Main article: Commodity money A 1914 British gold sovereign Many items have been used as commodity money such as naturally scarce precious metals, conch shells, barley, beads, etc., as well as many other things that are thought of as having value. Commodity money value comes from the commodity out of which it is made. The commodity itself constitutes the money, and the money is the commodity.[30] Examples of commodities that have been used as mediums of exchange include gold, silver, copper, rice, Wampum, salt, peppercorns, large stones, decorated belts, shells, alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, candy, etc. These items were sometimes used in a metric of perceived value in conjunction with one another, in various commodity valuation or price system economies. The use of commodity money is similar to barter, but a commodity money provides a simple and automatic unit of account for the commodity which is being used as money. Although some gold coins such as the Krugerrand are considered legal tender, there is no record of their face value on either side of the coin. The rationale for this is that emphasis is laid on their direct link to the prevailing value of their fine gold content.[31] American Eagles are imprinted with their gold content and legal tender face value.[32] Representative Main article: Representative money In 1875, the British economist William Stanley Jevons described the money used at the time as "representative money". Representative money is money that consists of token coins, paper money or other physical tokens such as certificates, that can be reliably exchanged for a fixed quantity of a commodity such as gold or silver. The value of representative money stands in direct and fixed relation to the commodity that backs it, while not itself being composed of that commodity.[33] Fiat Main article: Fiat money Gold coins are an example of legal tender that are traded for their intrinsic value, rather than their face value. Fiat money or fiat currency is money whose value is not derived from any intrinsic value or guarantee that it can be converted into a valuable commodity (such as gold). Instead, it has value only by government order (fiat). Usually, the government declares the fiat currency (typically notes and coins from a central bank, such as the Federal Reserve System in the U.S.) to be legal tender, making it unlawful not to accept the fiat currency as a means of repayment for all debts, public and private.[34][35] Some bullion coins such as the Australian Gold Nugget and American Eagle are legal tender, however, they trade based on the market price of the metal content as a commodity, rather than their legal tender face value (which is usually only a small fraction of their bullion value).[32][36] Fiat money, if physically represented in the form of currency (paper or coins), can be accidentally damaged or destroyed. However, fiat money has an advantage over representative or commodity money, in that the same laws that created the money can also define rules for its replacement in case of damage or destruction. For example, the U.S. government will replace mutilated Federal Reserve Notes (U.S. fiat money) if at least half of the physical note can be reconstructed, or if it can be otherwise proven to have been destroyed.[37] By contrast, commodity money that has been lost or destroyed cannot be recovered. Coinage Main article: Coin These factors led to the shift of the store of value being the metal itself: at first silver, then both silver and gold, and at one point there was bronze as well. Now we have copper coins and other non-precious metals as coins. Metals were mined, weighed, and stamped into coins. This was to assure the individual taking the coin that he was getting a certain known weight of precious metal. Coins could be counterfeited, but they also created a new unit of account, which helped lead to banking. Archimedes' principle provided the next link: coins could now be easily tested for their fine weight of the metal, and thus the value of a coin could be determined, even if it had been shaved, debased or otherwise tampered with (see Numismatics). In most major economies using coinage, copper, silver, and gold formed three tiers of coins. Gold coins were used for large purchases, payment of the military, and backing of state activities. Silver coins were used for midsized transactions, and as a unit of account for taxes, dues, contracts, and fealty, while copper coins represented the coinage of common transaction. This system had been used in ancient India since the time of the Mahajanapadas. In Europe, this system worked through the medieval period because there was virtually no new gold, silver, or copper introduced through mining or conquest.[citation needed] Thus the overall ratios of the three coinages remained roughly equivalent. Paper Main article: Banknote Huizi currency, issued in 1160 In premodern China, the need for credit and for circulating a medium that was less of a burden than exchanging thousands of copper coins led to the introduction of paper money. This economic phenomenon was a slow and gradual process that took place from the late Tang dynasty (618–907) into the Song dynasty (960–1279). It began as a means for merchants to exchange heavy coinage for receipts of deposit issued as promissory notes from shops of wholesalers, notes that were valid for temporary use in a small regional territory. In the 10th century, the Song dynasty government began circulating these notes amongst the traders in their monopolized salt industry. The Song government granted several shops the sole right to issue banknotes, and in the early 12th century the government finally took over these shops to produce state-issued currency. Yet the banknotes issued were still regionally valid and temporary; it was not until the mid 13th century that a standard and uniform government issue of paper money was made into an acceptable nationwide currency. The already widespread methods of woodblock printing and then Pi Sheng's movable type printing by the 11th century was the impetus for the massive production of paper money in premodern China. Paper money from different countries At around the same time in the medieval Islamic world, a vigorous monetary economy was created during the 7th–12th centuries on the basis of the expanding levels of circulation of a stable high-value currency (the dinar). Innovations introduced by economists, traders and merchants of the Muslim world include the earliest uses of credit,[38] cheques, savings accounts, transactional accounts, loaning, trusts, exchange rates, the transfer of credit and debt,[39] and banking institutions for loans and deposits.[39][need quotation to verify] In Europe, paper money was first introduced in Sweden in 1661. Sweden was rich in copper, thus, because of copper's low value, extraordinarily big coins (often weighing several kilograms) had to be made. The advantages of paper currency were numerous: it reduced transport of gold and silver, and thus lowered the risks; it made loaning gold or silver at interest easier since the specie (gold or silver) never left the possession of the lender until someone else redeemed the note; and it allowed for a division of currency into credit and specie backed forms. It enabled the sale of stock in joint stock companies, and the redemption of those shares in the paper. However, these advantages are held within their disadvantages. First, since a note has no intrinsic value, there was nothing to stop issuing authorities from printing more of it than they had specie to back it with. Second, because it increased the money supply, it increased inflationary pressures, a fact observed by David Hume in the 18th century. The result is that paper money would often lead to an inflationary bubble, which could collapse if people began demanding hard money, causing the demand for paper notes to fall to zero. The printing of paper money was also associated with wars, and financing of wars, and therefore regarded as part of maintaining a standing army. For these reasons, paper currency was held in suspicion and hostility in Europe and America. It was also addictive since the speculative profits of trade and capital creation were quite large. Major nations established mints to print money and mint coins, and branches of their treasury to collect taxes and hold gold and silver stock. At this time both silver and gold were considered legal tender, and accepted by governments for taxes. However, the instability in the ratio between the two grew over the 19th century, with the increase both in the supply of these metals, particularly silver, and of trade. This is called bimetallism and the attempt to create a bimetallic standard where both gold and silver backed currency remained in circulation occupied the efforts of inflationists. Governments at this point could use currency as an instrument of policy, printing paper currency such as the United States greenback, to pay for military expenditures. They could also set the terms at which they would redeem notes for specie, by limiting the amount of purchase, or the minimum amount that could be redeemed. Banknotes of different currencies with a face value of 5000 By 1900, most of the industrializing nations were on some form of a gold standard, with paper notes and silver coins constituting the circulating medium. Private banks and governments across the world followed Gresham's law: keeping gold and silver paid but paying out in notes. This did not happen all around the world at the same time, but occurred sporadically, generally in times of war or financial crisis, beginning in the early part of the 20th century and continuing across the world until the late 20th century, when the regime of floating fiat currencies came into force. One of the last countries to break away from the gold standard was the United States in 1971. No country anywhere in the world today has an enforceable gold standard or silver standard currency system. Commercial bank Main article: Demand deposit A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash Commercial bank money or demand deposits are claims against financial institutions that can be used for the purchase of goods and services. A demand deposit account is an account from which funds can be withdrawn at any time by check or cash withdrawal without giving the bank or financial institution any prior notice. Banks have the legal obligation to return funds held in demand deposits immediately upon demand (or 'at call'). Demand deposit withdrawals can be performed in person, via checks or bank drafts, using automatic teller machines (ATMs), or through online banking.[40] Commercial bank money is created by commercial banks whose reserves (held as cash and other highly liquid assets) typically constitute only a fraction of their deposits, while the banks maintain an obligation to redeem all these deposits upon demand - a practise known as fractional-reserve banking.[41] Commercial bank money differs from commodity and fiat money in two ways: firstly it is non-physical, as its existence is only reflected in the account ledgers of banks and other financial institutions, and secondly, there is some element of risk that the claim will not be fulfilled if the financial institution becomes insolvent. The money multiplier theory presents the process of creating commercial bank money as a multiple (greater than 1) of the amount of base money created by the country's central bank, the multiple itself being a function of the legal regulation of banks imposed by financial regulators (e.g., potential reserve requirements) beside the business policies of commercial banks and the preferences of households - factors which the central bank can influence, but not control completely.[42] Contemporary central banks generally do not control the creation of money, nor do they try to, though their interest rate-setting monetary policies naturally affect the amount of loans and deposits that commercial banks create.[43][44][45] Digital or electronic Main article: Digital money The development of computer technology in the second part of the twentieth century allowed money to be represented digitally. By 1990, in the United States all money transferred between its central bank and commercial banks was in electronic form. By the 2000s most money existed as digital currency in bank databases.[46] In 2012, by number of transaction, 20 to 58 percent of transactions were electronic (dependent on country).[47] Anonymous digital currencies were developed in the early 2000s. Early examples include Ecash, bit gold, RPOW, and b-money. Not much innovation occurred until the conception of Bitcoin in 2008, which introduced the concept of a decentralised currency that requires no trusted third party.[48] Monetary policy Main article: Monetary policy US dollar banknotes When gold and silver were used as money, the money supply could grow only if the supply of these metals was increased by mining. This rate of increase would accelerate during periods of gold rushes and discoveries, such as when Columbus traveled to the New World and brought back gold and silver to Spain, or when gold was discovered in California in 1848. This caused inflation, as the value of gold went down. However, if the rate of gold mining could not keep up with the growth of the economy, gold became relatively more valuable, and prices (denominated in gold) would drop, causing deflation. Deflation was the more typical situation for over a century when gold and paper money backed by gold were used as money in the 18th and 19th centuries. Modern-day monetary systems are based on fiat money and are no longer tied to the value of gold. The amount of money in the economy is influenced by monetary policy, which is the process by which a central bank influences the economy to achieve specific goals. Often, the goal of monetary policy is to maintain low and stable inflation, directly via an inflation targeting strategy,[49] or indirectly via a fixed exchange rate system against a major currency with a stable inflation rate.[50] In some cases, the central bank may pursue various supplementary goals. For example, it is clearly stated in the Federal Reserve Act that the Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee should seek "to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates."[51] A failed monetary policy can have significant detrimental effects on an economy and the society that depends on it. These include hyperinflation, stagflation, recession, high unemployment, shortages of imported goods, inability to export goods, and even total monetary collapse and the adoption of a much less efficient barter economy. This happened in Russia, for instance, after the fall of the Soviet Union. Monetary policy strategies have changed over time.[52] Some of the tools used to conduct contemporary monetary policy include:[53] changing the interest rate at which the central bank loans money to (or borrows money from) the commercial banks open market operations including currency purchases or sales forward guidance, i.e. publishing forecasts to communicate the likely future course of monetary policy raising or lowering bank reserve requirements In the U.S., the Federal Reserve is responsible for conducting monetary policy, while in the eurozone the respective institution is the European Central Bank. Other central banks with a significant impact on global finances are the Bank of Japan, People's Bank of China and the Bank of England. During the 1970s and 1980s monetary policy in several countries was influenced by an economic theory known as monetarism. Monetarism argued that management of the money supply should be the primary means of regulating economic activity. The stability of the demand for money prior to the 1980s was a key finding of Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz[54] supported by the work of David Laidler,[55] and many others. It turned out, however, that maintaining a monetary policy strategy of targeting the money supply did not work very well: The relation between money growth and inflation was not as tight as expected by monetarist theory, and the short-run relation between the money supply and the interest rate, which is the chief instrument through which the cental bank can influence output and inflation, was unreliable. Both problems were due to unpredictable shifts in the demand for money. Consequently, starting in the early 1990s a fundamental reorientation took place in most major central banks, starting to target inflation directly instead of the money supply and using the interest rate as their main instrument.[56] Locality President J. K. Paasikivi illustrated in a former Finnish 10 mark banknote from 1980 The definition of money says it is money only "in a particular country or socio-economic context". In general, communities only use a single measure of value, which can be identified in the prices of goods listed for sale. There might be multiple media of exchange, which can be observed by what is given to purchase goods ("medium of exchange"), etc. In most countries, the government acts to encourage a particular forms of money, such as requiring it for taxes and punishing fraud. Some places do maintain two or more currencies, particularly in border towns or high-travel areas. Shops in these locations might list prices and accept payment in multiple currencies. Otherwise, foreign currency is treated as a financial asset in the local market. Foreign currency is commonly bought or sold on foreign exchange markets by travelers and traders. Communities can change the money they use, which is known as currency substitution. This can happen intentionally, when a government issues a new currency. For example, when Brazil moved from the Brazilian cruzeiro to the Brazilian real. It can also happen spontaneously, when the people refuse to accept a currency experiencing hyperinflation (even if its use is encouraged by the government). The money used by a community can change on a smaller scale. This can come through innovation, such as the adoption of cheques (checks). Gresham's law says that "bad money drives out good". That is, when buying a good, a person is more likely to pass on less-desirable items that qualify as "money" and hold on to more valuable ones. For example, coins with less silver in them (but which are still valid coins) are more likely to circulate in the community. This may effectively change the money used by a community. The money used by a community does not have to be a currency issued by a government. A famous example of community adopting a new form of money is prisoners-of-war using cigarettes to trade.[57] Financial crimes Counterfeiting Main article: Counterfeit money Counterfeit money is imitation currency produced without the legal sanction of the state or government. Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud or forgery. Counterfeiting is almost as old as money itself. Plated copies (known as Fourrées) have been found of Lydian coins which are thought to be among the first western coins.[58] Historically, objects that were difficult to counterfeit (e.g. shells, rare stones, precious metals) were often chosen as money.[59] Before the introduction of paper money, the most prevalent method of counterfeiting involved mixing base metals with pure gold or silver. A form of counterfeiting is the production of documents by legitimate printers in response to fraudulent instructions. During World War II, the Nazis forged British pounds and American dollars. Today some of the finest counterfeit banknotes are called Superdollars because of their high quality and likeness to the real U.S. dollar. There has been significant counterfeiting of Euro banknotes and coins since the launch of the currency in 2002, but considerably less than for the U.S. dollar.[60] Money laundering Main article: Money laundering Money laundering is the process in which the proceeds of crime are transformed into ostensibly legitimate money or other assets. However, in several legal and regulatory systems the term money laundering has become conflated with other forms of financial crime, and sometimes used more generally to include misuse of the financial system (involving things such as securities, digital currencies, credit cards, and traditional currency), including terrorism financing, tax evasion, and evading of international sanctions. 2024

Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context.[1][2][3] The primary functions which distinguish money are: medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value and sometimes, a standard of deferred payment. Money was historically an emergent market phenomenon that possessed intrinsic value as a commodity; nearly all contemporary money systems are based on unbacked fiat money without use value.[4] Its value is consequently derived by social convention, having been declared by a government or regulatory entity to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private", in the case of the United States dollar. The money supply of a country comprises all currency in circulation (banknotes and coins currently issued) and, depending on the particular definition used, one or more types of bank money (the balances held in checking accounts, savings accounts, and other types of bank accounts). Bank money, whose value exists on the books of financial institutions and can be converted into physical notes or used for cashless payment, forms by far the largest part of broad money in developed countries. Etymology The word money derives from the Latin word moneta with the meaning "coin" via French monnaie. The Latin word is believed to originate from a temple of Juno, on Capitoline, one of Rome's seven hills. In the ancient world, Juno was often associated with money. The temple of Juno Moneta at Rome was the place where the mint of Ancient Rome was located.[5] The name "Juno" may have derived from the Etruscan goddess Uni and "Moneta" either from the Latin word "monere" (remind, warn, or instruct) or the Greek word "moneres" (alone, unique). In the Western world a prevalent term for coin-money has been specie, stemming from Latin in specie, meaning "in kind".[6] History Main article: History of money A 640 BC one-third stater electrum coin from Lydia The use of barter-like methods may date back to at least 100,000 years ago, though there is no evidence of a society or economy that relied primarily on barter.[7][8] Instead, non-monetary societies operated largely along the principles of gift economy and debt.[9][10] When barter did in fact occur, it was usually between either complete strangers or potential enemies.[11] Many cultures around the world eventually developed the use of commodity money. The Mesopotamian shekel was a unit of weight, and relied on the mass of something like 160 grains of barley.[12] The first usage of the term came from Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. Societies in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia used shell money—often, the shells of the cowry (Cypraea moneta L. or C. annulus L.). According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coins.[13] It is thought by modern scholars that these first stamped coins were minted around 650 to 600 BC.[14] Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money The system of commodity money eventually evolved into a system of representative money.[citation needed] This occurred because gold and silver merchants or banks would issue receipts to their depositors, redeemable for the commodity money deposited. Eventually, these receipts became generally accepted as a means of payment and were used as money. Paper money or banknotes were first used in China during the Song dynasty. These banknotes, known as "jiaozi", evolved from promissory notes that had been used since the 7th century. However, they did not displace commodity money and were used alongside coins. In the 13th century, paper money became known in Europe through the accounts of travellers, such as Marco Polo and William of Rubruck.[15] Marco Polo's account of paper money during the Yuan dynasty is the subject of a chapter of his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, titled "How the Great Kaan Causeth the Bark of Trees, Made Into Something Like Paper, to Pass for Money All Over his Country."[16] Banknotes were first issued in Europe by Stockholms Banco in 1661 and were again also used alongside coins. The gold standard, a monetary system where the medium of exchange are paper notes that are convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold, replaced the use of gold coins as currency in the 17th–19th centuries in Europe. These gold standard notes were made legal tender, and redemption into gold coins was discouraged. By the beginning of the 20th century, almost all countries had adopted the gold standard, backing their legal tender notes with fixed amounts of gold. After World War II and the Bretton Woods Conference, most countries adopted fiat currencies that were fixed to the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar was in turn fixed to gold. In 1971 the U.S. government suspended the convertibility of the dollar to gold. After this many countries de-pegged their currencies from the U.S. dollar, and most of the world's currencies became unbacked by anything except the governments' fiat of legal tender and the ability to convert the money into goods via payment. According to proponents of modern money theory, fiat money is also backed by taxes. By imposing taxes, states create demand for the currency they issue.[17] Functions See also: Monetary economics Part of a series on Macroeconomics Bank of England Basic concepts Policies Models Related fields Schools People See also icon Money portal icon Business portal vte In Money and the Mechanism of Exchange (1875), William Stanley Jevons famously analyzed money in terms of four functions: a medium of exchange, a common measure of value (or unit of account), a standard of value (or standard of deferred payment), and a store of value. By 1919, Jevons's four functions of money were summarized in the couplet: Money's a matter of functions four, A Medium, a Measure, a Standard, a Store.[18] This couplet would later become widely popular in macroeconomics textbooks.[19] Most modern textbooks now list only three functions, that of medium of exchange, unit of account, and store of value, not considering a standard of deferred payment as a distinguished function, but rather subsuming it in the others.[4][20][21] There have been many historical disputes regarding the combination of money's functions, some arguing that they need more separation and that a single unit is insufficient to deal with them all. One of these arguments is that the role of money as a medium of exchange conflicts with its role as a store of value: its role as a store of value requires holding it without spending, whereas its role as a medium of exchange requires it to circulate.[22] Others argue that storing of value is just deferral of the exchange, but does not diminish the fact that money is a medium of exchange that can be transported both across space and time. The term "financial capital" is a more general and inclusive term for all liquid instruments, whether or not they are a uniformly recognized tender. Medium of exchange Main article: Medium of exchange When money is used to intermediate the exchange of goods and services, it is performing a function as a medium of exchange. It thereby avoids the inefficiencies of a barter system, such as the inability to permanently ensure "coincidence of wants". For example, between two parties in a barter system, one party may not have or make the item that the other wants, indicating the non-existence of the coincidence of wants. Having a medium of exchange can alleviate this issue because the former can have the freedom to spend time on other items, instead of being burdened to only serve the needs of the latter. Meanwhile, the latter can use the medium of exchange to seek for a party that can provide them with the item they want. Measure of value Main article: Unit of account A unit of account (in economics)[23] is a standard numerical monetary unit of measurement of the market value of goods, services, and other transactions. Also known as a "measure" or "standard" of relative worth and deferred payment, a unit of account is a necessary prerequisite for the formulation of commercial agreements that involve debt. Money acts as a standard measure and a common denomination of trade. It is thus a basis for quoting and bargaining of prices. It is necessary for developing efficient accounting systems like double-entry bookkeeping. Standard of deferred payment Main article: Standard of deferred payment While standard of deferred payment is distinguished by some texts,[22] particularly older ones, other texts subsume this under other functions.[4][20][21][clarification needed] A "standard of deferred payment" is an accepted way to settle a debt—a unit in which debts are denominated, and the status of money as legal tender, in those jurisdictions which have this concept, states that it may function for the discharge of debts. When debts are denominated in money, the real value of debts may change due to inflation and deflation, and for sovereign and international debts via debasement and devaluation. Store of value Main article: Store of value To act as a store of value, money must be able to be reliably saved, stored, and retrieved—and be predictably usable as a medium of exchange when it is retrieved. The value of the money must also remain stable over time. Some have argued that inflation, by reducing the value of money, diminishes the ability of the money to function as a store of value.[4][failed verification] Properties The functions of money are that it is a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value.[24] To fulfill these various functions, money must be:[25] Fungible: its individual units must be capable of mutual substitution (i.e., interchangeability). Durable: able to withstand repeated use. Divisible: divisible to small units. Portable: easily carried and transported. Acceptable: most people must accept the money as payment Scarce: its supply in circulation must be limited.[25] Money supply Main article: Money supply Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. In economics, money is any financial instrument that can fulfill the functions of money (detailed above). These financial instruments together are collectively referred to as the money supply of an economy. In other words, the money supply is the number of financial instruments within a specific economy available for purchasing goods or services. Since the money supply consists of various financial instruments (usually currency, demand deposits, and various other types of deposits), the amount of money in an economy is measured by adding together these financial instruments creating a monetary aggregate. Economists employ different ways to measure the stock of money or money supply, reflected in different types of monetary aggregates, using a categorization system that focuses on the liquidity of the financial instrument used as money. The most commonly used monetary aggregates (or types of money) are conventionally designated M1, M2, and M3. These are successively larger aggregate categories: M1 is currency (coins and bills) plus demand deposits (such as checking accounts); M2 is M1 plus savings accounts and time deposits under $100,000; M3 is M2 plus larger time deposits and similar institutional accounts. M1 includes only the most liquid financial instruments, and M3 relatively illiquid instruments. The precise definition of M1, M2, etc. may be different in different countries. Another measure of money, M0, is also used. M0 is base money, or the amount of money actually issued by the central bank of a country. It is measured as currency plus deposits of banks and other institutions at the central bank. M0 is also the only money that can satisfy the reserve requirements of commercial banks. Creation of money Main article: Money creation In current economic systems, money is created by two procedures:[citation needed] Legal tender, or narrow money (M0) is the cash created by a Central Bank by minting coins and printing banknotes. Bank money, or broad money (M1/M2) is the money created by private banks through the recording of loans as deposits of borrowing clients, with partial support indicated by the cash ratio. Currently, bank money is created as electronic money. Bank money, whose value exists on the books of financial institutions and can be converted into physical notes or used for cashless payment, forms by far the largest part of broad money in developed countries.[26][27][28] In most countries, the majority of money is mostly created as M1/M2 by commercial banks making loans. Contrary to some popular misconceptions, banks do not act simply as intermediaries, lending out deposits that savers place with them, and do not depend on central bank money (M0) to create new loans and deposits.[29] Market liquidity Main article: Market liquidity "Market liquidity" describes how easily an item can be traded for another item, or into the common currency within an economy. Money is the most liquid asset because it is universally recognized and accepted as a common currency. In this way, money gives consumers the freedom to trade goods and services easily without having to barter. Liquid financial instruments are easily tradable and have low transaction costs. There should be no (or minimal) spread between the prices to buy and sell the instrument being used as money. Types Commodity Main article: Commodity money A 1914 British gold sovereign Many items have been used as commodity money such as naturally scarce precious metals, conch shells, barley, beads, etc., as well as many other things that are thought of as having value. Commodity money value comes from the commodity out of which it is made. The commodity itself constitutes the money, and the money is the commodity.[30] Examples of commodities that have been used as mediums of exchange include gold, silver, copper, rice, Wampum, salt, peppercorns, large stones, decorated belts, shells, alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, candy, etc. These items were sometimes used in a metric of perceived value in conjunction with one another, in various commodity valuation or price system economies. The use of commodity money is similar to barter, but a commodity money provides a simple and automatic unit of account for the commodity which is being used as money. Although some gold coins such as the Krugerrand are considered legal tender, there is no record of their face value on either side of the coin. The rationale for this is that emphasis is laid on their direct link to the prevailing value of their fine gold content.[31] American Eagles are imprinted with their gold content and legal tender face value.[32] Representative Main article: Representative money In 1875, the British economist William Stanley Jevons described the money used at the time as "representative money". Representative money is money that consists of token coins, paper money or other physical tokens such as certificates, that can be reliably exchanged for a fixed quantity of a commodity such as gold or silver. The value of representative money stands in direct and fixed relation to the commodity that backs it, while not itself being composed of that commodity.[33] Fiat Main article: Fiat money Gold coins are an example of legal tender that are traded for their intrinsic value, rather than their face value. Fiat money or fiat currency is money whose value is not derived from any intrinsic value or guarantee that it can be converted into a valuable commodity (such as gold). Instead, it has value only by government order (fiat). Usually, the government declares the fiat currency (typically notes and coins from a central bank, such as the Federal Reserve System in the U.S.) to be legal tender, making it unlawful not to accept the fiat currency as a means of repayment for all debts, public and private.[34][35] Some bullion coins such as the Australian Gold Nugget and American Eagle are legal tender, however, they trade based on the market price of the metal content as a commodity, rather than their legal tender face value (which is usually only a small fraction of their bullion value).[32][36] Fiat money, if physically represented in the form of currency (paper or coins), can be accidentally damaged or destroyed. However, fiat money has an advantage over representative or commodity money, in that the same laws that created the money can also define rules for its replacement in case of damage or destruction. For example, the U.S. government will replace mutilated Federal Reserve Notes (U.S. fiat money) if at least half of the physical note can be reconstructed, or if it can be otherwise proven to have been destroyed.[37] By contrast, commodity money that has been lost or destroyed cannot be recovered. Coinage Main article: Coin These factors led to the shift of the store of value being the metal itself: at first silver, then both silver and gold, and at one point there was bronze as well. Now we have copper coins and other non-precious metals as coins. Metals were mined, weighed, and stamped into coins. This was to assure the individual taking the coin that he was getting a certain known weight of precious metal. Coins could be counterfeited, but they also created a new unit of account, which helped lead to banking. Archimedes' principle provided the next link: coins could now be easily tested for their fine weight of the metal, and thus the value of a coin could be determined, even if it had been shaved, debased or otherwise tampered with (see Numismatics). In most major economies using coinage, copper, silver, and gold formed three tiers of coins. Gold coins were used for large purchases, payment of the military, and backing of state activities. Silver coins were used for midsized transactions, and as a unit of account for taxes, dues, contracts, and fealty, while copper coins represented the coinage of common transaction. This system had been used in ancient India since the time of the Mahajanapadas. In Europe, this system worked through the medieval period because there was virtually no new gold, silver, or copper introduced through mining or conquest.[citation needed] Thus the overall ratios of the three coinages remained roughly equivalent. Paper Main article: Banknote Huizi currency, issued in 1160 In premodern China, the need for credit and for circulating a medium that was less of a burden than exchanging thousands of copper coins led to the introduction of paper money. This economic phenomenon was a slow and gradual process that took place from the late Tang dynasty (618–907) into the Song dynasty (960–1279). It began as a means for merchants to exchange heavy coinage for receipts of deposit issued as promissory notes from shops of wholesalers, notes that were valid for temporary use in a small regional territory. In the 10th century, the Song dynasty government began circulating these notes amongst the traders in their monopolized salt industry. The Song government granted several shops the sole right to issue banknotes, and in the early 12th century the government finally took over these shops to produce state-issued currency. Yet the banknotes issued were still regionally valid and temporary; it was not until the mid 13th century that a standard and uniform government issue of paper money was made into an acceptable nationwide currency. The already widespread methods of woodblock printing and then Pi Sheng's movable type printing by the 11th century was the impetus for the massive production of paper money in premodern China. Paper money from different countries At around the same time in the medieval Islamic world, a vigorous monetary economy was created during the 7th–12th centuries on the basis of the expanding levels of circulation of a stable high-value currency (the dinar). Innovations introduced by economists, traders and merchants of the Muslim world include the earliest uses of credit,[38] cheques, savings accounts, transactional accounts, loaning, trusts, exchange rates, the transfer of credit and debt,[39] and banking institutions for loans and deposits.[39][need quotation to verify] In Europe, paper money was first introduced in Sweden in 1661. Sweden was rich in copper, thus, because of copper's low value, extraordinarily big coins (often weighing several kilograms) had to be made. The advantages of paper currency were numerous: it reduced transport of gold and silver, and thus lowered the risks; it made loaning gold or silver at interest easier since the specie (gold or silver) never left the possession of the lender until someone else redeemed the note; and it allowed for a division of currency into credit and specie backed forms. It enabled the sale of stock in joint stock companies, and the redemption of those shares in the paper. However, these advantages are held within their disadvantages. First, since a note has no intrinsic value, there was nothing to stop issuing authorities from printing more of it than they had specie to back it with. Second, because it increased the money supply, it increased inflationary pressures, a fact observed by David Hume in the 18th century. The result is that paper money would often lead to an inflationary bubble, which could collapse if people began demanding hard money, causing the demand for paper notes to fall to zero. The printing of paper money was also associated with wars, and financing of wars, and therefore regarded as part of maintaining a standing army. For these reasons, paper currency was held in suspicion and hostility in Europe and America. It was also addictive since the speculative profits of trade and capital creation were quite large. Major nations established mints to print money and mint coins, and branches of their treasury to collect taxes and hold gold and silver stock. At this time both silver and gold were considered legal tender, and accepted by governments for taxes. However, the instability in the ratio between the two grew over the 19th century, with the increase both in the supply of these metals, particularly silver, and of trade. This is called bimetallism and the attempt to create a bimetallic standard where both gold and silver backed currency remained in circulation occupied the efforts of inflationists. Governments at this point could use currency as an instrument of policy, printing paper currency such as the United States greenback, to pay for military expenditures. They could also set the terms at which they would redeem notes for specie, by limiting the amount of purchase, or the minimum amount that could be redeemed. Banknotes of different currencies with a face value of 5000 By 1900, most of the industrializing nations were on some form of a gold standard, with paper notes and silver coins constituting the circulating medium. Private banks and governments across the world followed Gresham's law: keeping gold and silver paid but paying out in notes. This did not happen all around the world at the same time, but occurred sporadically, generally in times of war or financial crisis, beginning in the early part of the 20th century and continuing across the world until the late 20th century, when the regime of floating fiat currencies came into force. One of the last countries to break away from the gold standard was the United States in 1971. No country anywhere in the world today has an enforceable gold standard or silver standard currency system. Commercial bank Main article: Demand deposit A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash Commercial bank money or demand deposits are claims against financial institutions that can be used for the purchase of goods and services. A demand deposit account is an account from which funds can be withdrawn at any time by check or cash withdrawal without giving the bank or financial institution any prior notice. Banks have the legal obligation to return funds held in demand deposits immediately upon demand (or 'at call'). Demand deposit withdrawals can be performed in person, via checks or bank drafts, using automatic teller machines (ATMs), or through online banking.[40] Commercial bank money is created by commercial banks whose reserves (held as cash and other highly liquid assets) typically constitute only a fraction of their deposits, while the banks maintain an obligation to redeem all these deposits upon demand - a practise known as fractional-reserve banking.[41] Commercial bank money differs from commodity and fiat money in two ways: firstly it is non-physical, as its existence is only reflected in the account ledgers of banks and other financial institutions, and secondly, there is some element of risk that the claim will not be fulfilled if the financial institution becomes insolvent. The money multiplier theory presents the process of creating commercial bank money as a multiple (greater than 1) of the amount of base money created by the country's central bank, the multiple itself being a function of the legal regulation of banks imposed by financial regulators (e.g., potential reserve requirements) beside the business policies of commercial banks and the preferences of households - factors which the central bank can influence, but not control completely.[42] Contemporary central banks generally do not control the creation of money, nor do they try to, though their interest rate-setting monetary policies naturally affect the amount of loans and deposits that commercial banks create.[43][44][45] Digital or electronic Main article: Digital money The development of computer technology in the second part of the twentieth century allowed money to be represented digitally. By 1990, in the United States all money transferred between its central bank and commercial banks was in electronic form. By the 2000s most money existed as digital currency in bank databases.[46] In 2012, by number of transaction, 20 to 58 percent of transactions were electronic (dependent on country).[47] Anonymous digital currencies were developed in the early 2000s. Early examples include Ecash, bit gold, RPOW, and b-money. Not much innovation occurred until the conception of Bitcoin in 2008, which introduced the concept of a decentralised currency that requires no trusted third party.[48] Monetary policy Main article: Monetary policy US dollar banknotes When gold and silver were used as money, the money supply could grow only if the supply of these metals was increased by mining. This rate of increase would accelerate during periods of gold rushes and discoveries, such as when Columbus traveled to the New World and brought back gold and silver to Spain, or when gold was discovered in California in 1848. This caused inflation, as the value of gold went down. However, if the rate of gold mining could not keep up with the growth of the economy, gold became relatively more valuable, and prices (denominated in gold) would drop, causing deflation. Deflation was the more typical situation for over a century when gold and paper money backed by gold were used as money in the 18th and 19th centuries. Modern-day monetary systems are based on fiat money and are no longer tied to the value of gold. The amount of money in the economy is influenced by monetary policy, which is the process by which a central bank influences the economy to achieve specific goals. Often, the goal of monetary policy is to maintain low and stable inflation, directly via an inflation targeting strategy,[49] or indirectly via a fixed exchange rate system against a major currency with a stable inflation rate.[50] In some cases, the central bank may pursue various supplementary goals. For example, it is clearly stated in the Federal Reserve Act that the Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee should seek "to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates."[51] A failed monetary policy can have significant detrimental effects on an economy and the society that depends on it. These include hyperinflation, stagflation, recession, high unemployment, shortages of imported goods, inability to export goods, and even total monetary collapse and the adoption of a much less efficient barter economy. This happened in Russia, for instance, after the fall of the Soviet Union. Monetary policy strategies have changed over time.[52] Some of the tools used to conduct contemporary monetary policy include:[53] changing the interest rate at which the central bank loans money to (or borrows money from) the commercial banks open market operations including currency purchases or sales forward guidance, i.e. publishing forecasts to communicate the likely future course of monetary policy raising or lowering bank reserve requirements In the U.S., the Federal Reserve is responsible for conducting monetary policy, while in the eurozone the respective institution is the European Central Bank. Other central banks with a significant impact on global finances are the Bank of Japan, People's Bank of China and the Bank of England. During the 1970s and 1980s monetary policy in several countries was influenced by an economic theory known as monetarism. Monetarism argued that management of the money supply should be the primary means of regulating economic activity. The stability of the demand for money prior to the 1980s was a key finding of Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz[54] supported by the work of David Laidler,[55] and many others. It turned out, however, that maintaining a monetary policy strategy of targeting the money supply did not work very well: The relation between money growth and inflation was not as tight as expected by monetarist theory, and the short-run relation between the money supply and the interest rate, which is the chief instrument through which the cental bank can influence output and inflation, was unreliable. Both problems were due to unpredictable shifts in the demand for money. Consequently, starting in the early 1990s a fundamental reorientation took place in most major central banks, starting to target inflation directly instead of the money supply and using the interest rate as their main instrument.[56] Locality President J. K. Paasikivi illustrated in a former Finnish 10 mark banknote from 1980 The definition of money says it is money only "in a particular country or socio-economic context". In general, communities only use a single measure of value, which can be identified in the prices of goods listed for sale. There might be multiple media of exchange, which can be observed by what is given to purchase goods ("medium of exchange"), etc. In most countries, the government acts to encourage a particular forms of money, such as requiring it for taxes and punishing fraud. Some places do maintain two or more currencies, particularly in border towns or high-travel areas. Shops in these locations might list prices and accept payment in multiple currencies. Otherwise, foreign currency is treated as a financial asset in the local market. Foreign currency is commonly bought or sold on foreign exchange markets by travelers and traders. Communities can change the money they use, which is known as currency substitution. This can happen intentionally, when a government issues a new currency. For example, when Brazil moved from the Brazilian cruzeiro to the Brazilian real. It can also happen spontaneously, when the people refuse to accept a currency experiencing hyperinflation (even if its use is encouraged by the government). The money used by a community can change on a smaller scale. This can come through innovation, such as the adoption of cheques (checks). Gresham's law says that "bad money drives out good". That is, when buying a good, a person is more likely to pass on less-desirable items that qualify as "money" and hold on to more valuable ones. For example, coins with less silver in them (but which are still valid coins) are more likely to circulate in the community. This may effectively change the money used by a community. The money used by a community does not have to be a currency issued by a government. A famous example of community adopting a new form of money is prisoners-of-war using cigarettes to trade.[57] Financial crimes Counterfeiting Main article: Counterfeit money Counterfeit money is imitation currency produced without the legal sanction of the state or government. Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud or forgery. Counterfeiting is almost as old as money itself. Plated copies (known as Fourrées) have been found of Lydian coins which are thought to be among the first western coins.[58] Historically, objects that were difficult to counterfeit (e.g. shells, rare stones, precious metals) were often chosen as money.[59] Before the introduction of paper money, the most prevalent method of counterfeiting involved mixing base metals with pure gold or silver. A form of counterfeiting is the production of documents by legitimate printers in response to fraudulent instructions. During World War II, the Nazis forged British pounds and American dollars. Today some of the finest counterfeit banknotes are called Superdollars because of their high quality and likeness to the real U.S. dollar. There has been significant counterfeiting of Euro banknotes and coins since the launch of the currency in 2002, but considerably less than for the U.S. dollar.[60] Money laundering Main article: Money laundering Money laundering is the process in which the proceeds of crime are transformed into ostensibly legitimate money or other assets. However, in several legal and regulatory systems the term money laundering has become conflated with other forms of financial crime, and sometimes used more generally to include misuse of the financial system (involving things such as securities, digital currencies, credit cards, and traditional currency), including terrorism financing, tax evasion, and evading of international sanctions.

Katt Williams’ Viral Shannon Sharpe Interview Has Essential Lessons For Brands. FULL VIDEO HERE -- > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oRRZiRQxTs Jan 9, 2024,04:07pm EST HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival - Katt Williams Katt Williams during HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival - Katt Williams at Wheeler Opera ... [+]FILMMAGIC, INC FOR HBO In less than a week, comedian Katt Williams’ interview on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast has racked up more than 37 million views on YouTube. In it, Katt Williams called out various other popular comedians for not being truthful about comments made on their previous appearances on Sharpe’s show, and for not being transparent about how they achieved their success. A lot was said during the nearly 3-hour long interview that has dominated internet headlines since the show dropped. While most of the conversation online surrounds the controversial things Williams had to say about his fellow comedians, there were lots of other gems from the discussion that are worth highlighting, particularly for marketers. Here are a few. Respect And Study The Craft One of the major beefs Williams had with the comedians he called out during the interview stemmed from the fact that he didn’t feel they invested a sufficient amount of time studying the craft. He didn’t feel like they were doing the hard work of developing jokes that would accomplish the primary goal of making the audience laugh. Williams lamented that his colleagues took a lot of shortcuts. He contrasted the shortcuts other comedians took, to the more detailed and diligent approach he takes. He spent years studying the structure and strategy behind jokes of popular comedians of all backgrounds, styles, and eras. Williams also said that he writes new material for every tour he goes on, rather than reusing material from previous years. He even claimed that he spent a significant amount of time studying his competition for movie roles and developed an analytical way to showcase that he was funnier than them. MORE FOR YOU How Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra Will Change Smartphones Forever SEC Issues Sudden Warning As Bitcoin ETF Race Primes Crypto For A 17 Trillion Earthquake Boosting The Price Of Ethereum XRP And Solana Appeals Court Skeptical Of Trump s Immunity Claims In Jan 6 Criminal Case The lesson for marketers is not to take shortcuts. Don’t settle for superficiality when it comes to engaging the communities you want to serve — especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities. CEO: C-suite news, analysis, and advice for top decision makers right to your inbox. Email address Sign Up By signing up, you accept and agree to our Terms of Service (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Not only will shortcuts and superficiality not yield you the results you desire, but it greatly diminishes the likelihood of you developing a lasting relationship with consumers from those communities. Instead, invest in developing a deep degree of intimacy with the customers you want to serve. The better you know them, the better you’ll be able to integrate that knowledge into your craft, so you can better serve them. It Takes Effort To Diversify Your Audience Katt Williams talked about the early days of his career when it seemed like he fared better with White audiences than Black audiences. Instead of just sticking with the audiences that immediately “got him” he took the time to study and get to know the audiences he wanted to reach at a deeper level. He created material for them, tested it with them, honed it, tested it some more, and kept going until he had a winning formula. Williams talked about a moment when he realized he was getting the same amount of laughs while in front of Black audiences that he was getting with White ones. Eventually, through his work and learning of his customer, he developed material that worked not only with segregated audiences, but with blended ones. That ability to make an audience that included people who were different from each other laugh came only as a result of learning how to talk to each of them effectively individually. Katt Williams revealed his secret to winning the hearts of any audience no matter where he was performing, was devoting part of his act to be local to the community he was in. If he was in Atlanta, he infused jokes and observations about Atlanta into the first part of his show. If he was in San Francisco, or Brussels, he took the same approach. If he talked to church folks, he didn’t curse and incorporated jokes related to church culture. The people you serve are different. Those differences come as a result of race, gender, age, body size and type, sexual orientation, geography, language spoken, marital status, parenting status and so much more. And those elements of difference form the basis of a manner in which you can connect at a deeper level with the people you serve. When you acknowledge those differences while also demonstrating to people that even though you may be different, you still belong together, you set the foundation to develop loyal raving fans. Transparency Rules The Day A major reason why the content of the Katt Williams interview was so riveting, was because of the transparency he offered. It was a rare look behind the curtain of the inner workings (and infighting) that happens within an industry. The advice for marketers and brands isn’t to be scandalous and to start collecting and producing receipts on your competitors. The lesson learned is that audiences crave transparency. They crave truth. They don’t want to just see the finished product from you. They want to know your process for getting there. They want to understand your methodology, your work ethic, and the obstacles you had to climb to deliver products and experiences that not only solve a problem for them, but transform them. They want and need to understand the story behind what makes you uniquely you. Transparency helps you unlock a deeper, more emotional connection with the people you want to reach, in a way that the purely polished presentation of you struggles to achieve. Servings Underrepresented Communities Is Good Business The Club Shay Shay podcast has a predominantly Black audience. The interview was between two Black men, talking about mostly Black comedians. And yet, the impact the interview has had has been massive. The high number of views, the conversations all over social media channels, the articles on mainstream news sites, the response videos and commentaries, and even private discussion showcase that the audience and the featured talent are present and profitable. For comparison, the most popular podcast in the world is the Joe Rogan Experience. The most popular episode he has in terms of YouTube is one he did with Elon Musk more than five years ago. To date, it has more than 68 million views. The way the Williams and Sharpe interview is trending in it’s first week, it will eclipse the views on that video. It’s long been said that content with Black leads or leads from underrepresented and underserved communities do not have the same reach, mass market appeal, or revenue potential as more “mainstream” leads. But that objection has been disproven time and time again. This viral show is just the latest example of that. Content by Black artists and for the Black community are relevant, mainstream, and profitable. The same can be said for other underrepresented and underserved communities. Just look at the impact of the Barbie movie, and Taylor Swift and Beyonce’s tours world tours had in terms of revenue and attention garnered in 2023 alone. The lesson here is to stop focusing all your energy on what seems to be gen pop and mainstream audiences. Instead, start leaning hard into content by and for underrepresented, underserved, and underestimated communities.

Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in Friday After Next, was a recurring guest on Wild 'n Out, portrayed Bobby Shaw in My Wife and Kids, provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks and Seamus in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and portrayed Lord Have Mercy in Norbit. In 2008, he voiced himself in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Early life Micah Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 2, 1971.[1][2][3] He was raised in Dayton, Ohio by Jehovah's Witness parents.[4][3] Williams has stated that he learned to read at 3 years old and was communicating in multiple languages, including French and Creole. He emancipated himself from his parents at age 13, moved to Florida and supported himself as a street vendor.[5][6] This was due to his father being intolerant and unsupportive of a life outside of the Jehovah's Witnesses and him wanting a future that was without the religion. He was homeless in Florida and lived at a park.[4] Career Stand-up career Williams started performing comedy in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati.[7][8] He honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs around the country and had become an established comic by 1999, appearing at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and The Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably, he appeared on BET's Comic View as Katt "N da Hatt" Williams.[7][8] Williams starred in his first comedy special, Let a Playa Play, in 2006. His first HBO stand-up special came in 2006 with The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1.[7] In 2007, he co-wrote and starred as himself in the comedy film Katt Williams: American Hustle. The film had critical success and established Williams as a mainstream comedian.[7][9] In 2008, he released his second HBO comedy special, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'.[10][11] Keeping busy releasing comedy DVDs and touring, Williams had a comedy tour that was named the best of 2008 by Billboard.[11] After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, Kattpacalypse.[12] Later that year, one day after a bizarre incident at a bar in Seattle that landed him in jail, he announced the end of his stand-up comedy career.[13] However, three days later, he announced he would not retire.[14] During late 2013, Williams was on his Growth Spurt Tour.[15] On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee.[16][17] In September 2015, during an interview, Williams announced and described his upcoming Conspiracy Theory Tour: "The conspiracy conversation is a conversation that we are all familiar with. We know that there are conspiracies out there, but this is a conversation that encompasses a lot of things that aren't being discussed other places. That's the basis for all conspiracy theories: the fact that there is hidden information out there, and how our process changes about things that we thought we used to know. We all, at some point, if we're are at a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. This is probably going to go down as one of my finest works, just because it's a collection of forbidden topics that we can't seem to get answered. I am one of the rare urban public officials. Part of my guarantee in my ticket price is that I'm going to be talking about what we are talking about now, and discussing from now to the next time we see [me] again. This is the open discussion that we've had since 2003. This is what it is about."[18] In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix called Great America and shot in Jacksonville, Florida.[19] In 2022, he released a new stand-up special on Netflix called World War III. Film and television career In 2002, Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue. He gained notoriety on Wild 'n Out, in which he appeared for several seasons.[7][8] He appeared in the official music video for Wild 'n Out colleague Nick Cannon's single "Gigolo" in 2003. In 2007, Williams provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback in The Boondocks. He plays himself as an on-stage stand-up comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV performing several routines, including an abbreviated version of one of his routines from Katt Williams: American Hustle. He has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.[7][8] Williams has also played supporting characters in films, such as First Sunday and Norbit, but is more widely recognized for his character Money Mike in Friday After Next.[7][8] In 2018, he played the character Willy in the season 2 premiere of Atlanta, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Music career Williams has also used the stage name "Money Mike" when rapping for songs by such artists as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. In 2006, he joined rapper Cam'ron's group the Diplomats, but was never signed as an official artist for the label.[20] On January 29, 2009, he released his debut studio/live album, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'. On November 19, 2013, he and Hell Rell released a diss song to Atlanta rapper Trinidad James entitled "Lames in the Game" due to comments made by James about the state of current hip hop music.[21] Controversy On August 27, 2011, Williams' performance at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix was marred by an incident during which he responded to a heckler (who was identified as having Mexican ancestry) with an angry tirade that included shouting "so if you love Mexico, bitch, get the fuck over there".[22] In an interview following the performance, he stated that the incident was caused by the heckler: "If a person starts their heckling with 'f' America, then that gives me the right to defend my country." He offered no apology for his remarks during the performance and said, "I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-American."[23] Two live performances in November 2012 ended early because of Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1 performance at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver ended after he jumped off the stage to confront a heckler,[24] while a November 16 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland ended after he engaged in a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler and was assisted off stage by his own security.[25] In January 2024, Williams was featured on former football tight end Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay. This episode gained significant attention, with over 18.5 million YouTube views in less than 48 hours, for Williams' forthright and humorous discussion on various topics including his experiences in the entertainment industry, his approach to comedy, and perspectives on fellow comedians. During the interview, Williams remarked, "Well as a comedian, you get free drinks at the club. So... All comedians either turn out to be connoisseurs like myself or straight up and down alcoholics like 60% of Hollywood."[26] He also shared his candid views on acting, saying: "[Rickey Smiley] and Tyler Perry, he can't play a man to save his life. They play good women, and I believe that the best actor should be in the best role." Legal issues On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase.[27] On December 14, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay restitution, and given credit for the three days he spent in jail.[2] In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond.[28] Police later charged him with burglary and criminal trespass.[29] On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30 p.m. local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries.[30] Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon, and arrested Williams for felony intimidation of a witness.[31] He was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail.[31] On November 15, 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he had allegedly beaten an 18-year-old man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus in Berkeley, California.[32] An attendee of Williams' shortened performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 16, 2012, filed a class action lawsuit days after the event, seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money for a show and got nothing but Katt Williams' nonperformance".[33] On December 2, 2012, Williams was arrested in Seattle after he allegedly got into a dispute at a bar in the South Lake Union neighborhood. His arrest came after he no-showed the first night of a planned two-night performance at the Paramount Theatre.[34] Five days later, he was arrested in Dunnigan, California, on a bench warrant arising from an incident the previous month in Sacramento, California, during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike onto a sidewalk and refused to stop for police. The resulting chase was halted due to safety concerns, and the bench warrant was issued after Williams narrowly missed several bystanders.[35] On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles on child endangerment charges. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and four of his adopted children were placed in protective custody.[36] On January 8, 2013, Williams was arrested at his Los Angeles home after failing to appear in Sacramento to answer the November 25 motorbike charges.[37] On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for the theft of a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5.[38] In April 2017, Williams pled no contest to the charge of robbery and was ordered to undertake a year of anger management classes as well as receiving three years' probation.[39] On February 29, 2016, Williams was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia, when a clerk at a swimming pool store said Williams had hit him. When police arrived, they found Williams already lying face down with his hands behind his back, waiting to be handcuffed.[40] On March 23, 2016, a video went viral of the 44-year-old Williams getting into a fight with a 17-year-old boy following a dispute during a soccer game in Gainesville. The authorities planned to review the incident with the DA in addition to his ongoing court cases.[41][42] On April 27, 2016, Williams was arrested and charged with battery in Atlanta, Georgia, after allegedly throwing a salt shaker at the manager of a local restaurant. The manager claimed to have been hit in the mouth with the salt shaker when Williams' group was denied preferential seating.[43] On July 24, 2016, Williams was arrested on suspicion of battery after an altercation with a woman at the Sportsman's Lodge, a hotel in Sherman Oaks, California.[44] On September 15, 2016, Williams was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, on a charge of second-degree criminal damage to property, after having turned himself in on a warrant for failing to appear in court for the April 27 incident. This new arrest involved an allegation from February 28, 2016, stating that Williams had thrown a man's cellphone.[45] On October 6, 2018, Williams was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a charge of assault in the fourth degree, after he assaulted a driver during an argument about his dog. He was additionally arrested on an outstanding warrant from Georgia. Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneur is an individual who creates and/or invests in one or more businesses, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards.[1] The process of setting up a business is known as "entrepreneurship". The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures. More narrow definitions have described entrepreneurship as the process of designing, launching and running a new business, which is often similar to a small business, or (per Business Dictionary) as the "capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks to make a profit".[2] The people who create these businesses are often referred to as "entrepreneurs".[3][4] While definitions of entrepreneurship typically focus on the launch and operation of businesses, due to the high risks involved in launching a startup company, a significant proportion of startups have to close (in Mikal Belicove's words) due to "lack of funding, bad business decisions, government policies, an economic crisis, a lack of market demand, or a combination of all of these."[5] In the field of economics, the term entrepreneur is used for an entity which has the ability to translate inventions or technologies into products and services.[6] In this sense, entrepreneurship describes activities on the part of both established firms and new businesses. Perspectives on entrepreneurship In the 21st century the governments of nation states have tried to promote entrepreneurship, as well as enterprise culture, in the hope that it would improve or stimulate economic growth and competition. After the end of supply-side economics, entrepreneurship was supposed to boost the economy.[7] As an academic field, entrepreneurship accommodates different schools of thought. It has been studied within disciplines such as management, economics, sociology, and economic history.[8][9] Some view entrepreneurship as allocated to the entrepreneur. These scholars tend to focus on what the entrepreneur does and what traits an entrepreneur has. This is sometimes referred to as the functionalistic approach to entrepreneurship.[10] Others deviate from the individualistic perspective to turn the spotlight on the entrepreneurial process and immerse in the interplay between agency and context. This approach is sometimes referred to as the processual approach,[10] or the contextual turn/approach to entrepreneurship.[11][12] Elements This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Entrepreneurship" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Entrepreneurship includes the creation or extraction of economic value.[13][12][14] It is the act of being an entrepreneur, or the owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profits.[citation needed] Entrepreneurs act as managers and oversee the launch and growth of an enterprise. Entrepreneurship is the process by which either an individual or a team identifies a business opportunity and acquires and deploys the necessary resources required for its exploitation. In the early 19th century, the French economist Jean-Baptiste Say provided a broad definition of entrepreneurship, saying that it "shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield". Entrepreneurs create something new and unique—they change or transmute value. Regardless of the firm size, big or small, it can take part in entrepreneurship opportunities. There are four criteria for becoming an entrepreneur. First, there must be opportunities or situations to recombine resources to generate profit. Second, entrepreneurship requires differences between people, such as preferential access to certain individuals or the ability to recognize information about opportunities. Third, taking on a level of risk is a necessity. Fourth, the entrepreneurial process requires the organization of people and resources.[15] An entrepreneur uses their time, energy, and resources to create value for others. They are rewarded for this effort monetarily and therefore both the consumer of the value created and the entrepreneur benefit. The entrepreneur is a factor in and the study of entrepreneurship reaches back to the work of Richard Cantillon and Adam Smith in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. However, entrepreneurship was largely ignored theoretically until the late 19th and early 20th centuries and empirically until a profound resurgence in business and economics since the late 1970s. In the 20th century, the understanding of entrepreneurship owes much to the work of economist Joseph Schumpeter in the 1930s and other Austrian economists such as Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek. According to Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is a person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation. Entrepreneurship employs what Schumpeter called "the gale of creative destruction" to replace in whole or in part inferior innovations across markets and industries, simultaneously creating new products, including new business models. It has been argued, that creative destruction is largely responsible for the dynamism of industries and long-run economic growth. The supposition that entrepreneurship leads to economic growth is an interpretation of the residual in endogenous growth theory and as such is debated in academic economics. An alternative description posited by Israel Kirzner suggests that the majority of innovations may be much more incremental improvements such as the replacement of paper with plastic in the making of drinking straws. Entrepreneurical opportunities The exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities may include:[16] Developing a business plan Hiring human resources Acquiring financial and material resources Providing leadership Being responsible for both the venture's success or failure Risk aversion The economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950) saw the role of the entrepreneur in the economy as "creative destruction", Which he defined as launching innovations that simultaneously destroy old industries while ushering in new industries and approaches. For Schumpeter, the changes and "dynamic economic equilibrium brought on by the innovating entrepreneur [were] the norm of a healthy economy".[17] While entrepreneurship is often associated with new, small, for-profit start-ups, entrepreneurial behavior can be seen in small-, medium- and large-sized firms, new and established firms and in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including voluntary-sector groups, charitable organizations and government.[18] Entrepreneurship may operate within an entrepreneurship ecosystem which often includes: Government programs and services that promote entrepreneurship and support entrepreneurs and start-ups Non-governmental organizations such as small-business associations and organizations that offer advice and mentoring to entrepreneurs (e.g. through entrepreneurship centers or websites) Small-business advocacy organizations that lobby governments for increased support for entrepreneurship programs and more small business-friendly laws and regulations Entrepreneurship resources and facilities (e.g. business incubators and seed accelerators) Entrepreneurship education and training programs offered by schools, colleges and universities Financing (e.g. bank loans, venture capital financing, angel investing and government and private foundation grants)[19][need quotation to verify] In the 2000s, usage of the term "entrepreneurship" expanded to include how and why some individuals (or teams) identify opportunities, evaluate them as viable, and then decide to exploit them.[20] The term has also been used to discuss how people might use these opportunities to develop new products or services, launch new firms or industries, and create wealth.[21] The entrepreneurial process is uncertain because opportunities can only be identified after they have been exploited.[22] Entrepreneurs exhibit positive biases towards finding new possibilities and seeing unmet market needs, and a tendency towards risk-taking that makes them more likely to exploit business opportunities.[23][24] History Historical usage Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (1853–1918), here at the steering wheel of his Phoenix Double-Phaeton "Entrepreneur" (/ˌɒ̃trəprəˈnɜːr, -ˈnjʊər/ ⓘ, UK also /-prɛ-/) is a loanword from French. The word first appeared in the French dictionary entitled Dictionnaire Universel de Commerce compiled by Jacques des Bruslons and published in 1723.[25] Especially in Britain, the term "adventurer" was often used to denote the same meaning.[26] The study of entrepreneurship reaches back to the work in the late 17th and early 18th centuries of Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon, which was foundational to classical economics. Cantillon defined the term first in his Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général, or Essay on the Nature of Trade in General, a book William Stanley Jevons considered the "cradle of political economy".[27][28] Cantillon defined the term as a person who pays a certain price for a product and resells it at an uncertain price, "making decisions about obtaining and using the resources while consequently admitting the risk of enterprise". Cantillon considered the entrepreneur to be a risk taker who deliberately allocates resources to exploit opportunities to maximize the financial return.[29][30] Cantillon emphasized the willingness of the entrepreneur to assume the risk and to deal with uncertainty, thus he drew attention to the function of the entrepreneur and distinguished between the function of the entrepreneur and the owner who provided the money.[29][31] Jean-Baptiste Say also identified entrepreneurs as a driver for economic development, emphasizing their role as one of the collecting factors of production allocating resources from less to fields that are more productive. Both Say and Cantillon belonged to French school of thought and known as the physiocrats.[32] Dating back to the time of the medieval guilds in Germany, a craftsperson required special permission to operate as an entrepreneur, the small proof of competence (Kleiner Befähigungsnachweis), which restricted training of apprentices to craftspeople who held a Meister certificate. This institution was introduced in 1908 after a period of so-called freedom of trade (Gewerbefreiheit, introduced in 1871) in the German Reich. However, proof of competence was not required to start a business. In 1935 and in 1953, greater proof of competence was reintroduced (Großer Befähigungsnachweis Kuhlenbeck), which required craftspeople to obtain a Meister apprentice-training certificate before being permitted to set up a new business.[33] In the Ashanti Empire, successful entrepreneurs who accumulated large wealth and men as well as distinguished themselves through heroic deeds were awarded social and political recognition by being called "Abirempon" which means big men. By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries AD, the appellation "Abirempon" had formalized and politicized to embrace those who conducted trade from which the whole state benefited. The state rewarded entrepreneurs who attained such accomplishments with Mena(elephant tail) which was the "heraldic badge"[34] 20th century In the 20th century, entrepreneurship was studied by Joseph Schumpeter in the 1930s and by other Austrian economists such as Carl Menger (1840-1921), Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) and Friedrich von Hayek (1899–1992). While the loan from French of the English-language word "entrepreneur" dates to 1762,[35] the word "entrepreneurism" dates from 1902[36] and the term "entrepreneurship" also first appeared in 1902.[37] According to Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation.[38] Entrepreneurship employs what Schumpeter called the "gale of creative destruction"[39] to replace in whole or in part inferior offerings across markets and industries, simultaneously creating new products and new business models,[citation needed] thus creative destruction is largely[quantify] responsible for long-term economic growth. The idea that entrepreneurship leads to economic growth is an interpretation of the residual in endogenous growth theory[clarification needed] and as such continues to be debated in academic economics. An alternative description by Israel Kirzner (1930– ) suggests that the majority of innovations may be incremental improvements – such as the replacement of paper with plastic in the construction of a drinking straw – that require no special qualities. For Schumpeter, entrepreneurship resulted in new industries and in new combinations of currently existing inputs. Schumpeter's initial example of this was the combination of a steam engine and then current wagon-making technologies to produce the horseless carriage. In this case, the innovation (i.e. the car) was transformational but did not require the development of dramatic new technology. It did not immediately replace the horse-drawn carriage, but in time incremental improvements reduced the cost and improved the technology, leading to the modern auto industry. Despite Schumpeter's early 20th-century contributions, traditional microeconomic theory did not formally consider the entrepreneur in its theoretical frameworks (instead of assuming that resources would find each other through a price system). In this treatment, the entrepreneur was an implied but unspecified actor, consistent with the concept of the entrepreneur being the agent of x-efficiency. For Schumpeter, the entrepreneur did not bear risk: the capitalist did. Schumpeter believed that the equilibrium was imperfect. Schumpeter (1934) demonstrated that the changing environment continuously provides new information about the optimum allocation of resources to enhance profitability. Some individuals acquire the new information before others and recombine the resources to gain an entrepreneurial profit. Schumpeter was of the opinion that entrepreneurs shift the production-possibility curve to a higher level using innovations.[40] Initially, economists made the first attempt[when?] to study the entrepreneurship concept in depth.[41] Alfred Marshall viewed the entrepreneur as a multi-tasking capitalist and observed that in the equilibrium of a completely competitive market there was no spot for "entrepreneurs" as economic-activity creators.[42] Changes in politics and society in Russia and China the late-20th century saw a flowering of entrepreneurial activity, producing Russian oligarchs[43] and Chinese millionaires.[44] 21st century In 2012, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer greets participants in an African Women's Entrepreneurship Program at the State Department in Washington, D.C. In the 2000s, entrepreneurship was extended from its origins in for-profit businesses to include social entrepreneurship, in which business goals are sought alongside social, environmental or humanitarian goals and even the concept of the political entrepreneur.[according to whom?] Entrepreneurship within an existing firm or large organization has been referred to as intrapreneurship and may include corporate ventures where large entities "spin-off" subsidiary organizations.[45] Entrepreneurs are leaders willing to take risk and exercise initiative, taking advantage of market opportunities by planning, organizing and deploying resources,[46] often by innovating to create new or improving existing products or services.[47] In the 2000s, the term "entrepreneurship" has been extended to include a specific mindset resulting in entrepreneurial initiatives, e.g. in the form of social entrepreneurship, political entrepreneurship or knowledge entrepreneurship.[citation needed] According to Paul Reynolds, founder of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, "by the time they reach their retirement years, half of all working men in the United States probably have a period of self-employment of one or more years; one in four may have engaged in self-employment for six or more years. Participating in a new business creation is a common activity among U.S. workers over the course of their careers".[48] In recent years, entrepreneurship has been claimed as a major driver of economic growth in both the United States and Western Europe.[citation needed] Entrepreneurial activities differ substantially depending on the type of organization and creativity involved. Entrepreneurship ranges in scale from solo, part-time projects to large-scale undertakings that involve a team and which may create many jobs. Many "high value" entrepreneurial ventures seek venture capital or angel funding (seed money) to raise capital for building and expanding the business.[49] Many organizations exist to support would-be entrepreneurs, including specialized government agencies, business incubators (which may be for-profit, non-profit, or operated by a college or university), science parks and non-governmental organizations, which include a range of organizations including not-for-profits, charities, foundations and business advocacy groups (e.g. Chambers of commerce). Beginning in 2008, an annual "Global Entrepreneurship Week" event aimed at "exposing people to the benefits of entrepreneurship" and getting them to "participate in entrepreneurial-related activities" was launched.[who?] Relationship between small business and entrepreneurship The term "entrepreneur" is often conflated with the term "small business" or used interchangeably with this term. While most entrepreneurial ventures start out as a small business, not all small businesses are entrepreneurial in the strict sense of the term. Many small businesses are sole proprietor operations consisting solely of the owner—or they have a small number of employees—and many of these small businesses offer an existing product, process or service and they do not aim at growth. In contrast, entrepreneurial ventures offer an innovative product, process or service and the entrepreneur typically aims to scale up the company by adding employees, seeking international sales and so on, a process which is financed by venture capital and angel investments. In this way, the term "entrepreneur" may be more closely associated with the term "startup". Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to lead a business in a positive direction by proper planning, to adapt to changing environments and understand their own strengths and weaknesses.[50] Historians' ranking A 2002 survey of 58 business history professors gave the top spots in American business history to Henry Ford, followed by Bill Gates; John D. Rockefeller; Andrew Carnegie, and Thomas Edison. They were followed by Sam Walton; J. P. Morgan; Alfred P. Sloan; Walt Disney; Ray Kroc; Thomas J. Watson; Alexander Graham Bell; Eli Whitney; James J. Hill; Jack Welch; Cyrus McCormick; David Packard; Bill Hewlett; Cornelius Vanderbilt; and George Westinghouse.[51] A 1977 survey of management scholars reported the top five pioneers in management ideas were: Frederick Winslow Taylor; Chester Barnard; Frank Bunker Gilbreth Sr.; Elton Mayo; and Lillian Moller Gilbreth.[52] Types of entrepreneurship Cultural According to Christopher Rea and Nicolai Volland, cultural entrepreneurship is "practices of individual and collective agency characterized by mobility between cultural professions and modes of cultural production", which refers to creative industry activities and sectors. In their book The Business of Culture (2015), Rea and Volland identify three types of cultural entrepreneur: "cultural personalities", defined as "individuals who buil[d] their own personal brand of creativity as a cultural authority and leverage it to create and sustain various cultural enterprises"; "tycoons", defined as "entrepreneurs who buil[d] substantial clout in the cultural sphere by forging synergies between their industrial, cultural, political, and philanthropic interests"; and "collective enterprises", organizations which may engage in cultural production for profit or not-for-profit purposes.[53] In the 2000s, story-telling has emerged as a field of study in cultural entrepreneurship. Some have argued that entrepreneurs should be considered "skilled cultural operators"[54] that use stories to build legitimacy, and seize market opportunities and new capital.[55][56][57] Others have concluded that we need to speak of a 'narrative turn' in cultural entrepreneurship research.[58] Ethnic The term "ethnic entrepreneurship" refers to self-employed business owners who belong to racial or ethnic minority groups in the United States and Europe.[citation needed] A long tradition of academic research explores the experiences and strategies of ethnic entrepreneurs as they strive to integrate economically into mainstream U.S. or European society. Classic cases include Jewish merchants and tradespeople in large U.S. cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries as well as Chinese and Japanese small business owners (restaurants, farmers, shop owners) on the West Coast.[59] In the 2010s, ethnic entrepreneurship has been studied in the case of Cuban business owners in Miami, Indian motel owners of the U.S. and Chinese business owners in Chinatowns across the United States. While entrepreneurship offers these groups many opportunities for economic advancement, self-employment and business ownership in the United States remain unevenly distributed along racial/ethnic lines.[60] Despite numerous success stories of Asian entrepreneurs, a recent statistical analysis of U.S. census data shows that whites are more likely than Asians, African-Americans and Latinos to be self-employed in high prestige, lucrative industries.[60] Religious Religious entrepreneurship refers to both the use of entrepreneurship to pursue religious ends as well as how religion impacts entrepreneurial pursuits. While religion is a central topic in society, it is largely overlooked in entrepreneurship research.[61] The inclusion of religion may transform entrepreneurship including a focus on opportunities other than profit as well as practices, processes and purpose of entrepreneurship.[62][63] Gümüsay suggests a three pillars model to explain religious entrepreneurship: The pillars are the entrepreneurial, socio-economic/ethical, and religio-spiritual in the pursuit of value, values, and the metaphysical.[64] Feminist A feminist entrepreneur is an individual who applies feminist values and approaches through entrepreneurship, with the goal of improving the quality of life and well-being of girls and women.[65] Many are doing so by creating "for women, by women" enterprises. Feminist entrepreneurs are motivated to enter commercial markets by desire to create wealth and social change, based on the ethics of cooperation, equality and mutual respect.[66][67] These endeavours can have the effect of both empowerment and emancipation.[68] Institutional The American-born British economist Edith Penrose has highlighted the collective nature of entrepreneurship. She mentions that in modern organizations, human resources need to be combined to better capture and create business opportunities.[69] The sociologist Paul DiMaggio (1988:14) has expanded this view to say that "new institutions arise when organized actors with sufficient resources [institutional entrepreneurs] see in them an opportunity to realize interests that they value highly".[70] The notion has been widely applied.[71][72][73][74] Millennial The term "millennial entrepreneur" refers to a business owner who is affiliated with millennials (also known as Generation Y), those people born from approximately 1981 to 1996.[75] The offspring of baby boomers and early Gen Xers,[76] this generation was brought up using digital technology and mass media. Millennial business owners are well-equipped with knowledge of new technology and new business models and have a strong grasp of its business applications. There have been many breakthrough businesses that have come from millennial entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg, who created Facebook.[77] Despite the expectation of millennial success, there have been recent studies that have proven this to not be the case. The comparison between millennials who are self-employed and those who are not self-employed shows that the latter is higher. The reason for this is because they have grown up in a different generation and attitude than their elders. Some of the barriers to entry for entrepreneurs are the economy, debt from schooling, and the challenges of regulatory compliance.[78] Nascent A nascent entrepreneur is someone in the process of establishing a business venture.[79] In this observation, the nascent entrepreneur can be seen as pursuing an opportunity, i.e. a possibility to introduce new services or products, serve new markets, or develop more efficient production methods in a profitable manner.[80][81] But before such a venture is actually established, the opportunity is just a venture idea.[82] In other words, the pursued opportunity is perceptual in nature, propped by the nascent entrepreneur's personal beliefs about the feasibility of the venturing outcomes the nascent entrepreneur seeks to achieve.[83][84][85] Its prescience and value cannot be confirmed ex ante but only gradually, in the context of the actions that the nascent entrepreneur undertakes towards establishing the venture as described in Saras Sarasvathy's theory of Effectuation,[86] Ultimately, these actions can lead to a path that the nascent entrepreneur deems no longer attractive or feasible, or result in the emergence of a (viable) business. In this sense, over time, the nascent venture can move towards being discontinued or towards emerging successfully as an operating entity. The distinction between the novice, serial and portfolio entrepreneurs is an example of behavior-based categorization.[87] Other examples are the (related) studies by,[88][89] on start-up event sequences. Nascent entrepreneurship that emphasizes the series of activities involved in new venture emergence,[90][91][92] rather than the solitary act of exploiting an opportunity. Such research will help separate entrepreneurial action into its basic sub-activities and elucidate the inter-relationships between activities, between an activity (or sequence of activities) and an individual's motivation to form an opportunity belief, and between an activity (or sequence of activities) and the knowledge needed to form an opportunity belief. With this research, scholars will be able to begin constructing a theory of the micro-foundations of entrepreneurial action. Scholars interested in nascent entrepreneurship tend to focus less on the single act of opportunity exploitation and more on the series of actions in new venture emergence,[90][93][92] Indeed, nascent entrepreneurs undertake numerous entrepreneurial activities, including actions that make their businesses more concrete to themselves and others. For instance, nascent entrepreneurs often look for and purchase facilities and equipment; seek and obtain financial backing, form legal entities, organize teams; and dedicate all their time and energy to their business[94] Project-based Project entrepreneurs are individuals who are engaged in the repeated assembly or creation of temporary organizations.[95] These are organizations that have limited lifespans which are devoted to producing a singular objective or goal and get disbanded rapidly when the project ends. Industries where project-based enterprises are widespread include: sound recording, film production, software development, television production, new media and construction.[96] What makes project-entrepreneurs distinctive from a theoretical standpoint is that they have to "rewire" these temporary ventures and modify them to suit the needs of new project opportunities that emerge. A project entrepreneur who used a certain approach and team for one project may have to modify the business model or team for a subsequent project. Project entrepreneurs are exposed repeatedly to problems and tasks typical of the entrepreneurial process.[97] Indeed, project-based entrepreneurs face two critical challenges that invariably characterize the creation of a new venture: locating the right opportunity to launch the project venture and assembling the most appropriate team to exploit that opportunity. Resolving the first challenge requires project-entrepreneurs to access an extensive range of information needed to seize new investment opportunities. Resolving the second challenge requires assembling a collaborative team that has to fit well with the particular challenges of the project and has to function almost immediately to reduce the risk that performance might be adversely affected. Another type of project entrepreneurship involves entrepreneurs working with business students to get analytical work done on their ideas. Social Student organizers from the Green Club at Newcomb College Institute formed a social entrepreneurship organization in 2010. Main article: Social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is the use of the by start up companies and other entrepreneurs to develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues.[98] This concept may be applied to a variety of organizations with different sizes, aims, and beliefs.[99] For-profit entrepreneurs typically measure performance using business metrics like profit, revenues and increases in stock prices, but social entrepreneurs are either non-profits or blend for-profit goals with generating a positive "return to society" and therefore must use different metrics. Social entrepreneurship typically attempts to further broad social, cultural, and environmental goals often associated with the voluntary sector[100] in areas such as poverty alleviation, health care[101] and community development. At times, profit-making social enterprises may be established to support the social or cultural goals of the organization but not as an end in itself. For example, an organization that aims to provide housing and employment to the homeless may operate a restaurant, both to raise money and to provide employment for the homeless people. Biosphere Biosphere entrepreneurship is "entrepreneurial activity that generates value for the biosphere and ecosystem services."[102] It is part of a larger trend of business schools seeking to incorporate environmental topics more actively into their curricula.[103] Entrepreneurial behaviours The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator—a designer of new ideas and business processes.[104] Management skills and strong team building abilities are often perceived as essential leadership attributes for successful entrepreneurs.[105][unreliable source] Political economist Robert Reich considers leadership, management ability and team-building to be essential qualities of an entrepreneur.[106][107] Uncertainty perception and risk-taking Theorists Frank Knight[108] and Peter Drucker defined entrepreneurship in terms of risk-taking. The entrepreneur is willing to put his or her career and financial security on the line and take risks in the name of an idea, spending time as well as capital on an uncertain venture. However, entrepreneurs often do not believe that they have taken an enormous amount of risks because they do not perceive the level of uncertainty to be as high as other people do. Knight classified three types of uncertainty: Risk, which is measurable statistically (such as the probability of drawing a red color ball from a jar containing five red balls and five white balls) Ambiguity, which is hard to measure statistically (such as the probability of drawing a red ball from a jar containing five red balls but an unknown number of white balls) True uncertainty or Knightian uncertainty, which is impossible to estimate or predict statistically (such as the probability of drawing a red ball from a jar whose contents, in terms of numbers of coloured balls, are entirely unknown) Entrepreneurship is often associated with true uncertainty, particularly when it involves the creation of a novel good or service, for a market that did not previously exist, rather than when a venture creates an incremental improvement to an existing product or service. A 2014 study at ETH Zürich found that compared with typical managers, entrepreneurs showed higher decision-making efficiency and a stronger activation in regions of frontopolar cortex (FPC) previously associated with explorative choice.[109] "Coachability" and advice taking The ability of entrepreneurs to work closely with and take advice from early investors and other partners (i.e. their coachability) has long been considered a critical factor in entrepreneurial success.[110] At the same time, economists have argued that entrepreneurs should not simply act on all advice given to them, even when that advice comes from well-informed sources, because entrepreneurs possess far deeper and richer local knowledge about their own firm than any outsider. Indeed, measures of coachability are not actually predictive of entrepreneurial success (e.g. measured as success in subsequent funding rounds, acquisitions, pivots and firm survival). This research also shows that older and larger founding teams, presumably those with more subject expertise, are less coachable than younger and smaller founding teams.[citation needed] Strategies Strategies that entrepreneurs may use include: Innovation of new products, services or processes[111] Continuous process improvement (CPI)[111] Exploration of new business models Finding solutions for problems Use of technology[111] Use of business intelligence Use of economical strategies Development of future products and services[111] Optimized talent management[111] Entrepreneurial marketing strategies for interactive and innovative networking[112] Designing individual/opportunity nexus According to Shane and Venkataraman, entrepreneurship comprises both "enterprising individuals" and "entrepreneurial opportunities", so researchers should study the nature of the individuals who identify opportunities when others do not, the opportunities themselves and the nexus between individuals and opportunities.[113] On the other hand, Reynolds et al.[114] argue that individuals are motivated to engage in entrepreneurial endeavours driven mainly by necessity or opportunity, that is individuals pursue entrepreneurship primarily owing to survival needs, or because they identify business opportunities that satisfy their need for achievement. For example, higher economic inequality tends to increase necessity-based entrepreneurship rates at the individual level.[115] Opportunity perception and biases One study has found that certain genes affecting personality may influence the income of self-employed people.[116] Some people may be able to use[weasel words] "an innate ability" or quasi-statistical sense to gauge public opinion[117] and market demand for new products or services. Entrepreneurs tend to have the ability to see unmet market needs and underserved markets. While some entrepreneurs assume they can sense and figure out what others are thinking, the mass media plays a crucial role in shaping views and demand.[118] Ramoglou argues that entrepreneurs are not that distinctive and that it is essentially poor conceptualizations of "non-entrepreneurs" that maintain laudatory portraits of "entrepreneurs" as exceptional innovators or leaders[119][120] Entrepreneurs are often overconfident, exhibit illusion of control, when they are opening/expanding business or new products/services.[23] Styles Differences in entrepreneurial organizations often partially reflect their founders' heterogenous identities. Fauchart and Gruber have classified entrepreneurs into three main types: Darwinians, communitarians and missionaries. These types of entrepreneurs diverge in fundamental ways in their self-views, social motivations and patterns of new firm creation.[121] Communication Entrepreneurs must practice effective communication both within their firm and with external partners and investors to launch and grow a venture and enable it to survive. An entrepreneur needs a communication system that links the staff of her firm and connects the firm to outside firms and clients. Entrepreneurs should be charismatic leaders, so they can communicate a vision effectively to their team and help to create a strong team. Communicating a vision to followers may be the most important act of the transformational leader.[122] Compelling visions provide employees with a sense of purpose and encourage commitment. According to Baum et al.[123] and Kouzes and Posner,[124] the vision must be communicated through written statements and through in-person communication. Entrepreneurial leaders must speak and listen to articulate their vision to others.[125] Communication is pivotal in the role of entrepreneurship because it enables leaders to convince potential investors, partners and employees about the feasibility of a venture.[126] Entrepreneurs need to communicate effectively to shareholders.[127] Nonverbal elements in speech such as the tone of voice, the look in the sender's eyes, body language, hand gestures and state of emotions are also important communication tools. The Communication Accommodation Theory posits that throughout communication people will attempt to accommodate or adjust their method of speaking to others.[128] Face Negotiation Theory describes how people from different cultures manage conflict negotiation to maintain "face".[129] Hugh Rank's "intensify and downplay" communications model can be used by entrepreneurs who are developing a new product or service. Rank argues that entrepreneurs need to be able to intensify the advantages of their new product or service and downplay the disadvantages to persuade others to support their venture.[130] Links to sea piracy Research from 2014 found links between entrepreneurship and historical sea piracy. In this context, the claim is made for a non-moral approach to looking at the history of piracy as a source of inspiration for entrepreneurship education[131] as well as for research in entrepreneurship[132] and business model generation.[133] Psychological makeup Ross Levine, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, and Yona Rubinstein, a professor at the London School of Economics released a study which suggests entrepreneurs are disproportionately white, male, from wealthy and highly educated backgrounds, and prone to "aggressive, illicit, risk-taking activities" as teenagers and young adults. Entrepreneurs also performed above average on aptitude tests.[134] This masculine image is also found when studying how male entrepreneurs are represented in media. A supporting but invisible family are one of the success factors when being portrayed as a male entrepreneur in media.[135] A study conducted by the Census Bureau and two MIT professors, after compiling a list of 2.7 million company founders who hired at least one employee between 2007 and 2014, found the average age of a successful start-up founder when he or she founded it is 45. They consistently found chances of entrepreneurial success rises with age.[136][137] Apple co-founder and longtime leader Steve Jobs (pictured in 2010) led the introduction of many innovations in the computer, smartphone and digital music industries. Stanford University economist Edward Lazear found in a 2005 study that variety in education and in work experience was the most important trait that distinguished entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs[138] A 2013 study by Uschi Backes-Gellner of the University of Zurich and Petra Moog of the University of Siegen in Germany found that a diverse social network was also an important characteristic of students that would go on to become entrepreneurs.[139][140] Studies show that the psychological propensities for male and female entrepreneurs are more similar than different. Empirical studies suggest that female entrepreneurs possess strong negotiating skills and consensus-forming abilities.[141] Åsa Hansson, who looked at empirical evidence from Sweden, found that the probability of becoming self-employed decreases with age for women, but increases with age for men.[142] She also found that marriage increased the probability of a person's becoming an entrepreneur.[142] Jesper Sørensen wrote in 2010 that significant influences on the decision to become an entrepreneur include workplace peers and social composition. Sørensen discovered a correlation between working with former entrepreneurs and how often these individuals become entrepreneurs themselves, compared to those who did not work with entrepreneurs.[143] Social composition can influence entrepreneurialism in peers by demonstrating the possibility for success, stimulating a "He can do it, why can't I?" attitude. As Sørensen stated: "When you meet others who have gone out on their own, it doesn't seem that crazy."[144] Entrepreneurs may also be driven to entrepreneurship by past experiences. If someone has faced multiple work stoppages or has been unemployed in the past, the probability of becoming an entrepreneur increases[142] Per Cattell's personality framework, both personality traits and attitudes are thoroughly investigated by psychologists. However, in case of entrepreneurship research these notions are employed by academics[which?] too, but vaguely. Cattell states that personality is a system that is related to the environment and further adds that the system seeks explanation to the complex transactions conducted by both—traits and attitudes. This is because both of them bring about change and growth in a person. Personality is that which informs what an individual will do when faced with a given situation. A person's response is triggered by his/her personality and the situation that is faced.[145] Innovative entrepreneurs may be more likely to experience what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls "flow". "Flow" occurs when an individual forgets about the outside world due to being thoroughly engaged in a process or activity. Csikszentmihalyi suggested that breakthrough innovations tend to occur at the hands of individuals in that state.[146] Other research has concluded that a strong internal motivation is a vital ingredient for breakthrough innovation.[147] Flow can be compared to Maria Montessori's concept of normalization, a state that includes a child's capacity for joyful and lengthy periods of intense concentration.[148] Csikszentmihalyi acknowledged that Montessori's prepared environment offers children opportunities to achieve flow.[149] Thus quality and type of early education may influence entrepreneurial capability.[citation needed] Research on high-risk settings such as oil platforms, investment banking, medical surgery, aircraft piloting and nuclear-power plants has related distrust to failure avoidance.[150] When non-routine strategies are needed, distrusting persons perform better, while when routine strategies are needed trusting persons perform better. Gudmundsson and Lechner extended this research to entrepreneurial firms.[151] They argued that in entrepreneurial firms the threat of failure is ever-present, resembling non-routine situations in high-risk settings. They found that the firms of distrusting entrepreneurs were more likely to survive than the firms of optimistic or overconfident entrepreneurs. The reasons were that distrusting entrepreneurs would emphasize failure-avoidance through sensible task selection and more analysis. Kets de Vries has pointed out that distrusting entrepreneurs are more alert about their external environment.[152] He concluded that distrusting entrepreneurs are less likely to discount negative events and are more likely to engage control mechanisms. Similarly, Gudmundsson and Lechner found that distrust leads to higher precaution and therefore increases chances of entrepreneurial-firm survival. Researchers Schoon and Duckworth completed a study in 2012 that could potentially help identify who may become an entrepreneur at an early age. They determined that the best measures to identify a young entrepreneur are family and social status, parental role-modelling, entrepreneurial competencies at age 10, academic attainment at age 10, generalized self-efficacy, social skills, entrepreneurial intention and experience of unemployment.[153] Strategic entrepreneurship Some scholars have constructed an operational definition of a more specific subcategory called "Strategic Entrepreneurship". Closely tied with principles of strategic management, this form of entrepreneurship is "concerned about growth, creating value for customers and subsequently creating wealth for owners".[154] A 2011 article for the Academy of Management provided a three-step, "Input-Process-Output" model of strategic entrepreneurship. The model's three steps entail the collection of different resources, the process of orchestrating them in the necessary manner and the subsequent creation of competitive advantage, value for customers, wealth and other benefits. Through the proper use of strategic management/leadership techniques and the implementation of risk-bearing entrepreneurial thinking, the strategic entrepreneur is, therefore, able to align resources to create value and wealth.[154] Leadership Leadership in entrepreneurship can be defined as "process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task"[155] in "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods".[156][page needed] This refers to not only the act of entrepreneurship as managing or starting a business, but how one manages to do so by these social processes, or leadership skills. (Entrepreneurship in itself can be defined somewhat circularly as "the process by which individuals, teams, or organizations identify and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities without being immediately constrained by the resources they currently control".[157]) An entrepreneur typically has a mindset that seeks out potential opportunities during uncertain times.[157] An entrepreneur must have leadership skills or qualities to see potential opportunities and act upon them.[citation needed] At the core, an entrepreneur is a decision-maker.[citation needed] Such decisions often affect an organization as a whole, which is representative of entrepreneurial leadership within the organization.[citation needed] With the growing global market and increasing technology use throughout all industries, the core of entrepreneurship and the decision-making has become an ongoing process rather than isolated incidents.[citation needed] This becomes knowledge management,[citation needed] which is "identifying and harnessing intellectual assets" for organizations to "build on past experiences and create new mechanisms for exchanging and creating knowledge".[158] This belief[which?] draws upon a leader's past experiences that may prove useful. It is a common mantra for one to learn from their past mistakes, so leaders should take advantage of their failures for their benefit.[citation needed] This is how one may take their experiences as a leader for the use in the core of entrepreneurship decision-making.[citation needed] Global leadership The majority of scholarly research done on these topics has taken place in North America.[159] Words like "leadership" and "entrepreneurship" do not always translate well into other cultures and languages. For example, in North America a leader is often thought of as charismatic, but German culture frowns on such charisma due to the charisma of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889–1945). Other cultures, as in some European countries, view the term "leader" negatively, like the French.[160][need quotation to verify] The participative leadership style that is prevalent in the United States is considered disrespectful in many other parts of the world due to the differences in power distance.[161] Many Asian and Middle Eastern countries do not have "open door" policies for subordinates, who would never informally approach their managers/bosses. For countries like that, an authoritarian approach to management and leadership is more customary.[citation needed] Despite cultural differences, the successes and failures of entrepreneurs can be traced to how leaders adapt to local conditions.[162] Within the increasingly global business environment a successful leader must be able to adapt and have insight into other cultures. To respond to the environment, corporate visions are becoming transnational in nature, to enable the organization to operate in or provide services/goods for other cultures.[163] Entrepreneurship training and education Michelacci and Schivardi are a pair of researchers who believe that identifying and comparing the relationships between an entrepreneur's earnings and education level would determine the rate and level of success. Their study focused on two education levels, college degree and post-graduate degree. While Michelacci and Schivardi do not specifically determine characteristics or traits for successful entrepreneurs, they do believe that there is a direct relationship between education and success, noting that having a college knowledge does contribute to advancement in the workforce.[164] Michelacci and Schivardi state there has been a rise in the number of self-employed people with a baccalaureate degree. However, their findings also show that those who are self-employed and possess a graduate degree has remained consistent throughout time at about 33 percent. They briefly mention those famous entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg who were college dropouts, but they call these cases all but exceptional as it is a pattern that many entrepreneurs view formal education as costly, mainly because of the time that needs to be spent on it. In the 21st century, a young Danish entrepreneur, Maniyar, had become famous while perusing his Bachelors of Pharmacy. There are few entrepreneurs that are also college dropouts, like Mark Zuckerberg however, Maniyar's ability and volition while studying would allow him to create a functioning business.[10] Michelacci and Schivardi believe that for an individual to reach the full success they need to have education beyond high school. Their research shows that the higher the education level the greater the success. The reason is that college gives people additional skills that can be used within their business and to operate on a higher level than someone who only "runs" it.[164] Recent trends that seek to merge neurosciences into entrepreneurship Currently it refers to the concept of "Entrepreneurial Enhancement", which refers to "the progressive improvement of cognitive, affective and conative skills in potential entrepreneurs or existing ones using appropriate neurotechnologies". The term has been coined by engineer Víctor Pérez Centeno, in relation to the need to fuse neurotechnologies in research, education and the empowerment of entrepreneurial perf

THR WORLD VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP 2024 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, and his father named him president of his real estate business in 1971. Trump renamed it the Trump Organization and reoriented the company toward building and renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. After a series of business failures in the late twentieth century, he successfully launched side ventures that required little capital, mostly by licensing the Trump name. From 2004 to 2015, he co-produced and hosted the reality television series The Apprentice. He and his businesses have been plaintiff or defendant in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, including six business bankruptcies. Trump won the 2016 presidential election as the Republican Party nominee against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton while losing the popular vote.[a] During the campaign, his political positions were described as populist, protectionist, isolationist, and nationalist. His election and policies sparked numerous protests. He was the first U.S. president with no prior military or government experience. The 2017–2019 special counsel investigation established that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to favor Trump's campaign. Trump promoted conspiracy theories and made many false and misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racially charged or racist and many as misogynistic. As president, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, diverted military funding toward building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and implemented a policy of family separations for migrants detained at the U.S. border. He weakened environmental protections, rolling back more than 100 environmental policies and regulations. He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut taxes for individuals and businesses and rescinded the individual health insurance mandate penalty of the Affordable Care Act. He appointed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. He reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic, ignored or contradicted many recommendations from health officials, used political pressure to interfere with testing efforts, and spread misinformation about unproven treatments. Trump initiated a trade war with China and withdrew the U.S. from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times but made no progress on denuclearization. Trump refused to concede after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, falsely claiming widespread electoral fraud, and attempted to overturn the results by pressuring government officials, mounting scores of unsuccessful legal challenges, and obstructing the presidential transition. On January 6, 2021, he urged his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, which many of them then attacked, resulting in multiple deaths and interrupting the electoral vote count. Trump is the only American president to have been impeached twice. After he tried to pressure Ukraine in 2019 to investigate Biden, he was impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress; he was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020. The House impeached him again in January 2021, for incitement of insurrection, and the Senate acquitted him in February. Scholars and historians rank Trump as one of the worst presidents in American history.[1][2] Since leaving office, Trump has remained the de facto leader of the Republican Party and is a candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries. In 2023, a jury found that Trump sexually abused a woman. He was also indicted in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, in Florida on 40 felony counts related to his mishandling of classified documents, in Washington, D.C., on four felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction for efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and in Georgia on 13 charges of racketeering and other alleged felonies committed in an effort to overturn the state's 2020 election results. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Personal life Early life A black-and-white photograph of Donald Trump as a teenager, smiling, wearing a dark pseudo-military uniform with various badges and a light-colored stripe crossing his right shoulder Trump at the New York Military Academy in 1964 Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York City,[3] the fourth child of Fred Trump, a Bronx-born real estate developer whose parents were German immigrants, and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, an immigrant from Scotland. Trump grew up with older siblings Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth and younger brother Robert in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens, and attended the private Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade.[4][5][6] At age 13, he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school,[7] and, in 1964, he enrolled at Fordham University. Two years later, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics.[8][9] In 2015, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Trump's colleges, high school, and the College Board with legal action if they released Trump's academic records.[10] While in college, Trump obtained four student draft deferments during the Vietnam War era.[11] In 1966, he was deemed fit for military service based upon a medical examination, and in July 1968, a local draft board classified him as eligible to serve.[12] In October 1968, he was classified 1-Y, a conditional medical deferment,[13] and in 1972, he was reclassified 4-F due to bone spurs, permanently disqualifying him from service.[14] Family Main article: Family of Donald Trump In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková.[15] They had three children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988.[16] The couple divorced in 1990, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples.[17] Trump and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany (born 1993), who was raised by Marla in California.[18] In 2005, Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss.[19] They have one son, Barron (born 2006).[20] Melania gained U.S. citizenship in 2006.[21] Religion Trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens.[22][23] In the 1970s, his parents joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which belongs to the Reformed Church in America.[22][24] The pastor at Marble, Norman Vincent Peale,[22] ministered to the family until his death in 1993.[24] Trump has described him as a mentor.[25] In 2015, the church stated that Trump was not an active member.[23] In 2019, he appointed his personal pastor, televangelist Paula White, to the White House Office of Public Liaison.[26] In 2020, he said he identified as a non-denominational Christian.[27] Health habits Trump has called golfing his "primary form of exercise" but usually does not walk the course.[28] He considers exercise a waste of energy because he believes exercise depletes the body's energy "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy".[29] In 2015, Trump's campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that Trump would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency".[30] In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter and that three Trump agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on the doctor's office.[30][31] Wealth Main article: Wealth of Donald Trump Ivana Trump and King Fahd shake hands, with Ronald Reagan standing next to them smiling. All are in black formal attire. Trump (far right) and wife Ivana in the receiving line of a state dinner for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in 1985, with U.S. president Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan In 1982, Trump made the initial Forbes list of wealthy people for holding a share of his family's estimated $200 million net worth (equivalent to $606 million in 2022).[32] His losses in the 1980s dropped him from the list between 1990 and 1995.[33] After filing the mandatory financial disclosure report with the FEC in July 2015, he announced a net worth of about $10 billion. Records released by the FEC showed at least $1.4 billion in assets and $265 million in liabilities.[34] Forbes estimated his net worth dropped by $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2018.[35] In their 2021 billionaires ranking, Trump's net worth was estimated to be $2.4 billion (1,299th in the world).[36] Journalist Jonathan Greenberg reported that Trump called him in 1984, pretending to be a fictional Trump Organization official named "John Barron". Greenberg said that Trump, speaking as "Barron", falsely asserted that he owned more than 90 percent of his father's business to get a higher ranking for himself on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Greenberg also wrote that Forbes had vastly overestimated Trump's wealth and wrongly included him on the Forbes 400 rankings of 1982, 1983, and 1984.[37] Trump has often said he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father and that he had to pay it back with interest.[38] He was a millionaire by age eight, borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely failed to repay those loans, and received another $413 million (2018 dollars adjusted for inflation) from his father's company.[39][40] In 2018, he and his family were reported to have committed tax fraud, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance started an investigation.[40] His investments underperformed the stock and New York property markets.[41][42] Forbes estimated in October 2018 that his net worth declined from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2017 and his product-licensing income from $23 million to $3 million.[43] Contrary to his claims of financial health and business acumen, Trump's tax returns from 1985 to 1994 show net losses totaling $1.17 billion. The losses were higher than those of almost every other American taxpayer. The losses in 1990 and 1991, more than $250 million each year, were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers. In 1995, his reported losses were $915.7 million (equivalent to $1.76 billion in 2022).[44][45][32] In 2020, the New York Times obtained Trump's tax information extending over two decades. Its reporters found that Trump reported losses of hundreds of millions of dollars and had, since 2010, deferred declaring $287 million in forgiven debt as taxable income. His income mainly came from his share in The Apprentice and businesses in which he was a minority partner, and his losses mainly from majority-owned businesses. Much income was in tax credits for his losses, which let him avoid annual income tax payments or lower them to $750. During the 2010s, Trump balanced his businesses' losses by selling and borrowing against assets, including a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower (due in 2022) and the liquidation of over $200 million in stocks and bonds. He personally guaranteed $421 million in debt, most of which is due by 2024.[46] As of October 2021, Trump had over $1.3 billion in total debts, much of which is secured by his assets.[47] In 2020, he owed $640 million to banks and trust organizations, including Bank of China, Deutsche Bank, and UBS, and approximately $450 million to unknown creditors. The value of his assets exceeds his debt.[48] Business career Main article: Business career of Donald Trump Further information: Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia Real estate Exterior ground view of Trump tower, a contemporary skyscraper with a glass curtain and stepped façade Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at his father's real estate company, Trump Management, which owned racially segregated middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs.[49][50] In 1971, he became president of the company and began using the Trump Organization as an umbrella brand.[51] Between 1991 and 2009, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six of his businesses, the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company.[52] Manhattan developments Trump attracted public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture, the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.[53] The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged for Trump by his father who also, jointly with Hyatt, guaranteed a $70 million bank construction loan.[50][54] The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel,[55] and that same year, Trump obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.[56] The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was Trump's primary residence until 2019.[57][58] In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel with a loan from a consortium of sixteen banks.[59] The hotel filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and a reorganization plan was approved a month later, with the banks taking control of the property.[60] In 1995, Trump defaulted on over $3 billion of bank loans, and the lenders seized the Plaza Hotel along with most of his other properties in a humiliating restructuring that allowed Trump to avoid personal bankruptcy.[61][62] The lead bank's attorney said of the banks' decision that they "all agreed that he'd be better alive than dead."[62] In 1996, Trump acquired the mostly vacant 71-story skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, later rebranded as the Trump Building, and renovated it.[63] In the early 1990s, Trump won the right to develop a 70-acre (28 ha) tract in the Lincoln Square neighborhood near the Hudson River. Struggling with debt from other ventures in 1994, Trump sold most of his interest in the project to Asian investors, who were able to finance the project's completion, Riverside South.[64] Atlantic City casinos The entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal, a casino in Atlantic City. It has motifs evocative of the Taj Mahal in India. Entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation.[65] It was unprofitable, and Trump paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control.[66] In 1985, Trump bought the unopened Atlantic City Hilton Hotel and renamed it Trump Castle.[67] His wife Ivana managed it until 1988.[68] Both casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992.[69] Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990.[70][71] Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991. Under the provisions of the restructuring agreement, Trump gave up half his initial stake and personally guaranteed future performance.[72] To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold the Trump Shuttle airline; his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked; and other businesses.[73] In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of the Trump Plaza.[74] THCR purchased the Taj Mahal and the Trump Castle in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004 and 2009, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership.[65] He remained chairman until 2009.[75] Mar-a-Lago Main article: Mar-a-Lago In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.[76] In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. He continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence.[77] In 2019, Trump declared Mar-a-Lago his primary residence.[58] Golf courses Main article: Donald Trump and golf The Trump Organization began building and buying golf courses in 1999.[78] It owns fourteen and manages another three Trump-branded courses worldwide.[78][79] Trump visited a Trump Organization property on 428 (nearly one in three) of the 1,461 days of his presidency and is estimated to have played 261 rounds of golf, one every 5.6 days.[80] Licensing of the Trump brand See also: List of things named after Donald Trump The Trump name has been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings.[81][82] According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than 50 licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, and they have generated at least $59 million in revenue for his companies.[83] By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license his name.[81] Side ventures Trump, Doug Flutie, and an unnamed official standing behind a lectern with big, round New Jersey Generals sign, with members of the press seated in the background Trump and New Jersey Generals quarterback Doug Flutie at a 1985 press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. After the 1985 season, the league folded, largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule (when they competed with the NFL for audience) and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit against the organization.[84][85] Trump's businesses have hosted several boxing matches at the Atlantic City Convention Hall, adjacent to and promoted as taking place at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.[86][87] In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.[88] From 1986 to 1988, Trump purchased significant blocks of shares in various public companies while suggesting that he intended to take over the company and then sold his shares for a profit,[44] leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail.[89] The New York Times found that Trump initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but later "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".[44] In 1988, Trump purchased the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle, financing the purchase with $380 million (equivalent to $940 million in 2022)[32] in loans from a syndicate of 22 banks. He renamed the airline Trump Shuttle and operated it until 1992.[90] Trump defaulted on his loans in 1991, and ownership passed to the banks.[91] The airline was eventually sold to US Airways.[90] A red star with a bronze outline and "Donald Trump" and a TV icon written on it in bronze, embedded in a black terrazzo sidewalk Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame In 1992, Trump, his siblings Maryanne, Elizabeth, and Robert, and his cousin John W. Walter, each with a 20 percent share, formed All County Building Supply & Maintenance Corp. The company had no offices and is alleged to have been a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with markups of 20–50 percent and more. The owners shared the proceeds generated by the markups.[40][92] The increased costs were used as justification to get state approval for increasing the rents of Trump's rent-stabilized units.[40] From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned all or part of the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.[93][94] Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002.[95][96] In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe.[97] NBC and Univision dropped the pageants from their broadcasting lineups in June 2015.[98] Trump University Main article: Trump University In 2004, Trump co-founded Trump University, a company that sold real estate training courses priced from $1,500 to $35,000.[99] After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of the word "university" violated state law (as it was not an academic institution), its name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.[100] In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers.[101] In addition, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students.[102][103][104] Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, Trump agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.[105] Foundation Main article: Donald J. Trump Foundation The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988.[106][107] In the foundation's final years, its funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, who did not donate any personal funds to the charity from 2009 until 2014.[108] The foundation gave to health-care- and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.[109] In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion.[110] Also in 2016, the New York Attorney General determined the foundation to be in violation of state law for soliciting donations and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York.[111] Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.[112] In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties.[113][114] In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed its assets to other charities.[115] In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.[116][117] Legal affairs and bankruptcies Main article: Legal affairs of Donald Trump Roy Cohn was Trump's fixer, lawyer, and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s.[118] According to Trump, Cohn sometimes waived fees due to their friendship.[118] In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the United States government for $100 million (equivalent to $659 million in 2022)[32] over its charges that Trump's properties had racial discriminatory practices. Trump's counterclaims were dismissed, and the government's case went forward, ultimately resulting in a settlement.[119] In 1975, an agreement was struck requiring Trump's properties to furnish the New York Urban League with a list of all apartment vacancies, every week for two years, among other things.[120] Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.[121] According to a review of state and federal court files conducted by USA Today in 2018, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions.[122] While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009.[123] They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced Trump's shares in the properties.[123] During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion.[124] After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him.[125] After the January 6 United States Capitol attack, the bank decided not to do business with Trump or his company in the future.[126] Media career Main article: Media career of Donald Trump Books Main article: Bibliography of Donald Trump Using ghostwriters, Trump has produced up to 19 books on business, financial, or political topics under his name.[127] His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller. While Trump was credited as co-author, the entire book was written by Tony Schwartz.[128] According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon."[128] Trump has called the volume his second favorite book, after the Bible.[129] Film and television Main article: Media career of Donald Trump Trump made cameo appearances in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001.[130] Trump had a sporadic relationship with the professional wrestling promotion WWE since the late 1980s.[131] He appeared at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.[132] Trump, in a suit, sits in a crowded baseball stadium Trump at a New York Mets baseball game in 2009 Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show.[133] He also had his own short form talk radio program called Trumped! (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008.[134][135] From 2011 until 2015, he was a weekly unpaid guest commentator on Fox & Friends.[136][137] From 2004 to 2015, Trump was co-producer and host of reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump played a flattering, highly fictionalized version of himself as a superrich and successful chief executive who eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "You're fired". The shows remade his image for millions of viewers nationwide.[138][139] With the related licensing agreements, they earned him more than $400 million which he invested in largely unprofitable businesses.[140] In February 2021, Trump resigned from the Screen Actors Guild he had been a member of since 1989 rather than face a disciplinary committee hearing for inciting the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and for his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists".[141] Two days later, the union permanently barred him from readmission.[142] Political career Further information: Political career of Donald Trump Donald Trump shakes hands with Bill Clinton in a lobby; Trump is speaking and Clinton is smiling, and both are wearing suits. Trump and President Bill Clinton in June 2000 Trump's political party affiliation has changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in 1987;[143] a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999;[144] a Democrat in 2001; a Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012.[143] In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in three major newspapers,[145] expressing his views on foreign policy and on how to eliminate the federal budget deficit.[146] He ruled out running for local office but not for the presidency.[145] In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater, asking to be put into consideration to be Republican nominee George H. W. Bush's running mate. Bush found the request "strange and unbelievable".[147] Presidential campaigns (2000–2016) In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000.[148][149][150] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[151] Trump, leaning heavily onto a lectern, with his mouth open mid-speech and a woman clapping politely next to him Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states.[152][153] In May 2011, he announced he would not run,[152] and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012.[154] Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.[155] 2016 presidential campaign Main article: Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Further information: 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries and 2016 United States presidential election § General election campaign Trump's fame and provocative statements earned him an unprecedented amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries.[156] He adopted the phrase "truthful hyperbole", coined by his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, to describe his public speaking style.[128][157] His campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive,[158] and a record number of them were false.[159][160][161] The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has."[162][163] Trump said he disdained political correctness and frequently made claims of media bias.[164][165] Trump speaking in front of an American flag behind a lectern, wearing a black suit and red hat. The lectern sports a blue "TRUMP" sign. Trump campaigning in Arizona, March 2016 Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015.[166][167] His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls.[168] He became the front-runner in March 2016[169] and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee in May.[170] Hillary Clinton led Trump in national polling averages throughout the campaign, but, in early July, her lead narrowed.[171][172] In mid-July Trump selected Indiana governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate,[173] and the two were officially nominated at the 2016 Republican National Convention.[174] Trump and Clinton faced off in three presidential debates in September and October 2016. Trump twice refused to say whether he would accept the result of the election.[175] Campaign rhetoric and political positions Main article: Political positions of Donald Trump Trump's political positions and his rhetoric were right-wing populist.[176][177][178] Politico described them as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory", quoting a health-care policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute as saying that his political positions were "a total random assortment of whatever plays publicly".[179] NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign.[180] Trump questioned the need for NATO and espoused views that were described as isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist.[181] His campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries[182] to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He described NATO as "obsolete".[183][184] Trump helped bring far-right fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream.[185] Trump was slow to disavow an endorsement from David Duke after he was questioned about it during a CNN interview on February 28, 2016.[186] Duke enthusiastically supported Trump and said he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back".[187][188] In August 2016, Trump hired Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News—described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right"—as his campaign CEO.[189] The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported Trump's candidacy, due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[190][191][192] Financial disclosures Further information: Tax returns of Donald Trump Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $315 million.[34][193] Trump did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and his promises in 2014 and 2015 to do so if he ran for office.[194][195] He said his tax returns were being audited, and that his lawyers had advised him against releasing them.[196] After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the United States Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury.[197][198] In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.[199] Election to the presidency Main article: 2016 United States presidential election Electoral college map, depicting Trump winning many states in the South and Midwest and Biden winning many states in the Northeast and Pacific West 2016 electoral vote results. Trump won 304–227 On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton, though, after elector defections on both sides, the official count was ultimately 304 to 227.[200] Trump, the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote, received nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Clinton.[201] He also was the only president who neither served in the military nor held any government office prior to becoming president.[202] Trump's victory was a political upset.[203] Polls had consistently shown Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as an advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated, while Clinton's had been overestimated.[204] Trump won 30 states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, states which had been considered a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of an undivided Republican government—a Republican White House combined with Republican control of both chambers of Congress.[205] Pennsylvania Ave., completely packed with protesters, mostly women, many wearing pink and holding signs with progressive feminist slogans Women's March in Washington on January 21, 2017 Trump's election victory sparked protests in major U.S. cities in the days following the election.[206][207] On the day after Trump's inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including an estimated half million in Washington, D.C., protested against Trump in the Women's Marches.[208] Presidency (2017–2021) Main article: Presidency of Donald Trump For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Donald Trump presidency. Early actions See also: Presidential transition of Donald Trump and First 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency Trump, with his family watching, raises his right hand and places his left hand on the Bible as he takes the oath of office. Roberts stands opposite him administering the oath. Trump is sworn in as president by Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders, which authorized: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, advancement of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcement of border security, and a planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.[209] Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner became his assistant and senior advisor, respectively.[210][211] Conflicts of interest Before being inaugurated, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., and a business associate.[212][213] Though he said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued expansions of its operations in Dubai, Scotland, and the Dominican Republic. Trump continued to profit from his businesses and to know how his administration's policies affected his businesses.[213][214] He was sued for violating the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, marking the first time that the clauses had been substantively litigated.[215] One case was dismissed in lower court.[216] Two were dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court as moot after the end of Trump's term.[217] Domestic policy Economy Main article: Economic policy of the Donald Trump administration Trump speaks at a lectern, with a crowd in front of and behind him. A banner behind him reads "Buy American – Hire American" Trump speaks to automobile workers in Michigan, March 2017. Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history,[218] which began in June 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began.[219] In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The bill had been passed by both Republican-controlled chambers of Congress without any Democratic votes. It reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals, with business tax cuts to be permanent and individual tax cuts set to expire after 2025, and eliminated the penalty associated with Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.[220][221] The Trump administration claimed that the act would either increase tax revenues or pay for itself by prompting economic growth. Instead, revenues in 2018 were 7.6 percent lower than projected.[222] Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1 trillion in 2019.[223] Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75 trillion by the end of his term, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio hit a post-World War II high.[224] Trump also failed to deliver the $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan on which he had campaigned.[225] Trump is the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce than when he took office, by 3 million people.[218] Climate change, environment, and energy Main article: Environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.[226][227] He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40 percent and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change.[228] In June 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.[229] Trump aimed to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels.[230][231] Natural gas expanded under Trump, but coal continued to decline.[232][233] Trump rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Trump's actions while president have been called "a very aggressive attempt to rewrite our laws and reinterpret the meaning of environmental protections".[234] Deregulation In January 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed that, for every new regulation, federal agencies "identify" two existing regulations for elimination, though it did not require elimination.[235] He dismantled many federal regulations on health,[236][237] labor,[238][237] and the environment,[239][237] among other topics. Trump signed 14 Congressional Review Act resolutions repealing federal regulations, including a bill that made it easier for severely mentally ill persons to buy guns.[240] During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended, or reversed ninety federal regulations,[241] often "after requests by the regulated industries".[242] The Institute for Policy Integrity found that 78 percent of Trump's proposals were blocked by courts or did not prevail over litigation.[243] Health care During his campaign, Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).[244] In office, he scaled back the Act's implementation through executive orders 13765[245] and 13813.[246] Trump expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment.[247][248] Trump falsely claimed he saved the coverage of pre-existing conditions provided by the ACA.[249] In June 2018, the Trump administration joined 18 Republican-led states in arguing before the Supreme Court that the elimination of the financial penalties associated with the individual mandate had rendered the ACA unconstitutional.[250][251] If they had succeeded, it would have eliminated health insurance coverage for up to 23 million Americans.[250] During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect funding for Medicare and other social safety-net programs, but in January 2020, he suggested he was willing to consider cuts to such programs.[252] In response to the opioid epidemic, Trump signed legislation in 2018 to increase funding for drug treatments but was widely criticized for failing to make a concrete strategy. U.S. opioid overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018 but surged to a record 50,052 deaths in 2019.[253] Social issues Main article: Social policy of Donald Trump Trump barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals from receiving federal funds.[254] He said he supported "traditional marriage" but considered the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue.[255] In March 2017, his administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBT people.[256] Trump's attempted rollback of anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients in August 2020 was halted by a federal judge after the Supreme Court's ruling in July had extended employees' civil rights protections to gender identity and sexual orientation.[257] Trump has said he is opposed to gun control in general, although his views have shifted over time.[258] After several mass shootings during his term, he said he would propose legislation related to guns, but he abandoned that effort in November 2019.[259] His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana.[260] Trump is a long-time advocate of capital punishment.[261][262] Under his administration, the federal government executed 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined and after a 17-year moratorium.[263] In 2016, Trump said he supported the use of interrogation torture methods such as waterboarding[264][265] but later appeared to recant this due to the opposition of Defense Secretary James Mattis.[266] Pardons and commutations Further information: List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump Trump granted 237 requests for clemency, fewer than all presidents since 1900 with the exception of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.[267] Only 25 of them had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney; the others were granted to people with personal or political connections to him, his family, and his allies, or recommended by celebrities.[268][269] From 2017 to 2019, he pardoned, amongst others, former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine;[270] and right-wing commentator Dinesh D'Souza.[271] Following a request by celebrity Kim Kardashian, Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted of drug trafficking.[272] Trump also pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American servicemen convicted or accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.[273] In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre;[274] white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik;[275] daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner;[269] and five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Among them were Michael Flynn; Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July; and Paul Manafort.[276] In his last full day in office, Trump granted 73 pardons, including to Steve Bannon and Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and commuted 70 sentences.[277] Lafayette Square protester removal and photo op Main article: Donald Trump photo op at St. John's Church Trump and group of officials and advisors on the way from White House complex to St. John's Church On June 1, 2020, federal law-enforcement officials used batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray projectiles, stun grenades, and smoke to remove a largely peaceful crowd of protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House.[278][279] Trump then walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, where protesters had set a small fire the night before; he posed for photographs holding a Bible, with senior administration officials later joining him in photos.[278][280] Trump said on June 3 that the protesters were cleared because "they tried to burn down the church [on May 31] and almost succeeded", describing the church as "badly hurt".[281] Religious leaders condemned the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.[282] Many retired military leaders and defense officials condemned Trump's proposal to use the U.S. military against anti-police-brutality protesters.[283] Immigration Main article: Immigration policy of Donald Trump Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border to restrict illegal movement and vowed Mexico would pay for it.[284] He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States,[285] and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies".[286] As president, he frequently described illegal immigration as an "invasion" and conflated immigrants with the criminal gang MS-13,[287] though available research shows undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans.[288][289] Trump attempted to drastically escalate immigration enforcement, including implementing harsher immigration enforcement policies against asylum seekers from Central America than any modern U.S. president.[290][291] From 2018 onward, Trump deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border[292] to stop most Central American migrants from seeking U.S. asylum. In 2020, his administration widened the public charge rule to further restrict immigrants who might use government benefits from getting permanent residency via green cards.[293] Trump reduced the number of refugees admitted into the U.S. to record lows. When Trump took office, the annual limit was 110,000; Trump set a limit of 18,000 in the 2020 fiscal year and 15,000 in the 2021 fiscal year.[294][295] Additional restrictions implemented by the Trump administration caused significant bottlenecks in processing refugee applications, resulting in fewer refugees accepted compared to the allowed limits.[296] Travel ban Main article: Trump travel ban Further information: Executive Order 13769 and Executive Order 13780 Following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Trump proposed to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.[297] He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".[298] On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order took effect immediately and without warning, causing confusion and chaos at airports.[299][300] Protests against the ban began at airports the next day.[299][300] Legal challenges to the order resulted in nationwide preliminary injunctions.[301] A March 6 revised order, which excluded Iraq and gave other exemptions, again was blocked by federal judges in three states.[302][303] In a decision in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States".[304] The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which restricted travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further banned travelers from North Korea and Chad, along with certain Venezuelan officials.[305] After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4, 2017,[306] and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June 2019 ruling.[307] Family separation at border Main article: Trump administration family separation policy Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment Children and juveniles in a wire mesh compartment, showing sleeping mats and thermal blankets on floor Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment in the Ursula detention facility in McAllen, Texas, June 2018 The Trump administration separated more than 5,400 children of migrant families from their parents at the U.S.–Mexico border, a sharp increase in the number of family separations at the border starting from the summer of 2017.[308][309] In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy whereby every adult suspected of illegal entry would be criminally prosecuted.[310] This resulted in family separations, as the migrant adults were put in criminal detention for prosecution, while their children were separated as unaccompanied alien minors.[311] Administration officials described the policy as a way to deter illegal immigration.[312] The policy of family separations was unprecedented in previous administrations and sparked public outrage.[312][313] Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law, blaming Democrats, despite the separations being his administration's policy.[314][315][316] Although Trump originally argued that the separations could not be stopped by an executive order, he acceded to intense public objection and signed an executive order on June 20, 2018, mandating that migrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" doing so would pose a risk to the child.[317][318] On June 26, 2018, Judge Dana Sabraw concluded that the Trump administration had "no system in place to keep track of" the separated children, nor any effective measures for family communication and reunification;[319] Sabraw ordered for the families to be reunited and family separations stopped except in limited circumstances.[320] After the federal-court order, the Trump administration separated more than a thousand migrant children from their families; the ACLU contended that the Trump administration had abused its discretion and asked Sabraw to more narrowly define the circumstances warranting separation.[309] Trump wall and government shutdown Main articles: Trump wall and 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown Trump speaks with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Behind him are black SUVs, four short border wall prototype designs, and the current border wall in the background Trump examines border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa, California. One of Trump's central campaign promises was to build a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) border wall to Mexico and have Mexico pay for it.[321] By the end of his term, the U.S. had built "40 miles [64 km] of new primary wall and 33 miles [53 km] of secondary wall" in locations where there had been no barriers and 365 miles (587 km) of primary or secondary border fencing replacing dilapidated or outdated barriers.[322] In 2018, Trump refused to sign any appropriations bill from Congress unless it allocated $5.6 billion in funds for the border wall,[323] resulting in the federal government partially shutting down for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history.[324][325] Around 800,000 government employees were furloughed or worked without pay.[326] Trump and Congress ended the shutdown by approving temporary funding that provided delayed payments to government workers but no funds for the wall.[324] The shutdown resulted in an estimated permanent loss of $3 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office.[327] About half of those polled blamed Trump for the shutdown, and Trump's approval ratings dropped.[328] To prevent another imminent shutdown in February 2019, Congress passed and Trump signed a funding bill that included $1.375 billion for 55 miles (89 km) of bollard border fencing.[329] Trump also declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, intending to divert $6.1 billion of funds Congress had allocated to other purposes.[329] Trump vetoed a joint resolution to overturn the declaration, and the Senate voted against a veto override.[330] Legal challenges to the diversion of $2.5 billion originally meant for the Department of Defense's drug interdiction efforts[331][332] and $3.6 billion originally meant for military construction[333][334] were unsuccessful. Foreign policy Main article: Foreign policy of the Donald Trump administration See also: List of international presidential trips made by Donald Trump Trump and other G7 leaders sit at a conference table Trump with the other G7 leaders at the 45th summit in France, 2019 Trump described himself as a "nationalist"[335] and his foreign policy as "America First".[336] His foreign policy was marked by praise and support of populist, neo-nationalist, and authoritarian governments.[337] Hallmarks of foreign relations during Trump's tenure included unpredictability and uncertainty,[336] a lack of a consistent foreign policy,[338] and strained and sometimes antagonistic relationships with the U.S.'s European allies.[339] He criticized NATO allies and privately suggested on multiple occasions that the United States should withdraw from the alliance.[340][341] Trade See also: Trump tariffs Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations,[342] imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports,[343] and launched a trade war with China by sharply increasing tariffs on 818 categories (worth $50 billion) of Chinese goods imported into the U.S.[344] While Trump said that import tariffs are paid by China into the U.S. Treasury, they are paid by American companies that import goods from China.[345] Although he pledged during the campaign to significantly reduce the U.S.'s large trade deficits, the trade deficit in July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, "was the largest monthly deficit since July 2008".[346] Following a 2017–2018 renegotiation, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) became effective in July 2020 as the successor to NAFTA.[347] Russia Trump and Putin, both seated, lean over and shake hands Putin and Trump shaking hands at the G20 Osaka summit, June 2019 The Trump administration, according to Reuters, "water[ed] down the toughest penalties the U.S. had imposed on Russian entities" after its 2014 annexation of Crimea.[348][349] Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian non-compliance,[350] and supported a potential return of Russia to the G7.[351] Trump repeatedly praised and rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin[352][353] but opposed some actions of the Russian government.[354][355] After he met Putin at the Helsinki Summit in July 2018, Trump drew bipartisan criticism for accepting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.[356][357][358] Trump did not discuss alleged Russian bounties offered to Taliban fighters for attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan with Putin, saying both that he doubted the intelligence and that he was not briefed on it.[359] China Before and during his presidency, Trump repeatedly accused China of taking unfair advantage of the U.S.[360] As president, Trump launched a trade war against China that was widely characterized as a failure,[361][362][363] sanctioned Huawei for its alleged ties to Iran,[364] significantly increased visa restrictions on Chinese students and scholars,[365] and classified China as a currency manipulator.[366] Trump also juxtaposed verbal attacks on China with praise of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping,[367] which was attributed to trade war negotiations with the leader.[368] After initially praising China for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic,[369] he began a campaign of criticism over its response starting in March 2020.[370] Trump said he resisted punishing China for its human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region for fear of jeopardizing trade negotiations.[371] In July 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against senior Chinese officials, in response to expanded mass detention camps holding more than a million of the country's Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority.[372] North Korea See also: 2018–19 Korean peace process Trump and Kim shake hands on a stage with U.S. and North Korean flags in the background Trump meets Kim Jong Un at the Singapore summit, June 2018. In 2017, when North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat,[373] Trump escalated his rhetoric, warning that North Korean aggression would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".[374][375] In 2017, Trump declared that he wanted North Korea's "complete denuclearization", and engaged in name-calling with leader Kim Jong Un.[374][376] After this period of tension, Trump and Kim exchanged at least 27 letters in which the two men described a warm personal friendship.[377][378] Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019, and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2019.[379] Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader or to set foot on North Korean soil.[379] Trump also lifted some U.S. sanctions against North Korea.[380] However, no denuclearization agreement was reached,[381] and talks in October 2019 broke down after one day.[382] While conducting no nuclear tests since 2017, North Korea continued to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.[383][384] Afghanistan U.S. and Taliban officials stand spaced apart in a formal room U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting with Taliban delegation in Qatar in September 2020 U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 in January 2017 to 14,000 a year later,[385] reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan.[386] In February 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months "contingent on a guarantee from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies" and for the U.S. to seek the release of 5,000 Taliban imprisoned by the Afghan government.[387][388][389] By the end of Trump's term, 5,000 Taliban had been released, and, despite the Taliban continuing attacks on Afghan forces and integrating Al-Qaeda members into its leadership, U.S. troops had been reduced to 2,500.[389] Israel Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[390] Under Trump, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel[391] and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,[392] leading to international condemnation including from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, and the Arab League.[393][394] Saudi Arabia Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi place their hands on a glowing white orb light at waist level Trump, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the 2017 Riyadh summit in Saudi Arabia Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis and in 2017 signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia,[395] In 2018, the U.S. provided limited intelligence and logistical support for the intervention.[396][397] Following the 2019 attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed on Iran, Trump approved the deployment of 3,000 additional U.S. troops, including fighter squadrons, two Patriot batteries, and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[398] Syria Trump ordered missile strikes in April 2017 and in April 2018 against the Assad regime in Syria, in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun and Douma chemical attacks, respectively.[399][400] In December 2018, Trump declared "we have won against ISIS", contradicting Department of Defense assessments, and ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria.[401][402] The next day, Mattis resigned in protest, calling his decision an abandonment of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies who played a key role in fighting ISIS.[403] One week after his announcement, Trump said he would not approve any extension of the American deployment in Syria.[404] Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House in May 2017 In October 2019, after Trump spoke to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, U.S. troops in northern Syria were withdrawn from the area and Turkey invaded northern Syria, attacking and displacing American-allied Kurds in the area.[405] Later that month, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, condemned Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe".[406][407] Iran In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the