Explore the many happenings of Trump’s presidential term
It all seemed like an amusing but unrealistic pipedream at the start. Donald Trump was better known as a property tycoon and reality TV star, but his populist rhetoric and boisterous speeches resonated with many Americans who were desperate for change.
Remember when some wondered whether he’d calm down and become more stately if he won the election? Trump was determined to make his mark and deliver on his promises, whether that’s curbing immigration with policies that had some human rights issues or building his famed border wall.
Four years later, it ended more violently than it began as rioters broke into the Capitol Hill leading to the death of five, including a police officer. And in a term that has featured a lot of Twitter diplomacy (or twitplomacy), Trump has also now been banned from Twitter as well as other social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
We looked back at Trump’s presidency marking key events with images. Has there ever been a more eventful presidential term?
1/20 – It all started with a hotly contested presidential campaign filled with toxic rhetoric and barbed language.
2/20 – The Republicans were right to nominate Trump as he beat Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president of the United States.
3/20 – Trump began his term with a controversial travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries sparking protests and chaos at airports.
4/20 – FBI Director, James Comey, was fired abruptly by Donald Trump. This led to Comey testifying about his interactions with the president and how he was pressured to stop investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
5/20 – Donald Trump said there were "very fine people" on both sides in the wake of the violent Charlottesville protests that saw one man drive his car into a crowd, killing a woman who was protesting white supremacy.
6/20 – Hurricane Maria hit Peurto Rico, devastating the region. The Trump administration was criticised for being slow to respond with aid.
7/20 – A deadly mass shooting shocked America as a single man opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas, killing dozens and injuring hundreds. Trump banned bump stocks in response. Here, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited a victim in hospital.
8/20 – Parkland school, Florida, suffered one of the worst school shootings in recent memory when a former student, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, killed 17 students and wounded many more. Demonstrators lay in front of the White House to protest the government’s failure to act decisively on gun control.
9/20 – Donald Trump was the first US president to meet a North Korean Leader. Trump and Kim Jong Un met for their historic summit in Singapore in February 2018.
10/20 – Trump spoke to the media about his former campaign manager’s, Paul Manafort, fraud conviction. Manafort is one of eight Trump associates who have been convicted for various crimes.
11/20 – December 2018 saw the longest federal shutdown in US history; it lasted 35 days. This was caused by a lack of agreement over federal funding as Trump was seeking resources for his border wall.
12/20 – 2019 proved to be a relatively quiet year for Trump but he was still finding himself attached to negative headlines as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, began an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s phone call with the Ukraine where he asked them to investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.
13/20 – Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019. But the Senate voted to acquit Trump in February 2020.
14/20 – Massachusetts governor, Charlie Baker, claimed some of their orders were seized by federal officials. They had a New England Patriots plane carrying masks arrive from China as the federal government struggled to secure supplies at the start of the global coronavirus pandemic.
15/20 – Trump contracted COVID-19 in October 2020. But just nine days later, his physician declared that he was no longer contagious and thus released him from hospital. Here he was removing his mask to address supporters gathered at the White House.
16/20 – Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative justice, is confirmed by the Senate. She replaces liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg who passed away in September 2020.
17/20 – Capitol Hill was stormed by rioters on 6 January, 2021, after attending a rally in support of Trump. Five people died in the insurrection, including one police officer. Trump has been criticised for being influential in encouraging his supporters.
18/20 – After much delay, Congress was finally able to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 US Presidential election and thus drawing an end to Donald Trump's presidential term.
19/20 – Trump ends his presidential term on a sour note as he became the first president to be impeached twice. He has been criticised for inciting the deadly riot at the US Capitol.
Matt Yau
Matt started off as a live music photographer covering up-and-coming bands in Brighton, and since then has become enamoured by the power of pictures. With a penchant for storytelling, he's on a mission to uncover unique images from the 64ÌåÓýlibrary and tell the story behind them.
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