Before entering politics and ultimately becoming the 45th president of the United States,

Donald Trump 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 graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

pursued a

career The career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defi ...

as a

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. He released several ghostwritten books, most prominently '' The Art of the Deal'' (1987). Starting in the 1990s, he was a regular guest on the ''

Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 ...

'' and other

talk shows A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sho ...

, joined the

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

company World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment, and made several cameo film and TV appearances. From 2004 to 2015, Trump hosted ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

'', a reality show on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in which contestants competed on business-related tasks.

Books

Trump's first ghostwritten book, '' The Art of the Deal'' (1987), was on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list for 48 weeks. According to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, promoting an image of himself as a successful dealmaker and tycoon." Tony Schwartz, who is credited as co-author, later said he did all the writing, backed by Howard Kaminsky, then-head of

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, the book's publisher. Two further lesser memoirs were published in 1990 and 1997. After leaving office in 2021, Trump became the first former U.S. president in recent times to not quickly secure a book deal, which several members of his administration managed to do. Trump said that he had received and rejected two offers. But ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' reported that none of the "big five" publishers had approached Trump, and that they were reluctant to do so because of his reputation for untruthfulness.

Professional wrestling

Trump has had a sporadic relationship with

promotion World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment and its owners

Vince Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player * Vince Cable (born 1943), British politician ...

and

Linda McMahon Linda Marie McMahon (née Edwards; October 4, 1948) is an American political executive, retired professional wrestler, executive, and performer. She served as the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. McMahon ...

since the late 1980s; in 1988 and 1989,

WrestleMania IV WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on March 27, 1988, at the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall in A ...

and V, which took place at the

Atlantic City Convention Hall Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlant ...

, were billed in storyline as taking place at the nearby Trump Plaza. In 2004, Trump appeared for a live interview at

WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX was the 20th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured professional wrestlers from both of the promotion's two brands divisions – Raw an ...

, conducted by

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

, a former wrestler and former

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. ...

. In 2007, Trump participated in the "Battle of the Billionaires" storyline feud against Vince McMahon. Trump then headlined

WrestleMania 23 WrestleMania 23 was the 23rd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The eve ...

that year. In 2009, Trump participated in a storyline in which he bought

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show fe ...

from Vince McMahon, then re-sold it back shortly after. Trump was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. As president, Trump in 2016 appointed Linda McMahon to his Cabinet as

Administrator of the Small Business Administration The administrator of the Small Business Administration is the head of the Small Business Administration of the United States Government. President Barack Obama announced in January 2012 that he would elevate the SBA administrator into the Cabine ...

Television

Talk shows

Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated ''

''. He also had his own short-form talk radio program called ''

Trumped! ''Trumped!'' was an American daily talk radio program that was hosted by American businessman Donald Trump. It ran from 2004 to 2008. History Donald Trump had contacted Infinity Broadcasting Corporation and Clear Channel Communications, both of ...

'' (one to two minutes on weekdays) from 2004 to 2008. In 2011, he was given a weekly unpaid guest commentator spot on ''

Fox & Friends ''Fox & Friends'' is an American daily morning news and talk program that airs on Fox News. It premiered on February 1, 1998, and is currently hosted by Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade on weekdays. Will Cain, Rachel Campos- ...

'' that continued until he started his presidential candidacy in 2015.

''The Apprentice''

In 2003, Trump became the co-producer and host of ''The Apprentice'', a reality show in which contestants competed for a one-year management job with the Trump Organization, and Trump weeded out applicants with the

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

"You're fired". He later co-hosted ''

The Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States) Donald Trump from 2008 to 2015, an ...

'', in which celebrities competed to win money for charities.

Acting

Trump has made

cameo appearances A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

in eight films and television shows and performed a song as a '' Green Acres'' character with Megan Mullally at the

57th Primetime Emmy Awards The 57th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 18, 2005 and was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The ceremony was broadcast on CBS. BBC America received its first major nomination this year. The ceremony, which aired three weeks after ...

in 2005. Actor

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

claims that his extensive list of cameos is due to a demand that he be allowed to cameo in any movie that features one of his properties, and that these scenes are usually cut in post-production. On January 19, 2021, the national board of the actor's union

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, recordi ...

voted to convene a disciplinary process to discuss Trump's expulsion from for his part in the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...

and a "reckless campaign of misinformation" that endangered other SAG-AFTRA members. On February 4, Trump resigned before the disciplinary process was scheduled to convene.

References

{{Trump media Donald Trump Early lives of the presidents of the United States