Students for Trump (S4T) is an American group whose mission was to elect President

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 ...

. The group was founded in 2015 by two college students, Ryan Fournier and John Lambert. In July 2019,

Charlie Kirk Charles J. Kirk (born 1993) is an American conservative activist and radio talk show host. He founded Turning Point USA with Bill Montgomery in 2012, and has served as its executive director since. He is the CEO of Turning Point Action, Stud ...

, CEO of Turning Point USA, became chairman of Students for Trump.

History

Students for Trump was founded in 2015 by Ryan Fournier and John Lambert, students at Campbell University in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, who started tweeting positive information about Donald Trump. The ''Houston Chronicle'' reported that George Lombardi, a New York City real estate developer and friend of Donald Trump who—among hundreds of Trump-supporting Facebook groups—had set up a "Students for Trump" Facebook group, acted as an advisor. On August 6, 2015, Fournier and Lambert were impressed by then high schooler Alexander Chalgren, who appeared as a questioner on the first Fox News Republican primary debate. Alexander asked a question of the candidates concerning

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

, which was cited as the "most important" question of the evening. The question sparred an intense debate between then Mr. Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz. Students for Trump founders reached out to Mr. Chalgren via Instagram inquiring as to his political affiliation, and found him to be an early supporter of Donald Trump. After a brief interview and screening process, Chalgren was offered an integral early position within the organization as South Carolina Director, but eventually rose to the post of National Director. Mr. Chalgren is South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster's adopted cousin. Alexander made his second debut onto the national scene in his ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internati ...

'' interview with Zoe Chace in 2016. According to the New York Times, Chalgren was the most famous young Trump supporter in America. Fournier's first television appearance for the organization was on TBS. Students for Trump activities were highlighted in a BBC documentary, "Trump's Unlikely Superfans," and an NBC News exclusive titled "Students for Trump: Meet the Millennials Who Want Him to Win." In 2016, the organization switched from a traditional campaign model with Regional, State, and Chapter coordinators, to a model with Campus Ambassadors that perform roles similar to that of a campaign field

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gove ...

. In August 2016, ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' reported that the organization "had nearly 300 campus chapters and a bevy of social-media followers – 29,000 on Twitter, 59,000 on Instagram, thousands more on Facebook." James Allsup on air

The campaign however, had numerous problems before and after the election. In April 2016, a Students for Trump

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

chapter placed a "Make America Great Again" ball cap on a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. just days after the anniversary of his death, prompting widespread outrage. ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

'' magazine reported that Ryan Fournier worked with white nationalists when he was head of Students for Trump.

Media Matters Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a politically left-leaning 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization and media watchdog group. MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media ...

said that Fournier hired white nationalist James Allsup as director of the Campus Ambassador Program. Allsup was a member of the

American Identity Movement Identity Evropa () was an American neo-Nazi and white supremacist organization established in March 2016. It was rebranded as the American Identity Movement in March 2019. In November 2020, the group disbanded. Leaders and members of Identity ...

and marched at the

Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Kl ...

in Charlottesville. By March 2017, following Trump's election as

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, ''

The College Fix ''The College Fix'' is an American conservative news website focused on higher education. It was created in 2011 by journalist John J. Miller and is published by the non-profit Student Free Press Association (SFPA). The site features "right-minde ...

'' reported that the organization's chapters had "largely disbanded or halted meetings." In February 2018, ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' reported that Students for Trump had never correctly complied with making reports to the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

as a political action committee. The FEC wrote nine letters to the organization requesting information about donors without response, but ultimately decided to take no action other than to warn the political action committee. On June 23, 2020, Students for Trump held their Arizona Convention at the

Dream City Diamond Research and Mercantile City, also known as DREAM City, is an upcoming business district in Surat, India. It will be built on of land near Khajod, along the lines of the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City and Dholera Smart city ne ...

church in Phoenix with featured speaker President Donald J. Trump. The event occurred during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

that peaked in the region. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallegos said that masks would not be required for the event and officials of the Dream City church claimed that air ionizers would protect participants, despite the lack of evidence for its efficacy.

Acquisition by Turning Point Action

On July 2, 2019, Charlie Kirk, founder and CEO of Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action, reported that the latter had acquired Students for Trump along with "all associated media assets." He became chairman and launched a campaign to recruit one million students for the 2020 Trump reelection campaign. The unsuccessful effort led to TPUSA and the Trump campaign blaming each other for an overall decline in youth support for Trump. Later in July 2019, Fournier was invited to the White House to discuss liberal bias in social media.

Co-founders Fournier and Lambert

Ryan Fournier

The organization's co-founder, Ryan Fournier, is from

Long Branch, New Jersey Long Branch is a beachside city in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 30,719, Fournier became politically active following his volunteer work for the

Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign The 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney officially began on June 2, 2011, when former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney formally announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States, at an event ...

. Prior to launching Students for Trump, Fournier was involved in various local and state political campaigns within

. Along with being the co-chairman of Students for Trump, Fournier also serves as the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of OpenPoll and xStrategies. In 2015, Fournier and John Lambert launched Students for Trump as a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account while they were studying at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. Fournier graduated from Campbell University in May 2019 with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

. He is also a member of the

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University, Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) i ...

fraternity, Zeta Psi chapter. Fournier is a recipient of the Red Alert Politics 30 Under 30 Award. In July 2018, Fournier launched a boycott against

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

for selling shirts labeled "Impeach 45," which resulted in the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#BoycottWalmart trending on

pulled the items from its online store, issuing the following statement: "These items were sold by third-party sellers on our open marketplace, and were not offered directly by Walmart. We’re removing these types of items pending review of our marketplace policies."

John Lambert

Lambert, a Tennessee native, was arrested in Tennessee in April 2019 on federal charges of

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

for posing online as a corporate and patent lawyer from 2016 to 2018, swindling consumers and businesses out of more than $46,000. He pleaded guilty in 2019 and signed a plea deal in 2019 whereby he will forfeit $46,654 and not appeal any sentence of up to 21 months of imprisonment. In May 2021, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison.

Projects

"Trump Wall" events

On May 9, 2016, a group of students at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

constructed an 8'x10' "Trump Wall" out of plywood and lumber in the center of the

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...

courtyard. The event, led by UW

College Republicans College Republicans are college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Many members belong to the organization College Republican National Committee (CRNC), College Republicans United (CRU), or various ind ...

president Jessie Gamble, UW Students for Trump president Chevy Swanson, and S4T senior advisor James Allsup, lasted for approximately an hour and a half, and was met with 10 Trump supporters and over 100 protestors. The wall was painted with a brick design, with " Trump Wall" written on it. At one point, a student attempted to scale the wall. Shortly after this, the organizers were asked by the University Police to take the wall down, which they did.

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two dec ...

Students for Trump, a group unaffiliated with the S4T national organization, hosted a similar event on June 10, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Students for Trump 2015 establishments in North Carolina Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Organizations established in 2015 Political organizations based in the United States Political youth organizations Conservative organizations in the United States Political youth organizations in the United States Student political organizations in the United States