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The 45th And 47th President Entered The Race For President A Decade Ago

10 years ago, on June 16, 2015, a New York real estate mogul and television reality show host named Donald Trump took a ride down a golden escalator and announced he was running for president as a Republican.

With future First Lady Melania Trump by his side, the announcement sent shockwaves through the political establishment, attracting the interest and scrutiny of the public and media alike.

“We don’t have victories anymore,” Trump said of America under President Barack Obama in his presidential announcement on June 16, 2015. “We used to have victories, but we don’t have them them. When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say, China in a trade deal? I beat them all the time.”

That statement was eventually followed by his first political scandal, as he memorably stated, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best … They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crimes, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.”

Speaking on a variety of issues with a forthright manner of speech, coupled with his status as a political outsider, Trump’s common sense message allowed for him to gradually whittle down a field of nearly 20 candidates for the Republican nomination, rising to the top.

He would go on to eventually defeat the Democratic nominee, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and the rest has been unfolding before the eyes of the world ever since.

Now, on the 10-year anniversary of Trump entering politics, take a look back at 10 defining Trump moments from the past decade.

No. 1: Trump Wins The 2016 Election

Leading up to the 2016 election, the New York Times said Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had a 91% chance of being elected president.

On November 8, 2016, Trump earned 304 electoral college votes, winning the presidency.

While he lost the popular vote, Trump’s election in 2016 is largely understood as a mandate, as evidenced by Republican victories in both the House and the Senate. This was a political upset that challenged the status quo in Washington, D.C., indicating that Trump and his Make America Great Again values had longevity.

No. 2: Trump Survives An Assassination Attempt

On July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, a bullet grazed Trump’s right ear at a campaign rally for his reelection bid. The startling moment showed Trump grab his ear and collapse at the podium, with Secret Service agents swarming over him.

One member of the audience, a firefighter named Corey Comperatore, was killed by a bullet intended for Trump.

The shooter, a 20-year-old named Thomas Crooks, was neutralized by Secret Service.

As Trump rose with the assistance of his Secret Service detail, blood could be seen running down his face. He then raised his fist, and shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

The attempted assassination occurred in the weekend leading up to the 2024 Republican National Convention, where Trump was formally named the Republican nominee for president for the third time, following nominations in 2016 and 2020.

No. 3: Trump Sworn In As 47th President

Initially running against incumbent President Joe Biden, who had previously bested him in his reelection bid in 2020, Trump would ultimately run against Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

Winning both the popular vote and the electoral college, Trump again won with a mandate, with Republicans winning in the House and the Senate.

Sworn in on January 20, 2025, Trump is only the second president in United States history to serve non-consecutive presidential terms.

No. 4: ISIS Caliphate Is Defeated

When Trump was elected in 2016, the threat of terrorism across the globe from the Islamic State In Syria, known as ISIS, was pervasive.

Shortly after being sworn in as the 45th president, Trump began taking steps to fulfill his promise of defeating ISIS. With the dropping of MOAB on Islamic State targets in Afghanistan, on April 13, 2017, Trump and his administration began chipping away ISIS’ hold on the Middle East.

On October 27, 2019, Trump announced that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS, had been killed “like a dog.” Two days later, Trump announced al-Baghdadi’s replacement had been killed.

The death of ISIS leadership came as the terror organization’s geographic caliphate was being chipped away by US-backed forces in the region. While ISIS still exists, it no longer has the stranglehold it once had over much of the Middle East.

No. 5: Securing The Border

“Build the wall” was a popular chant at Trump’s campaign rallies in 2016, but much of Trump’s successes with securing the border have been through executive order.

Pushing to have the law enforced, United States Border Patrol and ICE have been authorized to “take all appropriate action” to prevent illegal migrants from entering into the United States and to remove illegal aliens residing in the country.

This has also been part of a significant effort by Trump to end the movement of fentanyl and other drugs into America.

By declaring a national emergency at the Southern border, first in 2019 and again on Inauguration Day in 2025, Trump has been able to divert funds toward immigration enforcement.

No. 6: The Abraham Accords

Mediated by the United States, the Abraham Accords were signed on September 15, 2020, establishing normalized relations between Israel and the nations of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In the following months, Sudan and Morocco would also sign the agreement to acknowledge Israel’s sovereignty.

This move came after Trump declared in December of 2017 that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

No. 7: Trump And Kim Jong Un Meet At The DMZ

On June 30, 2019, Trump became the first president to set foot in North Korea.

Joining Trump for a one-day summit, Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea engaged in dialogue mediated by the United States.

This dialogue was followed by not only Trump walking through the demilitarized zone between the two nations to briefly enter North Korea, but it also saw Jong Un step into South Korea.

Talks of unifying the Korean peninsula were significant at the time, but little progress has been made between the warring nation states since.

No. 8: Trump Becomes The Republican Nominee In 2016

It cannot be understated how significant it was that Trump received the nomination from the Republican Party.

Besting the likes of Jeb Bush, brother to President George W. Bush; former Texas governor Rick Perry; Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX; and many more, Trump proved to be a “teflon candidate.”

Throughout the 2015-2016 primary race for the Republican nomination, Trump overcame many scandals and controversies, ranging from his disparaging comments about Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, to his past stances as a private citizen regarding abortion.

Further, his debate style shocked many, as did his use of Twitter.

His eventual claiming of the nomination from the Republican Party for president followed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 run for president.

No. 9: Trump Overcomes A COVID-19 Diagnosis

While running for reelection in 2020, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump received a positive COVID-19 diagnosis on October 2, 2020.

The virus, which made its way through the United States in March of 2020, led to a lockdown, with many businesses and establishments closing for a couple months as preventative measures for the virus were prepared.

Stimulus checks were sent to eligible U.S. citizens in an effort to assist Americans who were unable to work during this period.

Following his diagnosis, Trump spent three days at the Walter Reed military hospital in Maryland. By October 12, 2020, Trump was back on the campaign trail, claiming he was “immune.”

Since then, Trump and his administration have pointed to a lab leak in Wuhan, China, as the source of the virus.

No. 10: Supreme Court Selections

During his term as 45th president, Trump had the opportunity to appoint three justices to the Supreme Court.

First was Neil Gorsuch, who was sworn in on April 10, 2017, filling a yearlong vacancy on the Supreme Court after the death of Antonin Scalia in 2016.

Then, Trump selected Brett Kavanaugh, who was sworn in on October 6, 2018, after the retirement of Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing was one of the more polarizing moments of Trump’s first term as president, with accusations of sexual abuse against Kavanaugh being made by several women, including Christine Blasey Ford.

After Ruth Bader Ginsberg died in 2020, Trump selected Amy Coney Barrett as her replacement, and she was sworn in on October 27, 2020 — just days before the 2020 election.

As lifetime appointments, Trump has been afforded the rare opportunity to appoint three justices to the Supreme Court, allowing for a potential conservative leaning to the judicial branch of the United States government.

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