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"Donald Trump presidential campaign" redirects here. For his 2000 presidential campaign, see Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2000.

The 2016 presidential campaign of Donald John Trump, real estate magnate and television personality, formally launched on June 16, 2015. Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2016 election at the Trump Tower in New York City with the slogan "Make America Great Again!" His campaign manager is Corey Lewandowski.

<section begin=trump3/>Trump's populist and nativist politics brought him tremendous support among working-class voters, including voters without college educations, amid heavy and frequent controversies in the news media. His proposed policies and his statements about the state of the country have propelled him to be the consistent Republican front-runner in public opinion polls. A number of his remarks have been considered controversial by many political figures and notably many mainstream media outlets, whose constant reporting of the events has arguably aided Trump's rise in the polls. Persistent media coverage partnered with his ability to effectively self-finance his entire campaign has allowed him to eschew the super PAC model, which he regularly criticizes along with politicians who use the model for their own campaign fundraising. His abstention from political correctness has been a staple theme of his campaign, and proved to be popular among his supporters. Trump's most polarizing and widely reported statements have been on issues of immigration and border security, with Trump proposing deportation of all illegal immigrants, a substantial wall on the Mexican-American border, and a temporary ban on alien Muslims entering the U.S., while speaking extensively about perceived issues pertaining to illegal immigrants travelling over the Mexican border into the U.S.<section end=trump3/>

In the 2016 Iowa caucus, Trump ranked second out of all the Republican nominees, garnering 24% of the vote, behind Ted Cruz with 28%. Trump later won the New Hampshire primary with slightly over 35% of the vote.

Background

Since the 1988 presidential election, Trump has been considered a potential candidate for President in nearly every election. In October 1999, Trump declared himself a potential candidate for the Reform Party's presidential nomination, but withdrew on February 14, 2000. In 2004, Donald Trump identified as a Democrat, openly supported Hillary Clinton, and donated a large sum of money to Democratic groups. Trump rejoined the Republican Party in 2009. In early 2011, presidential speculation reached its highest point and Trump began to take a lead in polls among Republican candidates in the 2012 election. However, Trump announced in May 2011 that he would not be a candidate for the office.

At the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump said he is "pro-life" and "against gun control". He has spoken before Tea Party supporters. In December 2008, Trump emerged as an early supporter of the 2009 government backed rescue plan for the U.S. auto industry which by 2012 gained the support of 56% of Americans (63% support in Michigan), according to a Pew Research Center poll. In May 2015, Trump said he was opposed to granting President Barack Obama fast track trade authority in a Trans-Pacific Partnership. Instead, Trump expressed a desire for stronger negotiations with China on trade together with tariffs if necessary. Trump has called for a policy of leadership to deal with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which he has criticized for causing high oil prices.

In 2011, polls had Trump among the leading candidates. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll from March 2011 showed Trump in the lead for the Republican nomination for president of the United States. A February 2011 Newsweek poll placed Trump within a few points of President Obama in a potential 2012 presidential contest, with many voters undecided. A poll released in April 2011 by Public Policy Polling showed Trump having a nine-point lead in a potential contest for the Republican nomination for President of the United States while he was still actively considering a run. In December 2011, Trump placed sixth in the "ten most admired men and women living of 2011" USA Today/Gallup telephone survey. Trump has been a featured speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). In 2013, Trump researched a possible run for President of the United States in 2016. In October 2013, New York Republicans suggested Trump should run for governor of the state in 2014. In February 2015, Trump did not renew his television contract for The Apprentice, which raised speculation of his candidacy for president of the United States in 2016.

Announcement

File:Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg

Donald Trump speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)

<section begin=trump2a/>Trump formally announced his candidacy for the presidency in the 2016 election on June 16, 2015. His announcement came at a campaign rally at Trump Tower in New York City.<section end=trump2a/> Trump said, "We are going to make our country great again" and also announced that he would be the "greatest jobs president that God ever created." His 45-minute presidential campaign announcement speech, the longest of the major party candidates to date, included a pledge to restore the "American dream ... bigger and better and stronger than ever before." Trump said he would keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and criticized John Kerry's Iranian negotiations. He also criticized Kerry's overall judgment, in breaking his leg (at age 71) riding his bicycle; Trump made a campaign promise "never [to] be in a bicycle race." <section begin=trump2b/>In the speech, Trump also pledged he would fund Social Security, renegotiate U.S. trade agreements, oppose federal Common Core education standards, and complete the United States–Mexico border fence and make Mexico pay for it. Trump said he would self fund his presidential campaign, and would not need to use money from donors and lobbyists.<section end=trump2b/>

Most attention focused on Trump's comment on illegal immigration where he stated in part "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best... They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with [them]. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

The comment on illegal immigrants entering the United States through Mexico led several businesses and organizations—including NBC, Macy's, Univision, and NASCAR (along with sponsor Camping World)—to cut ties with Trump in the following days. Reactions from other presidential candidates were mixed, with some Republican candidates disagreeing with the tone of Trump's remarks yet supporting the core idea that illegal immigration is an important campaign issue, other Republican candidates preferring to avoid intra-party feuds with other Republican candidates and concentrate on putting forth their own positions, and several Republican candidates criticizing both Trump's remarks and his policy-stances (as did leading Democratic party candidates).Template:EfnTemplate:EfnTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn Beyond the candidates, journalistic response to Trump's statement ranged from negative to neutral or positive. Fact-checking the comment, Washington Post wrote that the allegation of a correlation between illegal immigration and crime was false and gave the statement four pinocchios. Republican politician Steve King said he admired Trump's response to the backlash, saying that Trump "delivers more facts to support [his] statement" and that on the subject of illegal immigration Trump is more accurate than not. Rudy Giuliani, who ran in 2008, said Trump's statement could have been better stated, and that most illegal immigrants are good people who come to the country to work, but that an insecure border does also let in "terrorists, drug dealers, rapists, murderers, all of whom I've prosecuted." Various families of the victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants have come forth in support of Trump. For his part, Trump has defended his comments, claimed that "Democrats and [my] enemies" picked a relatively small portion of his announcement speech to criticize, cited news articles to back up his claims and made illegal immigration a major issue in his campaign. Trump later said that he intended his comments to be aimed solely at the government of Mexico, specifically for using the insecure border as a means of transferring criminals out of their own country, and says he did not intend his comments to refer to immigrants themselves in general.

Trump's announcement generated the highest Google search volume of any of the presidential candidates to date. According to Politico, the speech was "discursive, pugnacious... bizarre... most entertaining." Trump's announcement speech included the song "Rockin' in the Free World", causing Neil Young, the author of this song, to distance himself from Trump; Young supports Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Despite a casting company having sent emails (some of which have leaked) to background actors explicitly asking them to cheer Trump for money, Trump's campaign manager denied that Trump paid any actors to cheer him at the event. An early supporter of Ronald Reagan for president, Trump trademarked the campaign slogan from the 1980 election, "Make America Great Again."

Campaign

See also: Nationwide opinion polling for the Republican Party 2016 presidential primaries, Nationwide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2016

File:Donald Trump Laconia Rally, Laconia, NH 4 by Michael Vadon July 16 2015 21.jpg

Trump at an early campaign event in New Hampshire on June 16, 2015

Immediately after his announcement in New York, Trump traveled to Iowa to campaign in the state ahead of the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. Trump has also campaigned extensively in New Hampshire, site of the first Republican primary. Trump's campaign cancelled events in Charleston, South Carolina, in light of the June 17 mass shooting. Trump kicked off a western swing in early July 2015, giving rallies and speeches in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

On July 22, the Federal election regulators released new details of Trump's wealth and financial holdings that he submitted when he became a Republican presidential candidate. Trump's campaign released a statement claiming his net worth to be over Template:USD10 billion, but Forbes estimates that it is Template:USD4 billion. On July 23, he visited the Mexican border to highlight his stance with regards to opposition towards illegal immigration. The border patrol union pulled out of the planned event.

Michael Cohen, Trump's senior counsel, was criticized for claiming that "you cannot rape your spouse" in response to a Daily Beast article about Trump's divorce proceedings. The article related how Ivana Trump had accused her ex-husband of raping her, a claim she has since retracted. Cohen subsequently apologized for his comments.

In response to a question asking candidates during the first primary debate, the main Fox News debate held on August 6, 2015, whether they would pledge to support the Republican party in the general election, Trump refused to rule out a third-party candidacy. When pressed, he also refused to say he would endorse the eventual Republican nominee. After meeting with Reince Priebus (chairman of the Republican National Committee) in New York, during a news conference at Trump Tower on September 3, Trump announced he had signed the loyalty pledge.

On August 21, 2015, the Federal Election Commission released the list of filings from Super PAC's backing candidates in the 2016 presidential race, which revealed that Trump is the only major presidential candidate among the GOP candidates who does not have a Super PAC supporting his candidacy.

On December 21, 2015, Trump attacked Hillary Clinton saying that her bathroom break during the last Democratic debate was just too "disgusting" to talk about and then stating she "got schlonged" by Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race. Trump responded to critical coverage of these statements by saying the mainstream media is "dishonest", that the term "schlonged" was not vulgar, and citing a 1984 NPR report in which the term was used to mean "beaten badly".

File:Trump with supporters in Iowa, January 2016 (2).jpg

Trump and supporters attend a rally in Muscatine, Iowa in January 2016. Multiple supporters hold up signs, which read "The silent majority stands with Trump".

Rallies and crowds

Trump regularly holds crowds with more people in attendance than any other 2016 presidential candidate. More than 9,000 people registered to attend Trump's rally on July 11, 2015 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Trump was introduced by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. During his speech, Trump invoked Richard Nixon's "silent majority" speech, saying, "the silent majority is back."

On July 24, the Des Moines Register announced that it had been denied press credentials to cover a Trump campaign family picnic in Oskaloosa, Iowa, due to an editorial the previous week which called on Trump to drop out of the race.

On August 21, Trump held a campaign rally at the Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, with approximately 30,000 people in attendance.

During an August 25 press conference, Trump's chief of security Keith Schiller forcibly ejected Univision anchor Jorge Ramos. On September 3, Schiller was filmed punching a protester.

On January 2, 2016, Trump's campaign rally in Biloxi, Mississippi, set a record for most people ever attending a political function in the history of the state. At the Biloxi rally, the YouTuber duo Diamond and Silk riled up the crowd, urging Democrats and independents in the audience to "ditch and switch", i.e. to register as Republicans and vote for Trump if they really wanted to show their support. It is believed that this could be an important strategy for the Trump campaign as it might be relying on people who do not tend to vote and trying to persuade some Democrats and independents to change parties so that they can vote in states that allow only registered Republicans to participate.

Trump's campaign, scheduled for a January 7, 2016, appearance in the traditionally liberal city of Burlington, Vermont, came under scrutiny for releasing approximately 20,000 tickets for a 1,400-person venue. The Burlington mayor and police chief both expressed concern for a public-safety risk from crowds of people, likely including many protesters, to be turned away from entry.

Media coverage

Trump is "by far the most newsworthy storyline of Campaign 2016, accounting alone for more than a quarter of all coverage" on NBC, CBS and ABC's evening newscasts, Andrew Tyndall said. In response, a petition to "Stop promoting Donald Trump" accused the media of "relentlessly chasing ratings and devoting massive airtime to Donald Trump interviews and live coverage of his speeches" and quickly amassed over 200,000 signatures. The media's coverage of Trump has generated some disagreement as to its affect on his campaign. John Sides of The Washington Post said, "Trump is surging in the polls because the news media has consistently focused on him." In a later analysis, The Washington Post said, "support for Trump appears to increase in spite of media coverage declining." A Rasmussen Reports survey showed that 47% of likely voters think most reporters are biased against Trump, 31% disagree, but 22% are not sure. Politico said, "blaming the press for the Trump surge neglects the salient fact that so much of the coverage of him has been darkly negative."

TV appearances and coverage of his tweets, rallies and controversial statements allowed Trump to dominate the media landscape on the cheap. In an interview with CBS, Trump said of his campaign's plans to purchase advertising, "I think I’m probably wasting the money. But I'm $35 million under budget. Look, I was going to have 35 or 40 million spent by now. I haven't spent anything. I almost feel guilty ... I'm leading by, as you all say, a lot. You can take the CBS poll. You can take any poll and I'm winning by a lot. I don't think I need the ads. But I'm doing them. I almost feel guilty."

Some conservative leaning media sources have covered Trump negatively. In January 2016, National Review released a special issue "Against Trump" in opposition to Trump's bid for the presidency. A statement issued by Fox News days before the GOP Debate preceding the Iowa Caucus said, "We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president—a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings." Trump responded by criticizing the "wise-guy press release" and said he would instead host a competing event in the state designed to raise money for wounded veterans, which he held the day of the debate.

Trump has frequently criticized the media, saying "the media is among the worst people I've ever met, I mean a pretty good percentage is really a terrible group of people. They write lies, they write false stories. They know they're false. It makes no difference. And frankly I don't call it thin-skinned, I'm angry." He has constantly called upon his supporters to be "the silent majority", apparently referencing the media.

Border wall and illegal immigration controversy

See also: Political positions of Donald Trump § Border wall between U.S. and Mexico

In his announcement speech, Trump promised that he would build "a great, great wall" on the United States–Mexico border, and has continued to lay emphasis on this proposal throughout his campaign, further stating that the construction of the wall would be paid for by Mexico. He proposed a broader crack-down on illegal immigration, and in a statement of July 6 claimed that the Mexican government is "forcing their most unwanted people into the United States"—"in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc." In his first town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire on August 19, 2015, Trump stated: "Day 1 of my presidency, they're getting out and getting out fast." These statements elicited considerable controversy.

José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs, said that Trump "is a politician who ignores the context in which it is participating", with regard to U.S. international economic relations and Trump's comments. Trump's Republican rival Jeb Bush stated that "Trump is wrong on this" and "to make these extraordinarily kind of ugly comments is not reflective of the Republican Party." Trump acknowledged that Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus asked him to tone down his rhetoric on immigration reform and stated that his conversations with the RNC were "congratulatory" as well. However, Jamiel and Anita Shaw, whose son was murdered by an illegal immigrant in 2008, came forward to defend Trump, with Anita Shaw stating on July 7, 2015, that, "it's time people listened to Trump" and "this guy who is running for President, Donald Trump, he's trying to do something and they're trying to shut him down." Jamiel Shaw spoke at the podium for Trump's July 11 rally at the Phoenix convention center, in part declaring, "I Trust Donald Trump." Two days later, escaped high-profile druglord Joaquín Guzmán was alleged to have issued threats through a Twitter account against Trump. The brother of Kate Steinle who was shot in San Francisco criticized Trump for politicizing his sisters death, telling Anderson Cooper Trump's platform "isn't exactly what our family believes in."

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz saluted Trump for giving attention to illegal immigration, while Congressman Steve King also defended Trump's remarks about illegal immigration and crime. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has repeatedly praised Trump's comments and his continued response to the backlash, saying that Trump has successfully changed the debate and brought the issue of immigration reform back to the foreground, while also not backing down against media scrutiny and businesses severing ties with him. Former Arizona governor Jan Brewer said, "I believe that Mr. Trump is kind of telling it like it really, truly is." Over 36,000 criminally convicted illegal immigrants were released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2013. On July 10, 2015, Limbaugh cited a report which he claimed supports Trump's remarks about illegal immigration and crime.

Univision announced it would no longer carry broadcasts of the Miss USA Pageant. In response, Trump indicated the matter would be handled by legal action, and followed through by filing a Template:USD500 million lawsuit against Univision. The complaint asserts that Univision is attempting to suppress Trump’s First Amendment rights by putting pressure on his business ventures. NBC announced it would not air the Miss Universe or Miss USA pageant. Afterwards, the multinational media company Grupo Televisa severed ties with Trump, as did Ora TV, a television network partly owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Trump gave the rights to broadcast the Miss Universe and Miss USA Pageants to the Reelz Channel.

Paulina Vega, the current Miss Universe and former Miss Colombia, said that, although she repudiates the immigration remarks of Trump, who in turn called her a "hypocrite", she cannot give up the crown because her contract forbids it, and she could be sued.

Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica will not send representatives to the Miss Universe competition.

Macy's announced it would phase out its Trump-branded merchandise. Serta, a mattress manufacturer, also decided to drop their business relationship with Trump. NASCAR ended sponsorship with Trump by announcing it would not hold their post season awards banquet at the Trump National Doral Miami. ESPN decided to relocate its ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic to the Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach. The charity golf tournament was once scheduled to be held at a golf course owned by Trump.

Reuters journalists found that Trump's companies sought to import 1,100 workers on H-2B visas since 2000.

Controversy over statements on Muslims

See also: Political positions of Donald Trump § Muslims

In remarks made following the November 2015 Paris attacks, Trump stated that he would support a database tracking Muslims in the United States and expanded surveillance of mosques. Trump justified his views by stating that he recalled "thousands and thousands of people ... cheering" when the World Trade Center towers fell on September 11, 2001. On December 7, 2015, Trump further called for a "total and complete shutdown on Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on."

Following these remarks, on December 8, 2015, the Pentagon issued a rare statement of concern, stating "anything that bolsters ISIL's narrative and pits the United States against the Muslim faith is certainly not only contrary to our values but contrary to our national security." The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, and the Prime Minister of France, Manuel Valls, both issued statements in response to Trump's press release condemning him. However, Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom in the Netherlands applauded his remarks calling them "brave" and "good for Europe". Among the European right wing, Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party called it "perhaps a political mistake too far", and Marine Le Pen of the conservative French National Front separated herself from the idea. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, rejected Trump's proposal.

Trump was widely criticized by leading GOP figures, including Reince Priebus and Republican leaders in South Carolina and Iowa. A number of commentators and news outlets subsequently likened Trump to a fascist or Adolf Hitler. Other commentators and news outlets refuted the labels as obscene, with Gianni Riotta, saying, "I am dead sure: Trump is not a fascist. Using the label not only belittles past tragedies and obscures future dangers, but also indicts his supporters, who have real grievances that mainstream politicians ignore at their peril."

During the controversy regarding his comments, Trump alleged that "We have places in London and other places that are so radicalized that the police are afraid for their own lives." The Metropolitan Police, responsible for policing in London, responded by stating "we think it’s important to state to Londoners that Mr Trump could not be more wrong." Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, demanded an apology and described Trump's comments as "ill-informed" and "complete and utter nonsense." Several Metropolitan police officers backed Trump's claim; "Trump's not wrong; we can't wear uniform in our own cars."

Following Trump's controversial comments on Muslim immigration, a petition with the title "Block Donald J Trump from UK entry" was opened in the UK, on the Parliament's e-petition website, calling on the UK government's Home Office to ban him from entering the country. By 5:00 am on December 11, the total number of signatures exceeded 500,000, far above the threshold of 100,000 required for a Parliamentary debate. On January 18, the UK's House of Commons debated whether to ban Trump, but ended without a vote, as UK members of parliament did not have the power to enact such a ban. The three-hour long debate saw members on all sides of parliament describe Trump as "a buffoon", "crazy", "offensive", and "a wazzock".

John McCain

Arizona Senator John McCain was not supportive of Trump's position on illegal immigration, and in an interview with The New Yorker said, "what he did was he fired up the crazies." Trump later asked McCain for an apology. McCain did not apologize, saying "crazies" was "a term of endearment", and "a term of affection".

Trump received criticism for saying of McCain: "He’s not a war hero" and "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured." Trump acknowledged, "If somebody’s a prisoner, I consider them a war hero"; however, he criticized "politicians like John McCain" for having "totally failed" on veterans issues and on securing the border. Trump declared his support for veterans and pledged to "build the finest and most modern veterans hospitals in the world."

Asked whether Trump should apologize to him for the remarks, McCain said on MSNBC: “I don’t think so. I think he may owe an apology to the families of those who have sacrificed in conflict and those who have undergone the prison experience in serving their country.” Trump later stated that he did not owe the Senator an apology. Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson detailed how the Washington Post had taken Trump's remarks on McCain out of context; she stated in part, "In fact, Trump’s actual quote is the opposite of what is presented in the Post’s first sentence." Politifact rated Trump's claim that the quote was taken out of context as "mostly false". Trump's comments generated disagreement among the other Republican presidential candidates, including Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, and Chris Christie. Two candidates, George Pataki and Rick Perry, openly called on Trump to withdraw from the race over his comments. Conversely, two other candidates came to Trump's defense: Ben Carson and Ted Cruz, with Carson commenting that all differing opinions should be heard, and with Cruz opining that the party should stop its infighting altogether in order to unite. Before the first voting in Iowa, all the candidates who criticized Trump had either withdrawn or were in single-digit popularity polling.

Lindsey Graham

On July 21, Trump publicly gave out Senator Lindsey Graham's phone number during a speech in South Carolina as a response to Graham calling him a "jackass". Graham released a statement on Twitter that he would "probably [be] getting a new phone" and later released a video in which he destroyed his phone. Gawker subsequently released a phone number belonging to Trump, and he responded by setting the phone number to play a campaign message. Trump's response was described as "brilliant" and Time Magazine said, "You can't out-troll the Donald."

Jeb Bush

The Jeb Bush-Trump dynamic became one of the most fiery relationships among the Republican contenders. Bush's campaign spent millions of dollars on anti-Trump ads, while in response Trump mocked Jeb Bush with the lasting epithet that he was "low energy". During an exchange with Jeb Bush in the ninth GOP Debate in South Carolina, the audience (most favoring Bush) repeatedly boo'd Trump. Trump scoffed that the audience was made up of "Jeb's special interests and lobbyists". When asked whether he remained in favor of impeachment for George W. Bush for starting the Iraq War, Trump said, "They [the George W. Bush administration] lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none. And they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction."

Fox News and Megyn Kelly

Trump was one of ten candidates in the main Fox News debate on August 6, 2015. At the beginning of the debate, Bret Baier asked the candidates in case they do not win the Republican nomination if they would pledge not to run as an independent candidate and would support the eventual nominee. Trump was the only candidate who refused to pledge at that time. Baier questioned Trump about Obamacare, Chris Wallace asked him about Mexican illegal immigrants, and Megyn Kelly asked about how he would respond to a Clinton campaign saying that he was waging a "war on women". Trump replied, "I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct."

In a later interview with Don Lemon on CNN Tonight, Trump said that Kelly is a "lightweight" and had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her... wherever." Trump tweeted that his remark referred to Kelly's nose but was interpreted by critics as a reference to menstruation. RedState.com editor Erick Erickson cancelled Trump's invitation to a RedState meeting, saying "there are just real lines of decency a person running for President should not cross." The Trump campaign issued a statement calling Erickson "a total loser" and saying that anyone who thought Trump's comment was a reference to menstruation was "a deviant".

Trump retained the first place after the debate, with an NBC News poll showing him at 23% support and a Reuters/Ipsos poll at 24%, followed by Ted Cruz at 13% and Ben Carson at 11%. <section begin=trump4/><section end=trump4/>

Veterans for a Strong America event

The Veterans for a Strong America (VSA) organized an event for Trump on September 15, 2015. According to the Associated Press, the IRS revoked the nonprofit status of the organization, and its endorsement of Trump raised campaign finance questions as corporations are restricted to donating up to Template:USD2,700 to a campaign, but the event exceeded that amount. Other concerns raised include reports that the VSA does not appear to have any members or relation with veterans. According to CNN, the group "sounds like a charity", "touted having more than a half-million supporters", "is a political action group whose tax-exempt status was revoked" but is "appealing the decision", and CNN had "found scant evidence" the group has the number of supporters claimed. Regarding female veteran support, Trump has addressed the issue that VA hospitals do not permanently staff ObGyn doctors; showing an utter lack of respect for female veterans. Trump continued on to express that "Under the Trump plan, every VA hospital in the country will be fully equipped with ObGyn and other women's health services."

Campaign support from family members

Although Trump has called his wife Melania "my pollster", and has said she strongly supports his presidential run, he held back early in the campaign from asking her to actively campaign for him, although "she will", he told CNN in September 2015. She did appear both at her husband's June 2015 campaign announcement, and in the audience at the Fox News debate in Cleveland; and in November 2015 did several televised interviews, and spoke briefly at a Trump campaign rally in South Carolina, also attended by a number of Trump's other family members.

If Trump were to become President, his wife Melania (Slovenian-born, and a naturalized U.S. citizen) would become only the second U.S. First Lady in history to be born outside the United States (after Louisa Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams).

False flag conspiracy theory

A conspiracy theory appearing in the Washington Post, Salon, Esquire, Gawker, Talking Points Memo and several other political news outlets, and which has been endorsed by several of Trump's opponents, posits that Trump is running a "false flag operation" for presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. According to this theory, Trump intends to help her secure the presidency by obtaining the Republican nomination, or running as a third party candidate, which Trump was initially reluctant to rule out, but eventually did.

Republican front-runner

File:Donald Trump Signs The Pledge 25.jpg

Trump signs the Republican loyalty pledge: If Trump does not become the Republican Party nominee for the 2016 general election, he pledges to support whomever the nominee may be, and to notTemplate:Efn run as a third-party candidate.

<section begin=trump1/>Trump has consistently had high poll numbers during his candidacy. A survey conducted by The Economist/YouGov released July 9, 2015, was the first major nationwide poll to show Trump as the 2016 Republican presidential front-runner. A Suffolk/USA Today poll released on July 14, 2015, showed Trump with 17% support among Republican voters, with Jeb Bush at 14%. A Washington Post/ABC News poll taken on July 16–19, showed Trump had 24% Republican support, over Scott Walker at 13%. A CNN/ORC poll showed Trump in the lead at 18% support among Republican voters, over Jeb Bush at 15%, and a CBS News poll from August 4 showed Trump with 24% support, Bush second at 13%, and Walker third at 10%.<section end=trump1/>

A CNN/ORC poll taken August 13–16, 2015, in the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania showed Trump ahead of, or narrowly trailing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in direct match-ups in those states. In Florida, Trump led by two points, and in both Ohio and Pennsylvania, he was within just five points of Clinton.

Trump has had a persistently high popularity among Republican and leaning-Republican minority voters. Surveys taken in late 2015 showed Trump polling unfavorably among women and non-white voters, with 64% of women viewing Trump unfavorably and 74% of non-white voters having a negative view of the candidate, according to a November 2015 ABC News/Washington Post poll. A Public Religion Research Institute survey in November 2015 found that many of his supporters are working class voters with negative feelings towards migrants, as well as strong financial concerns. Many polls show Trump polling significantly favorably among minority and woman voters compared to past and present Republican presidential candidates, citing a September 2015 SurveyUSA poll. This poll also reports that Trump garners some support from voters outside of his party.

Trump's status as the consistent front-runner for the Republican nomination led to him being featured on the cover of Time magazine in August 2015, with the caption: "Deal with it." Although some establishment Republicans expressed concern by late 2015 about Trump's perceived negative effect, were he to become the Republican nominee, on other Republican candidates running for Congressional or Gubernatorial positions in 2016, few leading donors seemed willing to sponsor a negative campaign against him. "A 'Stop Trump' effort wouldn't work, and it might help him", said Republican Senator Lamar Alexander. While the National Republican Senatorial Committee circulated a confidential memo in September 2015 that did not dismiss the possibility of Trump winning the GOP nomination, it called him a "misguided missile" with "wacky ideas about women", and noted that he "is subject to farcical fits." The memo urged candidates to carve out platforms broadly consonant with Trump's anti-Washington messaging, and to "stake out turf in the same issue zone and offer your own ideas", while not getting "drawn into every Trump statement and every Trump dust-up." Candidates were advised in particular not "to re-engage the 'war on women' fight" and were told they "shouldn't go near this ground other than to say that your wife or daughter is offended by what Trump said."

Early caucuses and primaries

In the lead-up to the Iowa caucus, poll averages showed Trump as the front-runner with a roughly four percent lead. Ted Cruz came in first in the vote count, ahead of Trump. Cruz, who campaigned strongly among evangelical Christians, was supported by church pastors that coordinated a volunteer campaign to get out the vote. Before the Iowa vote, an email from the Cruz campaign falsely implied that Ben Carson was about to quit the race, encouraging Carson's supporters to vote for Cruz instead. Trump later posted on Twitter, "Many people voted for Cruz over Carson because of this Cruz fraud", and wrote, "Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it."

Following his under-performance in Iowa, Trump rebounded to a significant victory in the New Hampshire primary, exceeding poll predictions. Trump commented that in the run-up to the primary, his campaign had "learned a lot about ground games in a week." This was followed by another wide victory in South Carolina, furthering his lead among the Republican candidates.

Campaign finances

Trump rejected all super PAC's that claimed to support him. He has said: "I am self-funding my campaign and therefore I will not be controlled by the donors, special interests and lobbyists who have corrupted our politics and politicians for far too long. I have disavowed all super PAC's, requested the return of all donations made to said PAC's, and I am calling on all presidential candidates to do the same." Politifact reports that Trump's claims that he is "self-funding" his campaign are "half-true." By the end of 2015, Trump's campaign had raised $19.4 million, with almost $13 million (about 66%) coming from Trump himself and the remainder (34%) coming from others' contributions.

The announcement came a day after a main super PAC backing Trump closed amid scrutiny about its relationship to the campaign itself. Trump said he never gave his endorsement to that super PAC (Make America Great) or any of the other eight super PAC's supporting his run. Trump told campaign crowds "I don’t want anybody’s money", and criticized other candidates for "form[ing] all these PAC's. People pour money into the PAC's. I don’t want 'em, don’t support 'em."

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Donald TrumpTrump has stated that he is a "conservative Republican."

Endorsements

See also: Endorsements for the Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016

See also

• Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016
• Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
• Republican Party presidential debates, 2016

External links

• Template:Official website
• Donald Trump Presidential Campaign Announcement, - C-SPAN, June 16, 2015