Severity
Executive actions that exceed constitutional authority, circumvent statutory constraints, or weaponize government institutions for political ends. Includes unauthorized military deployments, retaliatory firings of inspectors general or oversight officials, abuse of emergency powers beyond their statutory scope, and self-dealing that violates emoluments or anti-corruption provisions.
111 incidents
Trump fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem citing 'leadership failures' — not accountability for two civilians killed by federal agents in Minneapolis. Markwayne Mullin was confirmed as replacement. Noem was reshuffled to a diplomatic title, not held responsible for the extrajudicial killings under her watch.
A campaign of government coercion against media through broadcast license threats from the president and FCC chair, forced cancellation of a television show, pressure to remove apps, and demands that platforms suppress immigration-related content.
Systematic dismantlement of disability protections through withdrawal of ADA guidance, cancellation of pending rules, elimination of Section 503 hiring goals, 50% staff cuts at the disability services agency, and an executive order promoting institutionalization — described by the American Bar Association as rolling 'back decades of disability rights.'
Billions in funding frozen or canceled to coerce universities into political compliance, with demands for protest suppression, admissions reform, and 'academic receivership' of specific departments. Columbia capitulated with a $221 million settlement; Harvard resisted and won a court order restoring $2.2 billion. NIH research funding was cut 24%.
The deputization of Musk's private bodyguards as federal agents — with training requirements waived at White House request — represents an unprecedented merger of private security with federal law enforcement authority, bypassing the safeguards that exist to prevent untrained armed individuals from exercising government power.
A multi-pronged attack on organized labor: destruction of the NLRB's quorum through the first-ever mid-term firing of a board member, an executive order stripping collective bargaining from 950,000 federal workers, and extension of the order to additional agencies — described as 'the single most aggressive action against organized labor in US history.'
The US threatened Colombia with 25-50% tariffs, visa bans, and customs inspections to coerce acceptance of military deportation flights. Colombia capitulated within hours, establishing a precedent for weaponizing economic power to override sovereign decisions on migration.
A sweeping executive order redefining sex across the federal government, with material consequences for transgender individuals in detention, healthcare, and civil documentation.
An executive order attempting to override the Fourteenth Amendment's birthright citizenship guarantee by executive fiat, blocked by every court to consider it and now before the Supreme Court.
Executive order reversing the federal execution moratorium and mandating the death penalty be sought for all murders by undocumented immigrants 'regardless of other factors' — creating a discriminatory two-tier system where immigration status, not the severity of the crime, determines whether the government seeks death.
Executive Order 14151 directed elimination of all federal DEI programs. DOGE implemented a three-phase purge, firing thousands of workers — including many who had no current DEI role — using AI tools to identify targets. A December 2025 class-action lawsuit alleges the purge targeted minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ employees.
The administration threatened military and economic coercion to annex Greenland and reclaim the Panama Canal, with the Pentagon developing actual invasion plans. Greenland annexation threats were renewed in May 2026 — Trump told NBC the US 'will get' Greenland and refused to rule out military force.
A systematic pattern of pardons benefiting political allies, donors, and financial criminals. Over half of 88 clemency grants went to white-collar offenders, erasing $1.3 billion in victim restitution. Twenty corrupt politicians were pardoned. The DOJ's Public Integrity Section — responsible for investigating corruption — has been largely dismantled, and the head of the Pardon Attorney's office was fired and replaced with a political loyalist.
A multi-pronged campaign to restrict reproductive rights through executive action, including withdrawal from EMTALA enforcement, restoration of the Title X gag rule, enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, and preparation to invoke the 1873 Comstock Act as a de facto nationwide abortion ban without Congressional action.
Federal funding cutoffs threatened against sanctuary cities and their entire states, lawsuits against 29 states, and pending legislation to condition unrelated federal funding on immigration cooperation — a coercive federalism strategy that courts have repeatedly found unconstitutional.
The US withdrew from the WHO effective January 2026, removing the organization's largest funder and dismantling pandemic preparedness infrastructure. The WHO announced plans to cut 2,300 jobs — 25% of its workforce. The withdrawal degrades global disease surveillance, influenza vaccine matching, and outbreak response capacity at a time of ongoing zoonotic disease threats.
An unprecedented pattern of foreign government payments flowing to the president's personal businesses and financial ventures, including real estate deals in Vietnam, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states, the LIV Golf partnership, a $400 million Qatari jet, and cryptocurrency schemes — prompting multiple Senate resolutions condemning the arrangements as Emoluments Clause violations.
Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's CFO for decades, had pleaded guilty in August 2022 to 15 felony counts and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He testified against the company. The Trump Organization received $1.76 million in off-the-books compensation for Weisselberg and other executives over 15 years. The company was convicted on all 17 counts, including scheme to defraud and falsifying business records. The $1.6 million fine was the maximum allowed but was a fraction of what corporate criminal fines typically run; prosecutors noted the fine was limited by statute.
Trump's COVID infection came after months of publicly downplaying the disease, refusing to wear masks, and holding indoor rallies. His treatment at Walter Reed included Regeneron's experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail (not yet FDA-authorized), dexamethasone — a steroid given only to patients with severe COVID per WHO protocols — and supplemental oxygen. His doctor Sean Conley gave contradictory statements about whether Trump had needed supplemental oxygen and on what days his oxygen saturation had dropped. Trump staged a motorcade through COVID patients outside Walter Reed while contagious. Upon returning to the White House, he removed his mask for a photo op while potentially still infectious to staff.
The 2020 Republican National Convention featured events staged at the White House — a building owned by the federal government and maintained with taxpayer funds — in ways that previous administrations of both parties had avoided. The OSC, which enforces the Hatch Act prohibiting federal employees from using their official capacity or government resources for political activity, found multiple violations. Secretary Pompeo's Jerusalem speech was the highest-profile Hatch Act referral; the OSC concluded he had violated the act. Other officials investigated included Kellyanne Conway (previously recommended for removal for Hatch Act violations in 2019). The naturalization ceremony conducted by USCIS Director Cuccinelli at the convention for five new citizens was also reviewed.
DeJoy's operational changes caused immediate and documented mail delays across the country. The changes were implemented months before the presidential election in which mail-in voting was expected to reach record levels due to COVID. Trump stated publicly that he was blocking Post Office funding to prevent mail-in voting. USPS removed 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines; some were dismantled before DeJoy announced a suspension of the changes in response to congressional and legal pressure. Multiple states sued. The sorting machine removals were not reversed even after the suspension.
Tear gas, pepper spray, and mounted police were deployed against peaceful protesters who were within their legal rights to be in Lafayette Square until the 7 PM curfew. The clearing operation began approximately 30 minutes before the curfew. Once the square was cleared, Trump walked out of the White House to St. John's Church, stood in front of it holding a Bible, and had photographs taken. The Episcopal bishop whose church was used said she was 'outraged' and had not been notified. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley later apologized for participating in the walk. Defense Secretary Esper publicly opposed using active-duty troops as Trump had suggested.
Trump had previously threatened to withdraw or defund the WHO in April 2020; in May he made the withdrawal formal. Critics noted that withdrawing from the WHO during a pandemic eliminated U.S. influence over the global response to the same pandemic — including over vaccine development coordination, variant tracking, and equitable distribution programs. The U.S. would lose voting rights, committee seats, and the ability to shape WHO standards and guidelines. Allies and public health experts across the political spectrum criticized the decision. Biden rejoined the WHO within hours of taking office on January 20, 2021.
In February 2020, the Trump administration announced the diversion of an additional $3.8 billion in military construction funds to border wall construction — funds that had been appropriated by Congress for specific military purposes including school construction at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; housing at Guantanamo; and facilities in Germany. Military families were directly affected when promised construction projects were canceled. The GAO had previously found that Trump's withholding of congressionally appropriated Ukraine security assistance violated the Impoundment Control Act; the same statutory framework applied to the Pentagon diversions.
Sondland had originally testified in closed session that he had no knowledge of a quid pro quo involving military aid. After two other diplomats — William Taylor and Tim Morrison — submitted testimony contradicting Sondland's account, Sondland submitted a supplemental declaration amending his prior testimony to acknowledge he had told a Ukrainian official that the release of military assistance would likely not occur until Ukraine announced investigations. In his public testimony, Sondland went further, naming Pompeo, Mulvaney, and Bolton as aware of the arrangement and stating the quid pro quo was explicit.
Trump issued 143 pardons and commutations, including a final batch of 143 on his last day in office. Analysts documented that a disproportionate share of Trump's pardons went to political allies, relatives of political allies, or individuals whose cases were connected to Trump's political interests. The pardons of Manafort, Stone, Flynn, and Bannon were specifically notable because each had been convicted or charged in connection with conduct related to Trump's political activities, and each received executive clemency. The final day pardons also included Steve Bannon, who was awaiting trial.
Stone was convicted of lying to Congress about his contacts with WikiLeaks, which had published emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta by Russian intelligence. The jury found he had also tampered with a witness — elderly former radio host Randy Credico — to prevent him from contradicting Stone's false congressional testimony. Four prosecutors resigned from the case after political appointees overrode their sentencing recommendation. A fifth prosecutor withdrew entirely. Trump commuted Stone's sentence days before Stone was to report to prison; he issued a full pardon seven months later.
Trump's September 1 tweet falsely included Alabama in Hurricane Dorian's path. The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, issued a correction saying Alabama was not at risk. Trump then displayed an Oval Office map showing the altered cone reaching into Alabama. Multiple officials at NOAA described feeling pressured not to contradict the president. The Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly threatened firings if NOAA scientists publicly contradicted Trump's Alabama claim. An unsigned statement supporting Trump's position was issued by NOAA over scientists' objections. A formal Inspector General investigation was opened.
Mueller's investigation documented ten episodes of potential obstruction of justice and concluded that while it could not exonerate Trump, it also could not reach a traditional prosecutorial judgment because of the OLC opinion barring indictment of a sitting president. Barr's summary letter stated 'the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia' and that Mueller had 'not established that members of the Trump campaign conspired.' On obstruction, Barr stated on his own authority that the evidence was 'not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense' — an independent judgment Mueller had explicitly declined to make.
Kushner had 40 contacts with foreign nationals from more than 20 countries that he failed to disclose on his original security clearance form — submitting three amended versions before all contacts were documented. Career security officials recommended denying or limiting Kushner's clearance; Trump overruled them in May 2018. A White House personnel security director told a congressional committee that she had been pressured to grant the clearance against her professional judgment. Both Trump and Ivanka publicly denied Trump had intervened, before the New York Times reported he had personally ordered the clearance.
Trump had explicitly asked Congress for $5.7 billion for the border wall; Congress appropriated $1.375 billion for fencing, far less than requested. Trump signed the appropriations bill and then simultaneously declared a national emergency to bypass the congressional decision and access Pentagon funds Congress had not authorized for this purpose. He acknowledged the emergency framing was pretextual, saying at the announcement: 'I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster.' Congress voted to terminate the emergency; Trump vetoed. Courts blocked parts of the diversion; the Supreme Court allowed it to proceed pending litigation.
The shutdown began when Trump refused to sign a continuing resolution that did not include wall funding, after initially indicating he would sign a bipartisan agreement. Approximately 800,000 federal workers went without pay; those deemed 'essential' — including air traffic controllers, TSA agents, Coast Guard personnel, and federal law enforcement — were required to work without compensation. The TSA began calling out sick in significant numbers, raising aviation safety concerns. Trump reopened the government after 35 days without receiving any wall funding.
Mattis had served as Defense Secretary since January 2017. His resignation came after Trump announced — via tweet, without military consultation — that he was withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, effectively abandoning the Kurdish partners who had done the ground fighting against ISIS. Mattis's resignation letter was unusual in its directness: it stated that he believed Trump had not treated allies with 'respect and seriousness' and had not been 'clear-eyed' about the threats posed by adversaries including Russia and China. Trump, initially describing the departure as planned, later forced Mattis out before the end of his original tenure after the letter's contents became widely circulated.
Manafort received over $65 million to manage political campaigns for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian Ukrainian president later forced from office and who fled to Russia. Manafort hid the income in offshore accounts and spent lavishly while lying on tax returns and bank loan applications. Mueller's investigation documented that Manafort had also shared internal Trump campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian political consultant assessed by the U.S. Senate to have ties to Russian intelligence — data sharing that occurred during the period when Russia was conducting its interference operation.
Trump's three meetings with Kim Jong-un (Singapore June 2018, Hanoi February 2019, DMZ June 2019) produced vague joint statements but no binding agreements. North Korea did not submit to inspections, did not provide a declaration of nuclear assets, and did not halt weapons development. Trump unilaterally suspended U.S.-South Korea military exercises after the Singapore summit, calling them 'very expensive war games' and using language Kim had used — a significant concession military commanders opposed. North Korea tested missiles throughout 2019. Talks broke down at Hanoi when the U.S. declined to trade all sanctions for only partial denuclearization.
Kushner's initial SF-86 security clearance form, filed in January 2017, omitted more than 100 foreign contacts, including meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. He amended the form multiple times. Career intelligence and law enforcement officials raised concerns about his business's financial entanglements with foreign nationals, including a $1.4 billion loan his family company received from Qatari-linked investors, and meetings he had had with foreign officials during the transition. Chief of Staff John Kelly wrote an internal memo stating he personally overruled the career professionals' recommendation against granting clearance. Trump later denied to journalists that he had ordered the clearance, contradicting Kelly's memo.
The ProPublica investigation documented a 'shadow VA' in which the three Mar-a-Lago members — who paid $200,000 entry fees — exchanged hundreds of calls and emails with VA officials, reviewed candidates for top positions, influenced multimillion-dollar contract decisions including a $10 billion electronic health records contract, and shaped the VA's strategic direction without any official appointment. VA Secretary Shulkin had cooperated with the arrangements. He was fired amid internal feuding; Trump nominated his personal physician Ronny Jackson as replacement; Jackson withdrew after Senate investigators documented allegations of drunk driving, overprescribing, and creating a 'toxic work environment.'
Trump's Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs disrupted U.S. trade relationships with allies and adversaries alike. The steel and aluminum tariffs targeted Canada, the EU, Japan, and South Korea — treaty allies — under a national security designation that even many Republicans criticized as pretextual. Retaliatory tariffs by China on soybeans, pork, and other agricultural goods caused severe damage to American farmers, requiring $28 billion in emergency agricultural assistance.
The Section 232 tariffs were challenged immediately as legally dubious — U.S. national security law did not contemplate allies as threats, and Canada, Germany, South Korea, and Japan supply steel and aluminum to U.S. defense contractors. The EU, Canada, and Mexico all retaliated with targeted tariffs on politically sensitive U.S. products (Bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, orange juice, soybeans). The broader China trade war — separate from the steel tariffs — involved escalating rounds of tariffs reaching 25% on $250 billion in Chinese goods; China retaliated against agricultural products; the U.S. government paid $28 billion in direct payments to American farmers to compensate for lost Chinese export markets.
In the week following Parkland, Trump held a remarkable televised meeting with lawmakers in which he expressed support for raising the minimum age for rifle purchases to 21, comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, and even taking guns from dangerous people before due process. He told Republican lawmakers they were 'afraid' of the NRA. Within weeks, after meetings with NRA president Wayne LaPierre, Trump had reversed on raising the purchase age and most other proposals. The final federal response was an executive action banning bump stocks — the device used in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre (58 dead) — which was later struck down by the Supreme Court.
The meeting was called to discuss a bipartisan immigration framework. Present were Senators Durbin (D-IL), Graham (R-SC), Flake (R-AZ), Perdue (R-GA), Cotton (R-AR), and others, along with DHS Secretary Nielsen. Multiple attendees confirmed the substance of the comments. The 'shithole' characterization was directed at Haiti and African nations; Trump contrasted them with Norway, where he had met with the prime minister the previous day. Nielsen testified to Congress that she did not recall the exact words used. Perdue and Cotton initially said they didn't recall the comments then claimed Trump hadn't used those specific words — a position contradicted by Durbin's direct confirmation and Graham's reported in-room response.
The TCJA was passed through the budget reconciliation process with no Democratic votes; the process required the individual tax cuts to expire (via budget rules) while making the corporate rate cut permanent. Trump claimed the cut would generate economic growth sufficient to pay for itself — a prediction rejected by the CBO, the JCT, and most economists. The $1.9 trillion corporate stock buyback surge in 2018 documented that the primary immediate effect was share buybacks rather than business investment or wage growth. The Trump family directly benefited from the pass-through deduction. Trump signed it into law and called it 'one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people.'
Net neutrality rules prevented ISPs from discriminating between different types of internet traffic — from blocking competitors' services, throttling streaming video, or creating 'fast lanes' for content providers willing to pay. The Trump FCC repeal removed those protections, reclassifying broadband as an information service rather than a utility. States including California passed their own net neutrality rules; the legal status remained contested through Trump's first term.
Net neutrality rules required internet service providers to treat all internet traffic equally — not to slow down or block Netflix while favoring their own streaming service, or charge websites for premium delivery. The repeal allowed ISPs to create tiered access to the internet. The FCC's public comment process was flooded with millions of fake comments submitted using stolen identities; the New York attorney general investigated. Pai's arguments that the repeal would increase broadband investment were contradicted by ISPs' own earnings statements and CEO comments to investors.
Hurricane Irma was among the most powerful Atlantic storms ever recorded at the time of landfall. The U.S. Virgin Islands sustained catastrophic damage: Saint John lost 90% of its structures, the power grid was destroyed, and the water supply was disrupted. Federal response, while eventually mobilized, faced significant delays and resource gaps compared to responses to Florida and Texas in the same hurricane season. The Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp criticized the federal response as inadequate. The contrast between response speeds for voting-status U.S. territories (Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) versus states became a subject of policy debate and congressional hearings.
The Republican-led repeal effort over seven months produced several bills that the CBO estimated would cause tens of millions of Americans to lose health insurance. The final attempt — 'skinny repeal' — was a bill so limited in scope that even its Republican proponents did not want it to become law; its stated purpose was to pass something into conference. John McCain, who had returned from brain cancer treatment to cast the deciding vote, gave a thumbs-down at 1:30 AM to defeat the bill 51-49. Trump's response was to blame Republicans and to threaten to withhold the cost-sharing reduction payments that stabilized the ACA market, causing premiums to rise.
DeVos, a billionaire Michigan donor with ties to the for-profit education industry through her family's investment portfolio, was confirmed in February 2017 in a 50-50 Senate vote — the first cabinet confirmation requiring Vice President Pence's tiebreaking vote in history. She immediately moved to suspend the Obama administration's Borrower Defense to Repayment rules, which provided a path for students defrauded by schools to have their federal loans discharged. More than 100,000 borrower defense applications accumulated while DeVos's department delayed processing them. Courts found the delays violated federal law. She also rescinded the Gainful Employment rule that required for-profit programs to demonstrate graduates could earn enough to service their student debt.
Trump's first budget proposal, released May 23, 2017, proposed over $3 trillion in safety net cuts over 10 years — including $610 billion in Medicaid cuts through block grant conversion, $193 billion in SNAP cuts, and $64 billion in Social Security disability cuts. The proposals contradicted Trump's repeated campaign promise not to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. While the budgets were largely dead on arrival in Congress, they represented the administration's stated priorities and established the ideological context for the ACA repeal effort. In February 2020, Trump's budget proposed cutting Social Security disability insurance by $70 billion.
Trump established the election integrity commission in response to his false claim that 3-5 million illegal votes had been cast in the 2016 election — a claim he made to explain why he had lost the popular vote. The commission's first action was a sweeping data request to all 50 states seeking voter rolls with personal data. States across the partisan spectrum refused. The commission operated for seven months, producing no findings. A member filed a lawsuit against the commission for operating without proper transparency. The commission was disbanded January 3, 2018; Trump attributed its dissolution to Democratic obstructionism.
The commission was predicated on Trump's false claim that he had lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million due to illegal voting. It attempted to collect sensitive voter data including partial Social Security numbers, party affiliation, and voting history from all states. The ACLU and states sued over the data collection demands. The commission found no fraud, was shut down in January 2018, and its work was handed to DHS — where it also produced no substantive findings. Critics documented its primary purpose as political: to validate Trump's fraud claims and build infrastructure for voter suppression.
Sessions's recusal created the conditions for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, since it meant Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein oversaw the Russia investigation. Trump spent 20 months publicly attacking Sessions for his recusal — including in tweets, press statements, and reporting — while his private conduct (documented by Mueller) included repeated instructions that Sessions should 'unrecuse' himself and take control of the investigation. The day after the 2018 midterm elections, Trump demanded and received Sessions's resignation, replacing him with Matthew Whitaker — a move DOJ legal scholars argued was designed to install an acting AG who would not be recused from the Russia investigation.
Zinke used government aircraft for personal travel, including a trip to attend a hockey game and a flight to meet a donor. He pursued a real estate development near his Montana property with a company connected to Halliburton CEO David Lesar — while Halliburton had business before the Interior Department. He intervened in tribal gaming compacts in Connecticut to benefit a political donor's competing casino operation. He reduced Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly half — the largest rollback of protected federal land in U.S. history. He resigned in December 2018; the DOJ referred his conduct for further investigation.
Trump's first executive actions on LGBTQ issues included rescinding a 2016 guidance protecting transgender students' bathroom access in public schools. In July 2017, Trump tweeted the military ban without notifying the Joint Chiefs; the tweet came after DOD had already been studying how to implement transgender service. The administration also reversed Obama-era healthcare anti-discrimination guidance, removed LGBTQ survey questions from the Census and government surveys, and reversed protections for LGBTQ workers in federal contracting. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in June 2020 that Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination covers LGBTQ workers.
Pruitt's tenure combined serious corruption with aggressive deregulation — two goals that reinforced each other. His 24/7 security detail, which EPA Inspector General reports found was not justified by credible threats, cost taxpayers approximately $3.5 million in his 17 months at the agency. He flew first-class on domestic flights, claiming security concerns, while his own security detail said coach was adequate. He rented a condo from the wife of a lobbyist — at $50/night — while her clients' matters were pending before the EPA. He granted unprecedented raises to two staff members through CAA authority after the White House had denied the raises. He was ultimately undone by the accumulation of scandal but had already implemented dozens of deregulatory actions.
Trump used HBCUs as a political prop — signing executive orders promising prioritization while his budgets cut the funding those schools depended on. His administration cut the HBCU STEM research program, redirected grants, and proposed eliminating subsidized student loans on which HBCU students disproportionately relied. HBCU presidents who came to the White House for the high-profile signing ceremony were criticized by other HBCU advocates for lending legitimacy to a performance.
The executive order was signed without coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the Department of Defense, or the intelligence community. Customs and Border Protection received no guidance before implementation. Within hours, hundreds of travelers from the seven countries — including green card holders, refugees, and visa holders — were detained at airports or turned away from flights. Federal judges in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington state issued emergency stays within 24-48 hours. The order was eventually replaced by revised versions that were also challenged legally; the Supreme Court upheld the third version in Trump v. Hawaii (2018).
The TPP was designed explicitly to be a counterweight to Chinese economic influence in the Asia-Pacific region — establishing labor standards, intellectual property rules, and trade norms that reflected democratic values rather than Chinese state capitalism. Trump's withdrawal handed China the diplomatic and economic initiative in the region it had been seeking. The 11 remaining nations completed the CPTPP without the U.S.; China has since established its own trade framework covering much of the same region.
Trump demanded his Press Secretary go before the press to insist crowd comparisons showing his inauguration was smaller than Obama's were dishonest — a claim contradicted by photographic evidence, aerial comparisons, Metro ridership figures, and National Park Service estimates. Counselor Kellyanne Conway defended Spicer by coining the phrase 'alternative facts.' The incident, on the first full day of the administration, set the template for four years of routine government deception.
Trump retained ownership of his business empire throughout his presidency, rejecting the divestment that every modern president had undertaken. The Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. — in the old Post Office Pavilion leased from the General Services Administration — was particularly notable: foreign governments and diplomatic delegations booked the hotel, and the GSA was both the landlord and a federal agency under presidential authority. Three lawsuits were filed against Trump under the Emoluments Clauses; all were ultimately dismissed without reaching the merits after Trump left office. Congressional oversight requests for information about foreign payments were resisted throughout.
Unlike every president in modern history, Trump refused to divest from his businesses, instead placing them in a trust managed by his sons. Foreign governments and domestic government agencies spent millions at Trump properties during his presidency. Courts dismissed emoluments cases on procedural grounds rather than merits; a House investigation documented over $750,000 in government spending at Trump properties through 2020.
The Office of Special Counsel — an independent federal watchdog — found that Trump administration officials committed the most extensive Hatch Act violations in the law's history. The 2020 Republican National Convention used the White House as a backdrop for campaign speeches by administration officials, naturalization ceremonies were used as political props, and senior White House staff used official accounts and positions to campaign. The administration declined to take any corrective action, with Conway reportedly saying she 'didn't care.'
The Southern District of New York opened an investigation into the inaugural committee in 2019 after the Cohen cooperation. Prosecutors subpoenaed records investigating potential coordination with foreign nationals and possible misuse of nonprofit funds. Tom Barrack, who chaired the fundraising effort, was indicted in July 2021 on charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the UAE, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. The indictment alleged Barrack had used his position in the Trump campaign and inaugural committee to influence U.S. policy and public statements in favor of the UAE. Barrack was ultimately acquitted at trial. The investigation also found that donors linked to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar may have funneled money through straw donors.
Pruitt's EPA tenure was defined by serial self-dealing: he flew first-class and chartered government planes citing 'security threats' that his own security detail denied, leased a Capitol Hill condo for $50/night from the wife of an energy lobbyist (when the EPA was processing that lobbyist's clients' cases), directed his security detail to run personal errands and sourced a used mattress from Trump International Hotel, and asked his scheduler to seek Chick-fil-A franchise opportunities for his wife. He resigned in July 2018 as 14 separate federal ethics investigations were underway.
The Trump Foundation, a charitable organization, was found by the New York AG to have engaged in a pattern of illegal conduct including: making a $25,000 donation to Florida AG Pam Bondi (who was deciding whether to open a Trump University investigation), purchasing a $20,000 portrait of Trump, paying off legal settlements for Trump businesses, and illegally coordinating with the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Trump had also used foundation money to pay personal legal settlements — including $258,000 to resolve lawsuits involving his businesses.
Flynn was paid over $530,000 by a Turkish-controlled entity while serving as one of Trump's most prominent campaign surrogates in 2016 — work he initially did not disclose and later retroactively registered as foreign agent activity. He lied to FBI investigators about his December 2016 contacts with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, in which he discussed sanctions that the Obama administration had just imposed on Russia for election interference. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements in December 2017, cooperated with Mueller, then attempted to withdraw his plea, and was ultimately pardoned by Trump in November 2020.
The prosecution established that Trump directed Michael Cohen to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 eleven days before the 2016 election. Trump reimbursed Cohen through a series of false invoices and checks falsely recorded as 'legal expenses' — the 34 counts all arose from these falsified records. The Manhattan DA alleged the falsification was done to conceal the underlying crime of election fraud (influencing an election through unlawful means). The case also documented the AMI/National Enquirer arrangement in which the tabloid bought and suppressed stories from McDougal and others — the 'catch and kill' scheme. Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge on September 18, 2024, but the conviction remained on record.
The New York AG investigation found that the Trump Foundation was used as a checkbook for Trump's personal and business interests rather than charitable purposes: charitable funds settled legal disputes for Trump businesses, purchased a $10,000 portrait of Trump, made politically timed donations, and were illegally coordinated with the 2016 campaign. Trump was required to pay $2 million to legitimate charities as a penalty.
Captain Humayun Khan had received the Bronze Star and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his actions on June 8, 2004, when he was killed stopping a suicide car bomb that would have killed many more soldiers. His parents appeared at the DNC in support of Hillary Clinton and against Trump's Muslim ban, which would have prevented their family's immigration. Trump responded by suggesting Ghazala Khan had been silent at the podium because she was 'not allowed' to speak under Islamic tradition — she said she was too overcome by grief to speak. Trump described himself as having made 'sacrifices' comparable to the Khans' loss.
Trump's 2016 campaign rallies were sites of documented violence against protesters, directly preceded by Trump's explicit incitements from the stage. Trump offered to pay legal fees for supporters who assaulted protesters, described violence against protesters nostalgically, and encouraged crowds. Multiple protesters were punched, kicked, shoved, or sprayed with mace; in at least one case Trump faced civil liability for the conduct of his supporters. A federal appeals court allowed a lawsuit by injured protesters to proceed.
Cohen's guilty plea was not just his own conviction — it was Trump's implication. Cohen stated in federal court that the campaign finance crimes (the Daniels and McDougal payments) were committed 'in coordination with and at the direction of' a candidate for federal office. The federal prosecutors who accepted his plea treated Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator. Cohen served three years in federal prison; Trump, protected by the OLC no-indictment policy, was not indicted federally until after leaving office.
The Bank Secrecy Act requires casinos to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) for cash transactions over $10,000 and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for transactions that appear to involve money laundering. FinCEN found that Trump Taj Mahal had willfully failed to file CTRs and SARs, allowed transactions structured to avoid reporting thresholds (known as structuring — itself a federal crime), and maintained an anti-money laundering program with known deficiencies for years without correction. The settlement required payment of $10 million and an admission that violations occurred. The casino had also received a previous warning from regulators in the 1990s about similar violations — meaning the failures were repeated over more than two decades.
FinCEN found that the Trump Taj Mahal had, over the course of years, failed to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) on large cash transactions as required under the Bank Secrecy Act, failed to maintain adequate Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) programs, and failed to maintain basic anti-money-laundering controls. The violations were documented across thousands of transactions. FinCEN described the violations as 'willful' — meaning the casino knew what was required and did not comply. The $10 million fine was FinCEN's largest-ever against a casino; the previous Trump casinos had also faced regulatory action.
The National Enquirer's 'catch and kill' program operated by buying the rights to stories from people with negative accounts of Trump — paying them for exclusives and then killing the stories. AMI purchased stories involving alleged sexual affairs and other damaging material. Federal prosecutors concluded the scheme constituted illegal campaign contributions; AMI entered a non-prosecution agreement admitting this. David Pecker's cooperation was central to the conviction of Michael Cohen and the eventual conviction of Trump himself.
Trump began promoting birtherism on television in 2011, claiming Obama was 'born in Kenya' and demanding proof of U.S. birth. When Obama released his birth certificate in April 2011, Trump claimed credit. He continued to make or amplify birther claims through 2012, 2013, 2014, and as late as August 2016. The birther movement was not factually novel — it was a conspiracy theory that had circulated in fringe circles — but Trump elevated it to mainstream political discourse. Scholars and civil rights groups documented that the theory's premise was inseparable from the claim that a Black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama could not legitimately be an American president.
The birther conspiracy theory — the claim that Obama was born in Kenya or elsewhere outside the U.S. — had no factual basis. Hawaii state officials repeatedly confirmed the birth certificate's authenticity. Obama released both a short-form and long-form birth certificate. Federal courts dismissed challenges to Obama's eligibility. The theory persisted in certain quarters as a form of racial delegitimization of the first Black president. Trump became its most prominent mainstream advocate, using it to build his political profile before his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump's 2016 acknowledgment that Obama was born in the U.S. came without apology and included the false claim that Clinton had started the birther controversy.
Trump spent five years as the most high-profile national birther — making repeated media appearances questioning Obama's birth certificate, demanding documents, and insisting Hawaii was hiding something. Obama released his long-form birth certificate in April 2011 specifically in response to Trump's media campaign. Trump continued the campaign for years afterward. In September 2016, he held a press conference in which he acknowledged Obama was born in the United States — and falsely blamed Hillary Clinton for starting the theory.
Trump SoHo buyers, including an investor group led by Sateesh Bhagat, discovered that marketing materials claiming 60% of units were sold were false — fewer than 15% had been sold. They sued for fraud. The Manhattan DA opened a parallel criminal investigation. In 2012, after Trump lawyers met with DA Vance, the investigation was dropped. Vance later received a $25,000 campaign contribution from Kasowitz's law firm, which he initially kept and later returned; Vance denied it influenced his decision. The Bhagat investor group settled civilly for $3.16 million. The pattern — criminal investigation followed by dropped charges after private meeting — resembled the Bondi situation in Florida.
Trump University promised to teach students Trump's real estate 'secrets' through courses taught by his handpicked instructors. In practice, it was found to be a high-pressure sales operation that extracted money from vulnerable people — including elderly retirees — through a series of escalating upsells. New York's attorney general sued for $40 million; a California class action settled for $25 million in 2016.
Trump University was not a real university — it had no degree programs, no accreditation, and was not approved to use the word 'university' in New York. Students paid from $1,495 for a preview seminar to $35,000 for a 'Trump Elite' mentorship package. Former employees provided sworn declarations that they were instructed to aggressively upsell students to higher-priced programs and use high-pressure sales tactics. Student evaluation forms praised instructors at the time — but these were collected before students could assess outcomes. Former Trump University president Michael Sexton acknowledged the program was selling a brand, not education. Trump had selected none of the instructors himself, contradicting his marketing claims.
Trump University was not an accredited university and did not grant degrees. It marketed heavily using Trump's image and promises that students would learn from Trump's 'handpicked instructors.' Playbooks obtained by Washington Post showed instructors were coached to identify students' financial resources and upsell them to higher tiers; students were encouraged to raise credit card limits to pay for more expensive packages. Former employees testified to high-pressure sales tactics. The $25 million settlement resolved claims by approximately 6,000 students and was approved by a federal judge in April 2017.
At least 5 women who competed in Miss Universe or Miss Teen USA pageants publicly described Trump entering backstage areas while contestants were changing. In a 2005 Howard Stern interview, Trump explicitly described walking through dressing rooms at his pageants as a privilege of ownership, saying he could 'get away with' it. Former contestants described the experience as shocking and uncomfortable. Miss Teen USA contestants who were minors at the time of the alleged incidents described the same pattern. Trump denied the specific allegations made in 2016 while his Stern interview statements directly contradicted aspects of his denial.
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, alleged Trump attacked her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in approximately 1996. Trump denied knowing her and described her as 'not my type.' The jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape, under the definition in New York law at the time) and defamation, awarding $5 million. After Trump continued publicly attacking Carroll following the verdict, she filed a second defamation suit; in January 2024, a jury awarded $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages — one of the largest defamation awards in U.S. history. Multiple other women made similar allegations; Trump denied all.
Workers at Trump properties documented wage theft in multiple documented cases: dishwashers and waiters at Trump's Atlantic City casinos said they were told management had decided not to pay them; golf course workers in New York, Florida, and New Jersey described being denied overtime and having wages disputed after work was completed; cleaning and maintenance workers at Trump properties reported underpayment of hourly wages. The pattern was consistent with the contractor nonpayment strategy — dispute the amount after work is done, offer less than owed, and rely on the economics of litigation to prevent recovery. The Department of Labor found violations at Trump properties in multiple investigations.
The relationship between Trump and Epstein was documented through photographs, a 1992 party video, Trump's 2002 New York magazine comment, and Epstein's own court documents. After Epstein's 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges involving minors, documents in the case referenced Trump. A 2015 deposition of a Epstein associate indicated Trump was involved in social circles that intersected with Epstein's activities — though the deposition document was disputed. Trump denied involvement in any of Epstein's criminal activities, and no charges were brought against Trump in connection with Epstein. The nature and extent of the social relationship were documented; the 2019 distancing contradicted the warmth of the 2002 description.
Trump's Atlantic City casinos were overleveraged from the beginning: the Taj Mahal alone carried $675 million in junk bonds at 14% interest when it opened in 1990. When revenue fell short of the debt service requirements, bankruptcy followed. Through six rounds of bankruptcy, Trump negotiated deals that preserved his equity stake or management role while bondholders received cents on the dollar. He personally profited $82 million in salary and fees from the casinos between 1995 and 2009 while publicly traded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts lost $1.4 billion. Trump repeatedly characterized the bankruptcies as strategic use of 'the laws of this country' and claimed he had made 'a lot of money' on Atlantic City.
Trump's Atlantic City ventures were financed substantially through junk bonds. The Trump Taj Mahal opened in April 1990 carrying $675 million in junk bond debt at interest rates of 14 percent; by December 1990 it was behind on interest payments. The first bankruptcy followed in 1991. Trump subsequently filed bankruptcies involving his casino holdings in 1992, 2004, and 2009. In each restructuring, bondholders and creditors took substantial haircuts. Trump negotiated to retain management fees and significant equity stakes as conditions of restructuring. He ultimately sold his remaining stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009 and 2010. Trump characterized the repeated bankruptcies as smart use of the legal system; critics noted the losses were borne primarily by investors and creditors, not Trump personally.
Trump's Atlantic City casinos — the Taj Mahal, Plaza, Castle, and related entities — were financed with junk bonds carrying interest rates of 14-17%, which were unsustainable given the revenue the casinos could generate. Trump had collected hundreds of millions in management fees, licensing fees, and development profits before the bankruptcies. When the companies collapsed, thousands of bondholders, including retirees who had purchased the high-yield bonds, received pennies on the dollar or nothing.
The Times investigation identified multiple strategies: Fred Trump created a shell company called All County Building Supply & Maintenance to collect money from Trump properties, which was then used to justify large increases in maintenance fees that were passed to Trump children as untaxed income; Fred Trump's estate was valued at far below market rates to reduce estate taxes; and the children, acting in concert, were able to receive hundreds of millions in what amounted to gifts but were legally classified in ways that minimized tax exposure. The New York Department of Taxation opened a review.
Trump's NDA culture predated the presidency. Former Trump Organization employees described comprehensive NDAs covering all aspects of their employment. The campaign NDAs were drafted by Trump's attorneys and covered staffers, volunteers, and contractors. Several current and former employees who spoke to journalists anonymously or were approached by journalists described fear of legal action as the primary reason they declined to speak on the record. Michael Cohen's 'catch and kill' operation with AMI (American Media Inc.) extended the silencing mechanism to women who alleged sexual misconduct. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House employee, claimed she was pressured to sign an NDA after her departure that would have prohibited any public criticism of Trump.
The Times obtained decades of Fred Trump's tax records showing the family used fraudulent asset undervaluation, sham consulting fees, and a dummy corporation ('All County Building Supply') to transfer over $1 billion in wealth to Trump and his siblings while evading hundreds of millions in estate and gift taxes. A separate 2020 investigation found Trump had paid virtually no federal income tax for years.
Following the 1989 Central Park jogger case, Trump took out full-page ads in four New York newspapers calling for the death penalty for five teenagers — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — then aged 14-16. All five were convicted after making coerced false confessions. In 2002, the actual perpetrator confessed and DNA confirmed the exonerations. Trump refused to accept the exonerations for decades and called their civil settlement a 'disgrace' while running for president.
The 1989 Central Park jogger case involved the assault and rape of Trisha Meili. Police coerced confessions from five teenagers — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — who ranged in age from 14 to 16. All five served sentences after conviction. In 2002, convicted serial rapist Matias Reyes confessed to the attack alone; DNA evidence confirmed only his DNA. The convictions were vacated. In 2014, New York City settled their lawsuit for $41 million. Trump ran full-page ads in four newspapers in 1989 calling for the death penalty; in 2019, he told reporters 'You have people on both sides of that' and that the settlement 'doesn't mean they were innocent.'
The five teenagers — Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — were 14 to 16 years old at the time of their arrest. They gave confessions that were later found to have been coerced during lengthy interrogations without parents present. In 2002, Matias Reyes confessed to the attack; DNA evidence confirmed his account and proved the five had not committed the rape. The city of New York settled with them for $41 million in 2014. Trump called the settlement a disgrace and continued to maintain the five were guilty. His 1989 ads ran in the New York Times, Daily News, New York Post, and New York Newsday.
Trump's racial views in the 1980s and early 1990s were documented through multiple sources: a former Trump Organization executive documented Trump expressing that he didn't want Black people managing his money; Trump testified before Congress that Native American casino operators had an unfair advantage and made racially charged statements about their appearance and background; Trump made public comments about crime in Black neighborhoods. These documented patterns preceded and contextualized his political career.
Trump purchased the Eastern Air Shuttle for $365 million in 1988 and renamed it Trump Shuttle. Unable to make debt service payments on the junk bonds used to finance the purchase, Trump lost control of the airline to creditors in 1992 — it operated for only four years. Trump Steaks were sold through The Sharper Image beginning in 2007 and discontinued within two months due to poor sales. Trump Magazine was launched in 2007 and folded within five months. Trump Vodka was launched in 2005 and discontinued by 2011. The pattern across these ventures was consistent: launch with celebrity promotion, heavy licensing of the Trump name, and eventual failure attributed to market conditions.
Tony Schwartz spent 18 months with Trump to research and write The Art of the Deal. By his account, Trump's attention span was limited, he rarely focused on any topic for more than a few minutes, and most of what appeared in the book was invented or shaped by Schwartz from fragments of Trump's statements. The book created the public image of Trump as a brilliant real estate dealmaker — an image Trump leveraged throughout his political career as evidence of his fitness for office. Schwartz's 2016 interviews in The New Yorker and subsequent public statements described the book as a fabrication of Trump's public identity and said he feared Trump becoming president.
The New York AG's investigation found: Trump used foundation funds to settle legal obligations of his businesses (including a $100,000 payment from the foundation to settle a lawsuit against Mar-a-Lago), purchased items for personal use (including a $10,000 portrait of himself and a $12,000 signed Tim Tebow helmet), directed foundation funds to charities at political events in exchange for applause in possible violation of campaign finance law, and improperly used the foundation to pay a $25,000 contribution to a political organization supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi — who subsequently declined to investigate Trump University fraud claims. Trump did not have meaningful control over the foundation, which was run largely by his children without proper board oversight.
USA Today and other outlets documented a decades-long pattern in which Trump companies refused to pay contractors, vendors, and workers after completion of their work. Affected businesses included a dishware supplier, a plumbing contractor, a piano bar operator, and hundreds of others. Trump's negotiating strategy, described by associates, was to refuse payment and force small businesses to accept pennies on the dollar rather than face litigation.
The 2019 NYT investigation used IRS data from 1985-1994, finding Trump declared $1.17 billion in losses — an average of $117 million per year — largely from casino and real estate failures. The losses were so large that Trump paid no income tax in eight of the ten years. The 2020 investigation of complete tax returns found Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and $750 in 2017 through aggressive deductions, carried-forward losses, and tax credits. Trump had for decades refused to release his tax returns, claiming he was under IRS audit. He remained the only presidential candidate in modern history to refuse release until his returns were eventually obtained by courts after litigation.
Trump hired contractor William Kaszycki who used approximately 200 undocumented Polish workers to demolish the Bonwit Teller building for below-minimum wages — approximately $4-5 per hour, no overtime. Workers say they were not provided safety equipment for handling asbestos-laden material. When they complained about nonpayment, a foreman told them to 'get back to work or they'll be reported to immigration.' Trump settled a class action suit in 1998.
The USA Today investigation identified at least 200 contractors, companies, and individuals who claimed Trump failed to pay them for their work. Victims included small businesses that were left near bankruptcy by the nonpayments. A Venetian glass supplier from the Trump Tower lobby renovation said Trump reduced his payment by $350,000 and told him to sue; the supplier could not afford protracted litigation. Dishwashers and waiters at Trump's Atlantic City casinos described being denied wages and having to sue to recover even small amounts. Trump's lawyers routinely challenged the quality of work performed, even for long-completed projects, and offered settlements far below what was owed.
Building in 1980s New York required navigating a concrete industry dominated by organized crime. Trump Tower, built 1980-1983, used S&A Concrete, a company co-owned by Anthony 'Fat Tony' Salerno (Genovese crime boss) and Paul Castellano (Gambino crime boss) through intermediaries. Trump's relationship with Roy Cohn — who simultaneously represented multiple mob clients — connected him to the broader organized crime ecosystem. His Atlantic City casinos dealt with labor unions whose pension funds and leadership had documented mob ties. These relationships did not make Trump a mobster; they documented the environment in which he built his early business empire and the tolerance or accommodation he showed to organized crime-connected business partners.
The women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct covered a range of circumstances: models and contestants at Trump-owned beauty pageants, women at events and parties, employees in business settings, and strangers at social venues. The common elements across many accounts were unwanted kissing or groping in private settings with no witnesses. After the October 2016 Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump said 'when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy,' multiple women came forward stating the tape described what Trump had done to them. Trump called all accusers liars and threatened to sue them.
USA Today's 2016 investigation found that Trump and his companies had been sued more than 3,500 times in U.S. federal and state courts over the previous three decades, with a significant portion related to nonpayment claims by contractors, vendors, and employees. Among those who reported not being paid: drapery installers, piano players, porters, waiters, dishwashers, real estate brokers, plumbers, and hundreds of hourly workers. Trump's standard response was to challenge the quality of work — often leaving small contractors to choose between expensive litigation or accepting partial payment.
Trump met Roy Cohn at Studio 54 in 1973 during the housing discrimination lawsuit. Cohn became his attorney, fixer, and strategic advisor for over a decade. Cohn represented Trump in multiple legal matters and taught him a specific political and legal style: never settle (except when you do), never apologize, and reframe every defense as an attack. Cohn's other clients during this period included mob boss Fat Tony Salerno, Gambino crime family figures, and New York tabloid figures. Trump's Atlantic City casino construction involved documented relationships with contractors controlled by the Genovese crime family; the concrete supplier for Trump Tower and other Trump projects was S&A Concrete, co-owned by Salerno and Paul Castellano.
Black applicants at Trump apartment buildings were systematically denied housing that was simultaneously offered to white applicants. A Black doorman described being instructed to discourage Black applicants; the government documented instances where the Trumps coded applications with a 'C' (for 'colored') to identify Black applicants for rejection. Trump hired Roy Cohn to fight the lawsuit, countersuing the government for $100 million. He settled without admitting guilt in 1975. Three years later, DOJ filed a second suit alleging violations of the settlement terms.
The DOJ brought one of the largest housing discrimination lawsuits of 1973 against the Trumps, alleging their agents told Black rental applicants apartments were not available when they were available to white applicants, coded applications by race, and directed minority applicants to housing in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Trump denied the allegations vigorously and counterattacked the DOJ. The company settled in 1975 and allegedly violated the decree by 1978.
John O'Donnell's 1991 memoir 'Trumped!' quoted Trump making explicitly racist remarks about a Black accountant: criticizing the employee's work and saying he preferred having 'short guys that wear yarmulkes every day' do his accounting rather than Black men. In a 1997 Playboy interview, Trump was asked about the quotes and replied the book was 'probably true' — then added that he had been 'playing golf' when he said it and denied the remarks were racist. New Jersey Casino Control Commission records documented that supervisors at Trump's Castle were instructed to remove Black dealers from tables when certain high-rolling guests requested it, a discriminatory practice that resulted in regulatory sanctions.
The DOJ complaint documented specific evidence including testers — white and Black individuals sent to inquire about the same apartments — where Black applicants were told there were no vacancies while white applicants were offered leases for the same units. An employee named Elyse Goldweber documented that a Trump employee had marked rental applications with the letter 'C' (for 'colored') to identify minority applicants. Trump's response was to hire Roy Cohn, file a $100 million countersuit against the DOJ (which was dismissed), and ultimately settle via consent decree in 1975. The consent decree required Trump Management to place ads in minority newspapers and to notify the Urban League of vacancies; Trump violated the decree within two years and a second agreement had to be negotiated.
Roy Cohn served as Donald Trump's attorney and mentor from the early 1970s until Cohn's death in 1986. Cohn — who had been Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Red Scare, was later disbarred, and died of AIDS while denying he had it — introduced Trump to organized crime figures connected to the Genovese and Gambino families, taught him to use litigation as a weapon rather than a legitimate process, and instilled the maxim 'never apologize, never admit.' Trump's operating philosophy throughout his career directly reflects Cohn's explicit teachings.
The four student deferments were legal and widely used by college students of the era. The 1968 bone spurs medical deferment, obtained after Trump's student deferments expired at graduation, came from Dr. Larry Braunstein, a podiatrist in Jamaica, Queens — a building owner named Fred Trump. Braunstein's daughters told the New York Times in 2018 that their father provided the diagnosis as a 'favor' to Fred Trump, the landlord. Trump has described his bone spurs in varying ways over the years, at times saying they had healed on their own and at other times appearing not to remember which foot was affected. He has praised military service at Veterans events while criticizing specific veterans including John McCain for being captured.