Trump's background

Personal life

Born in June 1946, Donald Trump is a native of Queens, New York, and one of five children of Fred and Mary Trump.

Trump’s parents owned a business developing properties for middle class families in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens, which would later be taken over by Donald Trump. In their youth, the three brothers of the Trump family – Donald, Fred Jr. and Robert – worked in their father’s offices and on construction sites. Their sisters, Maryanne and Elizabeth, were not brought into the business, as Fred Trump supposedly believed that real estate was a man’s business.

While Robert became an executive in his father’s business, Fred Jr. did not get along with their father. He left to become an airline pilot and died in 1981 from alcoholism. Donald Trump has stated that Fred’s alcoholism and death motivated him to avoid drinking and smoking.

Donald Trump attended the New York Military Academy from the age of 13.  He graduated in 1960 from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School’s real estate program and returned to work for the family business in New York. By this time, he had already invested in Philadelphia real estate. He avoided being drafted into the Vietnam War with a...