Top 10 Interesting Facts about the Election of Donald Trump

Top 10 Interesting Facts about the Election of Donald Trump

The 58th quadrennial presidential election in the United States was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. In what was regarded as one of the greatest upsets in American history, the Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.

On January 20, 2017, Trump became the 45th President of the United States, and Pence became the 48th Vice President. It was the fifth presidential election in which the winning candidate did not receive a majority of the popular vote. Furthermore, it was also the sixth presidential election since 1944 in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state, with the Democratic nominee being registered in New York.

Therefore, this article will explore the facts about the 2016 elections which gave surprising results as most of the population both within the country and internationally did not expect Donald Trump to win the Presidential election.

1. Donald Trump launches his campaign

A picture of Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore-Wikimedia

In June 2015, Donald Trump announced that he would be running for the presidency under the republican ticket. He then launched his campaign formally at the Trump Towers. Trump was the Republican presidential nominee in the 2016 election, having won most state primaries, caucuses, and delegates at the Republican National Convention.  He chose Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate.

2. Flynn becomes Trump’s advisor

In February 2016, Flynn who was a retired general and the former director of the Defence Intelligence Agency began advising Donald Trump on matters concerning foreign policy according to Reuters.

The retired general was a well-known critic during the Obama administration after being ousted from the intelligence agency in 2014. Therefore, this can be a reason why he chose to align himself with Donald Trump and offer to advise him.

3. Paul Manafort joins Trump’s campaigns team

Paul Manafort. Photo by Voice of America-Wikimedia

In March 2016, Paul Manafort who is a political consultant joined the Donald Trump campaign as a strategist to help him win the elections. Having had 40 years of political experience having worked in the Republican presidential campaigns from as far as 1976, it was hoped that he would help calm the chaos that surrounded Trump’s campaign.

The consultant advocated for a conventional and disciplined campaign that called for teleprompters and scripted speeches unlike Trump’s approach which was off the cuff and unpredictable.

4. Trump’s foreign policy speech

On 27^th April 2016, Trump delivered his first major speech on foreign policy. The event was held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC.  In his address trump highlighted that he was going to put America’s interests first arguing that no country has ever prospered without putting itself first.

Trump also said that he was going to increase defence spending arguing that other countries like China and Russia had expanded their military capability while the country was still stuck with resources that are old and they have also reduced. The Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak was among the diplomats in the audience.

5. Trump Jr. receives an email from Rob Goldstone

A picture of Rob Goldstone by Andrew Torrey-Wikimedia

Trump Jr. received an email from Rob Goldstone on 3^rd June 2016. Rob Goldstone was a music publicist who told Trump Jr. that a Russian lawyer who was working on behalf of the Kremlin wanted to pass along incriminating information about Clinton.

He further explained that Russia and its government had intentions of supporting Donald Trump in ensuring that he wins against the Democrat candidate, Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. is said to have been interested in the offer and suggests that they arrange a call.

6. Goldstone sends Trump Jr. another email

A few days later after the music publicist sends Trump Jr. an email about how the Russian government wanted to help Trump in his campaigns, he sent another email about setting up an in-person meeting with a government attorney who was flying in from Moscow to talk with Trump’s campaign representatives.

On 9^th June, Trump Jr., Manafort who was the chief strategist in the campaigns and Kushner met with the attorney. It is not clear what was discussed in the meeting but Trump Jr. later said that the attorney did not present any valuable information to them.

7. The DNC computer system is hacked

In June, the Washington Post reported that hackers who were working for the Russian government hacked the DNC’s computer system and stole oppositional research and also viewed the staff’s emails and chat exchanges. However, the Kremlin denied the allegations that the government was linked to the attack.

A cybersecurity firm that was hired by DNC posted a notice that describe the attack to have been conducted on the political committee’s network to have been done by two groups that were associated with Russian intelligence. However, Trump said that the hacking was a ploy by the political committee to distract the public from Clinton’s email scandal.

8. Trump fires the campaign manager

A picture of Corey Lewandowski by Rosehioresident-Wikimedia

After more than a year of service, Trump fires campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Manafort was now in charge of monitoring Trump’s bid for the presidency as campaign chairman.

WikiLeaks releases roughly 20,000 emails stolen from the DNC server days before the Democratic National Convention. In the notes, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz abuses workers for the Bernie Sanders campaign. Other comments seem to indicate the DNC was siding with Clinton rather than being impartial. Following the disclosure, Wasserman Schultz announces her resignation.

9. The FBI launched investigations on the DNC attack

The federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) launched an investigation into the cyberattack on 25^th June 2016. Even though the federal agency did not have a specific suspect, they suspected that the attack was linked to Russia.

10. The USA 2016 elections

The elections were held on November 8 2016 and Donald Trump won the elections and thus defeating the Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The tone of the elections can be described as negative and divisive in that many of the presidential candidates did not agree with Trump’s ideologies.