Donald Trump's way to the White House

The former U.S. president and the candidate from the Republican party Donald Trump, 78, will on Tuesday face off his opponent Kamala Harris at the high-stake elections. Here is how he made it to the third presidential campaign of his life.

Trump announced his intentions to run for president in November 2022. Shortly after, on December 19, 2023, the Superior Court of Colorado state disqualified him as a candidate under Clause 3 of the 14th Amendment citing charges of insurrection following his involvement in the events of the Capitol break-in on January 6, 2021. In March 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States reinstated his candidacy, arguing that only the House of Representatives has the authority to disqualify a presidential candidate for these offenses.

So Trump's election campaign kicked off in January 2024 with a rally in Iowa, during the first competition in the Republican party primaries. On July 18, about five days after his assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump officially became the Republican Party's candidate for the presidency. Another apparent assassination attempt against him occurred two months after the first incident at a golf club.

On July 15, 2024, Trump chose JD Vance, 40, as his vice-presidential candidate. The choice appeared surprising for many doubting Vance's lack of experience and political charisma. However, the calculation was that Vance, a person who has been actively promoting Trumpism, would help the candidate with blue collar voters in the midwest.

During the campaign, Trump has been making increasingly violent and authoritarian statements. He has threatened his political opponents saying he would be willing to rely on the FBI and the Department of Justice and has introduced dehumanizing rhetorics against immigrants, even sharper than during his presidency. For this, Trump has been labeled by many of his critics as a populist, an authoritarian and a fascist.

At the same time, Trump evidently seeks to distance himself from Project 2025, an initiative published by a group of American conservatives, many of whom have worked with the former president. The 900-page documents expands presidential power and imposes an ultra-conservative social vision with special focus on immigration, reproductive rights and climate change.

After the Capitol storm by Tump's supporters denying his defeat in 2020 during the election that he has consistently called "rigged", what concerns many is his refusal to commit to accepting the result this year as well. He has promoted baseless accusations that Harris team could cheat.