A timeline of the ups and downs of Trump’s presidency
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US President Donald Trump arrives for the inauguration ceremonies swearing him in as the 45th president of the United States in Washington on Jan 20, 2017.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Published Jan 16, 2021, 10:00 AM
Mr Donald Trump's presidency has seen many high and low points over the last four years. How many of these events can you remember?
2017
Jan 20: Inauguration and America First
Mr Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, announces America First stance to foreign policy and trade. Press secretary Sean Spicer disputes reports that Trump inauguration crowds were smaller than Mr Barack Obama's.
Jan 23: TPP scuttled
Three days in office, Mr Trump fulfils a campaign promise and pulls the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a 12-nation free trade pact.
Jan 27: Travel ban
<p>(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 29, 2017 People gather at Copley Square in Boston, Massachusetts to decry US President Donald Trump's sweeping executive order, which restricts refugees and travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries. - In June 2018, the Supreme Court upheld Donald Trump's third travel ban, which focuses its most restrictive measures on citizens of five Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen -- as well as North Korea and Venezuela. An analyst at the Cato Institute estimated that as of October 2019, more than 15,000 spouses and adopted minor children of US citizens were impacted, a figure that could be far higher now. (Photo by Ryan McBride / AFP)</p>
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Trump signs an executive order halting immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, causing chaos at airports and sparking protests and legal challenges.
April 6: Missile strikes
Mr Trump authorises missile strikes against a Syrian air base, citing President Bashar al-Assad's suspected use of chemical weapons.
May 9: FBI chief fired
Mr Trump fires FBI chief James Comey who had been leading an investigation into Russia-Trump ties. Mr Trump claims Mr Comey mishandled a probe into the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal.
May 20-27: Goes abroad
Mr Trump makes his first trip abroad as President, travelling to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Italy, Vatican City, Belgium, and Italy.
June 1: Pulls out of Paris climate pact
Mr Trump announces America's withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate agreement - a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
July 7: President meets Putin
Mr Trump attends the G-20 leaders' meeting in Germany, where he meets for the first time as president with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.
Aug 8: 'Fire and fury' with North Korea
After a threat from Pyongyang to launch ballistic missiles near Guam, Mr Trump warns such threats will be met with "fire and fury", which sets off a war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Aug 15: Charlottesville rallies
<p>FILE PHOTO: White nationalists participate in a torch-lit march on the grounds of the University of Virginia ahead of the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2017. Picture taken August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo SEARCH "AMERICA IN THE AGE OF TRUMP" FOR THE PHOTOS.</p>
PHOTO: X03264
Mr Trump blames both sides for the clash between anti-fascists and white supremacists in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville. Neo-Nazis were there to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. A counter-protester was killed after a man drove a car into the crowd.
Nov 3-14: Goes to Asia
Mr Trump travels to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, introducing the "Indo-Pacific" as a new way of engaging the region.
Dec 6: Recognising Jerusalem
Mr Trump overturns US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
2018
March 1-April 3: Trade war against China
Mr Trump launches a trade war by slapping tariffs of between 30 and 50 per cent on Chinese steel and aluminium, citing national security concerns. Tariffs are gradually applied to other US imports from China and Beijing imposes retaliatory tariffs.
May 8: Ends Iran nuclear deal
Mr Trump pulls the US out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying it did not sufficiently curb the country's civilian nuclear programme or its regional aggression.
June 12: Trump-Kim Summit
Mr Trump and Mr Kim Jong Un meet in Singapore for the first summit between the leaders of the US and North Korea since the end of the Korean War. Their joint declaration stresses cooperation but with few means to enforce commitments, which include the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
2019
Jan 25, 2019: Battle over border wall
<p>AFP presents a retrospective photo package of 60 pictures marking the 4-year presidency of President Trump.
A group of Central American migrants climb the border fence between Mexico and the United States, near El Chaparral border crossing, in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, on November 25, 2018. - Hundreds of migrants attempted to storm a border fence separating Mexico from the US on Sunday amid mounting fears they will be kept in Mexico while their applications for a asylum are processed. An AFP photographer said the migrants broke away from a peaceful march at a border bridge and tried to climb over a metal border barrier in the attempt to enter the United States. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)</p>
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Trump's demand for US$5.7 billion for a wall along the southern US border results in a congressional battle that ends after a 35-day shutdown of the federal government, the longest ever.
June 20: Walks back on Iran strike
After Iran shoots down a US drone, Mr Trump authorises military action on Iranian targets, but calls off the operation at the last moment.
June 30: Visits North Korea
<p>FILE - In this June 30, 2019 file photo, President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. President Donald Trump starts the new year knee-deep in daunting foreign policy challenges at the same time he'll have to deal with a likely impeachment trial in the Senate and the demands of a reelection campaign. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)</p>
PHOTO: AP
Mr Trump becomes the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea, crossing the Demilitarised Zone for a brief meeting with Mr Kim. But neither side offers concrete concessions and North Korea resumes missile tests.
Oct 26: ISIS chief Baghdadi killed
<p>This handout picture taken and released by the White House on October 27, 2019 shows US President Donald Trump (C) watching in the Situation Room at the White House as US Special Operations forces close in on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. - Trump confirmed the death of Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world's most wanted man, during an overnight US special operation in northwest Syria. Baghdadi died after exploding a suicide 'vest.' (Photo by Handout / White House / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / WHITE HOUSE" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS</p>
PHOTO: WHITE HOUSE
Mr Trump announces that the leader of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been killed by the US forces, eight months after ISIS lost the last territory of its 'caliphate' in Syria.
Dec 18: Impeachment
Mr Trump becomes the third US president to be impeached. The Democrat-led House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment on charges of abuse of power over his dealings with Ukraine, and another for obstruction of Congress over his efforts to stonewall the impeachment inquiry. The Republican-controlled Senate later acquits Mr Trump.
2020
Jan 3: Drone strike on Soleimani
A US drone strike kills General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, in Baghdad. US alleges Soleimani was linked to violent demonstrations at the US embassy in Baghdad and to the deaths of hundreds of American and allied troops in the region. Teheran retaliates by firing missiles at two Iraqi bases hosting US soldiers, prompting Washington to impose new sanctions on Iran.
Jan 28: A new Middle East peace plan
In a White House appearance, Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announce a new plan to end decades of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is developed without Palestinian input and analysts say it favours Israel by awarding it large portions of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
March 13: National emergency over Covid-19
After downplaying the danger of the coronavirus, Mr Trump declares a national emergency to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic. The declaration opens access to US$50 billion in emergency funding. He later signs more than US$2 trillion in economic stimulus.
July 6: WHO withdrawal notice
The Trump administration formally notifies the United Nations that it will cut ties with the World Health Organisation (WHO), accusing it of misleading the world about the pandemic under pressure from China. Later, the US refuses to join a WHO-led Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (Covax) to help worldwide vaccination.
Sept 15: Arab-Israeli normalisation
<p>(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 15, 2020 (L-R)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan wave from the Truman Balcony at the White House after they participated in the signing of the Abraham Accords where the countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, in Washington, DC. - The US Defense Department announced January 15, 2021 that it would include close ally Israel in the area covered by its Middle East-focused Central Command.
In another sign of the rapprochement brokered by President Donald Trump between Israel and Arab countries, the Pentagon said US military dealings with Israel would no longer be handled by its European Command. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)</p>
PHOTO: AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu signs US-brokered agreements to normalise relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The move, experts say, unifies Israel and the Arab Gulf states against Iran.
Oct 2: Covid-19
<p>AFP presents a retrospective photo package of 60 pictures marking the 4-year presidency of President Trump.
US President Donald Trump takes off his facemask as he arrives at the White House upon his return from Walter Reed Medical Center, where he underwent treatment for Covid-19, in Washington, DC, on October 5, 2020. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP)</p>
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Trump announces he and his wife Melania have tested positive for Covid-19. Many members of Trump's circle also test positive, including White House staff and campaign aides. Trump is hospitalised at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre and returns to the White House on Oct 5.
Nov 7: Trump loses re-election bid
The Associated Press declares the election for Mr Joe Biden after projecting that he would win Pennsylvania and Nevada, making him the 46th president of the United States. Mr Trump refuses to accept the result.
