Donald Trump, former president of the United States, is in the running to command the White House once again. He failed to win reelection in 2020, losing to Joe Biden, but the businessman never admitted defeat, claiming on several occasions, without evidence, that that year's vote was rigged.
Before, during and after his term, Trump had a series of controversies, as well as legal problems.
See below some of Donald Trump's controversies.
Immigrants “poison the country’s blood”
In September 2023, Donald Trump stated that illegal immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the United States, a phrase that was classified as racist and xenophobic.
In October, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung dismissed criticism of the former president as “absurd,” arguing that similar language was prevalent in books, news articles and on television.
Months later, in December, the Republican again used the same term against illegal immigrants. Furthermore, he highlighted that he plans the largest deportation in “the history of America” if he is elected.
Trump mocks senator's war injury
During a speech in Iowa in January this year, the former president made fun of a former American senator and former military officer while criticizing “Obamacare”, the US government's healthcare program created during Barack Obama's administration.
After saying the program is a “catastrophe” and that he will fight for “much better” health care if elected, he blamed John McCain for preventing Republicans years ago from repealing and replacing Obamacare.
Then, Trump said that McCain, “for some reason, couldn't raise his arm, I remember, he did it like that”, making a gesture indicating difficulty in raising his arm.
The former senator suffered serious injuries in the Vietnam War and was held as a prisoner of war for years. He died in 2018.
Sexist language
In 2005, the program “Access Hollywood” ended up catching Donald Trump using sexist language, saying he tried to have sex with a married woman and bragging about being able to grope women because of his “star” status.
The video came to light just over a decade after it was made, in 2016, shortly before that year's presidential elections.
In the file, Trump can be heard discussing women in vulgar terms during off-camera banter.
During the raunchy conversation captured by a lavalier microphone Trump was wearing, the businessman recounts how he tried to have sex with an unidentified married woman before boasting that he is “automatically attracted to [mulheres] beautiful” and simply starts “kissing” them.
He also stated, “When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything…grab them by the vagi**. You can do anything.”
In his defense, Trump said he is not a “perfect person” and that the case does not reflect who he is. He acknowledged authorship and said: “I was wrong and I apologize.”
“Civil war could have been negotiated”
On January 6, the Republican suggested that the US Civil War could have been avoided through “negotiations”, arguing that the fight to end slavery in the US was unnecessary and that Abraham Lincoln should have done more to avoid the bloodshed.
Trump did not say how he would have avoided the conflict, which he also called “so horrible, but so fascinating.”
The Civil War in the United States took place between 1861 and 1865, after states in the south of the country preferred to separate from the rest of the USA rather than end slavery. Northern states were in favor of abolitionism. More than 600,000 people died in the fighting.
Folder with top secret information disappears
A folder containing highly confidential information related to alleged Russian electoral interference in the United States in 2016 disappeared at the end of Donald Trump's presidency.
The incident alarmed intelligence officials, as some of the best-kept national security secrets of the United States and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN .
The folder's disappearance was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government's efforts to recover them, the sources said.
Find out more about the case through this article.
Did not recognize defeat in the 2020 elections
Donald Trump never acknowledged his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential elections, claiming that the election was rigged.
Thus, the Republican filed requests for a recount of votes, but even with the measure, Arizona and Georgia confirmed the Democrat's victory.
The businessman also lost several court cases relating to the 2020 elections.
January 6 attack
After failing to acknowledge that he lost the 2020 election, Trump gave a speech to supporters on the National Mall on January 6, 2021, publicly reprimanding then-Vice President Mike Pence for not agreeing with his scheme to reject votes for Joe Biden.
After an inflammatory speech, his supporters marched to the Capitol, a symbol of power in the USA and the seat of Congress, where a joint session was taking place to certify Joe Biden's victory.
According to witnesses heard by the US House committee that investigated the case, he was responsible for inciting the invasion. Trump still faces lawsuits over the case, such as the one that will be analyzed by the Supreme Court.
On January 7, 2021, after pressure from allies, advisors and parliamentarians, the former president changed his speech, condemned the attack on the Capitol and admitted that there would be a transition to the Biden government.
Forgiveness to insurrectionists and “crazy Nancy”
Still, in May 2023, during the CNN Town Hall Donald Trump highlighted that he was “inclined” to pardon “a large part” of the people who were convicted of the invasion of the Capitol.
Also during the program, he blamed other authorities and the then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi – whom he called “crazy Nancy” – for the security failures.
“One of the big problems was that Nancy Pelosi – crazy Nancy, as I affectionately call her. Crazy Nancy and the mayor of Washington were accused, as you know, by security. And they didn’t do their job,” she pointed out.
He was impeached twice
Donald Trump was impeached twice during his time as President.
The first time was in 2019, when the US House approved the lawsuit for abuse of power and obstructing Congress. However, the Senate found him innocent of both charges.
The second case was about the invasion of the Capitol, in which he was accused of inciting insurrection. At the time, the Chamber also voted to convict him, but the Senate acquitted him.
Left the Paris Agreement
Donald Trump's government withdrew the United States from the Paris agreement, a global pact to combat climate change, on November 4, 2020. The agreement was signed in 2016, with around 200 countries signing it, including Brazil.
The measure caused controversy and criticism from environmentalists, given that the USA is a large emitter of greenhouse gases.
The country once again became a signatory to the Paris Agreement on February 19, 2021, under the administration of Joe Biden.
Court proceedings
Donald Trump faces several lawsuits in the United States, both civil and criminal.
He is even the first former president of the United States to become a criminal defendant.
Fraud in New York
Trump faces a civil lawsuit in New York over what he and other defendants allegedly committed repeated fraud by inflating assets in financial reports to obtain better terms on commercial real estate loans and insurance policies.
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed the $250 million lawsuit in September 2022.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his adult children are responsible for fraud by inflating the value of their golf courses, hotels and homes.
Sexual abuse and defamation against a writer
In May 2023, a federal jury in Manhattan concluded that Trump sexually assaulted former columnist E. Jean Carroll in the dressing room of a luxury department store in the mid-1990s. A fine of about $5 million was imposed.
A separate civil defamation lawsuit will decide how much money Trump should pay her.
Election interference
In August 2023, Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the 2020 election. The former president was arraigned in a Washington, D.C. court, where he pleaded not guilty.
The case is based, in part, on an alleged scheme to create fake voter lists in key states won by President Joe Biden.
Trump wants the case dismissed because he argues that his actions in late 2020 and early 2021 fall within his presidential duties and make him immune from prosecution.
Payment to porn star
Donald Trump was accused by the New York state court of disguising, as legal fees, in the accounting of his business group, the alleged payment to former pornographic actress Stormy Daniels.
In exchange, during her campaign for president in 2016, she would hide an extramarital affair they had allegedly had. Stormy Daniels would have received US$130,000 through Michael Cohen, then a lawyer for the Trump Organization.
Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.
Ineligible in Colorado
The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that former President Donald Trump is unelectable in the state. The 4-3 decision highlighted that the businessman is constitutionally ineligible to run in 2024, because the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits insurgents from holding office.
The decision takes into account his conduct on January 6, 2021, which Colorado judges understand that Trump participated in an insurrection.
Colorado's ruling is on hold pending the U.S. Supreme Court's resolution of the case.
Additionally, Maine's Secretary of State barred Trump from participating in the state's 2024 primary elections, and the former president's team appealed the decision in state court.
Confidential documents at Mar-a-Lago
In a federal lawsuit, Trump was accused of diverting classified documents to his residence in the resort of Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
The FBI, the US national investigation agency, even searched his residence in Florida.
The National Archives, which is in charge of collecting and classifying presidential material, previously said that at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered at Mar-a-Lago, including some classified records.
Georgia case
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charges Trump and 18 others with conspiring to overturn Biden's victory in Georgia.
The indictment says that “Trump and the other defendants named in this indictment refused to accept that Trump lost and knowingly and willingly joined a conspiracy to illegally change the outcome of the election in favor” of the former president.
In August last year, the former president surrendered to the authorities and was booked. He became the first former president of the United States to have a “mug shot”, as the mug shot is called in the USA.
At least four of the 18 defendants pleaded guilty, avoiding prison and agreeing to testify later in the trial.
Source: CNN Brasil

Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.