before he decided to run for office, trump<u+2019>s political donations were a cost of doing business, suggesting that his practice of politics was transactional, not ideological. he hosted fundraisers and invited politicians to weddings. <u+201c>i give to everybody. when they call, i give,<u+201d> trump said. <u+201c>and you know what? when i need something from them <u+2014> two years later, three years later <u+2014> i call them. they are there for me.<u+201d>









trump and his major companies gave at least $3.1 million to local, state and federal candidates from both parties between 1995 and 2016, not including donations that may have flowed through the scores of limited-liability corporations that trump controlled.









he donated to hillary clinton when she was running to be a u.s. senator from new york. asked if he voted for her, trump said: <u+201c>i never say who i<u+2019>m going to vote for.<u+201d> he did say in a separate interview, however, that his votes for president were consistently republican. although he said he lost respect for the younger president bush because of his handling of the war in iraq, which he later called a <u+201c>disaster,<u+201d> he said he voted for bush again in 2004 because he felt it was important to <u+201c>carry the republican line.<u+201d> recalling the 2004 vote, trump said he showed his distance from bush by not throwing fundraisers for him.









trump<u+2019>s public statements sent mixed signals about his political leanings. in 2006, he told the new york times that sen. john mccain, who would become the 2008 republican presidential nominee, could not win because he advocated sending more troops to iraq. trump praised the future democratic nominee, then-sen. barack obama, for his <u+201c>wonderful qualities.<u+201d> nonetheless, trump contributed $3,600 to mccain during the 2008 campaign and said he voted for him.









trump changed parties seven times between 1999 and 2012, starting when he left the gop to consider a run under the reform party banner. after registering as a democrat in 2001, he switched back to the republicans in 2003. he became a democrat again in 2005 and a republican in 2009. he chose not to be affiliated with any party in 2011. asked what he would say to critics who saw the constant party-switching as proof that he had no core beliefs, trump responded: <u+201c>i think it had to do more with practicality because if you<u+2019>re going to run for office, you would have had to make friends.<u+201d>









then he returned to the gop in 2012, once again stoking speculation that he had his sights on the presidency.
donald trump's run: he was just the man he was waiting for
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