Donald Trump: 52 weeks of chaos and controversy

On US election night, the world was preparing for the dawn of a new era with Hillary Clinton set to become the first female president of the United States of America.

Expectations were high, debates had been fierce and the campaign was dirty. But after the polls closed across the 'land of the free', what had been one of the most controversial presidential battles took a shock twist as Donald Trump managed to pull off one of the greatest electoral upsets of all time.

Trump took the victory to the delight of his supporters and to the horror of his opponents. What had started in July 2015 as a wideshot presidential campaign, paid off, handsomely.

Many of his supporters, including those who had concerns about Trump's temperament, thought that things would change after the election. But one year on, the US and the world has been taken on a wild roller coaster which shows little sign of stopping.

November 2016

Donald Trump unexpectedly takes the White House. It was an event that no-one had thought possible but was a reality that Americans were forced to get used to very quickly.

The night of 8 November saw Trump give his acceptance speech, while Clinton supporters were left stunned.

The victory for Trump was greeted with congratulations by cautious world leaders, unsure of what lay ahead.

Hillary Clinton admitted that her concession speech wasn't what she had expected to be delivering after a campaign that had see vicious attacks against her from the offset.

Clinton soon disappeared for several weeks to mull over 'what happened', which would become the title her her book released in 2017.

But the real work was now beginning, with Trump forming his White House administration team and setting about the busines of being 'the most powerful man in the world'..

One man who Trump often mentioned was Nigel Farage. The former Ukip leader had made speeches at Trump rallies in a bid to help the businessman achieve what he called "Brexit plus plus plus."

A week after the election, Farage was seen visiting Trump Tower in New York and together they posed in what became one of the iconic images of 2016.

Two weeks after the election and Trump had started the process of making his cabinet picks. Unlike in Britain where the prime minister can choose who they want for various roles, the president must have their nominations approved by senate committees, which proved to be a long and arduous process for many of Trump's choices.

Betsy DeVos (below) was one of the more controversial choices that Trump made, choosing her as his education secretary nominee. DeVos was criticised by school groups for the way she where she fought for years against charter school regulation in Michigan.

Prominent Republican Mitt Romney, who had been a vocal critic of Trump during the campaign, met with Trump for a meal at the end of November. The image below went viral on social media in what was perceived as a meeting for Romney to grovel before the president-elect.

Months after calling Trump a "phony and a fraud", Romney performed a volte-face, saying that he had "increasing hope" that the president-elect could lead the country to a "better future."

In the same week, Trump was embroiled in his first post-election diplomatic controversy after engaging in a phone call with the leader of Taiwan.

This move, which went against the measures implemented when diplomatic relations were cut off in 1979, angered the Chinese.

December

Trump, an almost self-made and self-proclaimed billionaire, had a business and property empire, and this portfolio was of hot debate in early December 2016 with some questioning whether changes to tax and other business rates could be used to help boost profits for the Trump company.

Having any financial interests in the Trump group would have been hugely controversial, particularly for a company that was so big. The president-elect announced that his children would be taking over. Ivanka Trump, set to become a White House adviser was unable to do so, leaving two of Trump's other five children to take the reigns.

His eldest son, Don Jr, became the executive director of the company, with younger brother Eric named as executive vice president.

Trump's inner circle during the election campaign included a small, but tight-knit group comprising of various family members as well as some outsiders, notably the polarising pundit and pollster - Kellyanne Conway.

In mid-December, Trump announced that Conway was to be given an official role inside the White House as counsellor.

Conway's tenure continues to this day, but has not gone without controversy. Making up a mass shooting which she called the "bowling green massacre" as well as twisting untruths and describing them as "alternative facts."

With Barack Obama engaged in tit-for-tat sanctions with Russia, Trump attracted criticism for tweeting out priase for the Russian president Vladimir Putin when he described the Kremlin boss as "very smart." The pair met several months later (below) at the G20 summit.

The Trump-Russia saga was just starting and little did anyone expect the twists and turns that were to come.

January

At the start of the New Year, Donald Trump got into a row with the Hollywood actress Meryl Streep.

During the 2017 Golden Globes, Streep criticised the president-elect and his views, urging him to take a new path as he prepared to enter the White House.

Trump lashed out by describing her in a tweet as an "overrated actress" and a "Hillary flunky".

Donald Trump's war against the media, especially the likes of CNN, NBC and the Washington Post began in earnest during the election campaign, but he doubled down on this at his first major press conference.

It was a controversial conference in which he outlined getting his Supreme Court nominee and repealing Obamacare as his two priorities. But it was the same conference in which he silenced a CNN reporter, describing them as "fake news." His war with the media had entered a new stage.

One week later, Donald Trump was officially inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America.

The event, marred by protests on the streets of Washington DC, saw the departure of the Obama's from the White House as well as a speech from Trump which vowed to end "American carnage."

The inauguration provided a bizarre row between the press and the new White House administration over crowd size.

Photographs released from the inauguration appeared to show that Trump's crowd was not as large as the one that had greeted Barack Obama.

This prompted a fierce row between the press and the new White House press secretary, Sean Spicer.

Spicer claimed that the inauguration was the "largest audience to ever to witness an inauguration, period – both in person and around the globe." But this was soon debunked.

World leaders were keen to get in to Trump's good books early on in his presidency, and Britain's Theresa May was the very first to visit the White House under the new administration in late January.

The event was marked as crucial for both parties. May was preparing to enter Brexit negotiations and needed to come back with at least the idea of a trade deal between Britain and the US. While Trump was centre-stage as the leader of the free world for the first time with another global power.

The whole event went fairly smoothly, though an awkward moment that the British press seized on was Trump holding May's hand as they walked down some steps in the White House.

When Theresa May left however, there was controversy when Trump enacted his first travel ban. This left many British Muslim's including MPs unsure as to whether they would be able to travel to the US.

February

The issue of Russia dogged the Trump administration, even before Trump took to office, with investigations underway over possible collusion as well as hacking.

But the first scalp came in early February when Trump's National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned after it was revealed that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his connections with Russian officials.

March

After a rough start to his presidency with chaos over his travel ban, rows with the press and a growing Russian saga, Trump was given a chance for reprieve with his State of the Union address to Congress.

Trump spoke of "a new surge of optimism" and "national pride" with his election, a contrast to his gloomy "American carnage" inauguration day speech.

It was this toned down speech that made many Republicans in particular believe that Trump was starting to relax into his new role as president.

The sense of calm however didn't last long when the following week he enraged activists by signing a new watered-down version of his travel ban.

Trump later admitted that he didn't even what to sign the Executive Order for it, saying that he preferred the original version.

In the same week, he also accused the Obama administration of wire-tapping Trump Tower during the election.

Despite many world leaders cautiously approaching the new president, one had remained frosty from the offset.

Germany's Angela Merkel, as the power player of Europe, was always going to be an important meeting. But after Trump criticised her handling of the refugee crisis during the election campaign, he was already on the back foot.

The pair held a private meeting at the White House with them seemingly getting alone fine. But the press conference showed that the frostiness was still in play.

Matters were made wore when Merkel, ready to shake Trump's hand, was blanked. This was blamed on the sound of the press pool which meant Trump didn't hear the calls for a handshake - but it symbolised what would be a tough working relationship between the two.

Merkel's visit marked a mixed March for the White House. Although the visit from the chancellor wasn't a disaster, the optics could have been better.

And the rest of the month moved in a similar vein. Repealing and replacing Obamacare was and remains one of Trump's major policy points but has been left frustrated with congressmen unable to agree on a path to take.

The first vote to repeal and replace Obama's flagship healthcare plan was delayed when it became clear that Republicans didn't have the votes to carry it through.

Trump piled the pressure on the likes of House speaker Paul Ryan to deliver, but it fell short on several occasions.

April

As had become the theme with the Trump presidency, his tweets, outbursts and ongoing controversies tend to keep the news headlines busy. At times, it has been almost too much to keep up with.

The first week of April saw several key turning points for Trump both inside the White House, nationally and on the global stage.

Firstly, his key adviser, Steve Bannon was removed from the National Security Council, signalling the first power struggles that would dog the White House for the next few months.

In a big win for Trump, he managed to get his Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch confirmed, filling a slot that had been vacant for more than a year.

Trump then upped his game on the world stage, hosting the Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

One of Trump's favourite areas to complain about during the election campaign was the unfair treatment of America on the global trading markets, taking aim at China.

Despite being a long-time critic of China, Trump managed to strike an accord with President Xi while hosting him at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort.

The pair agreed to greater co-operation on trade as well as a new effort to prevent any escalation from the Korean peninsula.

The two appeared to get on well, but another major intervention took place during the visit.

Trump announced to the press that while he dined with the Chinese leader, he authorised a major military strike on an airfield in Syria. The strike was the first of its kind since the civil war began and marked a key turning point in Trump's stance on international conflict.

The odd thing was that while discussing the strike with the press, he seemed to be more interested in telling them about the "beautiful piece of chocolate cake" that the pair had eaten.

Reminding the world of the fast-paced life of the presidency, one of Trump's next major events was with an all together different audience where he told children that the US "will be stronger and bigger and better as a nation than ever before — we're right on track."

May

The end of April marked 100 days of the Trump presidency, often seen as a gauge of their success. For Trump, a travel ban in the courts and no sign of Obamacare repeal were marked failures.

But he had also begun the process of warming to world leaders after concerns that they may not have gotten along so well.

One area that had escalated was North Korea. Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington escalated with Trump warning of "major, major conflict" while Mike Pence added that the "era of strategic patience was over."

But one of the biggest flashpoints of Trump's presidency was just around the corner.

Claiming that he was unhappy with the investigation that handled the emails of Hillary Clinton, Trump suddenly and without warning fired the FBI Director James Comey.

The shock dismissal, which Comey wasn't made aware of until he saw it on the news, raised concerns that Trump may have been trying to interfere with the Russian collusion investigation which Comey was heading up.

The firing sparked a chain reaction of events that included a series of threats from Trump who suggested that he had secret recordings of conversations between the pair from inside the Oval Office. This later turned out not to be true.

Following the earlier recusal of the Attorney General Jeff Sessions from the Russia investigation, a special counsel was formed - headed up by Comey's predecessor at the FBI, Robert Mueller.

At times the Trump presidency had been frantic, but the chaos now ensuing in Washington was unparalleled.

But matters were only made worse when it was revealed that Trump had handed highly classified information about Islamic State to Russian officials.

The combination of the intelligence revelations, Comey's firing and the formation of a special counsel meant that Trump's presidency was on the edge, and he needed a distraction.

Donald Trump, escaping the chaos that was erupting in Washington was saved by his very first international trip.

He flew out to Saudi Arabia, emphasising the need to stamp out terror, and signed a major arms deal worth $110bn.

Trump's entourage then flew out to Israel where he met Benjamin Netanyahu before flying out to Europe.

The president was welcomed with open arms by officials in Saudi Arabia and Israel, but Trump was braced for a cooler reception from European leaders where he was due to take part in a NATO summit in Brussels as well as the G7 meeting in Sicily.

It was at these meetings that he failed to confirm his continuing support for NATO which angered officials who had had been told by White House staff that he would.

The trip was marked as a success overall, despite a few minor gaffes with handshakes and shoves, but on the whole it was the positive press that the president needed after leaving behind a storm in Washington.

Then at the end of May, Trump managed to upset the rest of the world by announcing that he was pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Accord.

And let us not forget the infamous 'covfefe' tweet.

June

Trump antagonised officials in Britain when he attacked London mayor Sadiq Khan following the London Bridge terrorist attack. This lead to calls for any possible state visit to the UK to be cancelled.

During a relatively normal month in terms of governance and policy decisions, Trump was haunted by the spectre of James Comey, who revealed the contents of his conversations with Trump during a senate committee hearing.

Among a few stinging blows, another court blocked Trump's proposed travels bans, and Queen Elizabeth II confirmed there would be no official state visit offered to the US president.

Then to wrap up the month, Trump launched a vicious attack on Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski, saying that he met her while she had a "bleeding facelift."

July

In July, Trump returned to Europe, this time visiting Germany, where Hamburg was hosting the G20. It was seen as a chance for Trump and Merkel to patch things up after a frosty initial encounter back at the White House in March.

It was also the first time during the Russian furore that Trump met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Shortly after leaving the G20, he was back in Europe for Bastille Day at the invitation of Emmanuel Macron.

The first families of Trump and Macron dined at an exclusive restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower before viewing the spectacle of the Bastille Day parade. It was here that they engaged in a rather awkward handshake.

Mid-July marked the point that Congress was preparing to wind down for the summer, it was a chance for Washington to take stock of the whirlwind few months they had experienced.

As the summer approached and calm was expected at the White House, Trump was set to take a working holiday at one of his resorts - but the summer was to be anything but serene.

On 21 July, after weeks and months of rumours, embattled press secretary Sean Spicer announced his departure from the White House.

In his role he had endured numerous fierce rows with the press and several gaffes, one of which involved him seemingly hiding among some bushes from the press.

No sooner had his departure been confirmed than the arrival of Anthony Scaramucci was announced.

In his new role of communications director, the straight-talking New Yorker promised to change the the relationship between the press and the Trump administration.

But after ten days in the job in which he oversaw the firing of Reince Priebus as the chief of staff at the White House, Scaramucci himself was gone.

A conversation with a reporter revealed how he had called Priebus a "paranoid schizophrenic" and used foul language to describe Steve Bannon.

The comments were enough to see Scaramucci out of a job and onto the growing pile of firings from the Trump administration.

But the bumper summer of Trump news was just warming up.

Taking the White House, the US and most worryingly of all the Pentagon by surprise, the president tweeted at the end of July that the ban on transgender members of the military was to be reinstated.

Military officials were not prepared for the announcement as no formal policy had been approved, and were forced to react to the tweets which hadn't been checked before they were sent out.

With yet another storm over Washington, the president was ready for his working holiday where he opted to stay at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey.

August

Things reached new heights of shocking and concerning moments both at home and abroad.

North Korea, furious with new sanctions imposed by the UN, and more importantly backed unilaterally by all security council members including China and Russia, embarked on a series of new missile tests.

And in doing so said that they could reach the US territory of Guam and threatened to target the small island.

This stoked anger in Washington with Trump raising the rhetoric by threatning North Korea with "fire and fury" if they performed any attack on Guam, the mainland US or their allies.

The Kim regime and Trump administration then embarked on a tit-for-tat exchange which saw military drills around the Korean peninsular and further missile tests.

While diplomats tried to cool things down, the president was soon embroiled in his own domestic crisis that shocked the US - Charlottesville.

What started out as a rally against the removal of confederate statues and monuments across the US, turned into a violent clash between the far-right and their opponents.

The members of the far-right marched with burning torches, waving Nazi flags, chanting anti-Jewish slogans and claiming that "white lives matter."

One counter-protester was killed when a member of the far-right rammed his car into a crowd.

The violence and more shockingly, the sentiment on display, stunned America and the Western world.

It was at this moment that people looked to the president to disavow the hateful words chanted by the neo-Nazis. Instead he left politicians dumbfounded when he blamed "all sides."

The administration was in damage control like it had never seen before under the Trump era, with questions over why the president failed to call out the racism and neo-Nazi displays that left Charlottesville shaken.

Another day passed and under extreme pressure, Trump eventually called out the behaviour of the white nationalists.

He was praised for calling out those who had chanted under the offensive banners of the far-right, albeit belatedly. However all his good work was quickly undone.

Speaking from Trump Tower on 15 August, the president performed a U-turn, saying that "not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch."

Dozens of politicians, both Democrats and Republicans condemned the president for his apparent volte-face.

August had become a month to forget for Donald Trump. But it wasn't over by a long shot.

The far-right views of Steve Bannon, which are thought to have influenced Trump's own decisions, meant that the advisers position, which had been on shaky ground for some time, had become untenable.

The pair parted ways, with Bannon returning to his previous post running the far-right website Breitbart.

But a new problem was already around the corner as Trump's summer break was winding down.

Hurricane season.

Dozens of people were killed when Hurricane Harvey bore down on Texas, and while the damage was widespread, Trump, seemingly aware of the political consequences of not acting in time, made sure that supplies and emergency services were on standby for when the devastation was over.

Trump visited Texas, showing his support for those in the lone-star state that lost everything.

September

A second hurricane was just days away creating a new logistical nightmare for the Trump administration. Billions were already required to help those in Texas and various US territories were next in line to be hit by the more powerful Hurricane Irma.

Irma wreaked havoc across the Caribbean, and shut down parts of the state of Florida. Again, Trump and his administration were generally praised for their handling of the crisis.

The hurricane season capped off a chaotic six weeks for the White House and Trump was in need of respite.

The annual UN General Assembly in mid-September was a chance for him to steady the ship.

Returning to native New York to give a speech, he delivered with classic Trumpian flair, taking aim at the UN and the money the US gave to it, as well as attacking nations like Iran and North Korea.

October

At the start of October, attention turned to the city of Las Vegas when gunman Stephen Paddock injured hundreds and killed 58 people when he opened fire on crowds at a country music festival.

The incident sparked outrage across the US, highlighting once again the fact that mass-shootings have become a daily norm. This attack was the worst in the nation's history.

Trump used the opportunity to call for prayer and vigil, but yet again, little to no action was taken on the gun control debate, despite seemingly pertinent calls for it, with Trump saying that "now is not the time".

With a sombre mood settling across the US, Trump became embroiled in multiple rows all for numerous reasons.

The president attacked NFL players for their protests during the national anthem, and Vice President Mike Pence seemingly staged a publicity stunt by walking out of a game.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Maria had decimated Puerto Rico and the Trump administration handling of the crisis had become a political hot potato, with Trump rowing with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz following a number of gaffes.

Trump attempted to 'weather the storm' but found himself embroiled in a spat with Puerto Rico's governor following a number of gaffes.

The pair disagreed over claims of slow response and effectiveness of recovery efforts to help the US territory and its citizens. The island is still contending with the extensive damage and is in desperate need of federal support, which Trump has been criticised for not delivering on a scale seen in response to states 'closer to home' such as Texas and Florida.

At the end October, Trump and other officials started turning their attention toward Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the Democrats, accusing them of paying Russians to obtain the Trump dossier as well as raising questions about the fairness of the Democratic primaries between Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

It soon became clear why.

Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian collusion, which had been quietly working away for several months, was ready to make its first major move.

The former chairman of Donald Trump's presidential election campaign, Paul Manafort, was placed under house arrest after being indicted as part of an investigation into Russian collusion.

Manafort and his associate Rick Gates were indicted on 12 counts of conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.

Meanwhile, one of Donald Trump's former top campaign advisers pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The charges were batted away by Trump, claiming they were unrelated to the campaign and had no connection the the administration. But possible charges for former national security adviser Michael Flynn could create a far bigger headache for the president.

8 November 2017

This is where the story of Trump has brought us, one year on from one of the biggest political shocks in history, and the surprises, twists and turns keep on coming.

In the year ahead, Trump will attempt to change trade deals with Canada and Mexico, continue his mission to eliminate Obamacare as well as ensuring that he keeps the Republicans in control of Congress with 12 months to go until mid-term elections.

The past year has shocked, surprised and provided more questions than answers, about how the next year of Donald Trump will be. It is anyone's guess.