(CNN)All eyes are once again on Donald Trump.
The real estate mogul and TV reality star launched his presidential campaign on June 16, ending more than two decades of persistent flirtation with the idea of running for the Oval Office.
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"So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told a crowd of supporters and curious observers in a lengthy and meandering 45-minute announcement speech.
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Trump's announcement speech debuted a controversy-laden campaign that defied political gravity as the billionaire businessman uttered one divisive and controversial statement or policy proposal after the next.
Flirting with a run for years
It wasn't the first time Trump had floated a presidential run, coming closest to throwing his hat in the ring four years earlier before ultimately bowing out and endorsing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Many thought Trump's toying with a presidential run in 2015 was just the latest in a long line of presidential flirtations that started in 1987 and were revived in 1999, 2004 and 2008 as well.
In between, Trump had become known not just for building skyscrapers and golf courses around the world, but also as a reality television star through his 14-season run as host of "The Apprentice."
The showhelped make Trump a household name and cemented the real estate mogul's image as a tough, bold businessman with a knack for deal-making, a key plank of Trump's appeal to voters.
But Trump's celebrity status was also something he had to overcome as he worked to pitch himself to voters as a serious candidate capable of running the country.
President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House.
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Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.
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Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.
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Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964.
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Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.
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Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.
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Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979.
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Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.
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Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.
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The Trump family, circa 1986.
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Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.
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Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower.
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Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.
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Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve."
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Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.
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Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.
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Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.
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An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice."
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A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.
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Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated.
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Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.
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Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon.
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For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007.
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Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009.
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Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.
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In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
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Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa.
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Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.
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In June 2015, during a speech from Trump Tower, Trump announced that he was running for President. He said he would give up "The Apprentice" to run.
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Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May.
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The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April.
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Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.
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Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people."
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Trump faces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, which took place in Hempstead, New York, in September.
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Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize," Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released.
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Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York.
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Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20.
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He has flaunted his wealth and success in business as a centerpiece of his presidential platform, trumpeting a $10 billion net worth, though Forbes estimated it at roughly $4 billion.
The billionaire pledged from the start to self-fund his presidential campaign, not only ridding himself of some outside influences, but also freeing up more time to campaign, because candidates often devote a tremendous amount of time to raising funds.
"I'm really rich," Trump famously said during his announcement speech, adding that his confident attitude is what the country needs after having "losers" run the country.
Trump has still accepted $6.5 million in contributions to his campaign since launching his bid, but has also injected about $12 million of his own money and disavowed any super PACs looking to support him early in the race.
No stranger to politics
While campaigning as an outsider, Trump is no stranger to politics.
For years before officially announcing his bid, Trump courted right-wing talk show hosts and hard-line conservative politicians and activists.
He famously fanned the flames of the "birther" movement in 2011 and today takes credit for President Barack Obama's decision to release his birth certificate.
Trump will now do battle for the Republican nomination with a crowd of more conventional politicians, including a scrum of governors and senators.
He stands out in another way beside his brash, attention-grabbing public persona; he's hardly an orthodox conservative on a range of issues.
Trump regularly bashes trade deals with China, Mexico and other countries. He's spoken favorably about higher taxes on the wealthy. And he talks up protecting Social Security and Medicare in the social insurance programs' current forms, rather than making them more state-based, as some other Republican candidates advocate.
