Trump sought elected office for thirty years. He ran for president in 2000, 2012, and 2016, and he nearly ran in 1988 and 1996. His 1988 bid began with a rally held in late 1987 by Republican activist Michael Dunbar and was guided by Roger Stone, who began his first go-round as a Trump presidential adviser. Stone was involved in every Trump presidential run thereafter as well as in Trump’s near-run for New York governor in 2014.48
