That the winner of the US presidential election often alternates from one party to the other has only one explanation: there is a segment of voters who change their choice every four years. The reasons for this, however, can vary considerably, ranging from dissatisfaction with a particular candidate or the current administration, to a sudden alignment with the platform of one party that might now benefit them (at least in perception) more than the other did in previous elections. In any case, it’s clear that voters can shift their thinking and therefore their vote.

We might think this only affects voters, but the candidates for the White House themselves may also have once shared the opposing party’s views or even been a member of it. Donald Trump, the recent winner of US presidential election, is a clear example of this. Some may point to this being more plausible given his constant desire to take the temperature of the national room in order to find personal success and power.

Trump’s politics over the years

Donald Trump first entered politics by affiliating with the Republican Party in 1987, and since then, he has changed his party affiliation up at least five times. In 1999, he joined New York’s Independence Party, shortly after which he declared his candidacy for the presidency under the Reform Party for the 2000 election. However, four months later, he withdrew. A year later, Trump became a Democrat and remained with the party for the next eight years.

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“In many cases, I probably identify more as a Democrat,” the future president told CNN in a 2004 interview. In that interview, the 45th and soon-to-be 47th POTUS praised the US economy during Democratic administrations, saying, “It seems that the economy does better with Democrats than with Republicans.”

Trump saw an opportunity and returned to the Republican Party in 2012, but before doing so, he donated thousands of dollars to Democratic campaigns. Even his eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, contributed to Kamala Harris’s re-election campaign in 2014.

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Why has Trump changed political parties?

Experts tend to agree that Trump’s desire for power is the primary reason for his shifts between parties.

“The common thread is always his desire to access power and elite circles,” Emma Shortis, an international affairs researcher at The Australia Institute, told SBS.

“He has always been quite desperate to be validated by the American elite; no matter how disparaging he may be toward them, he wants access to that... so whenever I think Trump has changed, that shift can be explained by that desire for power and access to the elite,” she explained.

“When he was in strongly Democratic jurisdictions like New York or California, he would donate to Democrats, appear at fundraising events with Democrats," added David Smith, an associate professor at the United States Studies Centre. “And when asked about his political views, he would often give responses that broadly aligned with Democratic Party thinking on issues like gun control and abortion, though not always.”