As Trump takes victory lap, a look back
NEW YORK -- Donald Trump's rise to the top of the Republican Party began with an escalator ride to the bottom, 11 months ago.
From the moment he announced at Manhattan's Trump Tower that he was running for president, Trump grabbed the country's attention -- and sparked controversy.
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," he said in June 2015. "They're sending people that have lots of problems... They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
Trump refused to back away from the comments, and drew further criticism by proposing a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border -- which he insisted Mexico would pay for -- and calling for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
Remarks about women including Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina and Fox News host Megyn Kelly have prompted critics to call him sexist.
Regardless, voters across the country have embraced the billionaire and his pledge to "Make America Great Again."
For more of Trump in his own words, watch the video above.