Here is how 2020 — a year that would see Donald Trump not becoming the commander-in-chief for a second term in a row – unfolded:

January 3: The US carried out a strike near Baghdad’s international airport killing Soleimani, a US-designated terrorist, along with six others on the direction of President Trump.

January 8: Trump said that he would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. In his address to the nation after Iran’s strike on US military installations in Iraq, Trump said, “As long as I am the President, Iran will never be allowed to have the nuclear weapon.”

January 9: The US House of Representative on Thursday (local times) adopted a war powers resolution that limits President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out military actions against Iran without the prior approval of Congress.

January 15: The US House of Representatives voted to send the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate and approved seven Democrats to serve as prosecutors in the trial of a third United States president.

January 22: Trump complained that his country has not been “treated fairly” by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), stating that the United States is not considered a “developing nation” while China and India are, by the global trade body.

February 5: Trump was acquitted of all charges by the US Senate in the impeachment trial. First, in a 52-48 vote, the US president was found not guilty of the charge of abuse of power. Then again, he was acquitted of the second impeachment article: obstruction of Congress with 53-47 vote.

February 28: Trump accused the Democratic Party of politicising COVID-19 and said that the virus is their ‘new hoax’.

March 1: Trump confirmed the first death from coronavirus in the United States, saying a woman, who has other medical issues besides the virus, passed away overnight in Washington.

March 17: Six days after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Trump called COVID-19 the ‘Chinese Virus’. The president tweeted, “The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!”

March 19: Taking a direct aim at China for the spread of coronavirus, Trump said that the lethal virus which has claimed the lives of over 10,000 people globally could have been stopped at Wuhan, the place of its origin.

March 21: Trump has called for an anti-malaria drug to be used to treat the coronavirus, despite being cautioned by his health expert Dr. Anthony S. Fauci saying that evidence for its effectiveness was so far “anecdotal”.

April 7: Dubbing the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being “very China-centric,” the US President Donald Trump has accused the global agency of giving “faulty” advice during the early-stage of coronavirus outbreak.

April 19: Trump, using social media platform to send ‘liberation’ messages over the COVID-19 lockdown, seems to have encouraged thousands of protestors who hit the streets of state capitols across the country last week to express their frustrations with the stay-at-home orders that are meant to stem the coronavirus spread.

April 23: Citing a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report, President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) said that coronavirus has a less chance of surviving in a warm and humid environment as opposed to cold and dry weather where it stays put.

June 1: Trump termed the ongoing violent protests on America’s streets as unacceptable and said that any form of anarchy and lawlessness will not be tolerated, according to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

Demonstrators across the United States have been protesting since May 25, when George Floyd, a 46-years-old African American man, died under the police custody in the city of Minneapolis.

July 12: In a first since the coronavirus pandemic began, US President Donald Trump, who had for months declined to wear a face mask in public.

July 30: In the backdrop of announcement of the withdrawal of over 11,000 US soldiers from Germany, President Donald Trump  wondered as to why the US should protect the European country from Russia.

August 10: Trump asserted that no other country comes close to the United States with regard to COVID-19 testing while stating that India stands second.

August 11: After Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris to be his vice-presidential running mate, President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was surprised by the announcement as she was “nasty” and “disrespectful” to Biden during the primary.

August 27: Trump accepted the Presidential candidate nomination by the Republican Party for the presidential elections in November.

September 9/10: With few days prior to Bob Woodward’s release of his book ‘Rage’ that includes the handling of trump’s handling of the pandemic, Trump on the record admitted that he liked ‘playing it down’ to COVID-19.

September 16: Trump presided over the signing ceremony at the White House to establish the foundation of the peace agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

September 17: Despite Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying that wearing a mask would be more effective than a vaccine against the coronavirus, President Donald Trump said that the mask is “not more effective” than the vaccine “by any means”.

September 22: Trump, at the United Nations General Assembly, renewed his attack on China accusing it of spreading Covid-19 in the world. He urged the United Nations to hold Beijing accountable for “unleashing this plague onto the world.”

October 2: Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for corona virus.

October 8: Trump said that he will ensure that Americans soon receive the same experimental medication from Regeneron which he received as a part of the COVID-19 treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and that too free of cost.

October 13: Trump tested negative for COVID-19.

October 16: Terming the COVID-19 outbreak as a ‘horrible situation’, President Trump hit out at China for allowing COVID-19 to spread outside Beijing while preventing the spread in its own country. He also said that the lockdowns imposed by various states across the country to curb the coronavirus cases were “unconstitutional”.

October 23: Trump during the third and final presidential debate called China and India’s air as filthy. “Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia, look at India — it’s filthy. The air is filthy,” he said.

November 4: Claiming ‘false’ victory in the 2020 presidential elections, the president thanked the American people for their tremendous support and said the results of polls have been “phenomenal”.

November 8: Moments after Democratic candidate Joe Biden was projected to be the winner of the US presidential elections, President Donald Trump stated that the election was “far from over”, and promised legal challenges by his re-election campaign.

November 15: Trump appeared to acknowledge in public for the first time that President-elect Joe Biden had “won” the election but kept up his assertion that the election was “rigged.”

November 18: The President fired Christopher Krebs, the cyber chief of the Department of Homeland Security, who has publicly rejected Trump’s claims of widespread election fraud.

November 22: Trump said that the Paris Accord was made to “kill the economy” of the US. Speaking at the G-20 Summit held via video conference, Trump said that his decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement was “to protect American workers”

November 26: Trump on Thursday said that he would leave the White House if the Electoral College declares President-elect Joe Biden the winner of the election.

December 8: The US Supreme Court rejected a bid by the Pennsylvania Republicans to nullify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

December 11: US Supreme Court rejected a bid by Texas’ attorney general to block the ballot of voters in battleground states that favoured President-elect Joe Biden.

December 15: President-elect Joe Biden has bagged 302 votes, clinching the Electoral College victory. President Donald Trump has secured 232 votes.

December 22: Thousands of President Donald Trump supporters are planning a virtual “second inauguration” for the outgoing US President, the same day as President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Biden is set to take office starting January 20 after the US Congress would certify the votes by the Electoral College on January 6. Trump is, however, yet to concede the election to the former Vice President. (Source: ANI)