Billionaire real estate magnate and celebrity Donald Trump has toyed with the idea of running for president since 2000, but this time he’s really taking the plunge. Sporting his famous comb-over, Trump announced he was joining the crowded GOP field this week from one of his skyscrapers, the 68-story Trump Tower in Manhattan.  With a theme of “Make America Great Again,” his speech was, by turns, Reaganesque and full of Trump’s typical over-the-top statements. He declared if elected president, “I would build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.”

He said he would immediately repeal Obama’s executive orders on immigration and Obamacare. He emphasized job creation, and said no one would be tougher than him on ISIS: “Nobody will be pushing us around.” He said the current GOP field is made up of “clowns,” and that Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio have made “**sses of themselves.”

Trump, age 69, becomes the 12th Republican candidate in the race. He was born in New York to wealthy parents and graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in economics. He worked for his father’s real estate development firm, eventually replacing his father at the helm. He expanded the business and took on larger building projects, buying dilapidated structures and turning them around.

His best known buildings are his Trump towers, which are located around the country in several cities. He hasn’t always been successful; four of his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City have declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He has said about the bankruptcies, “It’s not personal. It’s just business.” His net worth in recent years has been estimated from $2.9 billion to $7 billion.

Trump hasn’t always been a Republican, and is still a bit of an odd fit due to his outlandish statements. In 1999, he left the GOP and joined New York’s Independence Party, the state’s version of the Reform Party. He explained, “I really believe the Republicans are just too crazy right.” In 2001, he registered as a Democrat for awhile. He contributes to the political campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans. He has explained his shifting back and forth, “I’m very much independent in that way. I go for the person, not necessarily the party. I mean, I vote for Republicans and I vote for Democrats.”

In recent years, Trump has warmed up to the Tea Party. He has populist views on immigration and bringing American jobs home. He has become pro-life and supports the Second Amendment. He says he still believes marriage is between a man and a woman, and has been strongly supportive of Israel. More than once Trump has called for Obama to resign, and even suggested impeaching him. In 2012, he gained notoriety for challenging Obama’s citizenship, and is partially credited with getting Obama to release a copy of his birth certificate.

Trump became an entertainment celebrity over the past decade as the producer and star of NBC’s reality shows The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice, where he fires contestants who don’t make the cut. He will likely have to walk away from this while running for president. He owns the Miss USA pageant and its parent organization, Miss Universe. He owns several golf courses around the world. Trump is a Presbyterian, but admits he doesn’t make it to church regularly.

There is a perception that he is pompous and arrogant, known for statements like, “The beauty of me is that I’m very rich.” He has made plenty of outrageous statements over the years, sometimes directed at conservatives. He’s gotten into numerous highly publicized scrapes with other celebrities. The Washington Post says he “tweets like a 12 year old.”

After conservative author Charles Krauthammer said Trump deserves voters rating him the least-liked candidate in the race, Trump responded by calling Krauthammer a “dummy,” an “overrated clown,” and “one of the worst and most boring political pundits on television.” Trump said about Pat Buchanan on Meet the Press, “He’s a Hitler lover, I guess he’s an anti-Semite. He doesn’t like the blacks, he doesn’t like the gays.”

Trump has called both George W. Bush and Obama the worst presidents in history. In response to media criticism, he reportedly said, “You know, it really doesn’t matter what [the media] write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of a**.”

Realistic chance or fantasy?

Trump has name recognition and money unmatched by any of the other candidates. He once accurately joked that his Gucci store in Manhattan is worth more than Mitt Romney’s net worth. He has built a political organization competitive with many of the other candidates, and is the only Republican candidate with campaign chairs in every county in New Hampshire. He skipped much of the primary activity in Iowa, since those caucuses generally end up going for more conservative candidates.

He appeals to many Americans because he’s such a non-politician. His background is business and entertainment; he has zero experience in public policy. He would bring enormous business success to running government. On the other hand, his lack of experience running government will be also viewed by some as a negative.

In 2011, a USA Today/Gallup poll listed Trump as among the ten most admired living men and women. Yet he also has very high unfavorability ratings, 71% according to a poll last month.

At the moment Trump is polling well enough to make it into the top tier debates. His presence may push candidates like Rick Perry and Carly Fiorina into the second tier, making them ineligible for the first major candidate forums being put on by Fox News and CNN.

If he makes it through the primary, he is too much of a wildcard to predict how he might match up against Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee. He has deep pockets and high name recognition, but it is hard to take him seriously when he says outlandish things so regularly. The presidential debates are cruel to candidates who make serious gaffes, as Rick Perry learned the hard way in 2012. That Trump may make his gaffes with a no-apologies, no-holds-barred verve may not matter to enough voters. Will Republican voters tell him, “You’re fired!” We’ll see.