Donald Trump is officially launching a third U.S. presidential campaign after numerous hints amid legal investigations and accusations of lackluster Republican midterm election results.
He made the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, saying: “The American renaissance begins now.”
Mr Trump said after four years in office “everyone is doing great”, “the world is at peace” and he had “kept his word”.
“Two years ago we were a great country. Soon we will be a great country again,” the former US president added.
“America’s decline was imposed on us by Biden and the radical left…it’s not a decline we have to accept.”
He addressed hundreds of supporters, club members and assembled media in the ballroom of his Florida club — flanked by dozens of American flags and signs that read: “Make America Great Again !”.
Ahead of his speech, Trump aides filed documents for his 2024 presidential campaign.
He delivered his much-anticipated campaign manifesto at a time when Republicans are still jittery about voters rejecting several of their candidates. US midterm elections – many of them personally selected and endorsed Mr Trump.
He had hoped to use his party’s expected gains as a springboard for his party’s nomination. Instead, he now finds himself being blamed for backing a string of losing candidates as Democrats retained control of the Senate, with disappointing results.
Control of the House of Representatives is premature.
US Midterm Exam Results Tracker – Live
Aides and allies have urged Trump to wait until after the midterm elections — and until after the Dec. 6 Senate runoff in Georgia — before announcing a presidential bid.
But the former president appeared eager to return to the spotlight.
He also wants to fend off a long list of potential challengers, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was up for re-election last week and is now being urged by many in his party to run for president as well.
Mr. Trump has Call him “Ron DeSanctimonious,” And dismissed him on the grounds that he was “in a state of despair”.
Supporters gather outside Mar-a-Lago for ‘big announcement’
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Why the US midterm elections are a wildly unreliable way to predict the next president
Last week’s midterm elections ended up being a referendum on defeated former and current President Joe Biden, with more than a quarter (28%) saying their vote was “against Donald Trump” even if he wasn’t Re-employment.
He remains a key force in the Republican Party but has emerged as a divisive figure after his contentious four-year term ended in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
He continues to falsely claim the election defeat was the result of rioting protests, the result of fraud, and is now facing a slew of investigations into his tax affairs and whether he took classified documents from the White House after leaving office.
Yet a poll last month found that 41 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of him.
Mr Trump endorsed former TV doctor Mohammed Oz – but he lost Pennsylvania’s midterm Senate race
was impeached twice
Another run would be a notable turn of events for any former president, let alone one who made history as the first president to be impeached twice.
Only one president in American history has been elected to two non-consecutive terms: Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892.
“Hopefully tomorrow will be one of the most important days in the history of our country!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media network on Monday.