DON’S NOT DONE
NEW YORK: Donald Trump has launched his third White House campaign, despite growing opposition to the former president within his own party and multiple investigations that could lead to criminal charges.
Two years out from the 2024 presidential election, Mr Trump confirmed he would seek the Republican nomination, defying calls even from allies to hold off after he was widely blamed for the party’s poor performance in last week’s midterm elections.
“America’s comeback starts right now,” Mr Trump said, declaring he would “fight like no one has ever fought before”.
“We are a nation in decline. We are a failing nation. I didn’t need this. I had a very nice, easy life … But we love our country and we have to take care of it, and we have to save our country.”
His announcement sets up what will be a bruising battle within the Republican Party, with some senior figures pushing to move on from Mr Trump to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Several other top Republicans are also weighing up jumping into the race, including Mr Trump’s vice-president Mike Pence, who said: “I think we’ll have better choices.”
Mr Trump was widely blamed for backing candidates in the midterms who failed to win critical races, handing Joe Biden the best result for a president in two decades.
In an hour-long speech at his Mara-Lago resort in Florida, Mr Trump defended his record in office and promised a new “platform of national greatness and glory” centred on ending America’s reliance on China, introducing the death penalty for drug dealers, bolstering border security, eliminating homelessness and planting the US flag on Mars.
While he avoided repeating his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, Mr Trump promised new voting rules that would end early voting and the use of electronic machines, saying it was “a very personal job for me”.
The twice-impeached former president remains in the sights of the Justice Department for his team’s concerted effort to cling on to power in 2020, as well as his storage of classified documents.
Mr Trump has reportedly told allies that he hoped officially announcing his candidacy for the 2024 race would blunt any push to lay charges against him.
In his speech, Mr Trump said he was a “victim” of the Justice Department and the FBI, as he vowed to tackle the “festering rot and corruption” and “dismantle the deep state”.
“The Washington establishment wants to silence us, but we will not let them do that,” he said.
“We will not be intimidated … We will stand tall in the storm.”
The former president was accompanied by his wife Melania, but his daughter Ivanka – who was a key adviser in the White House – did not attend, saying she did “not plan to be involved in politics” any longer.
Having spent the past week sniping at his internal foes, including Mr DeSantis, who was convincingly re-elected in the midterms, Mr Trump did not take any potshots in his speech.
The Florida Governor had earlier refused to respond to Mr Trump’s attacks, saying that it was “noise” and he expected “incoming fire” because of his success.
He dodged questions about his own aspirations, instead telling critics to “check the scoreboard” after his victory last week in what was traditionally a swing state.
A YouGov poll put Mr Trump behind Mr DeSantis in a hypothetical primary race, with 42 per cent of Republicans preferring the Florida Governor, while just 35 per cent remained in the Mr Trump’s corner.
Mr Biden, who was in Bali for the G20 summit, was asked if he had a view on Mr Trump’s announcement and said: “Not really.”