Former US President Donald Trump filed his candidacy papers to launch his 2024 presidential campaign with the US election authority, news agency AP reported.
Donald Trump is the first major contender from the Republican and the Democrat party to formally announce his candidacy. “In order to make America great again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said to a cheering phone-waving crowd of donors and longtime supporters. “America’s comeback starts right now,” Trump told his supporters, as quoted by the news agency AFP.
The announcement was made by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Reuters reported. The development comes a week after midterm elections in which Republicans failed to win as many seats in Congress as they had hoped. The 76-year-old’s aides filed paperwork with the US Federal Election Commission for a 2024 White House bid.
Trump lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden after being impeached twice by the House of Representatives.
Trump’s top aide and long-time adviser, Jason Miller, had said, “President Trump is going to announce on Tuesday that he will be running for president. And it is going to be a very professional, very buttoned announcement.”
Minutes before his speech, Trump filed paperwork establishing his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
It may be noted that Miller had campaigned and worked for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and he has continued as his advisor for him post-presidency.
The paperwork filed with the US election authority sets up a bruising Republican nomination battle ahead of Trump’s announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden hit out at Trump and said, “Trump failed America”.
In 2019, the Democratic-led House impeached him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump had pressed Ukraine’s leader to investigate Biden and his son on unsubstantiated corruption accusations and he was acquitted by the Senate.
The House impeached Trump again a week before he left office, this time for incitement of insurrection. He was acquitted by the Senate after he left office.