Former Republican President Donald Trump announced that he will again run for the GOP nomination for president in the 2024 election. Trump would like to return to the White House after losing to current President Joe Biden in 2020.
During a speech at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, the former president announced his presidential bid.
“In order to make America great and glorious again. I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” said Trump, speaking to a crowd of supporters. “But just as I promised in 2016, I am your voice. I am your voice. The Washington establishment wants to silence us, but we will not let them do that. What we have built together over the past six years is the greatest movement in history because it is not about politics. It’s about our love for this great country, America, and we’re not going to let it fail.”
Trump continued, “I am running because I believe the world has not yet seen the true glory of what this nation can be. We have not reached that pinnacle, believe it or not,” said Trump referring to Biden administration failures. “In fact, we can go very far. We’re going to have to go far first. We have to get out of this ditch. And once we’re out, you’ll see things that nobody imagined for any country. It’s called the United States of America. And it’s an incredible place.”
President Trump first won the presidency in 2016 when he defeated former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. If he is reelected, he will become only the second president in history to retake the highest office after being voted out. The only other president to achieve this was Grover Cleveland in 1892 after he had lost the position to Benjamin Harrison in 1888. If he wins, Trump will be both the 45th and 47th president.
Since the 2020 election, the former president has challenged the validity of the results, claiming the race was “rigged” because of Covid-19, causing an increase in mail-in ballots. Trump has long claimed the election was stolen, and his lawyers filed several lawsuits in battleground states across the U.S.
Trump’s announcement follows midterm elections
Former President Trump’s announcement comes a week after the 2022 midterm elections, where Republicans did not perform as expected, with a “red wave” of victories. Republicans won a slim majority in the House, but Democrats held control of the Senate. Trump was closely involved in the midterms, supporting GOP candidates nationwide.
During the spring primaries, most candidates endorsed by Trump won their races, becoming the Republican nominees.
The economy has been the most significant issue for voters during the 2022 election cycle as inflation hovers at a near-record high. Under Trump, middle-class family income increased along with job growth, while unemployment was the lowest in half a century.
During the former president’s tenure, the stock market hit record highs, with the Dow Jones closing above 20,000 for the first time in 2017, then topping 30,000 in 2020, and the NASDAQ and S&P 500 also hit record-level highs. Another critical issue for Americans during the midterm has been record-high gas and energy prices, heading into a frigid winter.
