By Oyintari Ben
Despite being the subject of numerous criminal investigations and the underwhelming results of the candidates he supported in this week’s midterm elections, Donald Trump has declared he would run for President of the United States again in 2024.
A week after elections in which Republicans did not succeed in gaining as many seats in Congress as they had wanted, Trump announced his third presidential campaign on Tuesday evening at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Trump addressed hundreds of fans in a ballroom adorned with numerous chandeliers and dozens of American flags during a speech that was live broadcast on US television.
Trump addressed the applauding throng of donors and ardent fans, saying, “Tonight, I am launching my candidacy for President of the United States in order to make America great again.”
He stated, “I am running because I believe the true glory of what our nation may be has not yet been witnessed by the world.
He continued, “We will once more put America first.”
The US Federal Election Commission received papers earlier in the day from aides establishing a committee dubbed “Donald J. Trump for President 2024.”
The first state-level elections are more than a year away, so there is a long way to go before the Republican presidential contender is formally chosen in the summer of 2024 in the US.
The rising star Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 44, and Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence, 63, are two prospective rivals for the party’s nomination in 2024, and some think Trump’s unusually early launch may be intended to stave them off.
Trump, who was twice impeached while serving as president, however, joins the campaign at a time when he is politically exposed.
He had intended to begin his campaign in the wake of huge Republican gains in the midterm elections, which were fueled by candidates he supported during this year’s primaries. Instead, many of those candidates came up short, giving the Senate to the Democrats and giving the Republicans a slim chance of winning the House of Representatives.
Because of the defeats, some well-known Republicans have publicly accused Trump of endangering their party’s chances of seizing control of Congress by endorsing unqualified candidates.
