Billionaire Donald Trump, the real estate mogul and TV reality star launched his US presidential campaign Tuesday, with his speech inclined to job creation and currency manipulation by China.
Trump, who has in the past four presidential electoral cycles promised to contest for the Oval office but did not, has now broken with tradition, is the 12th individual to announce he will be standing for the US President’s job, and if he makes it to the top 10 candidates in polls, he will participate in the Fox News presidential debate.
In 1987, 1999, 2004 and 2011Trump said he would run for president but never did but now observers point to his seriousness this time round, even citing that the businessman has already hired key staff to man offices in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina.
“I am officially running for President of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again,” Trump told the crowd at the Trump Towers, his 68 storey building in . His slogan is “Make America Great Again.”
Trump usually attacks rivals and this time was no exception; the TV star of the ‘Apprentice’ series attacked the other 2016 presidential aspirants, with a jab at 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney, while reflecting on his wealth: “I have a Gucci store that’s worth more than Romney.”
Earlier this year he said: “The last thing we need is another Bush,” in reference to Republican presidential aspirant Jeb Bush, a son and brother to George Herbert Walker Bush Sr and George Bush Jr, respectively.
The elder Bush served as the 41st President of the United States between 1989 and 1993, while his son was the 43th US President, serving from 2001 to 2009.
So, if Jeb Bush wins the Grand Old Party (GOP) nominations and later the US presidency, he will become the third member of the Bush family to occupy the White House.
Meanwhile, not bothered with such a profile, Trump considers himself as the “most successful person ever to run for the US presidency, by far,” flaunting his wealth and disclosing his net worth at US$9 billion.
Other contenders in the race include Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, one time Senator of New York and former Secretary of State, Senator Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, former Maryland Governor and Lincoln Chafee, a former Rhode Island Governor.
The Republicans include: former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham. Others are former Senator Rick Santorum; former Governors George Pataki of New York and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas; former presidential candidate Rick Perry, retired Neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ms Carly Fiorina, a former business executive.
