A boastful and belligerent Donald Trump launched the 2024 White House race on Tuesday, setting the stage for a bruising Republican nomination battle. Many party stalwarts, wounded by moderate gains in the recent mid-terms, do not want to see Trump carry right-wing hopes into the next presidential combat.
"America's comeback starts right now," the 76-year-old former president told hundreds of supporters gathered in a flag-draped ballroom at his palatial Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
"In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States," Trump said, minutes after filing the official paperwork for his third presidential run.
Trump's unusually early entry into the race is being seen in Washington as an attempt to get the jump on other Republicans seeking to be party flag-bearer, and also to stall potential criminal charges.
In a fiery, hour-long speech, Trump praised his accomplishments as America's 45th president and fired off verbal salvos against Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated him in 2020.
"I will ensure that Joe Biden does not receive four more years," Trump vowed.
Trump, who was impeached for seeking political dirt on Biden from Ukraine and again after the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, launches his new bid with several potential handicaps.
Delicate legal situation
He is the target of multiple investigations into his conduct before, during and after his first term as president, a legal situation which could ultimately result in his disqualification.
These include allegations of fraud by his family business, his role in the attack on the Capitol, his attempt to overturn the 2020 election result, and his stashing of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump's Republicans are licking their wounds after disappointing mid-terms, widely blamed on the underperformance of Trump-anointed candidates. Some party figures are openly asking whether Trump is the right person to carry the party colors next time around.
Several possible 2024 primary rivals are circling, chief among them the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, who won a resounding reelection victory on 8 November.
No Fox, no Facebook
The powerful media empire of Rupert Murdoch has already appeared to turn its back on Trump, labelling him a "loser" who shows "increasingly poor judgement."
And Trump remains banned by Facebook and Twitter, social media which were instrumental in his stunning political rise.
In his announcement speech, Trump attacked Biden over inflation, crime and immigration, mocked climate change and congratulated himself for toppling Islamic State, keeping North Korea in check and building a border wall with Mexico.
"Under our leadership, we were a great and glorious nation. But now we are a nation in decline," he said. "This is not just a campaign, this is a quest to save our country."
