‘Great and glorious again’: Donald Trump launches his 2024 candidacy for the White House

Washington: Donald Trump has announced he will run for US president in 2024, declaring “America’s comeback starts right now”.

Days after Republicans failed to deliver the “red wave” both sides of politics had anticipated, the former president defied calls to step aside after some voters repudiated his extremism at the US midterm elections.

“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump told the audience who had gathered at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“Two years ago, we were a great nation, and soon we will be a great nation again.”

Trump’s announcement came shortly after he filed the official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, making him the first major contender from either party to formally declare a shot at the White House in 2024.

But his decision to run takes place not only after a string of losses for his favoured congressional candidates in the midterms, but also as he faces several legal woes, including a Department of Justice investigation into the alleged mishandling of classified documents at his residence, a New York probe into his business affairs, and a series of inquiries relating to the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

Former president Donald Trump.Credit: AP

Insiders believe Trump’s decision to seek the Republican nomination was based, in part, on his calculation that a candidacy could help shield him from potential prosecution, although legal experts say this is misguided.

“There’s no formal legal protection that he gets,” said Professor Alan Rozenshtein, a national security law expert from the University of Minnesota and former Justice Department official.

The launch was also an attempt for Trump to reassert his authority and send a message to potential challengers, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and former vice-president Mike Pence.

In a nod to his “Make America Great Again” movement, Trump told the crowd: “Our country is in a horrible state. We’re in grave trouble. This is not a task for a politician or a conventional candidate – it’s a task for a great movement that embodies the courage, confidence and the spirit of the American people.”

Standing on a stage adorned with American flags, Trump said that if he won office again, he would seek to “end Joe Biden’s war on American energy”; introduce the death penalty for certain drug dealers; and get rid of critical race theory in schools, which seeks to study how race and racism have impacted American social structures.

He also vowed to overhaul the way elections were run, telling the audience that “to eliminate cheating”, he would seek to eliminate all early voting, absentee voting and electronic voting machines, instead pushing states to switch to paper ballots.

Trump’s announcement took place as Republicans edged closer to winning control of the House of Representatives, but with far fewer seats than expected. At last count, the Republicans had 217 seats – one shy of the majority – while the Democrats had 206.

The Democrats, however, retained control of the Senate at the weekend, and have continued to win a string of crucial state leadership victories against Trump-backed candidates, most of whom subscribed to his view that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump’s bid follows his 2016 victory against Hillary Clinton and his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.

But it presents a challenge for the Republican Party because the former president still has a very loyal base of die-hard followers, even though many Americans have rejected some of his election-denying candidates and those with extreme views on issues such as abortion.

There is also a concern that he may affect the Georgia December 6 run-off vote between Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, a former college football star whom Trump endorsed, and the Democratic incumbent, Senator Raphael Warnock.

However, even though the Democrats have now secured control of the Senate – which makes Georgia less of a deciding vote for either party – Trump is determined to help Walker win the seat and recorded a video message to include in his campaign.

Former president Donald Trump greets guests watching the midterm elections at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.Credit: AP

There has been no shortage of Republicans emboldened to speak against Trump – including, notably, Pence, his once-loyal former vice president.

Asked in an exclusive interview if he was also considering running in 2024, Pence told American ABC News that this was something he and his family were giving “prayerful consideration” and that Americans will have “better choices”.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch – whose New York Post last week carried a front page mocking the former president as “Trumpty Dumpty” – has also reportedly warned Trump he would not support his attempt to return to the White House.

Trump, however, appears to be undeterred and his campaign has spent the 48 hours before his speech flooding supporters with fundraising emails.

“Friend, I’m making a huge announcement soon … Please contribute $5 or more IMMEDIATELY to get your name on the Official Trump Announcement Priority List,” said one call for donations.

“If you want me to run in 2024, who should my vice president be?” said another.

In a sign of what could come, he has also issued several warning shots to his would-be rivals, including calling DeSantis – who won Florida by historic margins last week – “an average Republican Governor with great public relations”.

DeSantis responded to the attacks for the first time on Tuesday, saying at a press conference: “I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night … All that’s just noise, and really what matters is: are you leading? Are you getting in front of issues? Are you delivering results for people and are you standing up for folks?”

DeSantis, 44, is often touted as the future of the party, but as his ambitions have grown, so have tensions with Trump, whose endorsement in 2018 propelled him into the Florida governorship – and in turn, the national spotlight.

In a lengthy rant last week, the former president took credit for Desantis’ fortunes and later did the same in a bizarre, racially charged post against Youngkin, who became Virginia governor last year by tapping into culture-war fights over schools and parental rights.

“Young Kin (now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) in Virginia couldn’t have done it without me,” the former president posted on his Truth Social platform.

The latest Republican midterm loss took place in Arizona, a once-Republican stronghold, when high-profile former TV news anchor Kari Lake lost her bid to become the state’s governor against Democrat Katie Hobbs, an election official who many had believed would struggle against her much feistier opponent.

Kari Lake has lost in Arizona.Credit: AP

The Associated Press called the race on Monday night (US time) but Lake is yet to concede defeat, posting on Twitter: “Arizonans know BS when they see it”.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.