Former President Donald Trump made the much anticipated declaration that he will run for the White House in 2024. "To make America great again, I am today announcing my candidacy for the presidentAof the US," Trump said on Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate. It was the third time Trump was making a bid for the White House, after having won in 2016 and lost to President Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump said the nation was 'in decline' and blamed Biden for it. Making his pitch around the economy, Trump said the US was in great shape when he left office. "Now we are a nation in decline," he said, adding that he had presided over the coronavirus crisis and that the nation had come out strongly.
Trump also said that under Biden's leadership the US failed to handle geopolitical challenges effectively. He pointed out that the world is on the brink of a nuclear war, citing the Polish missile crisis.
"Even just today a missile sent in, probably by Russia, to Poland. The people are going absolutely wild and crazy and they're not happy. They're very very angry," Trump said, according to the BBC.
How Strong is Trump's Turf?
Trump enjoys enormous popularity in the rank and file of the Republican party, even though the latest midterm elections dealt a body blow to him. Many of the high-profile, Trump-endorsed candidates lost the midterm election but that did not deter the former president from going ahead with the presidential bid.
Trump is the first to announce candidacy for the 2024 presidential race, even as President Joe Biden is taking time to decide if he wants to run again despite his advanced age. From within the Republican party, Trump is likely to face a strong challenge for the nomination. The rise of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will particularly bother Trump. However, if Trump gets the Republican nomination, he does stand a chance to put up a fight and even win the race in a deeply divisive election.
Can Trump Emulate Grover Cleveland?
Trump's decision to run for the White House in 2024 has brought the focus back to President Grover Cleveland, who was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later. If Trump wins the 2024 election, he will be only the second president in US history to win a second term after having been defeated in the bid for re-election.
Cleveland, a Democrat, was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. He was first elected to the White House in 1884 and lost the re-election bid in 1888. He ran again in 1892 and won the presidency.
Cleveland was the first Democrat to win the US presidency after the Civil War. Born in New Jersey in 1837, he made the name as a young lawyer in Buffalo and became the city's mayor at a young age. He was elected as the Mayor of Buffalo in 1881, and later, became the Governor of New York. At 47, he became the US president, running a 'reform' campaign.
Cleveland was defeated by Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison in 1888, though he had won the popular vote by a wide margin. Cleveland died in 1908.
