Breaking: Donald Trump launches 2024 White House bid

Donald Trump on Tuesday night announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, likely sparking another period of tumult in US politics and especially his own political party.

“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said from ballroom of his private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he stood on a stage crowded with American flags and Make America Great Again banners.

Vowing to defeat Joe Biden in 2024, he declared: “America’s golden age is just ahead.”

Summary

1. Donald Trump says he plans to run for the US presidency in 2024, vowing “America’s comeback starts right now”
2. He addressed supporters in an hour-long speech at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago
3. The former president has a massive campaign war chest and remains popular with the Republican base
4. But he has been blamed for the Republicans’ disappointing performance in the midterm elections, with a predicted “red wave” failing to materialise
5. To run for president, Trump would have to win the Republican Party’s nomination – but others are expected to compete for it
6. Republicans are also on the cusp of taking a majority in the House of Representatives, though it will be a narrow one
7. Midterm voters by and large rejected candidates who backed Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud in 2020, and many of his high-profile picks for office struggled or lost outright
8. Last week Trump lashed out at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – a rising Republican star who is also expected to run for the party’s 2024 nomination

Details later…