NEW YORK – Donald Trump, the garrulous real estate developer whose name has adorned apartment buildings, hotels, Trump-brand neckties and Trump-brand steaks, announced on Tuesday his entry into the 2016 presidential race, brandishing his wealth and fame as chief qualifications in an improbable quest for the Republican nomination.
Trump declared his candidacy in the atrium of Trump Tower, the luxury skyscraper on Fifth Avenue in New York City, proclaiming that only someone “really rich” – like himself – could restore American economic primacy.
“We need somebody that can take the brand of the United States and make it great again,” said Trump, repeatedly assailing China and Mexico as economic competitors and pledging to be “the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”
Trump, 69, has long toyed with running for president, boasting of his credentials as an entrepreneur and mocking the accomplishments of prominent elected officials. He has used the platform of a reality television show, NBC’s “The Apprentice,” to burnish his pop-culture image as a formidable man of affairs.
Trump, who has never held elected office, might not be so easily confined to the margins of the 2016 campaign. Thanks to his enormous media profile, he stands a good chance of qualifying for nationally televised debates, where his appetite for combat and skill at playing to the gallery could make him a powerfully disruptive presence.
Associates say Trump is willing, even eager, to spend his fortune in the race, and has hired staff in the early nominating states.
“He has said a couple of times that he could easily put $100 million into the race and that he feels that would not impact him financially,” said Christopher Ruddy, a friend of Trump’s. But as well known as he is, Trump is also widely disliked: A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that about 7 in 10 voters nationally hold an unfavorable view of him, including 52 percent of Republicans.
