Former US President Donald Trump declared his presidential bid for 2024 open on Saturday in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first campaign appearances since announcing his latest run more than two months ago, Apnews has reported.
“Together we will complete the unfinished business of making America great again,” the former US president said at an evening event in Columbia to introduce his South Carolina leadership team.
But, he told the audience of party leaders, “I’m more angry now and I’m more committed now than I ever was.”
In South Carolina, he said “we have huge rallies planned, bigger than ever before.”
SaharaReporters had reported that Donald Trump was considering announcing another bid for the White House last November.
According to three Trump advisers and a Republican Party operative familiar with the former president’s deliberations, the former president had been calling his donor base to inform loyalists of his thinking and solicit feedback.
While Trump has been largely ensconced in his Florida club and nearby golf course in the months since his announcement, his aides insist they have been busy behind the scenes.
His campaign has established a headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida, and is currently hiring. And, in recent weeks, supporters have reached out to political operatives and elected officials to secure support for Trump at a critical juncture when other Republicans are gearing up for their own expected challenges.
In New Hampshire, Trump promoted his campaign agenda, including immigration and crime, and said his policies would be the opposite of President Joe Biden’s.
He cited the Democrats’ move to change the election calendar, costing New Hampshire its leadoff primary spot, and accused Biden of “disgracefully trashing this beloved political tradition.”
“I hope you’re going to remember that during the general election,” Trump told party members. Trump himself twice won the primary but lost the state each time to Democrats.
Later in South Carolina, Trump said he planned to keep the state’s presidential primary as the “first in the South” and called it “a very important state.”
