Former President Donald Trump is eyeing a return to the White House in 2024. On Tuesday (Nov. 15), Trump, 76, announced his official bid for reelection at his new campaign headquarters, his waterfront resort Mar-a-Lago.
“We are a nation in decline. We are a failing nation for millions of Americans,” Trump said in his speech hours after he filed reelection documents with the Federal Election Commission. He continued, “I will ensure Joe Biden does not receive four more years.”
This will mark the reality TV personality’s third time vying for the Oval Office. If reelected, Trump will become the first president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. Trump’s opposition to a smooth transition of power in January 2021 to then President-elect Joe Biden sparked the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, where droves of his followers stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent election results from being certified by Congress.
“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” said the 45th president of the United States before the rampage unfolded.
On Sunday (Nov. 13), Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke out against his 2016 running mate. “The president’s words that day at the rally endangered me and my family and everyone at the Capitol building,” he told ABC News. Pence added that the “president’s words were reckless. It’s clear he decided to be part of the problem.”
Three weeks ago, the House Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed the twice-impeached politician. He had until Nov. 14 to sit for a deposition and to turn over classified documents tied to a raid at Mar-a-Lago in October. Instead, Trump filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to deem the subpoena invalid, protecting him from testifying about his involvement in the insurrection.
“Donald Trump orchestrated a scheme to overturn a presidential election and block the transfer of power. He is obligated to provide answers to the American people,” said the committee’s Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney in a joint statement.
President Biden has yet to make a formal announcement regarding a run for reelection. “I think everybody wants me to run, but we’re going to have discussions about it, and I don’t feel any hurry one way or another to make that judgment, today, tomorrow, whenever, no matter what my predecessor does,” he said in a press conference on Nov. 9.