Trump not running for president
(CNN) - Real estate mogul and television celebrity Donald Trump, who generated a media publicity blitz by saying he might run for president in 2012, announced Monday that he will instead remain a businessman.
"After considerable deliberation and reflection, I have decided not to pursue the office of the presidency," Trump said in a statement.
With his typical bravado, Trump maintained that he would have won the Republican primary and the general election, but recognized that "running for public office cannot be done half-heartedly."
"Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector," Trump said in the statement.
Trump's flirtation with running for the Republican nomination included his demand that President Barack Obama make public his full birth certificate from Hawaii.
Obama previously had provided a shorter version that serves as the public record in Hawaii, but amid the media glare on the issue raised in part by Trump's repeated questioning of whether the so-called long version of the document existed, the president released it last month.
At an NBC presentation of the network's fall line-up, Trump, star of "Celebrity Apprentice," said "NBC has been amazing. This will be our 12th season and I have to say I love 'Celebrity Apprentice.'"
"I will not be running for president as much as I'd like to," Trump added.
Full release:"After considerable deliberation and reflection, I have decided not to pursue the office of the Presidency. This decision does not come easily or without regret; especially when my potential candidacy continues to be validated by ranking at the top of the Republican contenders in polls across the country. I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election. I have spent the past several months unofficially campaigning and recognize that running for public office cannot be done half heartedly. Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.
I want to personally thank the millions of Americans who have joined the various Trump grassroots movements and written me letters and e-mails encouraging me to run. My gratitude for your faith and trust in me could never be expressed properly in words. So, I make you this promise: that I will continue to voice my opinions loudly and help to shape our politician's thoughts. My ability to bring important economic and foreign policy issues to the forefront of the national dialogue is perhaps my greatest asset and one of the most valuable services I can provide to this country. I will continue to push our President and the country's policy makers to address the dire challenges arising from our unsustainable debt structure and increasing lack of global competitiveness. Issues, including getting tough on China and other countries that are methodically and systematically taking advantage of the United States, were seldom mentioned before I brought them to the forefront of the country's conversation. They are now being debated vigorously. I will also continue to push for job creation, an initiative that should be this country's top priority and something that I know a lot about. I will not shy away from expressing the opinions that so many of you share yet don't have a medium through which to articulate.
I look forward to supporting the candidate who is the most qualified to help us tackle our country's most important issues and am hopeful that, when this person emerges, he or she will have the courage to take on the challenges of the Office and be the agent of change that this country so desperately needs."
Thank you and God Bless America!
Donald J. Trump
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He probably would've come in last in the primaries. Any person with some sense knew all along that he wasn't going to run.
Maybe now the night terrors will stop!
Trump is actually NOT serious about running for President? What a revelation!
I guess he got all the publicity that he needed for his TV show, so time to come clean.
The guy is just a press pig.
Blowhard!! Nothing but a Blowhard!!!!
Good bye donald love2 see you gone
What a schmuck! Seth Myers you were absolutely right, this lunatic was running as a joke he is, only to boost his own tv ratings, SHAME ON YOU TRUMP, now do us a big favor and crawl under a big rock..
It so funny how so many people were actually gunning for him to win. Well I guess they can all go kill themselves now because it is over.
Too bad Trump isn't as fired up about Human Rights and Civil Liberties as he about American Economic Expansionism. He still doesn't understand that wiping out bigotry is the best way to unite the whole nation, but like most Republicans he was only interested in a limited pseudo-unity of right-wing voters, just enough to exploit their own prejudice in order to win elections for himself and other right-wing defenders of Life, LIberty and the Persuit of Happiness for the Heterosexual Capitalist Super-Rich.
I would have supported him half-heartedly
he didnt want to embarass himself further
Gosh – how unpatriotic ! I am distraught. The big losers will be Saturday Night Live and all the late night hosts. Goodbye, Donald the Chump.
thank god. this man is all talk and no action. all bluster... now he runs away because he got shown to be a fool. he couldnt handle the vetting process of presidency. he would NEVER hold up to public scrutiny of his life in detail
Question Mr. Trump. Did you reach this decision before or after CNN's poll showing you only receving 24% of voters who think you can win the Presidency, compared to the 76% that DON'T? The privilege that you have Mr. Trump is money. Kudos to you for working hard to earn that money, but again the privilege you have is Money which allows you to say what you want to say, no matter how illogical it sounds. The birther issue backfired on you and what is really amazining is that ever since Obama released his certificate, you have been very quiet while at the same time taking a public thumping on being wrong about the matter, on not releasing your records after Obama did, and having nothing to really talk about once the birther issue was put to bed.......and get this, not by you, but by President Obama, the American that he is.
Dear The Donald....this is my response to your recent decision to NOT run for Presidency....
hahahahahahahahahahaa.....oooooooooo....hahahahahahahahahahahaha.....oooooooooooo.......hahahahhahahaha....
You are a first class egotistical idiot....
How about you be a man, and show us your tax returns for the last ten years, like you said you would once we got Obama's full birth certificate....
It was probably just a plublicity stunt to get higher ratings on his show....that or a conspiracy within the Obama Administration to make the birthers/republicans look crazy.
You're fired before you gave it a shot. The Nene of politics. Loser. The guy is a ratings junkie. I thought Obama and Fallon ripped him pretty good and if he can't take that then he couldn't hack the real barbs coming his way in a campaign. The guy is a bad businessman. He has ruined a lot of older people and contractors by defaulting on loans, bankrupting his own companies and just not paying contractors on time.
Trump was hired to create whole birther drama to make Obama look good and legitimate.
How naive people are not to see that.
He was never Republicans,guy only cares for money.
Donald, thank you for the opportunity to see what a mendacious, abusive, unprincipled, undisciplined, intolerant, bullying, simplistic, arrogant, buffoon and bragger you are. Although the general electorate may have a short memory at times, your pathetic expose of your incompatibility with running for political office will be an instructive lesson for the electorate for the kind of personal characteristics not to look for in a presidential candidate. Do not waste the valuable time of the people of the United States with another false political campaign or promise (implied or explicit), just go away.
Liar, liar pants on fire.....
Well, awhile back the donald actually said that he'd "announce soon and people will like what he has to say..."
How true! Thanks for sparing us continued embarrassment...
Mr. Trump, YOU'RE FIRED!!
Oh thank you Baby Jesus!!
Good. Adios, Donald.
He never intended to run, his only motivation was to stir the pot and get the media focused on him – because we know how much he hates it if anybody else is in the spotlight! But thank you Donald, for showing us all what a hypocrital bigot and thin skinned person you really are.