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
From CNN Politics
- Harris faces painful Black history in emotional slave outpost visit
- 10 Cards Charging 0% Interest Until 2024
- Kentucky law aimed at increasing parental oversight in education takes effect
- New York grand jury won't hear Trump case again this week
- Defense secretary defends abortion policies at center of Senate nomination hold-up
- Justice Department moves to end consent decree with Seattle Police Department
I purchased Trump's casino stock TRMP because I thought he was so good in real estate. NOT !! Last year it went to $0.006 > bankrupt! I guess there is no difference between Trump and our political bunch.
there is god!
AWWWWW, I'm thinking he's too sensitive about that bad hairdo, and doesn't want to spend most of his time defending it.
AWWWWW: he has so many illegal irons in the fire to have time to defend 'em.
Donald J Trump acts like a little boy with all of his name calling, chest pounding and ridiculousness. Yay. We don't have to watch another tantrum!!
awwwwwww.. the tiny violins are working overtime today.
He didn't want to release his financial records OR have his combover exposed during vetting. Poor guy.
Now there's a loss.............
This laughable, delusional clown will be missed. Especially by the writers of the Daily Show.
What a shocker. This just hit me out of left field. I thought he was a shoe in.
TRUMP YOU GAS BAG GO JUMP OFF TRUMP TOWER
is he on acid?
He is such a blow hard. Good ridance to him. All he knows how to do is run some stupid reality show. The American people wouldn't have voted for him anyway. He thinks he was the top contender! Keep thinking that Donald. Now maybe you will have time to go and get a real haircut!
....saying you are on top of the Republican party is like saying you are the skinny kid at fat camp....
He was never serious and could never be taken seriously with that Birther junk. P.S. his people found shocking things in HI about Obama he claimed, yet Trump didn't deliver them.
Ha Ha! Trump really made a fool of himself in every way and Obama's smackdown of Trump is now legendary! What a loser.
Thank God!!!
If you listen very, very carefully you can hear him pulling his empty head out of his fat ass. For a mere ten seconds that is!
No surprise. Huff, puff, and step away. Disclosing his finances would have been fun to see, but his birther episode exposed his as being a publicity hound and little else. And his threat of invading a country and seizing the oil was stupid.
The job of president is now a joke. The candidates lack the class and professionalism that this position requires and the same can be said of the voters. Nothing changes and the two parties will never work together to make any kind of a positive difference. Today's candidates are all talk and do, and go, wherever the money flows to their advantage. How disappointing that it's come to this. Tic toc...December 21, 2012.
P.T. BARNUM (T=TRUMP).
The king of ego fueled self-promotion wins huge ratings for new season of The Apprentice
after ensuring everyone living under a rock has heard of his name and the fact that he hosts
a trashy reality show. Well, played, even if annoying that we had to listen to your b.s. for the
past few months.
He was never planning on running, it was all just a ploy to get himself some publicity. Every time he's wanted self-promotion he's done something like this. The man simply knows how to play the system to get attention, that's all.
And also, good joke him saying he would win. And if he did, this country would fall apart.
And Trump had to announce this!!? Anyone with half a brain knows trump wasn't gonna run for president. He's so full of sh*t when trump dies, the mortician will give him an enema and he will be buried in a matchbox. Go away donald...you and that fox on your head an just go. Such a waste
Trump proves once again you can fool some of the people all of the time (and the vast majority of those are having a tea party). The fact that he pulls this every four years and doesn't get laughed off the stage or called an outright liar is simply unexplainable. It's really a sad commentary on our society that a cheesy huckster can be taken seriously again and again.
"So, I make you this promise: that I will continue to voice my opinions loudly and help to shape our politician's thoughts." Scary to think that any politician would listen to someone who could not steer away from Obama's birth certificate. I believe people in the US should focus more attention on their country's finances. Having Trump running for office is like having Carrot Top running for office.
Gutless and all mouth.
Nice job Seth Meyers!!
Really we should be thanking YOU Mr. Trump...you just saved the GOP A LOT of embarassment this cycle...not that they won't receive their fair share in 2012 ANYWAY...but its nice to know we don't have to worry about Trump showing up at anymore debates or events to talk for any reason.