Trump joins GOP presidential race

By The Iowa Statesman

 

Today, businessman Donald Trump, joined by his immediate family, announced his candidacy for President of the United States in front of thousands of supporters at Trump Tower in New York City.

“Quite simply, it is time to bring real leadership to Washington,” he said. “The fact is, the American Dream is dead — but if I win, I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before. Together we will make America great again.”

Trump said he has frequently used his platform as a public figure to advocate for conservative causes and to educate the public on the failures of the Obama Administration. He said he believes in the free market, a strong military, and “our country’s sacred obligation to take care of our veterans and their families.”

He was introduced by his daughter, Ivanka, who said her father was “battle tested,” and “a dreamer — but more importantly, a doer.”

“My generation finds itself at a crossroads,” she said. “Our leadership has been mired in bureaucracy of its own creation. If we don’t adapt politically and economically our country will be left behind.”

At the same time has his announcement, Trump released a summary of his net worth, which totals approximately $8.7 billion. His total assets, including cash and marketable securities, real property, licensing deals, and the Miss Universe/Miss USA/Miss Teen USA pageants, total about $9.2 billion. It also noted approximately $102 million in charitable donations made over the past five years.

Following the official announcement, Trump released his itinerary of campaign stops in early primary and caucus states, including Iowa. Tonight, at 5:45 p.m., he will speak at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines.

The full text of Trump’s speech follows:

Our country is in serious trouble. We are not respected by anyone. We are a laughing stock all over the world. ISIS, China, Mexico are all beating us. Everybody is beating us. Our enemies are getting stronger and we are getting weaker.

Politicians are all talk and no action. They will never be able to fix our country. They will never bring us to the Promised Land, and I cannot sit back and watch this incompetence any longer.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for President of the United States.

While I love my company and what I have built, I love my country even more. When was the last time the U.S. won at anything? When was the last time we beat China or Japan in trade? Or Mexico at the border? Or anybody in negotiation? When was the last time we had a military victory that was so complete and total that the other side just said, “We Quit!”?
It just doesn’t happen for the U.S. anymore.

Our country needs and deserves a comeback…but, we are not going to get that comeback with politicians. Politicians are not the solution to our problems — they are the problem. They are almost completely controlled by lobbyists, donors and the special interests — they do not have the best interests of our people at heart.

We will never achieve our full potential if we send yet another politician to the White House. They will grow government, not cut it — they will grow debt, not stop it. We are right now in a massive bubble that could be ready to explode — real unemployment in the range of 20%, artificially induced low interest rates, and a stock market that bears no relation to reality — are symptoms of something that could be catastrophic. We better have a great l eader who truly understands what’s going on.

Our country has a debt which will soon pass $20 trillion. We have unsecured borders. There are over 90 million Americans who have given up looking for work. We have 45 million Americans on food stamps and nearly 50 million Americans living in poverty.

Clearly, our so called “leaders” in Washington are failing us. They have failed to honor their sacred duty to care for our veterans and their families. They have failed to keep our military strong and vibrant. Through gross incompetence, we give billions of dollars of high grade military equipment to our enemies. Our President truly doesn’t have a clue!

At the same time, the world is becoming far more dangerous every day. Iran is racing towards developing nuclear weapons. China is exponentially expanding its military power, ISIS is beheading Christians simply for being Christian. In Benghazi, Islamic terrorists killed our diplomats without any consequences. Iran and ISIS, separately, are taking over vast areas in the Middle East and with it the largest oil reserves in the world. Our President has no plan.

The America we love will continue its decline because Washington is broken. We will never fix Washington from the inside unless we send someone to Washington from the outside. It is time for government to be run efficiently and effectively. It is time to get things done, and by done I mean properly done!

This is our time to once again make our government a government of the people, by the people and for the people. That is why today I am declaring my candidacy for President. I will make America great again!

We will change Washington together and defeat the special interests. I am not a politician. I can’t be bought. I won’t be running around the country begging people for money for my campaign. I won’t owe anybody anything. I won’t be beholden to anyone except to you, the American people, if you elect me to serve as your President.

It is time to take our country in a bold new direction. It is time to get Americans back to work.

It is way past time to build a massive wall to secure our southern border – and nobody can build a bigger and better wall than Donald Trump. A country without borders is, quite simply, not a country. Mexico is not our friend. They are beating us at the border and hurting us badly at economic development. They are sending people that they don’t want — the United States is becoming a dumping ground for the world.

It is of primary importance to take care of our veterans and their families — to make sure that every veteran has access to great medical care and attention. Our veterans are our heroes but are treated as third class citizens.

It is essential to rebuild our military so we have a strong presence that will send a clear message to our enemies that America is the leader of the free world. As President Reagan proved, there is only peace through strength.

The government must honor its obligations to our seniors. We must protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, without cuts…there will no longer be any waste, fraud and abuse on my watch. ObamaCare must be repealed and replaced with something far superior and at far less cost.

Likewise, we must greatly simplify our tax code. Our middle class, which has been totally forgotten, will thrive once again under President Trump.

It is time to stop sending jobs overseas through bad foreign trade deals. We will renegotiate our trade deals with the toughest negotiators our country has… the ones who have actually read “The Art of the Deal” and know how to make great deals for our country.

It is time to close loopholes for Wall Street and create far more opportunities for small businesses. It is necessary that we invest in our infrastructure, stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us and use that money to rebuild our tunnels, roads, bridges and schools—and nobody can do that better than me.

We have to stop Common Core. We must keep education local and under parental control. Unelected Washington bureaucrats shouldn’t determine what is best for our children.

It is important for our allies to know they can once again depend on us. We will no longer bow down to our enemies. We must stand by Israel. We will remind the world that a threat against Israel is a threat against the United States. We need to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. We cannot allow a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It is time to defeat ISIS. With a proper plan, it can be done quickly and effectively.

It is time to get tough with the Chinese on currency manipulation and espionage. We will tax China for each bad act, and if they continue then we will tax them at an even higher level. Quite simply, it is time to bring real leadership to Washington.

The fact is, the American Dream is dead — but if I win, I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before.