The US presidential campaign might have just got interesting – Donald Trump today announced that he is joining the race for the Republican Party’s nomination for next year’s political showdown.

At a rally at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Tuesday (June 16th), the 69 year old billionaire announced: “Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for President of the United States and we are going to make our country great again.”

It means that the real estate magnate-turned-reality TV icon will be joining, among others, Senator Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Lindsay Graham and Jeb Bush in vying for the nod from the GOP.

Donald TrumpDonald Trump has entered the Republican nomination race

Trump, whose personal wealth is estimated at $4.1 billion by Forbes but stated by the man himself today to be roughly $8 billion, will be using his own money to finance his campaign. He also didn’t feel too hesitant to talk about his personal fortune, reminding his supporters that he’s “really rich”. Well, obviously.

“That's the kind of thinking you need for this country. It sounds crass, but it's not crass. That's the kind of thinking our country needs,” he told the assembled crowd. “We have the opposite thinking. We have losers. We have people that don't have it. We have people that are morally corrupt. I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”

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‘The Apprentice’ reality TV mainstay on NBC since 2004, Trump has hinted on many occasions that he would like to be President in the future – and it appears that 2016 is his goal. Judging by his speech, he certainly doesn’t seem to have a very high opinion of his rivals.

“I’ve watched the politicians. I’ve dealt with them all my life. If you can’t make a good deal with a politician, then there’s something wrong with you... …and that’s what we have representing us. They will never make America great again. They don’t even have a chance.”

So it looks as though his calling card over the next few months will be the old ‘Washington outsider’ appeal. We’ll see what happens before the end of the year as to whether he can upstage the more established names of the GOP.

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