Donald Trump Is Launching A 2016 Exploratory Committee — For Real

Donald Trump smiles during a ground breaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel on the site of the Old Post Office, on Wednesday, July 23, 2014, in Washington. (AP Photo)
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Real estate mogul Donald Trump is going a step further in his presidential machinations for 2016 than he did in 2012.

The New Hampshire Union-Leader and local TV station WMUR reported that Trump plans to announce the formation of a presidential exploratory committee on Wednesday, a day before visiting the first-in-the-nation primary state.

“I am the only one who can make America truly great again!” Trump said in a statement obtained by CNBC.

Last month, Trump began hiring consultants who could serve on a potential presidential campaign. The reality TV star also publicly toyed with a presidential run in 2012, but he didn’t take as concrete of a step as forming an exploratory committee during that cycle.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are the only other potential presidential contenders in a crowded field of likely GOP candidates to form exploratory committees at this stage.

Trump’s senior political adviser, Corey Lewandowski, told the Union-Leader that Trump has also declined to return for another season of his successful reality show “The Apprentice.”

“Nobody in the history of television has turned down a renewal,” Lewandowski told the newspaper. “But Mr. Trump can do that.”

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Notable Replies

  1. Damn it, I say we are paying comedians far too much these days because the comedy material just writes itself!!

  2. Well, at least he’s got a solid plan for dealing with the national debt, based upon his personal business experience: declare bankruptcy and leave our creditors holding the bag.

  3. He’s so absolutely full of himself it’s amazing. He’s either doing it for the money or his huge ego… I say both.

  4. “I am the only one who can make America truly great again!”

    Does anyone else see a little narcissism here. Does he even know how that sounds?

  5. Reminds me of Muhammed Ali back in the day, except Ali WAS the greatest.

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