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.”
