Property tycoon and TV personality Donald Trump has announced his candidacy for the 2016 US presidential election, in a blitz of boasts, inflammatory comments and attacks on both fellow Republicans and Barack Obama's administration.
“I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created,” Trump said on launching his bid for the Republican nomination at the Trump Tower skyscraper in Manhattan.
The billionaire, widely seen as having almost no chance of winning the nomination, brings an outsized personality and a penchant for controversy to the unusually large group of Republicans vying for the presidency.
In highly provocative comments, Trump accused Mexico of sending rapists and other criminals to live in the US.
“They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing their problems,” he said.
“They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting.”
Republican candidates
Eleven other Republicans have announced that they are running for next November's election, the latest being former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who launched his candidacy on Monday.
Mr Trump, who boasted of having a net worth of $8.7 billion, accused Bush of being weak on education.
“How the hell can you vote for this guy?”
Trump, who owns several hotels and hosts the reality show Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, toyed with running in past elections but ultimately decided against doing so.
He languishes in 12th place, ahead of former New York governor George Pataki, in a Reuters/Ipsos online poll of the 13 Republicans who have either declared their candidacies or are likely to.
Jeb Bush led the poll.
In other surveys, Trump has high negative ratings, with more than 50 per cent of Americans saying they will never consider voting for him.
Reuters