Trump fans delight in 2024 announcement

PALM BEACH, United States: There was no escalator like last time, no offensive nicknames like always, and none of the awkward dancing that sometimes features, but supporters got exactly what they wanted in Florida on Tuesday: the announcement that Donald Trump was running for the White House again.

The setting was a little more sedate than the windswept Make America Great Again rallies in farmers´ fields or in cavernous aircraft hangers on the outskirts of a midwestern city. But it was Trump all the way, with American flags, family members, advisors, and members of his private club packing the gilded ballroom of his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Repeatedly, the former president´s often dark, frequently triumphalist speech was interrupted with chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump,” as the tycoon-turned-TV star lapped up the adoration. And when he finally got to the moment they had all been waiting for -- “I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States” -- the room erupted.

One of America´s most divisive figures in recent decades reeled off what he considered his accomplishments during four chaotic years in Washington. It was, he said a time when “Our nation was at the pinnacle of power, prosperity and prestige, towering above all rivals.” In the 22 months since he left the White House.