WASHINGTON — Donald Trump, whose public flirtation
with a presidential run has overshadowed the early stages of the
Republican primary race, announced Monday that he will not be a
candidate in 2012.
Speaking at an event to announce NBC’s fall network
lineup in New York, Trump said he would continue hosting his reality
show, “Celebrity Apprentice.”
“I will not be running for president, as much as I’d like to,” he said.
In a statement, Trump said the decision “does not
come easily or without a regret,” and that he believes that had he run,
he could have won.
“I have spent the past several months unofficially
campaigning and recognize that running for public office cannot be done
half-heartedly. Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and
I am not ready to leave the private sector,” he said in the statement.
In his statement, Trump also thanked those who
expressed support for his efforts, and promised to “continue to voice my
opinions loudly and help to shape our politicians’ thoughts.”
The New York real estate titan began floating the
notion of a presidential run just as the new season of his reality show
was set to debut. In interviews, he eagerly plugged the show as he also
offered his views on issues such as the economy and foreign policy.
He even followed the traditional candidate playbook
by visiting New Hampshire last month, and was set to headline a major
Iowa Republican Party fundraising dinner in June.
But perhaps his main contribution to the public
debate was his foray into the so-called “birther” issue, questioning
whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Trump said
he dispatched a team of investigators to Hawaii to search for clues,
and suggested that what they were discovering would surprise the public.
As he gained attention for that effort, public
polling found him rapidly jumping ahead of Republican candidates both
nationally and in key early states.
Obama ultimately chose to release his long-form birth
certificate to prove his Hawaiian roots, alluding at a news conference
to the “carnival barkers” who were diverting the nation from more urgent
issues.
Trump took credit for forcing Obama’s hand, but the
development seemed to rob him of any momentum there was for his
candidacy. He found himself the butt of jokes at the annual White House
correspondents dinner, where Obama himself mocked the “leadership
qualities” Trump showed by firing washed-up celebrities on his show. The
next day, the president announced that he had authorized a raid on
Osama bin Laden’s compound, leading to the killing of the world’s
most-wanted terrorist.
If, as some suspected, Trump’s supposed presidential
aspirations were actually an attempt to goose ratings for his NBC
series, the strategy may have backfired. According to data obtained by
The Atlantic online, “Celebrity Apprentice” had one of the most liberal
audiences on television, and viewership was declining as Trump’s
criticism of the president peaked.
Trump’s announcement that he would put his television
and business interests ahead of politics comes two days after Mike
Huckabee announced on his Fox News Channel show that he, too, would not
run. Trump actually made a cameo at the end of Huckabee’s show to
congratulate him for his decision.
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(c) 2011, Tribune Co.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
