Donald Trump hasn't officially announced that he's running for president, but he's pretty sure where he'll tell the nation his plans — and that place will be one that bears his own name.
The billionaire real-estate mogul, who has often hinted around a presidential campaign but has never mounted one, told
The Washington Post that his posh namesake Manhattan skyscraper would be the ideal place for him to make his announcement.
"Trump Tower is fantastic — 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, with an atrium that can hold thousands of people," he said of the landmark building. "In the history of running for president, no one has the sites I have."
While he's got his location in mind, though, Trump so far isn't among the wide slate of candidates planning announcements this month, so far.
Last week,
he told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly that he does have a favorite among potential Republican candidates: himself.
"I think Donald Trump," he said. "I think Donald Trump is the best by far."
When O'Reilly reminded him he wasn't yet in the race, Trump replied that "no, I haven't announced. I haven't done that yet, no. I feel very strongly about a guy named Donald Trump."
His announcement at the Trump Tower would, though, echo what he told O'Reilly that he'd tell the public in a campaign.
"I'm going to say that look, I built a great empire in a very short period of time," he said. "I have done a lot of great things. I guarantee you one thing when you look at what's happening in this country that wouldn't be happening anymore."
Trump said last month that he expects an announcement in June, and told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that "people are going to be very surprised at what the decision is."
But there are other announcements coming this month, following on the heels of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's being first to enter the race, and those candidates have plans that could rival a Trump announcement, even if they aren't coming in a pink marble-and-brass Manhattan skyscraper named for themselves.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Sen. Rand Paul's launch is coming Tuesday in a hotel ballroom in Louisville. Next week, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, will make his intentions known at the iconic Freedom Tower in Miami, the first stop for Cuban exiles entering the United States for decades.
Hillary Clinton is expected to also make her own announcement later this month, but has not yet named a location or date.
According to CBS New York and The Associated Press, she is expected to launch in the next two weeks and will focus on intimate events instead of larger rallies, two people close to her organization said.
She made her last announcement in a video, and many Democrats say she should opt for accessibility this time around so she can reconnect with the American public.
A strong launch is often key to a campaign. Cruz last month spoke to students at the private Liberty University, a Christian school, and since then has been raising millions of dollars and is in the nascent race's top tier.
But the best-made plans can flop, The Post notes, remembering when former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. launched in New York with the Statue of Liberty in the background in what appeared to be the ideal setting. But there were many interruptions and more journalists, and the event quickly came to represent Huntsman's campaign.
Other speeches, such as Barack Obama's on the grounds of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., evoked memories of Abraham Lincoln. Even conservative Ronald Reagan rolled out his 1979 announcement in New York and campaigned in Boston in hopes of dimming his Western background.
"If they can work magic with the announcement, that’s their first great shot," said Fred Davis, a Hollywood-based media strategist. "The priority for every single one of these is to springboard the announcement into being in the top tier."
Speculation is rife for the other candidates. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s allies say he'll likely start his campaign from the capital city of Tallahassee to underline his record as governor, although confidant Al Cardenas says he has many more good choices to think about.
new Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could begin his campaign on a Jersey Shore boardwalk, but former New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean said "he probably wouldn’t want to do it in Atlantic City, since it’s falling apart."
Russ Schriefer, a Christie media consultant and former adviser to Mitt Romney, told The Post that announcements are important in establishing a candidate's image.
"Your campaign announcement is in many ways your opening night," he said, using a Broadway analogy. "You’ve allowed the critics to come in and begin to write their reviews in a way that matters."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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