Why is Donald Trump announcing his bid for presidency so soon?

From the moment he left office almost two years ago, speculation was rife that he intended to return. Now, his White House bid is official, after the former president made the declaration in a speech at Mar-a-Lago. Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his intention to run for the White House once again in the 2024 presidential election.

Earlier in the day, his aides filed paperwork with the US Federal Election Commission setting up a committee called "Donald J. Trump for President 2024."

'Everybody was thriving'
In his speech, Trump defended his legacy of ripping up trade deals, foreign policy, border control, and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In four short years everybody was doing great. Everybody was thriving like never before," Trump said of his time in office, claiming that under his single, 4-year term tenure, the United States enjoyed "decades" of peace.

He also implied that China interfered in the 2020 election, in which he lost.

Trump claimed that Biden has undermined Trump's legacy since taking power.

"For millions of Americans, the two years under Joe Biden have been a time of pain, hardship and despair," he said, citing inflation, gas prices, energy shortages, supposed loss of border control, and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

He claimed that Russia's invasion of Ukraine would never have happened had he been in power.

He defended the Republicans' turn-out in the midterms, in which they failed to take control of the Senate. But he said two more years of Biden would open voters' eyes to the benefits of a Trump presidency.

Trump once targeted migrants saying, "We're being poisoned," and claimed that crime waves in American cities have left "cesspools of blood."

He pledged to support the death penalty for drug traffickers, term limits for legislators and promised to rehire military personnel who had been discharged for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

Trump defies Republican call for a change
Trump's declaration comes after speculation intensified in recent months that he intended to run for president once again. It also comes as Republicans closed in on the 218 seats they need to take a majority in the House of Representatives.

The former president's announcement to run as a Republican candidate comes despite the disappointing showing of the candidates he backed in last week's midterm congressional elections.

Many Republicans blame him for their party's poorer-than-expected performance.