Trump says ‘100 percent’ sure to seek reelection

US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he walks to Marine One prior to departure from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, February 16, 2018. Trump on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, said he was sure to seek a second term in 2020. AFP FILE

WASHINGTON, United States – Not that there was much doubt, but President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is sure to seek a second term in 2020.

“Yes, 100 percent,” Trump told Fox Business television in an interview due to air later in the day.

Trump upended politics as usual in the United States with his shock 2016 victory over Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton.

Even before upsetting predictions of an easy Clinton win, Trump defeated a string of traditional Republican candidates to secure his party’s nomination. Since then, he has deeply polarized the nation with his combative style.

A first test of the political temperature will take place next month in the congressional midterm elections where Democrats hope to wrest control of at least the lower house of Congress from the Republicans.

A long line of Democrats have also begun to explore running against Trump in 2020 and on Tuesday the president said he thought that former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, a media mogul, would join the list.

But, as with other potential rivals, Trump dismissed a Bloomberg challenge. “I think he’d be easy,” he said. /cbb