Former President Donald Trump announced his third presidential run at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 15, 2022. Photo: ALON SKUY/AFP via Getty Images

Trump cast himself as the lone panacea to a long list of ills on a "quest to save our country." He was short on new policy pronouncements, reiterating past ideas of imposing the death penalty for drug dealers, promising full back-pay for any American servicemember who was kicked out due to vaccine mandates, support for term limits for members of Congress, and a lifetime ban on former lawmakers becoming lobbyists.

"America's comeback starts right now," Trump said during his speech.

"So from now until Election Day in 2024 ... I will fight like no one who has ever fought before," he added.

What was notable in Trump's just-over-an-hour speech is what he did not say. The former president did not attack Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or any of his potential future GOP primary foes by name. The closest he came to any criticism of any non-Democratic politician is when he warned that the task ahead is so great that only Trump himself fits the bill.

"Together, we will be taking on the most corrupt forces and entrenched interests imaginable," Trump said. "Our country is in a horrible state. We're in grave trouble. This is not a task for a politician or a conventional candidate this is a task for a great movement that embodies the courage, confidence, and spirit of the American people."

Trump described a nation of "blood-soaked" streets, an "erased" Southern border, and a "destroyed" economy. Of the upcoming holiday, Trump wished Americans "good luck getting a turkey during Thanksgiving."

Trump blames Biden for 'decline of America'

"America is mocked, derided, and brought to its knees, perhaps, like never before," he said, also describing the US as "failing" and "in decline."

The former president promised to "immediately tackle inflation" and restore the US economy to its pre-pandemic state, but he was short on specifics on how a renewed Trump administration would accomplish these tasks.

Trump repeatedly mocked Biden, suggesting that the commander-in-chief is feeble and unfit. The former president has never officially conceded his 2020 election defeat, continuing to tout a debunked denial of the results.

"The decline of America is being forced upon us by Biden and the radical left lunatics that are running our government right into the ground," Trump said.

Biden's team responded to Trump's announcement by pointing Americans to a new website that touts the Biden administration's accomplishments.

Trump appeared to try to stay on script on Tuesday evening, saying at one point that his announcement was "an elegant night and this is an elegant place." As time went on, though, Trump's speech became virtually inseparable from his long stem-winding political rally speeches that can go on for hours.

As the speech neared the one-hour mark, Trump began to abruptly jump topics from old grievances over the so-called "Steele dossier" to wanting to impose a federal limit on early voting. He then called for his son Eric to stand up, arguing that he has a "Ph.D. in subpoenas" due to the many prosecutors who have probed the Trump administration.

Multiple networks, including Fox News, began to give up on Trump's announcement and resumed regular programming before he was done speaking.

The twice-impeached former president won his first term in 2016 against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Now-President Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020. Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud, claims that failed repeatedly in courts but that nonetheless helped incite the violent storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump's announcement comes two years before Election Day, and he is the first Republican to throw his hat into the ring. Just before his expected announcement, Trump filed his official paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission — such a step would meet the legal requirements of his comeback campaign.

Trump now enters the field as the presumptive frontrunner for the Republican nomination, with greater name recognition and a larger war chest than any of his potential rivals.

He also goes into the 2024 race facing more federal and state criminal investigations than his potential opponents, with prosecutors scrutinizing everything from his handling of highly sensitive government records to his role in the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection.

Unlike most former presidents, who cede the spotlight to a new generation of successors after leaving the White House, Trump has sought to maintain control of his party apparatus while out of office and held rallies around the country, fueling expectations that the 76-year-old would run again.