10 YEARS AGO: Media Mocked Trump’s Presidential Run Announcement

Ten years ago today, now-President Donald Trump came down the Trump Tower escalator in Manhattan to announce his run to be president of the United States.

“We need a leader that can bring back our jobs, can bring back our manufacturing, can bring back our military, can take care of our vets. …. We need somebody that literally will take this country and make it great again,” said the Queens-born real estate mogul and reality television star.

The 69-year-old made a number of promises, reshaping American politics to this day.

“I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall, mark my words,” Trump told the Manhattan crowd. 

Trump’s claims were met with general ridicule from most media coverage.

“Donald J. Trump, the garrulous real estate developer whose name has adorned apartment buildings, hotels, Trump-brand neckties and Trump-brand steaks, announced on Tuesday his entry into the 2016 presidential race, brandishing his wealth and fame as chief qualifications in an improbable quest for the Republican nomination,” wrote The New York Times in its mocking coverage of the candidate who would defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton little over a year later.

Ten years later, Trump is pushing for the speedy passage of the “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill, which would secure funding to complete construction of the southern border wall.

In his Trump Tower speech, the billionaire also vowed to bring stability to the Middle East.

“Islamic terrorism is eating up large portions of the Middle East. They’ve become rich. I’m in competition with them. They [ISIS] just built a hotel, can you believe this? … Nobody will be tougher on ISIS than Donald Trump,” he said, also promising to “stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”

In June 2025, Israel and Iran are currently at war after Israel struck the Islamic regime in an attempt to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The future-president also spoke at length on a topic that is still top-of-mind today—China.

“I like China. I love China,” he said. “[But] it’s like take the New England Patriots and Tom Brady and have them play your high school football team. That’s the difference between China’s leaders and our leaders. … We have all the cards, but we don’t know how to use them.”

In June 2025, Trump’s White House said it had reached a consensus on a trade agreement with China.

Now at the age of 79, Trump is half of a year into his second term as president after winning every swing as well as the popular vote. The journey he began in 2015 is far from over.