Apprentice boss Donald Trump confirms bid for White House
US businessman Donald Trump has announced his bid for the Republican Presidential nomination.
Mr Trump, a billionaire businessman who is known for appearing on the US version of reality show The Apprentice, became the latest Republican to announce a bid for a White House.
The TV star previously explained he opposes same-sex marriage because he ājust donāt feel good about itā, saying āno and noā in 2011 to marriage or benefits for gay couples.
However, despite his public opposition to the rights of gay couples to marry, actor George Takei said that Trump privately admitted he has attended a same-sex wedding and that heād found it ābeautifulā.
Mr Trump is known to some for his bizarre use of Twitter ā which he often uses to give his opinions on seemingly random topics.
Mr Trump recently pledged to be the āgreatest representativeā of Christians if elected, amid religious freedom laws passed in a number of Republican states permitting anti-gay discrimination.
He said: āThe Christians are being treated horribly because we have nobody to represent the Christians.
āBelieve me, if I run and I win, I will be the greatest representative of the Christians theyāve had in a long time.ā
Mr Trump confirmed his bid in a speech at Trump Tower in New York.
He said: āOur country needs a truly great leader, and we need that leader now. We also need a cheerleader for our country.
āI am officially running for President of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again.ā
He is the twelfth candidate to officially declare a bid ā joining Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.
The Republican field is dominated by extreme anti-gay voices ā with Carson, Cruz, Huckabee, Paul, Perry and Santorum all staunch opponents of LGBT rights.
