In his announcement, Trump touted his experience creating jobs throughout the Trump Organization. Trump to form exploratory committee for possible 2016 presidential bid

Real estate mogul Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will be forming a presidential exploratory committee ahead of the 2016 election.

“I have a great love for our country, but it is a country that is in serious trouble. We have lost the respect of the entire world. Americans deserve better than what they get from their politicians — who are all talk and no action!” Trump said in a statement.


In addition to the committee, which will help Trump decide whether to officially announce a run for president, the Republican has “made several key hires” of staff with roots in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and hired additional advisers based in New York.

In his announcement, Trump touted his experience building his company and creating jobs throughout the Trump Organization, with “very little debt.”

“Our real unemployment rate is staggering while our manufacturing base is eroding on a daily basis,” Trump said. “We must rebuild our infrastructure, control our borders, support local control of education, greatly strengthen our military, care for our veterans and put Americans back to work!”

Trump has publicly toyed with running for president in the past, including announcing in 2010 that he was interested in a possible 2012 bid.

But he has a steep hill to climb with Republican voters. In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll from March 11, 74 percent of Republicans said they viewed Trump in a negative way — more than any of the 14 other candidates discussed in the poll.

On Thursday, Trump will travel to New Hampshire, a battleground state, to meet with veterans and local business owners.

An NBC Entertainment source told POLITICO’s On Media blog that the network still plans to go ahead with season 15 of “Celebrity Apprentice,” despite the announcement.