After years of flirting and threatening with a run for president, businessman Donald Trump made it official on Tuesday. In front of three dozen cameras and almost 100 reporters gathered at his golden-colored towers in Manhattan, he declared: “Ladies and gentleman, I am officially running for president of the United States.”

In a colorful hour-long presentation that contained many of the brazen one-liners for which he is known, Trump blasted President Barack Obama over his administration’s nuclear talks with Iran. "Take a look at the deal he's making with Iran. [If] he makes that deal, Israel maybe won't exist very long. It's a disaster."

“We have to protect Israel,” Trump asserted. "And we won't be using a man like Secretary Kerry that has absolutely no concept of negotiation, who's making a horrible and laughable deal, who's just being tapped along as they make weapons right now, and then goes into a bicycle race at 72 years old, and falls and breaks his leg," he said, "I won't be doing that. And I promise I will never be in a bicycle race."

The real estate mogul and reality TV host told reporters that he is the only candidate in the race who can win as a Republican, and the only one who would make a tough trade as commander in chief and president. “Politicians are all talk and no action. They will never be able to fix our country. They will never bring us to the Promised Land, and I cannot sit back and watch this incompetence any long,” Trump stated.

“They don’t have a clue, they can’t lead us. How are they going to make us great again?” Trump bellowed. He castigated his Republican opponents, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, highlighting their blunders on TV when asked about Iraq. “How can you vote for his man?” he said of Bush. Referring to his own “right predictions on Iraq,” Trump trounced Bush by saying: "I mean, you looked at Bush, it took him five days to answer the question on Iraq. He couldn't answer the question. He didn't know. I said, "Is he intelligent?"

While he is considered as a longshot candidate, Trump’s celebrity status gives him a good opening slot, probably making him one of the 10 contenders that will getting a seat at the TV debates that will be held in the summer and fall. The straight talk, the candor, and the colorful evaluation of the current state of affairs will clearly give Trump a loud voice at the table that could enable him to pick up support during the primaries season.

And, as he made clear, he has the resources that will enable him to stay in the race for the long haul. "I don't need anybody's money. I'm using my own money. I'm not using the lobbyists. I'm not using donors. I don't care. I'm really rich."

The rally was held on the ground floor of the Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Supporters were lined up in the lobby as well as along the five-story staircase, with hand-written posters and smartphones in their hands. Every five minutes David Schwartz rallied the crowd with chants like “We need Trump, we need him now” and “When do we want him? Now!”

As the crowd was getting ready to welcome Trump, the speakers blared the Rolling Stones song, “You can’t always get what you want But if you try sometimes well you just might find you get what you need.”

After being introduced by his daughter Ivanka, who is Orthodox Jewish and married to Jared Kushner, Trump entered the room from the lobby floor, taking down the escalator to loud music.

After an hour-long speech, and announcing his net worth fortune of $8,737,540,000, The Donald concluded. “The fact is, the American Dream is dead - but if I win, I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before. Together we will Make America Great Again!”

Jacob Kornbluh is a political correspondent for www.jpupdates.com