BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he will run for president in 2020 and the first stop on his campaign trail may be in Brooklyn.

"Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump," the 77-year-old Democratic socialist told supporters via email. "Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice."

The announcement came two days after the New York Post reported Sanders was in talks with Brooklyn College to organize a large outdoor speech on the campus quad. A Brooklyn College spokesperson was unable to confirm this report to Patch and Sanders' press office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The Brooklyn native first ran for president in 2016 when he challenged Hillary Clinton in his bid for the Democratic party's nomination. Sanders described his new bid for the presidency as a "continuation of what we did in 2016." The progressive, who promised free college tuition and Medicare for All, won more than 13 million votes in 2016 and dozens of primaries and caucuses.

Sanders hails from Flatbush, attended Brooklyn College for one year and has an older brother who graduated from the City University Of New York school. The Associated Press, a Patch media partner, contributed to this report.