Throwback to the Year 2000 When Donald Trump Commented That the GOP Had Become "Just Too Crazy"

In 1999, Donald Trump left the Republican Party to become a member of the Reform Party and pursue its presidential nomination. In 2000, he was spotted welcoming Reform Party members and off-season Palm Beach society at his lavish Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.

According to The Guardian, Trump said to the crowd, “We’ve come really from being a very successful businessman to being a very serious candidate. I am looking very, very seriously on whether it can be won.”

During the gathering, Trump shared his proposals, which included implementing a one-time tax on wealthy individuals to wipe out the growing national debt. He identified North Korea as the most significant threat to the United States. Additionally, he expressed his strong support for the economic embargo against Cuba and pointed the finger at Japan, rather than China, for taking advantage of the U.S. He derided his Republican competitors as "a bunch of stiffs" and criticized politicians who emphasize their modest beginnings, dismissing them as losers. Furthermore, he referred to the affluent candidates as part of a "lucky sperm club."

Trump, who had left the Republican Party, also expressed to reporters his view that the GOP had become "just too crazy right." Accordingly, at that time, he aligned with the Reform Party's stance that abortion rights should remain separate from politics. Trump did not comment on Muslim immigration, torture, or energy dependence. In the following year, in 2020, Trump prepared for his presidential bid, committing to personally invest $100 million in his campaign. Meanwhile, Melania Knauss, Trump's girlfriend at the time, posed on a large presidential seal and stated her intention to be a traditional first lady, akin to Jackie Kennedy.

Before his presidential bid, Trump was already renowned as America's most prominent and flamboyant billionaire. Initially viewed as an unlikely candidate for the presidency, Trump served a single term and is now a significant figure within the Republican party. Doubts about his 2016 candidacy arose not only due to his contentious stance on immigration and unconventional campaigning but also because of his celebrity background, as noted by the BBC. Despite these doubts, he went on to win the 2016 presidential election, marking one of the most divisive and controversial contests in U.S. history.

Trump's interest in a presidential run however went as far back as 1987 and by 2008, he became a prominent figure in the birther movement, which raised doubts about Barack Obama's birthplace although later he did acknowledge that these claims were unfounded. Subsequently, by June 2015, Trump officially declared his candidacy for the presidency. In his announcement speech, he famously said, "We need somebody that literally will take this country and make it great again. We can do that."