Donald Trump has claimed he was America’s “healthiest ever” president as he hinted he is readying to run for office again in 2024.
The 76-year-old made the boast when welcomed by supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas, where he delivered a speech.
In an apparent attack on president Joe Biden, who has been isolating for nearly two weeks with coronavirus, Trump bragged his ex-White House doctor Ronny Jackson “loved” looking at his body and told Trump he was “the healthiest president that’s ever lived”.
He said about Jackson: “He was a great doctor. He was an admiral, a doctor and now he’s a congressman.
“He loved looking at my body. It was so strong and powerful. But he said I’m the healthiest president that’s ever lived… I said, ‘I like this guy’.”
At the event, America’s 45th president Trump, who then lost his premiership in the 2020 US presidential election to Biden, 79.
also continually said he had made a decision on the 2024 presidential race.
When asked by Fox News when Republicans could expect a formal announcement, former reality TV judge Trump replied: “It’s certainly not a very long period, the time is coming. I think people are going to be very happy, our country has never been in a position like this, we’ve lost everything.”
He cited the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as one of the reasons the country’s “prestige” had been damaged.
Trump went on: “Our country has never been at a worse point. They gave away $85 billion worth of equipment – dead soldiers – you still have Americans over there probably as hostages, eventually will be hostages, there has never been a time like this.
“We’ll be making an announcement in the not too distant future.”
Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban and former right-wing Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage also attended the event.