May 16, 2011 09:58 PM UTC

Surprise! Trump Won't Run for President!

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• by: Colorado Pols

Not that anybody seriously thought that Donald Trump was going to run for President, but here’s the news anyway from our friends at “The Fix“:

“I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election,” Trump said in a statement. “Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.”

Trump’s decision brings to an end a several-months-long roller coaster ride in which the flamboyant celebrity pushed the debate over whether President Obama was born in the United States into the public eye, rose as high as second place in polling on the 2012 race and was the butt of jokes from the president himself during last month’s White House Correspondents Dinner.

Trump’s hand was likely forced by NBC’s decision to renew the “Celebrity Apprentice” for another season. That meant that Trump had to choose between his interest in presidential politics and his career as a reality television star. He, not surprisingly, chose the latter.

It was roughly a decade ago when Trump pulled a similar move when he appeared to be an all-but-certain candidate for the Reform Party presidential nomination before bowing out.

Trump’s decision not to run is likely to be greeted by a sigh of relief by most Republican party strategists who viewed Trump as a major distraction for the more serious contenders for the nomination. [Pols emphasis]

Of course, it says a lot about the Republican field for President when the guy viewed by strategists as “a major distraction” actually topped some polls among Republican favorites for the GOP nomination.