Bill de Blasio: New York mayor enters Democrat race to run against Trump in 2020 election

Nearly two dozen Democratic contenders have announced bids

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has announced he is running for US president.

The 58-year-old, who is barred from seeking a third four-year term in 2021, added his name to a growing list of Democrats eager to take on Donald Trump in 2020.

Mr De Blasio announced his bid with a video released by his campaign team on Thursday morning.

“There’s plenty of money in this world. There’s plenty of money in this country. It’s just in the wrong hands,” he says at the beginning of the video.

He concludes: “I’m running for president because it’s time we put working people first.”

He is scheduled to travel to the early-voting states of Iowa and South Carolina this weekend to begin campaigning.

The mayor emerged in 2013 as a leading voice for the burgeoning left wing that has reshaped his party. But he has struggled in the intervening years to build a national profile, and his approval ratings at home have waned after several political setbacks.

Mr De Blasio faces an uphill struggle to stand out among nearly two dozen Democratic contenders, who include former US vice president Joe Biden and liberal icons such as US senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

The mayor plans to emphasise his record of progressive accomplishments, including universal pre-kindergarten, a $15 (£11.69) minimum wage and paid sick leave – all in a city that has a bigger population, more than eight million, than most US states.

He has sharply criticised Mr Trump on issues such as climate change, immigration and policing.

On Monday, he held a news conference inside Trump Tower to call on the Trump Organisation to meet newly enacted emissions standards in their skyscrapers or face significant fines.

In a preview of what could be to come, the event drew scathing insults on Twitter from Mr Trump’s two oldest sons, Eric and Donald Jr, who run the family company. The president retweeted a message from Eric Trump slamming Mr De Blasio’s stewardship of his family’s hometown.

Most New Yorkers appear unenthused about Mr De Blasio’s presidential aspirations: a Quinnipiac University poll in April found more than three-quarters of New Yorkers did not feel he should make a White House bid.