Trump announces he will not run for president

Donald Trump announced Monday that he will not be a 2012 presidential candidate.

The real estate mogul noted in a statement that he has been unofficially campaigning for the past several months, but has determined politics is not his first priority. "Business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector," Trump said.

Trump's announcement caps three months of public flirtation with a run for the nation's highest office.

The businessman burst onto the political scene in February at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference as a guest of Republican gay rights group GOProud. Trump soon made national headlines for sympathizing with "birthers"--those who doubt that President Obama is a U.S. citizen, born in Hawaii--and launched a quest to force the president to release his long-form birth certificate. He quickly rose to the top of multiple national polls of the 2012 race.

But then the White House chose to release the president's long-form certificate April 27, and Trump saw his star begin to fall.

He was the butt of jokes at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner and soon his poll numbers began to plummet.

Though Trump continued to make campaign stops, traveling as recently as last week to the early primary state of New Hampshire, several signs pointed to his potential departure, including NBC's decision to renew his reality show "The Apprentice" next season.

Skeptics viewed Trump's flirtation with a presidential run as a publicity stunt--aimed, perhaps, at boosting ratings for "The Apprentice" or the Trump brand generally. If that was indeed Trump's motivation, the tactic didn't work--viewership for Trump's reality franchise fell off as campaign speculation swirled around its star. Meanwhile, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee--who announced on Saturday that he, too, was ruling out a 2012 presidential run--will hold on to a lucrative contract with Fox News. Huckabee had previously noted that a decision to run would mean "that I walk away from a pretty good income"--suggesting once more that a high-profile national political campaign may not be all that beneficial to an established media brand.

Trump on Monday headed off suggestions he's bowing out because he was a longshot, for either the GOP nomination or the presidency. "I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election," he said.

Trump promised supporters he would continue to voice his opinions "loudly" and "shape our politicians' thoughts" heading into 2012.

(Photo of Trump: Jim Cole/AP)