Media mogul Bloomberg enters US presidential race, takes aim at Trump

Former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg speaks during the Presidential Gun Sense Forum in Des Moines, Iowa, US. [Reuters]

Billionaire media mogul Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of America’s largest city, jumped into the race for the Democratic US presidential nomination on Sunday as a moderate with deep pockets unabashedly aiming to beat fellow New Yorker Donald Trump in the November 2020 election.

Bloomberg’s belated entry into the race - just three months before the first of the state-by-state party nominating contests - reflects his skepticism that any of the other 17 Democratic candidates can unseat the Republican president.