Former House speaker Newt Gingrich will announce Wednesday he is running for president of the United States in 2012. The former Georgia congressman will make the official announcement by Facebook and Twitter, according to spokesman Rick Tyler.

Others in the Republican field that are potential candidates are billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Donald Trump, former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

On the Democratic side, President Barack Obama has already announced his bid for a second term. Rivals have criticized his economic agenda and the high unemployment rates in the nation.In November 2010, Obama's Democratic Party lost 63 seats in, and control of, the House of Representatives. But the killing of Bin Laden, America's most wanted man, this month has given a spike to Obama's job approval ratings.

Mr. Gingrich will base his campaign in Georgia.

Mr. Gingrich will make his first speech as a presidential candidate Friday at Georgia Republican Party Convention. He'll then head to Eureka, Ill., to deliver the commencement speech at Eureka College.

Mr. Gingrich has been raising money and assembling a campaign team for months. In March he launched a fundraising committee, Newt Explore 2012, to consider running for president in 2012. The sitehttp://newtexplore2012.com/ solicits donations and rally volunteers.

Mr. Ginrich was the 58th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. In 1995, he led the Republican Revolution in the House, ending 40 years of the Democratic Party being in the majority. Following Republican losses in the 1998 mid-term elections, Mr. Gingrich resigned from both the Speakership and his congressional seat.