WASHINGTON • United States President Donald Trump is formally launching what may be an uphill battle to persuade voters to give him four more years in office.
He is banking on a strong US economy to outweigh voter concerns about his unorthodox style and polarising policies.
At a rally scheduled for 8pm yesterday (8am Singapore time today) in Orlando, Florida, Mr Trump, who has long made it known he is running for re-election, was set to begin making his case with gusto for a second term.
The Trump of 2020 will most certainly bear a strong resemblance to the Trump of 2016: brash and eager to bash his Democratic opponents and promote tough policies on trade and immigration.
"We're doing the best job that anybody's done probably as a first-term president. I think I've done more than any other first-term president ever," the US President told ABC News.
Mr Trump, 21/2 years into his tenure, sees plenty of positive factors, led by a growing economy with low unemployment.
Mr Newt Gingrich, a Trump confidant and former Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, said: "If the economy stays strong, he is very likely to get re-elected."
But the aftermath of a probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, coupled with a presidential style marked by name-calling and eye-popping tweets, has undermined some Americans' confidence in Mr Trump ahead of the November 2020 election.
He has also stirred division with his hardline policies on immigration and unsettled business and farm groups with his use of tariffs in trade disputes with China and some allies.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on June 11 gave the President a 40 per cent job approval rating, compared with 57 per cent who disapproved. Other opinion polls have shown him running consistently behind his main Democratic challengers, such as former vice-president Joe Biden, in key battleground states.
Republican strategists say the fundamentals favour Mr Trump as he heads into his election, but that he faces challenges given his bare-knuckled approach, which he refuses to temper.
"His support with his base is as strong as it's ever been for any Republican incumbent president. The challenge is adding to that and building the coalition he needs for re-election," said Republican strategist Ryan Williams, a former adviser to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
Mr Trump's move to start his 2020 push in Florida, which the former New York businessman considers his second home, shows how important the state is to his re-election hopes. He would like to recreate the state-by-state electoral map he assembled to defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.
That election win included victories in Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, and he thus far faces challenges in all those states, along with North Carolina.
Democrats vow to win back industrial states like Pennsylvania and Michigan that flipped to Mr Trump in 2016 after decades of voting Democratic in presidential elections, and they believe his behaviour and policies will generate strong turnout among Americans eager to turn him out of office.
"He carried some states last time that put him over the top that he needs to go button down this time - and he needs to keep a close eye on Florida and North Carolina," said Republican strategist Scott Reed.
Trump campaign advisers wave off the polls at this stage, saying that Mr Trump had trailed in most polls in 2016 and still won.
"He's in a position of strength because he has the presidential bully pulpit," they said.
Nobody is expecting Mr Trump to change his behaviour. Aides who had urged him early in his White House tenure to tone down his style are long gone.
"The answer is not 'you must be more presidential'," said a Trump confidant. "Some things are never going to happen."
