Trump launches 2020 re-election campaign amid low approval rating

US President Donald Trump has formally launched his re-election campaign, saying he would run in the 2020 election as an outsider like he did in 2016, despite being in office now for 2-1/2 years and struggling with a consistently low approval rating.

“Tonight I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as president of the United States,” Trump said Tuesday at a rally in Orlando, Florida.  

"We are going to keep America great again," Trump told the packed arena in Orlando, Florida. "Oh, we will keep it so great."

Over the course of a speech that lasted 80 minutes, the Republican president decried illegal immigration, the news media and his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

He took credit for a strong economy, said he was putting pressure on China over its trade practices, vowed to protect the American middle class, promoted his proposal for a “space force” and said he wanted to launch a space mission to the planet Mars.

Trump also declared himself a victim of a Democratic conspiracy and aired his grievances.

He condemned the investigation by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. “We went through the biggest witch hunt in political history,” said Trump. “It was all an illegal attempt to overturn the results of the election.”

Mueller’s probe, which was conducted from May 2017 to March 2019, reportedly did not find sufficient evidence to prove that Trump’s election campaign colluded with Moscow.

The inquiry described numerous attempts by Trump to obstruct Mueller’s probe, but stopped short of declaring that he committed a crime.

The lingering aftermath of the Russia probe, coupled with presidential style name-callings and controversial tweets, has undermined some Americans’ confidence in Trump.

Democrats cite a string of broken promises in Trump’s first term, from closing corporate tax loopholes to lowering drug prices and stopping factory closures.

During his campaign rally on Tuesday, Trump accused Democrats of trying to take away free speech and strip Americans from their constitutional rights.

“They would shut down your free speech and use the power of the law to punish their opponents,” he asserted. “They would strip Americans of their constitutional rights while flooding the country with illegal immigrants.”

PressTV-Trump lagging behind Democrats in 2020 race: Poll

A new opinion poll shows that US President Donald Trump is trailing five Democratic contenders, including former Vice President Joe Biden, by as many as 10 points.

Opinion polls show Trump is running consistently behind his main Democratic rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden, by as many as 10 points.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on June 11 gave Trump a 40 percent job approval rating, compared with 57 percent who disapproved.

Even Republican strategists say Trump faces challenges in his re-election campaign given his bare-knuckled approach, which he refuses to temper.

The Orlando Sentinel welcomed the president’s visit with an editorial titled: “Our endorsement for president in 2020: Not Donald Trump.”

Speaking on foreign policy, Trump said he has “repaired America’s friendship” with Israel and said he withdrew the US from the “disastrous” Iran nuclear deal, adding he has imposed the “toughest ever sanctions” against Tehran.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have been deteriorating since early May, when the White House tightened the enforcement of its unlawful oil sanctions in an attempt to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero.

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