JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump is in Orlando, Florida, tonight to officially launch his
campaign, as we have been reporting.
And, once again, Yamiche Alcindor.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: An official 2020 launch for a president who never stopped campaigning.
And before Tuesday's rally came a sort of outdoor concert.
There was live music, food trucks and lots of Trump swag.
Devoted supporters also lined up overnight and waited hours to get into the event.
If these scenes feel familiar, it's because they are.
Since taking office in January 2017, the president has held dozens of rallies across the country.
AUDIENCE: Four more years!
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Still, Mr. Trump dubbed this stop in Florida his official 2020 campaign
announcement.
Campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine said today's event was important.
ERIN PERRINE, Trump Campaign Spokeswoman: The president is laying down to say, we're
looking at 2020, and let's go.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The venue for the rally itself, Orlando's Amway Center, can seat 20,000.
Fifty-three-year-old Alfred Drake voted for the president in 2016 and plans to do it again.
ALFRED DRAKE, Trump Supporter; I'm just looking for everything to go the way it's going right
now.
There are a lot of jobs.
I hope he can get -- change the Congress to Republicans, so he can get more done, so they
work with him, instead of against him.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Elizabeth Williamson is also sticking with the president in 2020,
despite disagreeing with some of his immigration policies.
What do you make of the administration's child separation policy?
Does that at all give you pause with the president, or what do you make of it?
ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON, Trump Supporter: A bit with that point.
I don't believe they should be held too long apart.
I don't think they should be separated, no.
These are innocent children.
It's just a -- it's a really terrible situation.
But here I am.
I support our president.
And I hope -- I wish him well for another four years.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Of course, not everyone in Orlando cheered the president's visit.
Undocumented immigrants who say they worked at the president's properties and others gathered
to criticize him on immigration.
ANIBAL ROMERO, Attorney For Former Trump Organization Workers: This is the one story the administration
doesn't talk about, the undocumented immigrants who worked for Donald Trump in his house for
many, many years.
These are the same people he vilifies.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And, next week, Florida will again be in the spotlight.
Democratic candidates will travel to Miami for the first presidential primary debates.
And today, Judy, there was a large opposition really.
Thousands of Democrats gathered to protest the president seeking a second term.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yamiche, thanks.
That's quite a crowd there.
We know the president has been holding campaign rallies virtually throughout his time in office.
What's different about this one?
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, of course, unlike any other president, the president has been
crisscrossing the country, talking to his supporters since the beginning of his presidency.
The campaign tells me that this campaign rally is going to be a little bit different because,
one, he's going to have the first lady, Melania Trump, with him.
He is also going to have the vice president, Mike Pence, with him.
But they say that this is really a reset for him to really make the case that he's ready
for the 2020 campaign, that he's assembled his team and that he wants to talk about the
economy, but also talk about health care and immigration and all the issues he's been talking
about at other rallies.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Yamiche, you have been talking to a number of these supporters.
What are they saying to you about his last few years in office, and what are they saying
about what they think his chances are?
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, the president's supporters are more devoted than ever, at least the ones
that are coming to this rally.
I have been talking to people about the Mueller report, about the president's internal polling
possibly showing that he might be trailing Joe Biden in key states.
They all said they want the president not to change at all.
They want him to keep talking about the economy, keep talking about immigration, pursuing those
hard-line policies that he's, of course, been known for.
And they also say they like his brash brand of politics.
They want him to keep tweeting.
So, people, at least in this crowd, are very happy with the way the president has been
doing, and they want him to keep doing that.
They think that that is going to guarantee him a second term.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Yamiche, we know, of course, Florida is a swing state.
Both parties very much want to win Florida.
Democrats have been down there protesting the president's rally today.
They have been out in the street.
What is their message?
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, there's really been a key issue here.
You have Democrats gathering just a few blocks away from the president coming here in Florida.
So, the message of Democrats has been, this president is unqualified.
He's also -- they have also been making the case that he employed undocumented immigrants
at his properties, and thus he is being hypocritical when he pushes for hard-line immigration policies.
They have also been saying that Democrats are going to be better on health care, better
on the economy even.
And they are saying that the president really is someone that shouldn't be in office.
They're pointing to the Mueller report, talking a little bit about impeachment.
But, initially, they're really just saying, the president shouldn't be in office anymore
and that they have a better plan for the country.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yamiche Alcindor there to watch the president's campaign rally tonight in
Orlando, thank you, Yamiche.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Thanks so much.