Trump launches 2020 re-election bid

Washington, June 19 

President Donald Trump has officially launched his 2020 re-election bid and appealed to his supporters to give him four more years to realise his unfinished agenda for the country, whose economy he boasted, has become the “envy of the world” under his watch.

Kick-starting his election campaign at a jam-packed rally in Florida on Tuesday, Trump coined a new slogan, “Keep America Great” and warned that opposition Democrats want to “destroy” the country.

“Tonight I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as President of the United States,” Trump told supporters. “I promise you I will never ever let you down.”

The 73-year-old real estate investor-turned-politician, who became the 45th President of the United States of America in 2017, told a crowd of 20,000 Republican supporters that the economy of the US under him has become “the envy of the world”.

Florida is a key battleground state and one that Trump narrowly won in 2016. Trump said his victory three years ago was a “defining moment in American history” and vowed to maintain his “America First” policy as he touched the hallmarks of his 2016 campaign, hard-line immigration policies and defence spending.

He said the country had made significant progress during his presidency and all that was at risk if he were to be defeated in the presidential elections next year.

Unveiling the theme of “Keep America Great”, Trump in his roughly 80-minute speech, exuded confidence of winning the general elections. In his 2016 election campaign, he popularised the slogan “Make America Great Again”.

Addressing his supporters who filled the Orlando’s Amway Center, brimming with enthusiasm for the President, Trump said, “We’re going to keep on going. We’re going to keep on fighting and we’re going to keep on winning, winning, winning”.

Amidst chants of “four more years” from his supporters, Trump announced his 2020 re-election campaign to complete his unfinished agenda. In his speech, Trump accused Democrats of pushing socialism and vowed, “America will never be a socialist country”. 

“New campaign, same broken promises. Voters heard nothing new tonight. It’s been the same thing for the past two and a half years. One broken promise after another,” said Democratic National Committee Deputy War Room Director Daniel Wessel. — PTI 

New Acting Defence Secy war veteran 

• N Mark T Esper, President Donald Trump's pick for new Acting US Defence Secretary, is an Army veteran who fought in the Gulf war and worked as a lobbyist for one of America's biggest military contractors
• The 55-year-old ex-classmate of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is taking over against the backdrop of soaring tensions between the US and Iran. Esper has became the third person to lead the Pentagon under Trump

Prez presents himself as outsider, victim

• Launching his re-election bid, Donald Trump presented himself as the political insurgent who shook up the Washington establishment four years ago and who is now a victim of an attempted ouster by Democrats
• Trump also declared himself a victim. He made an issue of the Special Counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. "We went through the biggest witch hunt in political history," said Trump