Trump news: President teases 'wild' Orlando rally as state polls show every major Democrat swamping him in 2020
Thousands of supporters flock to president in Florida as he kicks off 2020 campaign
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump is reportedly toying with the idea of live tweeting the Democratic 2020 debates on 26 and 27 June to taunt his would-be rivals for the presidency as they face off against one another for the first time.
Ahead of his own formal campaign launch in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday, the president has meanwhile announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will begin deporting “millions of illegal aliens” next week.
“They will be removed as fast as they come in,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people long before they get to our Southern Border. Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement. The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress.”
Meanwhile, a boisterous crowd of thousands of supporters gathered in front of the Amway Center arena in Orlando on Tuesday, hours before Mr Trump was set to hold a rally to formally launch his re-election campaign.
His official campaign launch in Florida today also coincides with a “national week of training” for his political supporters to build up ground game in the 2020 elections, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
Just before his arrival, the Orlando Sentinel editorial board published a story titled, “Our Orlando Sentinel endorsement for president in 2020: Not Donald Trump”.
“Some readers will wonder how we could possibly eliminate a candidate so far before an election, and before knowing the identity of his opponent,” the paper wrote. “After 2½ years we’ve seen enough.”
“Enough of the chaos, the division, the schoolyard insults, the self-aggrandizement, the corruption, and especially the lies,” the paper continued, going on to mention several examples of the president’s most flagrant falsities.
Mr Trump meanwhile said his re-election launch will be a political spectacle. In a tweet, he wrote: "People have never seen anything like it (unless you play a guitar). Going to be wild — See you later!"
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Trump is not exactly known as a big reader, preferring "documents" liberally dotted with bullet points and graphics over fine prose.
He did list his favourite books in conversation with Megyn Kelly in 2016, citing the Bible, Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front and his own (ghostwritten) The Art of the Deal.
Now an old clip has re-emerged and gone viral of the then-real estate tycoon being interviewed on CNN's Crossfire in 1987 and expressing his admiration for the late novelist Tom Wolfe. Trump is, however, unable to name the author's latest book, The Bonfire of the Vanities, until prompted by hosts Pat Buchanan and Tom Braden and is finally forced to admit he hasn't read it.
With President Trump reigniting the immigration debate, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has described the arrival of about 500 African migrants at the US border in the space of a week a “flood” that could become a “torrent”.
The number is unusually high for African nationals trying to enter the US on the southern border, roughly double the number detained by Border Patrol during the whole 2018 financial year. However, it is a fraction of the 33,000 people apprehended since the start of the year at the US border.
Here's more from Alessio Perrone.
With the president jetting out to Florida later, The Orlando Sentinel has shown its hand and is backing anyone but Trump in 2020.
This is of particular significance as the newspaper has a history of backing Republicans and is by no means unquestioningly partisan.
A bitter blow for Donald in a state where he spends so much of his "executive time" and where he is rallying for the seventh time today, more than any other.
Here's Louis Staples for Indy Voices on Trump's bid to place immigration at the heart of the 2020 election and why, so far, the tactic is working.
Trump says he will be having an "extended meeting" with Chinese premier Xi Jinping at the G20 in Japan, which takes place on 28-29 June. The pair will presumably hope to restore diplomatic relations and bring an end to their trade war.
More droning from Trump on the currency market in response to stimulus efforts by the European Central Bank.
Is he watching Bloomberg because he fell out with Fox?
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."
These MAGA fans are arriving for the 45 Fest at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando, essentially a World Cup fan park for people who couldn't get tickets to the Trump speech.
Apparently attendees will be able to watch his raving on large screens, get fast food from snack trucks and catch a live band called The Guzzlers.
The latter appear to be a bar band out of Houston, Texas, not the more exciting looking Toronto punk outfit of the same name, who list drinking beer, smoking pot and "getting f***ed" among their interests and have a song called "Werewolf Zombie Nazis from Mars".
More on 45 Fest from local journalist Tenikka Smith Hughes, soaking up the vibe.
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