But in the last 10 days, he has been confined to the hospital and then to the White House, while Mr. Biden was campaigning.
Mr. Trump and his advisers are making a strong effort to win Florida’s 29 voter votes, as he did in 2016, making it clear he was on his way to the presidency. In a state where seniors are a crucial part of the president’s base, his advisers have sought to offset any losses by adding to their margin of support among Latino and Black voters.
“Every campaign changes from re-election to re-election,” said Bill Stepian, the president’s campaign manager, in an interview with reporters on Monday before the rally.
But the Trump campaign still makes a play for older voters. Mr. Recent Advertising presents Mr. Trump’s image against Mr. Biden and asks, “Who is better for seniors?” And last week, the president posted a video on Twitter with a message in which he labeled seniors. “My favorite people in the world!”
Mr. Trump’s advisers, who say the public vote is not accurate, hope he can maintain a strong campaign presence between now and the next debate, scheduled for Oct. 22, to try to regain his position.
Participating in key constituencies is not where their advisers thought they would be at this stage of the election cycle. The president began the year with advice on expanding his political map in Democratic-leaning states such as Nevada, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New Mexico. But this week, Mr. Trump is far from going to the states he won in 2016 and where he currently plays mostly defense – not just Florida, but states like Pennsylvania and Iowa.
He seems to have decided to run the same playbook that took part in the final few weeks of the 2016 race, pushing his opponent in the wake of the campaign. At the time, however, he attached a designing schedule of rallies that had a streamlined back of provocative tweets. But as an exceptional promoter during most of his tenure in office, it is not clear how he will now regain the support of voters who are fed up with his behavior after seeing Mr. Trump.