But over the previous 10 days, it had been the president confined to the hospital and then the White House, while Mr. Biden had been out campaigning.
Mr. Trump and his advisers are making a robust effort to win Florida’s 29 electoral votes, as he did in 2016, making it clear he was on track for the presidency. In the state, where seniors are a crucial part of the president’s base, his advisers have tried to make up for any losses by adding to his margins of support among Latino and Black voters.
On a call with reporters on Monday before the rally, Bill Stepien, the president’s campaign manager, said that “every campaign changes from election to re-election” and that any losses with older voters would be “offset by gains in certain voting populations,” listing Black and Hispanic voters.
But the Trump campaign is still making a play for older voters. A recent advertisement juxtaposes Mr. Trump’s image against Mr. Biden’s and asks, “Who’s 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 polls are not accurate, hope that he can maintain a robust campaign trail presence between now and the next debate, scheduled for Oct. 22, to try to regain his standing.
Shoring up core constituencies is not where his advisers thought they would be at this point in the election cycle. The president began the year with advisers talking about expanding his political map into Democratic-leaning states like Nevada, Minnesota, New Hampshire and even New Mexico. But this week, Mr. Trump is so far scheduled to go to states he won in 2016 and where he is mostly playing defense right now — not just Florida, but also states like Pennsylvania and Iowa.
He seems determined to run the same playbook he ran in the final few weeks of the 2016 race, outworking his opponent on the campaign trail. However, back then, he paired a dizzying schedule of rallies with a trimming back of incendiary tweets. But as an unpopular incumbent through most of his time in office, it is not clear how seeing more of Mr. Trump now will necessarily win back support from voters who have tired of his behavior.