SANFORD, Fla. — President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Central Florida early this evening, his first campaign rally outside the White House grounds since he came down with COVID-19 more than a week ago.


What You Need To Know


Just weeks before Election Day, the president is making his presence known in Florida, a key battleground state. 

Trump is scheduled to speak at Orlando-Sanford International Airport in Sanford.

He was supposed to speak there October 2, but it was canceled just hours after he'd announced on Twitter that he'd tested positive for the coronavirus. Days after that, Trump battled the illness at Walter Reed Medical Center.

As for tonight's presidential visit, police crews manned the airport hangar early Monday, and vehicles of residents attending the rally were already lining up for the event just after 3 a.m.

Doors open for tonight's event at 4 p.m. It starts at 7 p.m., right behind the Million Air hangar.

We spoke to people who camped out all night to be one of the first in line.

Supporters who lined up at the airport early Monday morning were eager to see the president after his rally set for earlier this month was postponed.

"Four more years!" people in the crowd chanted.

Hienrietta Chau made the trip all the way from Louisiana. She's originally from Vietnam and moved to the U.S. as a child.

"I'm an immigrant. And I believe President Trump is for immigration. He just wants to keep our borders safe," Chau said.

​Gene Huber shared an embrace with Trump in 2017 and believes the president was hugging the entire country.

"He pointed me out of the crowd, called me up on stage. I ran up the stage. I hugged our president. He gave me the microphone. I spoke to the world," Huber said.

"We're here not only to support the president, but we're here to support America, our constitutional rights, and our freedoms, and that's what this president has stood for," Rick Sarmiento with Bikers for 45 said.

Speaking Sunday about his plan to return to the campaign trail today for the first time since his coronavirus diagnosis, Trump said he is working hard for Florida.

"This is an election we have to win," Trump said. "This is the most important election of our lives."

The president said over the weekend that he's free of the coronavirus.

"I've been tested totally negative," he said.

However, that's not exactly what the president's doctor's said. White House physician Sean Conley issued a statement saying Trump was "no longer considered a transmission risk to others." But what the doctor's statement did not say was that the president tested negative. It's unclear when Trump last tested negative.

Trump also said he's now immune to the virus.

"I beat this crazy, horrible China virus," he said. "And it also gives you immunity, I mean it does give you immunity."

Trump doubling down on that claim of immunity on social media, writing "A total and complete sign off from White House doctors yesterday. That means I can't get it "immune" and can't give it. Very nice to know!"

There's no evidence people who contract the coronavirus and recover any symptoms are "immune." There's thought in the medical community that antibodies from battling COVID-19 could add some level of temporary protection, but much more research must be done.

Twitter added a warning label to the tweet, saying it violated the social media company's rules about spreading misleading and possibly harmful information about the virus.

Vice President Mike Pence made two campaign stops to Central Florida on Saturday — one in Orlando and another in The Villages just hours later.