Trump reassures supporters at rally

US President Donald Trump turned back the clock on Saturday with a bold and aggressive Florida speech straight out of his 2016 campaign playbook, enthralling fans while insisting all is well in the White House despite weeks of turbulence.

He also took aim at his favorite foil, the "dishonest" news media that he said has become "part of the corrupt system".

At the end of a stormy first month in office, the billionaire took the power of the presidency on the road, revisiting the style and substance of the campaign trail.

After stepping down from Air Force One to a deafening cheer, he was drawn into the collective bosom of several thousand of his dearest followers, who feel they have been left behind by the country's shifting economy.

"I'm here because I want to be among my friends and among the people," he said.

Trump employed a loud and muscular delivery - one which won over millions of voters on the campaign trail last year - to assure Americans he is fulfilling promises to shrink government, rebuild the military, restrict immigration, and tear up healthcare reforms enacted by predecessor Barack Obama.

"This will be change for the ages," the president said at the event in Melbourne, a sun-bleached city on Florida's Space Coast.

But Trump was completing his first month in office under a cloud in Washington, where lawmakers pledged to further investigate his possible pre-election ties to Russia, his national security advisor was forced to resign in disgrace, and a cabinet nominee withdrew amid controversy.

(China Daily 02/20/2017 page12)