By Jarrett Renshaw
Aug 22 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s re-electioncampaign is hosting events in 2020 battleground states onThursday to mobilize and train suburban women, an importantvoting bloc that defected from Republicans during last year'scongressional contests.
The campaign representatives - who include conservativecommentators, a former "Apprentice" contestant, a beauty pageantwinner and campaign and White House staff – will try to persuadewomen to talk openly about their support for Trump and encourageothers to do the same.
"We want to empower women to share their stories about whythey support President Trump and help bring more supporters intothe fold," said Erin Perrine, a deputy press secretary who willhost an event in North Carolina.
A campaign official involved with the planning said theyexpect hundreds of attendees at gatherings in 13 statesincluding Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio.
Much of the talk will focus on Trump's economic record andhow he has kept his promises on issues like immigration andhealthcare, the officials said.
It was not clear how those discussions will unfold. WhileTrump's efforts to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border havestalled, he has persisted in a controversial effort to crackdown on immigration, including separating families.
A promise to lower prescription drug plans has not been met,and his hope of riding a strong economy into 2020 is facingheadwinds from signs a recession may be looming.
The events, which coincide with the 99th anniversary ofwomen suffrage, are being put together in part by the TrumpVictory Leadership Initiative, a grassroots arm of the campaignthat will target key demographic groups in the months leading upto November's election.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted this week, shows39% of women approve of Trump's performance in office and 56%disapprove. The numbers have hovered at these levels for a year.
Perrine said the numbers did not reflect the true level ofsupport from Trump among women, however. She noted, for example,that 51% of the donors in the latest quarter were women.
"We all know about the silent Trump supporter," Perrinesaid.
Trump has had a checkered history with women, from messydivorces and allegations of sexual harassment to a video thatcame out during his 2016 election campaign that showed himbragging about how his money and power allowed him to "grab"women anywhere he liked.
In 2016, women overall favored Democrat Hillary Clinton, thefirst woman nominated for president by a major party, by roughlya 12-point margin over Trump. White women in particular ended upvoting for Trump by nearly the same margin, exit polls showed.
Tana Goertz, who competed on Trump's reality television show"Apprentice" more than a decade ago and will be hosting an eventin Iowa, says voter contact will be key to winning.
“Yes, I am going to motivate them and give them techniques,but I am also get them registration information, other data andhelp turn them out,” said Goertz, who is now a Trump campaignstaffer.(Reporting By Jarrett RenshawEditing by Colleen Jenkins and Sonya Hepinstall)