Trump news: President rages at reporter during coronavirus press conference and insists there will be no national lockdown
Chaotic week at White House as president scrambles to support Americans during worsening crisis
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Donald Trump has closed the US-Mexico border, put a hold on student loan repayments, suspended elementary school testing, extended the deadline for Americans to file their tax returns and cancelled June's G7 summit with world leaders as part of his administration’s bid to make up for lost time following the coronavirus outbreak.
A number of US senators, notably Republicans Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, are meanwhile facing calls to resign after being accused of “insider trading” after it emerged they dumped stock options in response to a briefing on the outbreak on 24 January, with even Fox News host Tucker Carlson joining in the outrage and demanding Burr step down.
The president has said that he was "not aware" of those reports but called the senators "very honourable people."
In California, 40m citizens are being ordered to stay indoors as the crisis deepens, while in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered the closure of non-essential businesses across the state.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warns that the city could run out of medical supplies within three weeks without "radical" action from the federal government as the mayor prepares the possibility of a "shelter-in-place" order.
Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden also has attacked the president's response, after he berated a reporter and has waffled on an emergency order that could mandate companies rush the manufacturing of critically needed medical supplies.
Susan Rice, who also served under the Obama administration, dismissed claims by the president that his predecessor was ill-equipped to respond to a pandemic and pointed to Mr Trump's dismissal of his own pandemic response team among his national security advisers.
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After the president attacked a reporter at today's coronavirus briefing, Mike Pompeo defended him, saying "all I ask is that you report accurately" without citing those inaccuracies:
After the president lashed out at NBC reporter Peter Alexander, CNN's John King defended his colleague, saying he had asked a "perfectly valid question".
Alexander asked the president for his message to frightened Americans during the coronavirus emergency. What he got in response was "you're a terrible reporter."
"What the president did to Peter Alexander is reprehensible," said Mr King, calling the president's remarks a "Trump trademark" and a "bulls*** attack on fake news."
Trump closes Mar-a-Lago and other property closures The Trump Organization has closed the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the New York Times.
The company's move follows an order to "cut back hotel operations, closed some golf courses and restaurants and shed dozens of workers — all while pushing to keep other properties open and promote them on social media," the Times reported.
The president's home was the source of several coronavirus infections, including two members of a Brazilian delegation accompanying the country's president Jair Bolsonaro.
Last week, Trump's company notified Mar-a-Lago members that the club would be closed for cleaning then re-open. Now that's off the table.
And the president is likely stuck in Washington DC for one of the longest stretches of his presidency thus far.
USA Swimming is calling for the Tokyo Olympics to postpone games until 2021.
The Independent's Danielle Zoellner reports:
As it turns out, Friday's coronavirus briefing was not the wellspring of calm that Americans have come to expect from the famously stable, incredibly normal Donald Trump White House.
The Independent's Washington chief John T Bennett writes:
"The chaos he so vehemently – and, tellingly, defensively – denies exists at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue returned in a big (or, in Trumpian verbiage, bigly) way.
"The former reality television star’s Friday press briefing on the coronavirus devolved into a battle royale the likes of which have not been seen since the height of the professional wrestling craze of the 1990s."
'Step up and do your job': Joe Biden slams Trump's response to coronavirus
Joe Biden says Donald Trump has been "behind the curve" leading the US response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Democratic presidential candidate told reporters on Friday that "the American people deserve a president who tells them the truth ... Unfortunately, President Trump has not been that president."
The former vice president's message follows Trump's dismissal of a question about what to tell frightened Americans during the crisis.
Biden said: “People are scared. They’re worried. They don’t know quite what to do."
Meanwhile, Biden's rival in the 2020 race Bernie Sanders has addressed supporters in frequent "fireside chat" livestreams outlining his response to the emergency and plans to bolster federal relief legislation in the Senate.
We're wrapping up today's live coverage of the Trump administration and the coronavirus response.
Stay tuned with The Independent.
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