Trump news: President claims victory over coronavirus and says he's reopening in Easter because 'it's a beautiful time' - not on expert advice
President pushes for return to business as usual within weeks as US deaths climb and New York declared an epicentre of transmission for US
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As the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns the US could be the next coronavirus epicentre following a surge in cases and deaths to 43,925 cases and 547 respectively, Donald Trump is under fire for hinting at a return to business as usual within weeks, prioritising the health of the economy over that of Americans.
“We are watching a train wreck in slow motion,” commented former White House ethics chief Walter Shaub. “If Trump carries through on this threat to ‘open’ things up real soon, the death toll will be catastrophic.”
On Capitol Hill, Republican and Democratic senators have assured the public they are “very close” to agreeing terms on a $2trn (£1.7trn) stimulus bill and expect to finalise a deal on Tuesday.
The president appeared to declare victory over the virus — "we win" — as he looks to restart the US economy by Easter, despite no evidence that Americans can safely return to work without spreading the virus within three weeks.
During his White House briefing on Tuesday, the president said: "What timeline this would be."
But pressed on whether anyone in his administration has supported a rushed return to business as usual, the president said he thought it was a "beautiful time" and "based on a certain level of weeks" — but didn't say it was at the recommendation of health officials.
The administration also warned New Yorkers and anyone who recently travelled to the state to self-quarantine for up to two weeks as the city has become an "epicentre" of transmission in the US.
Asked whether the president has consulted with Governor Andrew Cuomo about those guidelines, which would impact millions of people in New York City while non-essential businesses are closed across the state, Mr Trump said the two are "talking".
The governor said he has "exhausted every option available to us" as the state has experienced a surge in confirmed cases, including nearly 15,000 in New York City alone.
"We are not slowing it, and it is accelerating on its own", he said on Tuesday as he dismissed the president's idea for Americans to return to work soon for the sake of the economy, potentially endangering more-vulnerable people and spreading the virus even further.
He said: "That's not the American way. That's not the New York way."
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Chris Hayes ridicules Fox News response to coronavirus
Speaking of Fox, the MSNBC pundit issued this scathing assault on the rival network's "utterly insane about-face" in covering an outbreak it initially dismissed as a hoax.
Its broadcasting is certainly suffering the ill effects of all of this.
Trump to appear on Fox's 'virtual town hall today'
A helpful reminder from the president's spokesman here that he and his coronavirus task force will be taking questions on Fox today about the escalating crisis - 12 noon EST (4pm GMT).
Meanwhile, here's Trump placing more pressure on the Senate to sort out the rescue package bill.
Man dead after trying to create Trump’s miracle drug from household cleaner
An Arizona man has died and a woman is in critical condition after ingesting a chemical that contained chloroquine, which Trump has promoted as a coronavirus treatment despite warnings from health officials that it has not been proven to treat the virus.
Alex Woodward has this report.
Why Trump suddenly thinks the pandemic is not such a big deal - and why we should all be scared
Keen Trump observer Andrew Buncombe offers this analysis of the president's latest strategy for navigating the crisis.
US Navy sailor first to test positive for coronavirus at Guantanamo Bay
A US Navy sailor has become the first person to test positive for the coronavirus at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The base said in a statement today that the unidentified sailor is isolated at home at the naval station along the southeastern coast of Cuba. The base says health authorities are attempting to track anyone who had contact with the sailor.
Medical personnel have been screening anyone who arrives at the base and the Navy has imposed social-distancing rules.
The naval station has a population of about 6,000 people. That includes about 2,000 foreign labourers from Jamaica and the Philippines.
There are still 40 prisoners held at the Guantanamo detention centre. Most base personnel have no contact with the men held there
'Our people want to return to work': Trump repeats alarmingly complacent stance on national quarantine
This is troubling stuff from the president...
Stock markets buoyed by prospect of stimulus package deal
Despite one-fourth of the world and 43 per cent of the US population now living under coronavirus restrictions, the US stock markets opened higher on Tuesday, erasing losses from the previous day’s session as investors reacted with optimism towards the prospect of Congress announcing a $2trn economic stimulus package.
Here's what went down (or rather, up):
- The Dow Jones opened at 6.2 per cent or 1,140 points higher
- The S&P 500 rose more than 5 per cent
- The Nasdaq Composite opened up 4.9 cent higher
There have been some positive noises on that score coming out of Washington this morning.
“[New White House chief of staff] Mark Meadows and I have already spoken to the president twice this morning,” treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters.
”We’re going to have conference calls with a bunch of Republicans to update them on where we are. And we’re on our way to Mitch McConnell’s office, we’re looking forward to closing a bipartisan bill today. The president wants us to get this done today. We’re down to a small number of issues and we look forward to a successful vote."
Speaker Pelosi meanwhile told CNBC this morning that “there is real optimism that we could get something done in the next few hours.”
“I think we’re getting to a good place, if they stay there,” she said.
Car manufacturers to produce ventilators after governments call for help
Trump mentioned the wartime Defense Production Act earlier, empowering the US government to order manufacturers to regear their plants towards making products for the national good.
He said that there had been no need to enforce it as companies were volunteering their resources but the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s administrator Peter Gaynor told CNN this morning it would be coming into effect today for the mass production of testing kits, so some confusion abounds.
Anyway, here's Samuel Lovett on how the world's car manufacturers are rising to the challenge by converting to the production of ventilators and face masks.
If a week is a long time in politics, a month is an eternity
My colleague Jon Sharman points out this is the one month anniversary of this Champions League-level Trump tweet:
Joe Biden ahead of Trump in new national poll after slamming president for making corona crisis worse
The probable Democratic 2020 challenger had some damning words on his rival's response to the outbreak yesterday, calling out the "failure of planning and preparation" from the Trump administration and saying its weak, self-interested response had made matters a great deal worse.
He already appears to be enjoying a bump in the polls as the tide of public opinion turns against the president's recklessness.
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