President Trump says he won't extend social distancing guidelines
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday the federal government’s coronavirus social distancing guidelines will be “fading out” when they expire Thursday, counting on states taking charge as they pivot to reopening.The administration says its cautionary guidance issued 45 days ago has been incorporated into recommendations given to the states on how they can begin gradually easing restrictions and reopening their economies.“They’ll be fading out because now the governors are doing it," President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Wednesday as he met with John Bel Edwards, the Democratic governor of Louisiana.Edwards told President Trump that his state has turned the corner in its fight against the virus, meeting on a day that brought hopeful signs for a new treatment but also grim economic numbers.The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate last quarter — a precursor to far grimmer reports that are expected this summer from the pandemic that has shut down much of the country and triggered a severe recession.While President Trump spoke confidently of the governors steering recovery in their states, the transition is not going smoothly everywhere.“I just wanted to congratulate you,” President Trump said to Edwards, commending him on the job he’s done after New Orleans became one of the nation's coronavirus hot spots.However, Edwards is currently under fire from Republican lawmakers in his state after he extended Louisiana’s stay-at-home order through May 15.
US economy shrank at 4.8% rate last quarter as virus struck, worst showing since 2008
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate last quarter as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country and began triggering a recession that will end the longest expansion on record.The Commerce Department says the gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, posted a quarterly drop for the first time in six years.
'Closures threaten the supply chain:' Pres. Trump orders meat processing plants to remain open
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump took executive action Tuesday, April 28 to order meat processing plants to stay open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation's food supply.The order uses the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure to try to prevent a shortage of chicken, pork and other meat on supermarket shelves.
President Trump says ‘we’ll get that back’ after people report dead relatives receiving stimulus checks
WASHINGTON -- With the U.S. unemployment rate expected to his 20 percent soon, a number not seen since the great depression, millions of Americans received relief checks early in April in a bid to replace lost income due to the coronavirus closures.
Gov't OKs $50B in small biz loans, banks complain of snags
NEW YORK — The government says it has approved an additional $50 billion in loans to small businesses, although banks are complaining that a bottleneck at the Small Business Administration is severely slowing the process.Banking industry groups said Tuesday, April 28 that the SBA’s loan processing system is still unable to handle the heavy volume of loan applications from business owners trying to get aid under the Paychceck Protection Program, part of the government’s $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package.“Today is just another slow, frustrating slog for getting PPP loans through,” said Paul Merski, a vice president at the Independent Community Bankers of America.The government's small business loan program was replenished with $310 billion and started taking applications again Monday.
Congress may not be able to resume for a year; House leaders reach for work-from-home options
WASHINGTON — Facing the stark, startling reality that Congress may not be able to fully resume for a year, House leaders are desperately reaching for work-from-home options after a revolt from the ranks over the health risks of convening in the coronavirus pandemic.House Democratic leaders abruptly reversed course Tuesday, shelving plans for the chamber's 400-plus lawmakers to return for work on the next virus aid package after warnings from the Capitol physician that the public health danger was too great.
President Trump urges states to consider opening schools before summer
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump says states should “seriously consider” reopening their public schools before the end of the academic year, even though dozens already have said it would be unsafe for students to return until the summer or fall.President Trump made the comments Monday in a call with governors discussing how to reopen their economies, among other topics.“Some of you might start thinking about school openings, because a lot of people are wanting to have the school openings.
AG orders federal prosecutors to identify potentially unconstitutional COVID-19 restrictions
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr on Monday ordered federal prosecutors across the U.S. to identify coronavirus-related restrictions from state and local governments “that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.”The memo to U.S. attorneys directs the head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan to coordinate the department’s efforts to monitor state and local policies and take action if needed.“If a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections, the Department of Justice may have an obligation to address that overreach in federal court.”Barr’s memo comes about two weeks after the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in a civil case in Mississippi, siding with a Christian church where local officials had tried to stop Holy Week services broadcast to congregants sitting in their cars in the parking lot.The directive also comes as many stay-at-home orders are set to expire and governors eager to rescue their economies are moving to ease restrictions meant to control the spread of the coronavirus, even as new hot spots emerge and experts warn that moving too fast could prove disastrous.At the same time, protesters have staged demonstrations against stay-at-home orders, and in recent weeks, President Donald Trump has urged supporters to “liberate” three states led by Democratic governors.Trump was asked at Monday's coronavirus briefing about the strategy behind the decision by the Justice Department.“Well, you’d have to ask Attorney General Barr, but I think he wants to see — like everybody, he wants to see people get back and he wants to see people get back to work,” Trump said. “He doesn’t want people to be held up when there’s no reason for doing it.
White House plans to shift Pres. Trump's public focus from virus to economy
WASHINGTON — After two months of frantic response to the coronavirus, the White House is planning to shift President Donald Trump’s public focus to the burgeoning efforts aimed at easing the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.Days after he publicly mused that scientists should explore the injection of toxic disinfectants as a potential virus cure, President Trump has now rejected the utility of his daily task force briefings, where he has time and again clashed with scientific experts.
Man gets 18 months in prison for threatening to kill President Trump
DALLAS — A 36-year-old Texas man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump, prosecutors said.Mickael Gedlu was sentenced Friday, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox’s office in Dallas.
No, don't inject disinfectant: Outcry among health officials over President Trump's musing
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's raising of unproven, even far-fetched ideas for fighting COVID-19 -- including his latest musing about injecting disinfectants into people -- triggered an outcry from health officials everywhere on Friday.
US states build stockpiles of malaria drug touted by President Trump
SALT LAKE CITY — State and local governments across the United States have obtained more than 30 million doses of a malaria drug touted by President Trump to treat patients with the coronavirus, despite warnings from doctors that more research is needed.At least 22 states and Washington, D.C. secured shipments of the drug, hydroxychloroquine, according to information compiled from state and federal officials by The Associated Press.
President Trump: Postal Service must charge Amazon more, or no loan
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he won't approve a $10 billion loan for the U.S. Postal Service unless the agency raises charges for Amazon and other big shippers to four to five times current rates.“The Postal Service is a joke because they’re handing out packages for Amazon and other internet companies and every time they bring a package, they lose money on it,” President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.The president was responding to a question about reports his administration plans to force major changes in postal operations as the price for approving a $10 billion loan that was included in the government’s $2 trillion economic rescue package.Under the rescue package legislation, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin must approve the loan before the Postal Service can receive the money.
President Trump signs $484 billion measure to aid employers, hospitals
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion bill Friday to aid employers and hospitals under stress from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 50,000 Americans and devastated broad swaths of the economy.The bill is the latest effort by the federal government to help keep afloat businesses that have had to close or dramatically alter their operations as states try to slow the spread of the virus.
Parent company of Lysol warns don't inject disinfectants to treat COVID-19
WASHINGTON — The parent company of Lysol and another disinfectant warned Friday that its products should not be used as an internal treatment for the coronavirus after President Donald Trump wondered about the prospect during a White House briefing.President Trump noted Thursday that researchers were looking at the effects of disinfectants on the virus and wondered aloud if they could be injected into people, saying the virus “does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”That prompted a strong warning from the maker of disinfectants Lysol and Dettol, which said it was issuing a statement to combat “recent speculation.”“As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” said the statement from Reckitt Benckiser.On Thursday, the White House also pitched “emerging” research on the benefits of sunlight and humidity in diminishing the threat of the coronavirus.Past studies have not found good evidence that the warmer temperatures and higher humidity of spring and summer will help tamp down the spread of the virus.But William Bryan of the Department of Homeland Security said at a White House briefing Thursday that there are “emerging results” from new research that suggest solar light has a powerful effect in killing the virus on surfaces and in the air.
President Trump says Thunderbirds, Blue Angels will do flyovers across country to honor medical workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In the coronavirus task force briefing Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds would be doing flyovers of major American cities in honor of "American medical workers" — and that on July Fourth he would bring back the Independence Day celebration held last year on the National Mall."I'm excited to announce that in the coming weeks, the Air Force Thunderbirds – are incredible – and the Navy Blue Angels, equally incredible, will be performing air shows over America's major cities," President Trump said. "What we're doing is we're paying tribute to our front line health care workers confronting COVID.
Moving past 'invisible enemy,' President Trump nudges nation to reopen
WASHINGTON — For weeks, the Trump administration played up the dangers of the coronavirus as it sought to convince Americans to disrupt their lives and stay home.
Pres. Trump says he's instructed Navy to 'destroy' any Iranian gunboats harassing US ships
WASHINGTON -- President Trump said Wednesday that he's instructed the U.S. Navy to "shoot down and destroy" any Iranian gunboats harassing American ships, in the wake of a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf.
President Trump defends decision to furlough Mar-a-Lago employees: 'There’s no customer'
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his company's decision to furlough hundreds of employees because of the coronavirus pandemic, after his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida revealed this week it is temporarily laying off 153 workers.Speaking at the White House, President Trump said, “You can’t have many hundreds of employees standing around doing nothing," noting that local social distancing prohibitions have closed clubs, hotels and even golf courses. "There’s no customer.