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Remarks by Trump, Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing, Mar. 20, 2020
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the C oronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: March 20, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
11:50 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I had a very good telephone conversation — extremely good — with Senator Schumer a little while ago. We’re working on various elements of the deal, and the Democrats are very much wanting something to happen, and the Republicans, likewise, are very much wanting something to happen. And I think it will.
I spoke with — at length with Mitch McConnell. And there’s tremendous spirit to get something done, so we’ll see what happens. But my conversation was very good with Senator Schumer.
I thank you all for joining us, and I’d like to begin by providing an update on what we are doing to minimize the impact of the Chinese virus on our nation’s students.
{snip}
Today, our team will also provide an update on our continuing effort to prevent the transmission of virus across America’s borders. And I watched what’s been happening in California with Governor Newsom and, this morning, with Governor Cuomo, and I applaud them. They’re taking very strong, bold steps, and I applaud them. And we’re all working together. We’re working very closely together, including those two governors.
But I would say, based on the call — the media was there — I think we can say that, with respect to virtually every governor on that call, I think every governor — we had almost all of them, if not all of them — and I would say that you could see for yourselves that the level of respect and esprit de corps working together was extraordinary. There was nobody angry, nobody upset. We’re able to help them, and that’s what we’re all about. We want to help.
{snip}
You’re seeing very few empty shelves, and yet the amount of volume that they are doing is unprecedented because people want to have what they have to have, what they feel they have to have. And they’re also buying in slightly smaller quantities, which is good — because we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to be here. So I want to thank all of those very great companies for working so well.
Americans from every walk of life are coming together. And thanks to the spirit of our people, we will win this war, and we are. We’re winning and we’re going to win this war. America will triumph and America will rise higher than ever before. We’ll be stronger than ever before, and we’ve learned a lot. We’ve learned a lot. We’ve learned a lot about relying on other countries, and I can say that I think in both a very good and a very bad way. Some good things came out of it and some not so good things came out of it.
So I’d like to move now to invite our team to provide information on the new measures to prevent viral spread at our borders. And I’ll start by asking Secretary of State Pompeo to speak. He’s doing a fantastic job. And like everyone else, he’s been working very, very long and very, very hard. And he’s doing the other more normal jobs of a great Secretary of State, but he got — he got tied into this like everybody else, and he’s been really doing a fantastic job.
Mike, please.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Mr. President. Before I address the efforts that we’ve been engaged in to push back against the Chinese virus, I want to assure the American people that, as President Trump just said, your State Department, your entire national security team is staying focused on the other diplomatic challenges around the world. Those include reducing risk to America from Afghanistan, holding the Iranian regime accountable for its malign activity. And our counterterrorism efforts against ISIS remain a priority for our team.
{snip}
Under the President’s leadership this week, we’ve taken two important steps. First, as President Trump announced on Wednesday, the United States and Canada jointly agreed to restrict all non-essential traffic across our border. This decision goes into effect tonight at midnight. The restrictions will be reviewed after 30 days, and they exclude traffic and movement across the border for work or other essential reasons. We’re grateful to have such an outstanding friend to the north who is committed, as we are, to defeating this virus.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mike. Thank you very much. And we’ll take questions right after this.
Chad Wolf, please.
ACTING SECRETARY WOLF: Well, let me start off by thanking the President and the Vice President for their continued leadership and commitment for protecting the American people during this crisis.
{snip}
THE VICE PRESIDENT: That’s great. Thank you, Mr. President. The White House Coronavirus Task Force met this morning and we continue, at the President’s direction, to bring the full resources, not just of the federal government, but in full partnership with our state governments, businesses around America, and a partnership with the American people to respond to the threat of the coronavirus.
And I know I can speak on behalf of the President with confidence when I say how inspired we are by the way the American people and American businesses are coming together to help defeat this virus in our country. Millions of Americans are putting into practice the President’s 15-day guidelines, and we encourage everyone, even those that are not in areas with significant outbreak, to review these guidelines over the next week and more, and put them into practice. And you’ll continue to do your part.
{snip}
Q For clarity, Dr. Fauci said there is no magic drug for coronavirus right now, which you would agree. I guess, on this issue then —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, I think we only disagree a little bit.
Q — so let me just ask, though: Is it possible that — sorry.
THE PRESIDENT: I disagree. Maybe and maybe not. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. We have to see. We’re going to know. We’re going to know soon.
Q Is it possible — it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving Americans a false sense of —
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t think so.
Q — hope, and misrepresenting the preparedness right now?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No, I don’t think so. I think that — I think it’s gotten —
Q The ship is not yet ready to sail. The not-yet-approved drug
THE PRESIDENT: Such a lovely question. Look, it may work and it may not work. And I agree with the doctor, what he said: It may work, it may not work.
I feel good about it. That’s all it is. Just a feeling. You know, I’m a smart guy. I feel good about it. And we’re going to see. You’re going to see soon enough. And we have certainly some very big samples of people, if you look at the people. You have a lot of people that are in big trouble. And this is not a drug that —
obviously, I think I can speak for a lot of — from a lot of experience, because it’s been out there for over 20 years. So it’s not a drug that you have a huge amount of danger with. It’s not like a brand-new drug that’s been just created that may have an unbelievable monumental effect, like kill you.
We’re going know very soon. And I can tell you the FDA is working very hard to get it out. Right now, in terms of malaria, if you wanted, you can have a prescription. You get a prescription. And by the way — and it’s very effective. It works.
I have a feeling you may — and I’m not being overly optimistic or pessimistic. I sure as hell think we ought to give it a try. I mean, there’s been some interesting things happened and some good — very good things. Let’s see what happens. We have nothing to lose. You know the expression: What the hell do you have to lose? Okay?
Q So what to do you say to — the units that were ordered — the units that were ordered.
THE PRESIDENT: Jon, go ahead.
Q I’ll just follow up. Nearly 200 dead. What do you say to Americans who are scared, though? I guess, nearly 200 dead; 14,000 who are sick; millions, as you witness, who are scared right now. What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?
THE PRESIDENT: I say that you’re a terrible reporter. That’s what I say.
Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, the units that were just declared —
THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s a very nasty question, and I think it’s a very bad signal that you’re putting out to the American people. The American people are looking for answers and they’re looking for hope. And you’re doing sensationalism, and the same with NBC and “Con-cast.” I don’t call it — I don’t call it “Comcast,” I call it “Con-cast.”
Let me just — for who you work — let me just tell you something: That’s really bad reporting, and you ought to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism.
Let’s see if it works. It might and it might not. I happen to feel good about it, but who knows. I’ve been right a lot. Let’s see what happens.
John?
Q Can I get back to science and the logistics here?
THE PRESIDENT: You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Q The units that were ordered, are they for clinical trials or are they for distribution to the general patient population?
THE PRESIDENT: We are going to — as I understand it, we are going to be taking samples in New York. Governor Cuomo very much is interested in this drug. And they are going to work on it also, after they get a certain approval. We’re waiting for one final approval from the FDA. We’ll see what happens.
But we’ll use it on people that are not doing great, or even at the beginning of not feeling well.
Q So this would sort of fall under the modified auspice —
THE PRESIDENT: And, John, what do we have to lose?
Q So this would sort of —
THE PRESIDENT: Wait, John — it’s been out there for so long. We hear good things. Let’s see. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t.
Q I understand all of that. I’m just thinking the application here. So that would be under, sort of, a modified compassionate access?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re doing that, I guess. And that’s –that’s what it’s called.
Yes.
Q I would like Dr. Fauci, if you don’t mind, to follow up on what the President is saying. Should Americans have hope in this drug right now? And, sir, I would like to follow up on Peter’s question here. Could you please issue — address Americans in this country who are scared right now? This is a very valid concern that people have.
DR. FAUCI: No, there really isn’t that much of a difference in many respects with what we’re saying. The President feels optimistic about something — his feeling about it.
What I’m saying is that it might — it might be effective. I’m not saying that it isn’t. It might be effective. But as a scientist, as we’re getting it out there, we need to do it in a way as — while we are making it available for people who might want the hope that it might work, you’re also collecting data that will ultimately show that it is truly effective and safe under the conditions of COVID-19. So there really isn’t difference. It’s just a question of how one feels about it.
Q Is there any reason to believe it’s not safe?
DR. FAUCI: Well, certainly as a drug — any drug, John, has some toxicities. The decades of experience that we have with this drug indicate that the toxicities are rare and they are, in many respects, reversible. What we don’t know is when you put it in the context of another disease, whether it is safe.
Fundamentally, I think it probably is going to be safe, but I like to prove things first. So it really is a question of not a lot of difference. It’s the hope that it will work versus proving that it will work. So I don’t see big differences here.
THE PRESIDENT: I agree. I agree.
Q Sir, your message to Americans who are working at home, who have their children in their homes right now, who are homeschooling —
THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Here we go. Go ahead. Let’s go.
Q — doctors who say they don’t have the masks they need to do their jobs. Your message to them?
THE PRESIDENT: My message to the American people is that there is a very low incidence of death. You understand that. And we’re going to come through this stronger than ever before.
If you get it, if you happen to get it, it is highly unlikely. It’s looking like it’s getting to a number that’s much smaller than people originally thought, in terms of the ultimate — the ultimate problem, which would be death.
{snip}
Q Thank you very much. One for Dr. Fauci and then hopefully one for you.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Sure.
And one thing: Secretary of State Pompeo is extremely busy, so if you have any question for him right now, could you do that? Because — you know what I’d like to do? I’d like him to go back to the State Department or, as they call it, the “Deep State Department.” If you don’t mind, I’d like to have him go back and do his job. So does anybody have any question?
Please.
{snip}
Q And staying with you, Mr. Secretary, what message do you think it sends to other countries when you have the President of the United States lashing out at reporters?
SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ve had my frustration with reporters too. All I ask when I talk to the media is that you listen to what we say and report it accurately. And it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating when you —
Q But what message does it send to other countries though?
SECRETARY POMPEO: — when you say that that doesn’t happen, it’s enormously frustrating.
We have a responsibility to tell the American people the truth. And those who are reporting on what it is we’re doing and saying have an equal responsibility to report accurately.
Q But what message does it send to countries when you’re lashing out at reporters?
Q Do you have any evidence (inaudible) when it’s not accurately being reported? That the news media is not accurately reporting?
SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ve seen — I’ve seen many things at the State Department being reported wildly and inaccurately on —
Q Anything specific you can cite?
SECRETARY POMPEO: — on multiple occasions. And I have spoken to those reporters about it each and every time, and I’ll continue to do so.
Q Mr. President, Senator Johnson is suggesting —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’d rather have — if you could finish up with the Secretary of State.
SECRETARY POMPEO: I think I’ve worn them out, Mr. President.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, so, Secretary of State will be leaving. Any other question for him? Go ahead. In the back. Please. In the back for Mike.
Q Thank you, Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, I didn’t call on you. Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Two things. In New York, where cases are doubling every day, they fear that supplies are going to run out in a matter of weeks. Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio called on you to mobilize the military to deliver urgent supplies. Yesterday, he said, quote, “The fate of New York City rests in the hands of one man. He is a New Yorker and right now he is betraying the city he comes from.” I’ve personally spoken to emergency department nurses who say that they’re being told not to wear N95 masks because supplies are so low. So how do you respond to those remarks by Mayor de Blasio? And there’s nurses and doctors —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I just think this: I’m not dealing —
Q — looking to you. When will those supplies arrive?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I’m not dealing with him. I’m dealing with the governor. And the governor agrees with me, and I agree with him. So far, we’ve been very much in sync. I guess they’re not agreeing with each other, necessarily.
But the relationship with New York — I love New York. I grew up in New York, as you probably have heard, and the relationship has been very good. And I think government and the governor have been getting along incredibly well with the federal government.
Okay.
(Cross-talk.)
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: If there’s not, we’ll do something later, I am sure. I am sure we’ll do something.
Q Mr. President, the Wall Street analysts are predicting that unemployment numbers could skyrocket next week by — some analysts say as many as 3 million people applying for unemployment, which would be a historic number in a one-week spread. So is a thousand-dollar check going to cut it? Is that going to be enough?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re not talking about a thousand-dollar check. We’re talking about much more than that. We’re also talking about doing phases. If this doesn’t work, we’re going to keep doing until we get it going. And, frankly, once we get the economy back and once this enemy is defeated — the invisible enemy, as I call it — once it’s defeated, we get the economy back, it’s going to all come back to us very quickly. It comes back very quickly.
We have a tremendous economy. We do numbers like no other country has ever done before. Number one in the world, if you go back two weeks — and still, obviously. But if you go back two weeks, number one in the world, by far. That money comes back to us very rapidly. We want to keep it — we want to have it so that when we — not “if,” but when we win the war with the invisible enemy — when we win it, these companies can immediately start — not that they have to start rebuilding, which takes a long time.
Steve.
Q Are you confident that those are —
THE PRESIDENT: Steve. Please. Please.
Q — jobs that will come back if someone applies for unemployment next week?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m — I’m confident. I am confident.
Q What projections for job losses in March and April are you hearing?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re looking at different numbers. We have a best case and not best case, but the big thing is to defeat the virus. Once that virus is defeated, Steve, I think everything else falls in place very rapidly. I think you’re going to have a tremendous upswing.
A lot of people agree with me. A lot of — if you look at your stock market geniuses — some of whom are not geniuses, but they think they are — a lot of people think that I’m right about that, that once we defeat the virus, I think you’re going to have a very steep — like a rocket ship. It’s going to go up and everything will be back, and I really believe we’re going to be stronger than ever before.
Yeah, go ahead.
{snip}
Q This is important. You haven’t actually directed any companies to start making more ventilators or masks, right?
THE PRESIDENT: I have. I have. Yes. I have.
Q How many companies?
THE PRESIDENT: A lot. A lot.
Q So you are requiring them.
THE PRESIDENT: And they’re making a lot of ventilators and they’re making a lot of masks.
Go ahead, please.
Q Which ones? What companies?
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Please.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Just so you know — just for the probably hundredth time: I, this administration, inherited an obsolete, broken, old system that wasn’t meant for this. We discarded that system. And we now have a new system that can do millions of people, as you need them.
But we had to get rid of a broken, old system that didn’t work. It worked only in a very limited basis. And we’re very proud of what we’ve done. It’s incredible what we’ve done. And this system will now serve for the future — for future problems. Hopefully, you don’t have a problem like this, but something will come up. We have now a great system and it’s almost fully in gear, but it’s able to test millions of people.
But we inherited a broken, old — frankly, a terrible system. We fixed it and we’ve done a great job. And we haven’t been given the credit that we deserve — that, I can tell you. But the one that really deserves the credit are the American people because they are doing things that nobody thought they would do. What they’re doing is incredible. And we’re making a lot of progress. And we’ll see you folks tomorrow.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
END
1:24 P.M. EDT
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the C oronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: March 20, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
11:50 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I had a very good telephone conversation — extremely good — with Senator Schumer a little while ago. We’re working on various elements of the deal, and the Democrats are very much wanting something to happen, and the Republicans, likewise, are very much wanting something to happen. And I think it will.
I spoke with — at length with Mitch McConnell. And there’s tremendous spirit to get something done, so we’ll see what happens. But my conversation was very good with Senator Schumer.
I thank you all for joining us, and I’d like to begin by providing an update on what we are doing to minimize the impact of the Chinese virus on our nation’s students.
{snip}
Today, our team will also provide an update on our continuing effort to prevent the transmission of virus across America’s borders. And I watched what’s been happening in California with Governor Newsom and, this morning, with Governor Cuomo, and I applaud them. They’re taking very strong, bold steps, and I applaud them. And we’re all working together. We’re working very closely together, including those two governors.
But I would say, based on the call — the media was there — I think we can say that, with respect to virtually every governor on that call, I think every governor — we had almost all of them, if not all of them — and I would say that you could see for yourselves that the level of respect and esprit de corps working together was extraordinary. There was nobody angry, nobody upset. We’re able to help them, and that’s what we’re all about. We want to help.
{snip}
You’re seeing very few empty shelves, and yet the amount of volume that they are doing is unprecedented because people want to have what they have to have, what they feel they have to have. And they’re also buying in slightly smaller quantities, which is good — because we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to be here. So I want to thank all of those very great companies for working so well.
Americans from every walk of life are coming together. And thanks to the spirit of our people, we will win this war, and we are. We’re winning and we’re going to win this war. America will triumph and America will rise higher than ever before. We’ll be stronger than ever before, and we’ve learned a lot. We’ve learned a lot. We’ve learned a lot about relying on other countries, and I can say that I think in both a very good and a very bad way. Some good things came out of it and some not so good things came out of it.
So I’d like to move now to invite our team to provide information on the new measures to prevent viral spread at our borders. And I’ll start by asking Secretary of State Pompeo to speak. He’s doing a fantastic job. And like everyone else, he’s been working very, very long and very, very hard. And he’s doing the other more normal jobs of a great Secretary of State, but he got — he got tied into this like everybody else, and he’s been really doing a fantastic job.
Mike, please.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Mr. President. Before I address the efforts that we’ve been engaged in to push back against the Chinese virus, I want to assure the American people that, as President Trump just said, your State Department, your entire national security team is staying focused on the other diplomatic challenges around the world. Those include reducing risk to America from Afghanistan, holding the Iranian regime accountable for its malign activity. And our counterterrorism efforts against ISIS remain a priority for our team.
{snip}
Under the President’s leadership this week, we’ve taken two important steps. First, as President Trump announced on Wednesday, the United States and Canada jointly agreed to restrict all non-essential traffic across our border. This decision goes into effect tonight at midnight. The restrictions will be reviewed after 30 days, and they exclude traffic and movement across the border for work or other essential reasons. We’re grateful to have such an outstanding friend to the north who is committed, as we are, to defeating this virus.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mike. Thank you very much. And we’ll take questions right after this.
Chad Wolf, please.
ACTING SECRETARY WOLF: Well, let me start off by thanking the President and the Vice President for their continued leadership and commitment for protecting the American people during this crisis.
{snip}
THE VICE PRESIDENT: That’s great. Thank you, Mr. President. The White House Coronavirus Task Force met this morning and we continue, at the President’s direction, to bring the full resources, not just of the federal government, but in full partnership with our state governments, businesses around America, and a partnership with the American people to respond to the threat of the coronavirus.
And I know I can speak on behalf of the President with confidence when I say how inspired we are by the way the American people and American businesses are coming together to help defeat this virus in our country. Millions of Americans are putting into practice the President’s 15-day guidelines, and we encourage everyone, even those that are not in areas with significant outbreak, to review these guidelines over the next week and more, and put them into practice. And you’ll continue to do your part.
{snip}
Q For clarity, Dr. Fauci said there is no magic drug for coronavirus right now, which you would agree. I guess, on this issue then —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, I think we only disagree a little bit.
Q — so let me just ask, though: Is it possible that — sorry.
THE PRESIDENT: I disagree. Maybe and maybe not. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. We have to see. We’re going to know. We’re going to know soon.
Q Is it possible — it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving Americans a false sense of —
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t think so.
Q — hope, and misrepresenting the preparedness right now?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No, I don’t think so. I think that — I think it’s gotten —
Q The ship is not yet ready to sail. The not-yet-approved drug
THE PRESIDENT: Such a lovely question. Look, it may work and it may not work. And I agree with the doctor, what he said: It may work, it may not work.
I feel good about it. That’s all it is. Just a feeling. You know, I’m a smart guy. I feel good about it. And we’re going to see. You’re going to see soon enough. And we have certainly some very big samples of people, if you look at the people. You have a lot of people that are in big trouble. And this is not a drug that —
obviously, I think I can speak for a lot of — from a lot of experience, because it’s been out there for over 20 years. So it’s not a drug that you have a huge amount of danger with. It’s not like a brand-new drug that’s been just created that may have an unbelievable monumental effect, like kill you.
We’re going know very soon. And I can tell you the FDA is working very hard to get it out. Right now, in terms of malaria, if you wanted, you can have a prescription. You get a prescription. And by the way — and it’s very effective. It works.
I have a feeling you may — and I’m not being overly optimistic or pessimistic. I sure as hell think we ought to give it a try. I mean, there’s been some interesting things happened and some good — very good things. Let’s see what happens. We have nothing to lose. You know the expression: What the hell do you have to lose? Okay?
Q So what to do you say to — the units that were ordered — the units that were ordered.
THE PRESIDENT: Jon, go ahead.
Q I’ll just follow up. Nearly 200 dead. What do you say to Americans who are scared, though? I guess, nearly 200 dead; 14,000 who are sick; millions, as you witness, who are scared right now. What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?
THE PRESIDENT: I say that you’re a terrible reporter. That’s what I say.
Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, the units that were just declared —
THE PRESIDENT: I think it’s a very nasty question, and I think it’s a very bad signal that you’re putting out to the American people. The American people are looking for answers and they’re looking for hope. And you’re doing sensationalism, and the same with NBC and “Con-cast.” I don’t call it — I don’t call it “Comcast,” I call it “Con-cast.”
Let me just — for who you work — let me just tell you something: That’s really bad reporting, and you ought to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism.
Let’s see if it works. It might and it might not. I happen to feel good about it, but who knows. I’ve been right a lot. Let’s see what happens.
John?
Q Can I get back to science and the logistics here?
THE PRESIDENT: You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Q The units that were ordered, are they for clinical trials or are they for distribution to the general patient population?
THE PRESIDENT: We are going to — as I understand it, we are going to be taking samples in New York. Governor Cuomo very much is interested in this drug. And they are going to work on it also, after they get a certain approval. We’re waiting for one final approval from the FDA. We’ll see what happens.
But we’ll use it on people that are not doing great, or even at the beginning of not feeling well.
Q So this would sort of fall under the modified auspice —
THE PRESIDENT: And, John, what do we have to lose?
Q So this would sort of —
THE PRESIDENT: Wait, John — it’s been out there for so long. We hear good things. Let’s see. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t.
Q I understand all of that. I’m just thinking the application here. So that would be under, sort of, a modified compassionate access?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re doing that, I guess. And that’s –that’s what it’s called.
Yes.
Q I would like Dr. Fauci, if you don’t mind, to follow up on what the President is saying. Should Americans have hope in this drug right now? And, sir, I would like to follow up on Peter’s question here. Could you please issue — address Americans in this country who are scared right now? This is a very valid concern that people have.
DR. FAUCI: No, there really isn’t that much of a difference in many respects with what we’re saying. The President feels optimistic about something — his feeling about it.
What I’m saying is that it might — it might be effective. I’m not saying that it isn’t. It might be effective. But as a scientist, as we’re getting it out there, we need to do it in a way as — while we are making it available for people who might want the hope that it might work, you’re also collecting data that will ultimately show that it is truly effective and safe under the conditions of COVID-19. So there really isn’t difference. It’s just a question of how one feels about it.
Q Is there any reason to believe it’s not safe?
DR. FAUCI: Well, certainly as a drug — any drug, John, has some toxicities. The decades of experience that we have with this drug indicate that the toxicities are rare and they are, in many respects, reversible. What we don’t know is when you put it in the context of another disease, whether it is safe.
Fundamentally, I think it probably is going to be safe, but I like to prove things first. So it really is a question of not a lot of difference. It’s the hope that it will work versus proving that it will work. So I don’t see big differences here.
THE PRESIDENT: I agree. I agree.
Q Sir, your message to Americans who are working at home, who have their children in their homes right now, who are homeschooling —
THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Here we go. Go ahead. Let’s go.
Q — doctors who say they don’t have the masks they need to do their jobs. Your message to them?
THE PRESIDENT: My message to the American people is that there is a very low incidence of death. You understand that. And we’re going to come through this stronger than ever before.
If you get it, if you happen to get it, it is highly unlikely. It’s looking like it’s getting to a number that’s much smaller than people originally thought, in terms of the ultimate — the ultimate problem, which would be death.
{snip}
Q Thank you very much. One for Dr. Fauci and then hopefully one for you.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Sure.
And one thing: Secretary of State Pompeo is extremely busy, so if you have any question for him right now, could you do that? Because — you know what I’d like to do? I’d like him to go back to the State Department or, as they call it, the “Deep State Department.” If you don’t mind, I’d like to have him go back and do his job. So does anybody have any question?
Please.
{snip}
Q And staying with you, Mr. Secretary, what message do you think it sends to other countries when you have the President of the United States lashing out at reporters?
SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ve had my frustration with reporters too. All I ask when I talk to the media is that you listen to what we say and report it accurately. And it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating when you —
Q But what message does it send to other countries though?
SECRETARY POMPEO: — when you say that that doesn’t happen, it’s enormously frustrating.
We have a responsibility to tell the American people the truth. And those who are reporting on what it is we’re doing and saying have an equal responsibility to report accurately.
Q But what message does it send to countries when you’re lashing out at reporters?
Q Do you have any evidence (inaudible) when it’s not accurately being reported? That the news media is not accurately reporting?
SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ve seen — I’ve seen many things at the State Department being reported wildly and inaccurately on —
Q Anything specific you can cite?
SECRETARY POMPEO: — on multiple occasions. And I have spoken to those reporters about it each and every time, and I’ll continue to do so.
Q Mr. President, Senator Johnson is suggesting —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’d rather have — if you could finish up with the Secretary of State.
SECRETARY POMPEO: I think I’ve worn them out, Mr. President.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, so, Secretary of State will be leaving. Any other question for him? Go ahead. In the back. Please. In the back for Mike.
Q Thank you, Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, I didn’t call on you. Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Two things. In New York, where cases are doubling every day, they fear that supplies are going to run out in a matter of weeks. Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio called on you to mobilize the military to deliver urgent supplies. Yesterday, he said, quote, “The fate of New York City rests in the hands of one man. He is a New Yorker and right now he is betraying the city he comes from.” I’ve personally spoken to emergency department nurses who say that they’re being told not to wear N95 masks because supplies are so low. So how do you respond to those remarks by Mayor de Blasio? And there’s nurses and doctors —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I just think this: I’m not dealing —
Q — looking to you. When will those supplies arrive?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I’m not dealing with him. I’m dealing with the governor. And the governor agrees with me, and I agree with him. So far, we’ve been very much in sync. I guess they’re not agreeing with each other, necessarily.
But the relationship with New York — I love New York. I grew up in New York, as you probably have heard, and the relationship has been very good. And I think government and the governor have been getting along incredibly well with the federal government.
Okay.
(Cross-talk.)
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: If there’s not, we’ll do something later, I am sure. I am sure we’ll do something.
Q Mr. President, the Wall Street analysts are predicting that unemployment numbers could skyrocket next week by — some analysts say as many as 3 million people applying for unemployment, which would be a historic number in a one-week spread. So is a thousand-dollar check going to cut it? Is that going to be enough?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re not talking about a thousand-dollar check. We’re talking about much more than that. We’re also talking about doing phases. If this doesn’t work, we’re going to keep doing until we get it going. And, frankly, once we get the economy back and once this enemy is defeated — the invisible enemy, as I call it — once it’s defeated, we get the economy back, it’s going to all come back to us very quickly. It comes back very quickly.
We have a tremendous economy. We do numbers like no other country has ever done before. Number one in the world, if you go back two weeks — and still, obviously. But if you go back two weeks, number one in the world, by far. That money comes back to us very rapidly. We want to keep it — we want to have it so that when we — not “if,” but when we win the war with the invisible enemy — when we win it, these companies can immediately start — not that they have to start rebuilding, which takes a long time.
Steve.
Q Are you confident that those are —
THE PRESIDENT: Steve. Please. Please.
Q — jobs that will come back if someone applies for unemployment next week?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m — I’m confident. I am confident.
Q What projections for job losses in March and April are you hearing?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re looking at different numbers. We have a best case and not best case, but the big thing is to defeat the virus. Once that virus is defeated, Steve, I think everything else falls in place very rapidly. I think you’re going to have a tremendous upswing.
A lot of people agree with me. A lot of — if you look at your stock market geniuses — some of whom are not geniuses, but they think they are — a lot of people think that I’m right about that, that once we defeat the virus, I think you’re going to have a very steep — like a rocket ship. It’s going to go up and everything will be back, and I really believe we’re going to be stronger than ever before.
Yeah, go ahead.
{snip}
Q This is important. You haven’t actually directed any companies to start making more ventilators or masks, right?
THE PRESIDENT: I have. I have. Yes. I have.
Q How many companies?
THE PRESIDENT: A lot. A lot.
Q So you are requiring them.
THE PRESIDENT: And they’re making a lot of ventilators and they’re making a lot of masks.
Go ahead, please.
Q Which ones? What companies?
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Please.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Just so you know — just for the probably hundredth time: I, this administration, inherited an obsolete, broken, old system that wasn’t meant for this. We discarded that system. And we now have a new system that can do millions of people, as you need them.
But we had to get rid of a broken, old system that didn’t work. It worked only in a very limited basis. And we’re very proud of what we’ve done. It’s incredible what we’ve done. And this system will now serve for the future — for future problems. Hopefully, you don’t have a problem like this, but something will come up. We have now a great system and it’s almost fully in gear, but it’s able to test millions of people.
But we inherited a broken, old — frankly, a terrible system. We fixed it and we’ve done a great job. And we haven’t been given the credit that we deserve — that, I can tell you. But the one that really deserves the credit are the American people because they are doing things that nobody thought they would do. What they’re doing is incredible. And we’re making a lot of progress. And we’ll see you folks tomorrow.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
END
1:24 P.M. EDT