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Remarks by Trump, Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing, 03-21-20
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: March 21, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
1:00 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. A lot of things going on, and we’re going to be going over to the Hill, and we’re having a lot of meetings. And, from the financial — this is a medical situation, not a financial situation. The financial, though, is moving along very nicely.
I want to thank you for being here and update you on the progress we’ve made after a week of extraordinary mobilization in our war against the virus. Governors, mayors, the businesses, charities, and citizens are all working with urgency and speed toward one common goal, which is saving American lives.
We’re in communication with foreign countries. It’s now at 148 foreign countries. Can you believe that? One hundred — you talk about a spread. You talk about a violent spread. One hundred and forty-eight countries. Not even believable.
This has been a week of national action and of great national solidarity. People are getting along. We’re getting along with Republicans and Democrats and independents and liberals and conservatives. And actually, it’s a very nice thing to see. We’re all one beautiful, big American family, and that’s taking place right now.
Last night, I proved a major disaster declaration for the State of New York. I worked very closely with Governor Cuomo. And is the first time in our nation’s history that a President has used the Stafford Act to declare a major disaster in response to a public health crisis. Never happened before. I’m considering other areas where we may or may not be doing that. And I’m working very closely with Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, and others; we may be doing the same thing, depending on their needs, depending on what they’re asking for.
It’s been unprecedented action in New York, and we’ve had a tremendous federal response all over the country. And I want to thank all the people in the federal government and obviously in the state governments and local governments. We are working hard. Everybody is working hard. And the people standing alongside of me are working very hard, that I can tell you.
We’ve also reached agreements with Canada and Mexico on new travel rules at our northern and southern borders to halt the entry of the Chinese virus while continuing trade and commerce. And we’ve had very good talks, I’ve — with Prime Minister Trudeau, and today, this morning, with President López Obrador. And we talked about joint measures that we’re taken to prevent the spread of the virus in our countries and to temporarily suspend nonessential travel. We had a great conversation this morning — the President of Mexico. And our close cooperation with Mexico and Canada will keep our people healthy, keep their people healthy, keep everybody safe.
Yesterday, I had a call with 12,000 small businesses — representatives of these businesses. That’s the engine of our country. People don’t realize that. You know, you read all about the big ones, but the — these small businesses, when you add them up together, are really the engine — economic engine of our country. And I assured them that my administration is doing everything within its very considerable — considerable power, frankly, to support them and their employees.
Nobody has ever done what we’ve done. Likewise, I had calls during the week with all sorts of representatives and systems, like the hospital system. We spoke to many of the hospital systems throughout the country — nurses and doctors, representatives representing hundreds of thousands of nurses and doctors; airlines and cruise ship companies.
{snip}THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Pete. Appreciate it.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Ben?
THE PRESIDENT: Ben, please.
SECRETARY CARSON: Well, thank you, Mr. President and Mr. Vice President for your tireless leadership here. And I also want to thank the fellow Task Force members who have been working around the clock in a very patriotic way to serve their fellow Americans.
You know, part of the American Dream is having a home. And sometimes people say, “Well, what does housing have to do with health?” It has everything to do with health, having a safe home. And that is the reason that the President has authorized the immediate cessation of foreclosure and eviction proceedings for American citizens, single-family forward mortgages, as well as reverse mortgages. And, as you know, FHFA has also decided to do the same thing for 60 days, and the CFPB is very happy with all of this as well.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: And I say — I’ve seen things — when Tony mentions thermometers, they aim something at your forehead, they stay this far away, boom, and they tell you what your temperature is. I said, “I’ve never seen that before.” I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot. It’s incredible.
Go ahead, in the back — the back corner. Back corner.
Q Jenn Pellegrino, with OAN. Thank you. This morning, the Washington Post ran a story suggesting that you delayed taking action on a virus in January and February. Dr. Fauci has indicated that your action in the Chinese travel ban helped America immensely. What do you say to the Washington Post?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I love whoever you’re with. That’s — because I think that’s such a nice — it’s such a nice question.
No, I think the Washington Post covers us very inaccurately, covers me very inaccurately. I saw the story. I think it’s a disgrace. But it’s the Washington Post and I guess we have to live with it. It’s a very —
Q Were you briefed in January or February, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: It’s a very inaccurate — quiet, quiet. It’s a very inaccurate story.
From many people, I get a lot of credit for having closed our country very early to a very heavily infected country: China. Unfortunately, China. I wish China would have told us more about what was going on in China, long prior to us reading about it, even though the news isn’t exactly disseminated.
As you know, China kicked the Washington Post out of China and they kicked the New York Times out of China and I guess the Wall Street Journal. That’s okay. I mean, that’s what they do and I think it’s a terrible thing they did.
But I also think it’s terrible when people write inaccurately about you. And they write inaccurately about me every single day, every single hour. And, by the way, your group really — I really think — and I just say “fair,” not “good” or “bad” — I think you write very fairly and do very fair reports about the great job that all of us are doing that this group behind me is doing.
It’s so insulting when they write phony stories that they know are fake news. Because they’re not insulting me; they’re insulting everybody — these incredible people that have worked so hard, so long, that are thinking about nothing other than this invisible enemy. They have done such an incredible job and they will continue, and we’re going to win, and there’ll be a lot of celebration when we win
THE VICE PRESIDENT: That’s right.
THE PRESIDENT: And we’re going to win with as few lives lost as possible. That’s the game: Win with as few lives lost as possible. It’s a tough enemy. It’s a tough killer. Far bigger, far more vicious than ever before.
But I appreciate you saying it because the fact that we closed so early to China — and most people — hey, look, I was called “xenophobic” by Sleepy Joe Biden. I was called a “racist” by Democrats. A racist. I was a racist because I decided that I didn’t want to have people that could hurt our country come in. And I was pretty much in a very small group of people — I will tell you, it was a tiny little group — most people, even that worked in the White House, disagreed with me very strongly.
Saving those many weeks was a tremendous — a tremendous thing. And when they keep talking about acting early, that was the ultimate act. That was the biggest act, because we didn’t — and then I also called Europe early. Very early. And I took a lot of heat for that too, but that was a good thing. Now they’re doing similar things that we’re doing.
So, I didn’t act late; I acted early. I acted far before anybody thought I should be. I took tremendous criticism from the various papers, from many of the papers.
So I — I very much appreciate the question. It might have been — it might have been more of a statement than a question. But whatever it may have been, I appreciate it very much.
{snip}
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Great. Let me just say, if I may, let me just say, I hope this morning has been informative. We will be back again tomorrow.
{snip}
I recommend that you go to Coronavirus.gov. Sit your family down, call a neighbor and friend, support efforts in your local community to put these principles into practice. And as people all across this country continue to do just that, I just know we’ll get through this and we’ll get through this together.
Thank you all.
END
2:28 P.M. EDT
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: March 21, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
1:00 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. A lot of things going on, and we’re going to be going over to the Hill, and we’re having a lot of meetings. And, from the financial — this is a medical situation, not a financial situation. The financial, though, is moving along very nicely.
I want to thank you for being here and update you on the progress we’ve made after a week of extraordinary mobilization in our war against the virus. Governors, mayors, the businesses, charities, and citizens are all working with urgency and speed toward one common goal, which is saving American lives.
We’re in communication with foreign countries. It’s now at 148 foreign countries. Can you believe that? One hundred — you talk about a spread. You talk about a violent spread. One hundred and forty-eight countries. Not even believable.
This has been a week of national action and of great national solidarity. People are getting along. We’re getting along with Republicans and Democrats and independents and liberals and conservatives. And actually, it’s a very nice thing to see. We’re all one beautiful, big American family, and that’s taking place right now.
Last night, I proved a major disaster declaration for the State of New York. I worked very closely with Governor Cuomo. And is the first time in our nation’s history that a President has used the Stafford Act to declare a major disaster in response to a public health crisis. Never happened before. I’m considering other areas where we may or may not be doing that. And I’m working very closely with Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, and others; we may be doing the same thing, depending on their needs, depending on what they’re asking for.
It’s been unprecedented action in New York, and we’ve had a tremendous federal response all over the country. And I want to thank all the people in the federal government and obviously in the state governments and local governments. We are working hard. Everybody is working hard. And the people standing alongside of me are working very hard, that I can tell you.
We’ve also reached agreements with Canada and Mexico on new travel rules at our northern and southern borders to halt the entry of the Chinese virus while continuing trade and commerce. And we’ve had very good talks, I’ve — with Prime Minister Trudeau, and today, this morning, with President López Obrador. And we talked about joint measures that we’re taken to prevent the spread of the virus in our countries and to temporarily suspend nonessential travel. We had a great conversation this morning — the President of Mexico. And our close cooperation with Mexico and Canada will keep our people healthy, keep their people healthy, keep everybody safe.
Yesterday, I had a call with 12,000 small businesses — representatives of these businesses. That’s the engine of our country. People don’t realize that. You know, you read all about the big ones, but the — these small businesses, when you add them up together, are really the engine — economic engine of our country. And I assured them that my administration is doing everything within its very considerable — considerable power, frankly, to support them and their employees.
Nobody has ever done what we’ve done. Likewise, I had calls during the week with all sorts of representatives and systems, like the hospital system. We spoke to many of the hospital systems throughout the country — nurses and doctors, representatives representing hundreds of thousands of nurses and doctors; airlines and cruise ship companies.
{snip}THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Pete. Appreciate it.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Ben?
THE PRESIDENT: Ben, please.
SECRETARY CARSON: Well, thank you, Mr. President and Mr. Vice President for your tireless leadership here. And I also want to thank the fellow Task Force members who have been working around the clock in a very patriotic way to serve their fellow Americans.
You know, part of the American Dream is having a home. And sometimes people say, “Well, what does housing have to do with health?” It has everything to do with health, having a safe home. And that is the reason that the President has authorized the immediate cessation of foreclosure and eviction proceedings for American citizens, single-family forward mortgages, as well as reverse mortgages. And, as you know, FHFA has also decided to do the same thing for 60 days, and the CFPB is very happy with all of this as well.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: And I say — I’ve seen things — when Tony mentions thermometers, they aim something at your forehead, they stay this far away, boom, and they tell you what your temperature is. I said, “I’ve never seen that before.” I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot. It’s incredible.
Go ahead, in the back — the back corner. Back corner.
Q Jenn Pellegrino, with OAN. Thank you. This morning, the Washington Post ran a story suggesting that you delayed taking action on a virus in January and February. Dr. Fauci has indicated that your action in the Chinese travel ban helped America immensely. What do you say to the Washington Post?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I love whoever you’re with. That’s — because I think that’s such a nice — it’s such a nice question.
No, I think the Washington Post covers us very inaccurately, covers me very inaccurately. I saw the story. I think it’s a disgrace. But it’s the Washington Post and I guess we have to live with it. It’s a very —
Q Were you briefed in January or February, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: It’s a very inaccurate — quiet, quiet. It’s a very inaccurate story.
From many people, I get a lot of credit for having closed our country very early to a very heavily infected country: China. Unfortunately, China. I wish China would have told us more about what was going on in China, long prior to us reading about it, even though the news isn’t exactly disseminated.
As you know, China kicked the Washington Post out of China and they kicked the New York Times out of China and I guess the Wall Street Journal. That’s okay. I mean, that’s what they do and I think it’s a terrible thing they did.
But I also think it’s terrible when people write inaccurately about you. And they write inaccurately about me every single day, every single hour. And, by the way, your group really — I really think — and I just say “fair,” not “good” or “bad” — I think you write very fairly and do very fair reports about the great job that all of us are doing that this group behind me is doing.
It’s so insulting when they write phony stories that they know are fake news. Because they’re not insulting me; they’re insulting everybody — these incredible people that have worked so hard, so long, that are thinking about nothing other than this invisible enemy. They have done such an incredible job and they will continue, and we’re going to win, and there’ll be a lot of celebration when we win
THE VICE PRESIDENT: That’s right.
THE PRESIDENT: And we’re going to win with as few lives lost as possible. That’s the game: Win with as few lives lost as possible. It’s a tough enemy. It’s a tough killer. Far bigger, far more vicious than ever before.
But I appreciate you saying it because the fact that we closed so early to China — and most people — hey, look, I was called “xenophobic” by Sleepy Joe Biden. I was called a “racist” by Democrats. A racist. I was a racist because I decided that I didn’t want to have people that could hurt our country come in. And I was pretty much in a very small group of people — I will tell you, it was a tiny little group — most people, even that worked in the White House, disagreed with me very strongly.
Saving those many weeks was a tremendous — a tremendous thing. And when they keep talking about acting early, that was the ultimate act. That was the biggest act, because we didn’t — and then I also called Europe early. Very early. And I took a lot of heat for that too, but that was a good thing. Now they’re doing similar things that we’re doing.
So, I didn’t act late; I acted early. I acted far before anybody thought I should be. I took tremendous criticism from the various papers, from many of the papers.
So I — I very much appreciate the question. It might have been — it might have been more of a statement than a question. But whatever it may have been, I appreciate it very much.
{snip}
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Great. Let me just say, if I may, let me just say, I hope this morning has been informative. We will be back again tomorrow.
{snip}
I recommend that you go to Coronavirus.gov. Sit your family down, call a neighbor and friend, support efforts in your local community to put these principles into practice. And as people all across this country continue to do just that, I just know we’ll get through this and we’ll get through this together.
Thank you all.
END
2:28 P.M. EDT