Trump To Discuss Coronavirus Threat Saturday At White House
Feb 29, 2020, 11:54 AM | Updated: Jun 22, 2022, 3:28 pm
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the beginning of a new conference with members of the coronavirus task force, including Vice President Mike Pence in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House February 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump updated the American people about what his administration's 'whole of government' response to the global coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday he’ll address the nation about the coronavirus threat, as officials in Washington state reported the first U.S. death from the virus.
Trump tweeted that he’ll discuss the latest developments at a White House news conference at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Trump addressed the nation from the White House earlier this week.
On Friday, health officials confirmed a second case of coronavirus in the U.S. in a person who didn’t travel internationally or have close contact with anyone who had the virus. The U.S. has a total of about 60 confirmed cases.
At a political rally Friday night in South Carolina, Trump sought to steal some of the spotlight from his Democratic rivals who were campaigning across the state on the evening before its presidential primary. He accused Democrats of “politicizing” the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps he’s ordered in an attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading across the United States. Those steps include barring entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China.
“They have no clue. They don’t have a clue. They can’t even count their votes in Iowa,” Trump said, referring to problems that plagued the Democratic vote in the Iowa caucuses Feb. 3.
“They tried the impeachment hoax. … This is their new hoax,” Trump said of Democratic denunciations of his administration’s coronavirus response.
Some Democrats have said Trump could have acted sooner to bolster the U.S. response to the virus. Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have said his request for an additional $2.5 billion to defend against the virus isn’t enough. They’ve signaled they will provide substantially more funding.
Trump said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps he’s taken so far have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S.
