Trump reassures Americans coronavirus risk is low, puts Pence in charge of U.S. response

By Jeff Mason and Jonathan Allen

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wave as they board Air Force One as they conclude their two day visit to India, at Air Force Station Palam in New Delhi, India, February 25, 2020. Picture taken February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Al Drago

 

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump assured Americans on Wednesday the risk from coronavirus remained "very low," and placed Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the U.S. response to the looming global health crisis.

 

At a White House briefing with his coronavirus task force, Trump said public health officials were preparing to do "whatever we have to" to deal with the outbreak.

 

He said he would accept whatever amount of emergency spending Congress decided to allocate, and was not immediately considering travel restrictions to and from countries such as South Korea and Italy that are dealing with outbreaks.

 

"The risk to the American people remains very low," Trump said, flanked by Pence and public health officials.

 

"We're ready to adapt and we're ready to do whatever we have to as the disease spreads, if it spreads," he said, adding the spread of the virus in the United States was not "inevitable."

 

"It probably will, it possibly will. It could be at a very small level, or it could be at a larger level. Whatever happens we’re totally prepared," he said.

 

Public health officials on Wednesday warned Americans to prepare for more coronavirus cases and New York City announced plans to provide up to 1,200 hospital beds if needed as U.S. stock markets fell for the fifth consecutive day.

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, said that while the virus was contained in the United States, Americans must prepare for a potential outbreak as transmissions spread outside of China.

 

"If we have a pandemic, then almost certainly we are going to get impacted," Fauci told CNN.

 

Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday said the virus' global march had raised concern about its spread in the United States, though it remained unclear when that might happen or how severe it would be.

 

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the United States has 59 coronavirus cases, including 42 American passengers repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan.

 

"We have to be alert to the possibility of a pandemic," Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in an interview.

 

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called on the federal government to help it obtain 300,000 extra protective masks. There were no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the city, he said.

 

Global stock markets have slumped in recent days due to worries over a prolonged disruption to supply chains and economies from the virus, which has infected about 80,000 people and killed nearly 3,000, mostly in China.

 

U.S. stocks turned lower in afternoon trading on Wednesday in a fresh wave of selling sparked by fears of the coronavirus spreading in the United States. The S&P 500 index fell for a fifth straight day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 123.77 points, or 0.46%. [.N]

 

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Jonathan Allen; additional reporting by Steve Holland, Makini Brice, Susan Heavey and Michael Erman; Writing by John Whitesides and Alistair Bell; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Bill Berkrot and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-27

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I listened to part of it but couldn’t put up with the bs and the attacks on others

Sounds like an excellent plan. It is easy to be impressed by Mike Pence, his cool and calm demeanor, and close relationship with Trump inspires much confidence. With this virus emergency looming large it is reassuring that Trump and Pence are in charge, more so after seeing the utter chaos, depravity and gutter politics at the democrat debates - it does hammer the point home. The world is lucky to have these 2 at the helm during this storm. Good luck to all of us in overcoming the corona challenge.

3 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Sounds like an excellent plan. It is easy to be impressed by Mike Pence, his cool and calm demeanor, and close relationship with Trump inspires much confidence. With this virus emergency looming large it is reassuring that Trump and Pence are in charge, more so after seeing the utter chaos, depravity and gutter politics at the democrat debates - it does hammer the point home. The world is lucky to have these 2 at the helm during this storm. Good luck to all of us in overcoming the corona challenge.

You do know he gutted the cdc rite lol ho ho ho best laugh I’ve had today

This virus is going to brutally expose bs politicians worldwide who won't be able to hide the truth from the stark realities of the situation as it develops. Indeed in Iran itself the Deputy Health minister got the infection whilst lying about the developing situation in his country. I fully expect most politicians will be going to ground real soon with personal appearances and meet and greet photo ops as they become concerned themselves for their own self preservation. 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/26/us-coronavirus-response-shows-costs-having-chaos-president/

US is only doing health screening of flight passengers from China when the infection rates outside China are rapidly increasing. No health screening for countries that have rapid increases in infection like SK, Japan, Italy and Iran. Also nothing much done to screen other modes of in-bound passengers like ships and items from China. Rather perilous and indifference attitude by the command in chief Trump. 

Pence has been so inactive i thought he was just a cardboard cutout.

6 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Pence has been so inactive i thought he was just a cardboard cutout.

Clever move by the Don if it all goes pear-shaped he can point the (small) finger....

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Sounds like an excellent plan. It is easy to be impressed by Mike Pence, his cool and calm demeanor, and close relationship with Trump inspires much confidence. With this virus emergency looming large it is reassuring that Trump and Pence are in charge, more so after seeing the utter chaos, depravity and gutter politics at the democrat debates - it does hammer the point home. The world is lucky to have these 2 at the helm during this storm. Good luck to all of us in overcoming the corona challenge.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-cuts-programs-responsible-for-fighting-coronavirus-2020-2?fbclid=IwAR09lk_qehiPrZhOjy7JbT7e_VWY8Lj0aBeVeK8DBor5P43q3oTvYkTjccE

 

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-confusing-public-coronavirus-threat-experts-warn-2020-2?fbclid=IwAR3irKXOIX0-EgRqLESrBRSP5OcgJ4cVpC7tZFjSLMF_H2ZW3bY4UFpaecE

 

 

 

2 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Sounds like an excellent plan. It is easy to be impressed by Mike Pence, his cool and calm demeanor, and close relationship with Trump inspires much confidence. With this virus emergency looming large it is reassuring that Trump and Pence are in charge, more so after seeing the utter chaos, depravity and gutter politics at the democrat debates - it does hammer the point home. The world is lucky to have these 2 at the helm during this storm. Good luck to all of us in overcoming the corona challenge.

Guess it will be in "God's hands" now.

 

MIKE PENCE'S 'PRAY ON IT' PLAN TO COMBAT INDIANA HIV OUTBREAK RESURFACES AFTER TRUMP TAPS VP TO LEAD CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE

 

Quote

Pence's slow response to the quick spread of HIV in Scott County, Indiana in 2015 led to the infection of over 200 people. When the idea of a needle exchange to slow the infection rate of the illness was presented to Pence he responded by saying, "I'm going to go home and pray on it."

 

Trump is going to rid of us pence and solve social security in 2020, I'm actually impressed.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

President Donald Trump assured Americans on Wednesday the risk from coronavirus remained "very low," and placed Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the U.S. response to the looming global health crisis.

 

If the virus containment either fails or becomes a major issue, then the Reality TV Con Man can toss Pence under the bus. This way Donald gets rid of the VP that he no longer wants with an excuse that his supporters can easily swallow and support. That clears the way for Nikki Haley to be in as the new VP.

 

 

Edited February 27, 20206 yr by Silurian

I watched that press conference this morning on CNN.  Trump cited a John Hopkins study which indicated the USA was number 1 in preparedness for a major pandemic.  Interestingly, he mentioned Thailand as being among the countries most prepared.  This coming from Trump, I had to verify and indeed, he was correct.  Thailand is number 6 in the world....according to this study. 

 

https://www.ghsindex.org/

3 hours ago, webfact said:

It probably will, it possibly will. It could be at a very small level, or it could be at a larger level. Whatever happens we’re totally prepared," he said.

Doesn’t sound like it. 

The Reality TV Con Man is not fooling the stock traders. They know that Pence has no clue on how to handle COVID-19. The stock market was up until Donald gave his press conference.

 

U.S. stock futures retreat after Trump fails to reassure traders

 

Quote

U.S. stock futures fell Wednesday night, after a news conference by President Donald Trump failed to reassure investors and as a new case of coronavirus with no known origin was discovered in California.

...

He also announced Vice President Mike Pence has been put in charge of the country’s outbreak response.

 

Edited February 27, 20206 yr by Silurian

3 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Sounds like an excellent plan. It is easy to be impressed by Mike Pence, his cool and calm demeanor, and close relationship with Trump inspires much confidence. With this virus emergency looming large it is reassuring that Trump and Pence are in charge, more so after seeing the utter chaos, depravity and gutter politics at the democrat debates - it does hammer the point home. The world is lucky to have these 2 at the helm during this storm. Good luck to all of us in overcoming the corona challenge.

When Pence was governor of Indiana he totally mismanaged an AIDS outbreak in Scott County, both because Indiana had closed all of its AIDS testing centers a couple of years before and because Pence refused to approve a needle exchange program until after the peak of the outbreak when it was too late, naturally for religious reasons.  

 

Meanwhile Trump has now lied by claiming that the US has only 15 corona cases, when, in fact, it has 60, and he has fantasized that the number will soon be close to zero.  At the same press conference the reps from the CDC presented the real picture that the infection is certain to grow in the US and that organizations should be making their pandemic plans now.

 

It's hard to grasp the breathtaking incompetence of Trump and Pence.  And now a lot of Americans will pay the price.

The US gov't has a very delicate balancing act.

 

I don't see them quarantining large cities at the expense of the economy like China has done.

 

If they continue to allow workers to work, this super contagious virus will spread and hospitals will flood and casualties will grow.

 

A vaccine won't be ready until late next year, and previous SARS vaccines weren't effective and/or killed the test subjects, so don't count on that.

 

Maybe it will just be another endemic virus we have to deal with, that hopefully grows milder over time.

25 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

When Pence was governor of Indiana he totally mismanaged an AIDS outbreak in Scott County, both because Indiana had closed all of its AIDS testing centers a couple of years before and because Pence refused to approve a needle exchange program until after the peak of the outbreak when it was too late, naturally for religious reasons.  

 

Meanwhile Trump has now lied by claiming that the US has only 15 corona cases, when, in fact, it has 60, and he has fantasized that the number will soon be close to zero.  At the same press conference the reps from the CDC presented the real picture that the infection is certain to grow in the US and that organizations should be making their pandemic plans now.

 

It's hard to grasp the breathtaking incompetence of Trump and Pence.  And now a lot of Americans will pay the price.

What you have seen in China and seen Trump praising (and the WHO as well for good measure) is what will come to pass everywhere and soon. The logic and virulence of the virus dictates that not that of business. 

Edited February 27, 20206 yr by URMySunshine

6 hours ago, Tug said:

I listened to part of it but couldn’t put up with the bs and the attacks on others

When I start to see his lips move I switch off. Putting Pence in charge was a good move, he will pray to god to help America, it's all...... sorted.

What an utterly disgusting human being Trump is. He prefers to save stock markets over people. Trump makes Prayut look like the department chair of immunology and Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins.

4 hours ago, Silurian said:

The Reality TV Con Man is not fooling the stock traders. They know that Pence has no clue on how to handle COVID-19.

Before this news conference, Trump had tweeted earlier in the day that the coronavirus news was all "fake news" and part of an international conspiracy to "panic markets" and make him lose the election. This is the sort of nutbar we have as president.

2 minutes ago, URMySunshine said:

Remember the sharpie incident when the hurricane map didn't meet his delusions. God help us all. 

The one thing to be feared above all else during a Trump administration: an international crisis calling for cool deliberation, informed decision making, and preparedness. 

5 minutes ago, zydeco said:

The one thing to be feared above all else during a Trump administration: an international crisis calling for cool deliberation, informed decision making, and preparedness. 

+2020

 

If he had any sense he would postpone his rallies until further notice as they serve no purpose other than his own self-glorification. 

Edited February 27, 20206 yr by URMySunshine

9 minutes ago, URMySunshine said:

+2020

 

If he had any sense he would postpone his rallies until further notice as they serve no purpose other than his own self-glorification. 

 

But if he doesn't hold his rallies who will stroke his ego now that Melania no longer does that?

 

7 minutes ago, Silurian said:

 

But if he doesn't hold his rallies who will stroke his ego now that Melania no longer does that?

 

The Emperor has no clothes. It makes you yearn for US President's of yore any President. I would even accept George W. at this juncture but an Eisenhower god that would be a result. And Pence in charge of Coronavirus Preparedness. Scary when you say the words out loud. 

Let's put an anti-science Evangelical in charge of a virus outbreak. Good plan!

9 hours ago, URMySunshine said:

Clever move by the Don if it all goes pear-shaped he can point the (small) finger....

Right. The coward will claim It's not his fault.

11 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Sounds like an excellent plan. It is easy to be impressed by Mike Pence, his cool and calm demeanor, and close relationship with Trump inspires much confidence. With this virus emergency looming large it is reassuring that Trump and Pence are in charge, more so after seeing the utter chaos, depravity andye gutter politics at the democrat debates - it does hammer the point home. The world is lucky to have these 2 at the helm during this storm. Good luck to all of us in overcoming the corona challenge.

yes Dr. Pence will have it all under control and if it spreads he will declare it God's will against the sinful

Edited February 27, 20206 yr by malibukid

8 hours ago, cmarshall said:

When Pence was governor of Indiana he totally mismanaged an AIDS outbreak in Scott County, both because Indiana had closed all of its AIDS testing centers a couple of years before and because Pence refused to approve a needle exchange program until after the peak of the outbreak when it was too late, naturally for religious reasons.  

 

Meanwhile Trump has now lied by claiming that the US has only 15 corona cases, when, in fact, it has 60, and he has fantasized that the number will soon be close to zero.  At the same press conference the reps from the CDC presented the real picture that the infection is certain to grow in the US and that organizations should be making their pandemic plans now.

 

It's hard to grasp the breathtaking incompetence of Trump and Pence.  And now a lot of Americans will pay the price.

dirty needle Pence

I didn’t pay any attention to Trump’s ‘Coronavirus speech’.

 

Neither, it appears, did the markets.

 

Either that or they did pay attention and don’t like what they heard.