Out of hospital but still sick with COVID-19, Trump abruptly cancels aid talks

[webfact]

Out of hospital but still sick with COVID-19, Trump abruptly cancels aid talks

By Alexandra Alper and David Morgan

 

U.S. President Donald Trump poses atop the Truman Balcony of the White House after taking off his protective face mask as he returns to the White House after being hospitalized at Walter Reed Medical Center for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment, in Washington, U.S. October 5, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, still being treated for COVID-19, on Tuesday broke off talks with Democrats on an economic aid package for his pandemic-hit country and drew rebukes from Facebook and Twitter for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.

 

His tweet ending talks for a new round of stimulus spooked Wall Street, sending stocks down as much as 2% from their session highs, a serious hit at one of the metrics that the Republican president has held up as a sign of success.

 

Trump's action drew immediate criticism from congressional Democrats and at least one Republican, who said more was needed to help the millions who have lost their jobs in a health crisis that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday (October 5), and posted a video message on social media soon afterwards.

 

After days of conflicting messages from doctors and aides about his condition, Trump, 74, showed he still had what it takes to fire off his signature tweets while being treated with powerful medications including steroids.

 

Trump returned to the White House on Monday after three nights in the hospital. Officials said he was working from makeshift office space in the residence rather than the Oval Office, with only a few senior staff gaining face-to-face access.

 

Support for his Democratic rival Joe Biden has grown by about four percentage points since mid-September, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling from Oct. 2 to 6, with 52% of likely voters backing Biden compared to 40% for Trump.

 

In his first major policy pronouncement since returning to the White House, Trump abruptly called off negotiations with Democratic lawmakers on coronavirus relief legislation until after the election, even as cases of the virus are on the rise across much of the country.

 

"I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business," Trump wrote on Twitter.

 

'SHOWED HIS TRUE COLORS'

"Today, once again, President Trump showed his true colors: putting himself first at the expense of the country," Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, adding, "the White House is in complete disarray."

 

In a call with fellow Democrats, Pelosi suggested Trump's judgment had been affected by one of the drugs he was taking, the steroid dexamethasone, which is normally used in the most severe cases of COVID-19.

 

"There are people who thought, who think that steroids have an impact on your thinking," Pelosi said, according to a person who had been on the call.

Trump's doctor said on Tuesday that the president reported no COVID-19 symptoms and was doing "extremely well."

 

Republican Representative John Katko also criticized the decision to break off talks.

 

"With lives at stake, we cannot afford to stop negotiations on a relief package," Katko said on Twitter. "I strongly urge the President to rethink this move."

 

The bipartisan House Problems Solvers Caucus released a statement condemning the end of talks.

 

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said he agreed with Trump's decision, telling reporters that "his view was that they were not going to produce a result and we need to concentrate on what’s achievable."

 

Democrats' chances of capturing a Senate majority inched higher in recent days as three nonpartisan U.S. elections analysts added Lindsey Graham's seat to the list of now-10 Senate seats in play, which includes eight potentially vulnerable Republicans and two vulnerable Democrats.

 

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in that chamber.

 

McConnell aims to keep his focus on pushing through with confirming Trump's third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, which would cement a 6-3 conservative majority.

 

That nomination presented Trump and his fellow Republicans with an opportunity to turn the focus of the presidential campaign away from the coronavirus, prior to Trump's illness.

 

DOWNPLAYS RISK

Trump tested positive for coronavirus last week after months of playing down the deadly infection, and he stood by that message on Tuesday.

 

"Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!" Trump wrote on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Twitter Inc <TWTR.N> responded by putting a warning label on the post, saying it included potentially misleading information. Facebook Inc <FB.O> removed the Trump post for breaking its rules on COVID-19 misinformation, according to CNN.

 

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said the threat from COVID-19 was "very, very much different" than influenza's reach.

 

The United States has the world's highest death toll from the pandemic, with more than 210,000 deaths. By comparison, influenza typically kills between some 22,000 and 64,000 people a year in the United States, U.S. government statistics show.

 

Trump had no public events listed for Tuesday and it was unclear when he would resume a full schedule of presidential duties and campaigning ahead of Election Day, Nov. 3. He has not been seen in public since Monday night but tweeted that he was looking forward to a scheduled second debate with Democratic election opponent Joe Biden on Oct. 15.

 

Many Trump aides and confidants have been diagnosed with the disease since he revealed Friday that he had tested positive, intensifying scrutiny and criticism of the administration's handling of the pandemic.

 

The top U.S. military leaders are isolating after the Coast Guard's No. 2 tested positive for the coronavirus, Pentagon officials said.

 

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle, Doina Chiacu, Steve Holland and Mohammad Zargham in Washington and Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-07

 

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[Odysseus123]

One hopes that he might have learned a few lessons-one suspects that he has learnt none.

[PatOngo]

14 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

One hopes that he might have learned a few lessons-one suspects that he has learnt none.

But.....................................he already claims he knows everything!????

[Scott]

Troll post and replies removed.  

 

[Somtamnication]

I just wished that covid affected fingers, as well.

[ezzra]

33 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

One hopes that he might have learned a few lessons-one suspects that he has learnt none.

Trump is not about learning he's all about showing off and misleading people making light of a horrible calamity that killed and can kill millions while he, like Nero, fiddle his ignorance of the Covid 19 putting millions others at risk listening to him... 

[riclag]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said he agreed with Trump's decision, telling reporters that "his view was that they were not going to produce a result and we need to concentrate on what’s achievable."

Sounds reasonable ! Good for you Mitch!

[Thailand]

I get the impression that the staff at the Whitehouse are starting to hope for a Biden victory next month so they can get out from under this moronic shambles of a "man".

[bendejo]

1 hour ago, PatOngo said:

1 hour ago, Odysseus123 said:

One hopes that he might have learned a few lessons-one suspects that he has learnt none.

But.....................................he already claims he knows everything!

So if he already knew all there is to know, and then he learned more, wouldn't he be in danger of his head popping off or something?

 

 

[PatOngo]

2 minutes ago, bendejo said:

So if he already knew all there is to know, and then he learned more, wouldn't he be in danger of his head popping off or something?

 

 

Just listen to him, he's the saviour of the human race!

[Chomper Higgot]

Pelosi is right to question if the drugs Trump is taking are causing him ‘roid rage’.

 

A question to Pence, if he turns up.

 

Is it now time for the 25th?

[steelepulse]

8 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Because unlike Trump, no other influential world leader stand up there no mask on belittling and encouraging people to pay no minds to the Covid 19, and as for the TB, Aids, Flu type A, Flu type B, Bubonic plague and other infectious diseases that kill people the world has learn to live and treat most if not all and to know what to expect, unlike Covid 19 that no one knows what tomorrow will bring and what the long terms implications of it...

Exactly correct.  The world needs to learn to live with the virus and personally, you need to assess your risk profile and act accordingly. Take some personal responsibility!

 

Meanwhile, millions of cancer diagnosis get postponed, cardiac events at home causing death happen, worldwide depression skyrockets, suicides soar etc.  How about all the lonely elderly people that were prevented from having loved ones visit.  The list goes on and on about all the other health related incidents that seem to be overlooked by the scare and fear mongers.

[animalmagic]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Hmm, sounds almost like a quid pro quo!

[animalmagic]

6 minutes ago, steelepulse said:

Exactly correct.  The world needs to learn to live with the virus and personally, you need to assess your risk profile and act accordingly. Take some personal responsibility!

And 45 is setting a stellar example in this respect?

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

And 45 is setting a stellar example in this respect?

By taking a cocktail of drugs and infecting those who must work with him.

[Chomper Higgot]

I guess now that Millar has been diagnosed with Covid, there’s nobody left to tell Trump not to do anything that upsets the stock markets in the run up to the election.

[Boon Mee]

1 hour ago, riclag said:

Sounds reasonable ! Good for you Mitch!

Since Pelosi is negotiating in bad faith right now, best course of action is waiting until Trump gets re-elected and then the Democrats will become more cooperative. 

[Fat is a type of crazy]

You can see the little cogs working in Trumps head.

'Hmm If I stand on the balcony, and tell everyone covid is nothing much, people will think I'm brave and cool and will vote for me. If I focus on the Supreme Court, and get that done a few days before the election, people will vote for me. Don't worry about the covid aid so much. That'll take a while to pay out. Not as many votes in that. What do you think Stephen, Kayleigh, Melania...ohh that's right'

 

[J Town]

1 hour ago, riclag said:

Sounds reasonable ! Good for you Mitch!

And if 45 were to say "I don't see what airplane wings do, maybe wings are no longer needed on airplanes," Mitch would ensure legislation would be rammed through the Senate to remove the wings on all airplanes.

[J Town]

Finally! 45 has revealed his health care plan. If you catch a disease, just deny it exists, deny its ability to kill you, just don't die.

[Opl]

Stephen Miller.. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/stephen-miller-top-white-house-aide-tests-positive-coronavirus-n1242358

[Kelsall]

18 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Since Pelosi is negotiating in bad faith right now, best course of action is waiting until Trump gets re-elected and then the Democrats will become more cooperative. 

Yes, Trump is back on his game.  He shrugged off the coronavirus like it was a common cold. 

 

MAGA 2020 guaranteed!

[Opl]

3 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Yes, Trump is back on his game.  He shrugged off the coronavirus like it was a common cold. 

 

MAGA 2020 guaranteed!

Trump can't help spreading the virus, like it was twitting

[VincentRJ]

“There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”  Quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

[wombat]

No one here talks about their 401(k) going south.

Wouldn't that be a measure of how bad thing's are?

[bendejo]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Pelosi is right to question if the drugs Trump is taking are causing him ‘roid rage’.

A question to Pence, if he turns up.

 

Is it now time for the 25th?

This was brought up by Bill Kristol upon his escaping leaving the hospital.  See, even a neocon can make sense.  Sometimes.

 

DT is giving up on the election and intends to cry his way into bringing the election to be decided by SCOTUS.  Think Gore-Bush in 2000.

 

MAGA, baby!

 

[connda]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

President Donald Trump, still being treated for COVID-19, on Tuesday broke off talks with Democrats on an economic aid package for his pandemic-hit country and drew rebukes from Facebook and Twitter for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.

The media as the gatekeepers of the Truth (so they say although they are not) are wetting themselves over the President's recovery.  Expect the rest of the month to be little but manufacturing negative things to write about the POTUS and his brush with Covid-19.

[Opl]

3 minutes ago, connda said:

The media as the gatekeepers of the Truth (so they say although they are not) are wetting themselves over the President's recovery.  Expect the rest of the month to be little but manufacturing negative things to write about the POTUS and his brush with Covid-19.

The only negative info people want to know about Trump is when he has been last tested negative for COVID

[edwinchester]

1 hour ago, steelepulse said:

Exactly correct.  The world needs to learn to live with the virus and personally, you need to assess your risk profile and act accordingly. Take some personal responsibility!

 

Meanwhile, millions of cancer diagnosis get postponed, cardiac events at home causing death happen, worldwide depression skyrockets, suicides soar etc.  How about all the lonely elderly people that were prevented from having loved ones visit.  The list goes on and on about all the other health related incidents that seem to be overlooked by the scare and fear mongers.

The single most effective 'personal responsibility' everyone can take right now is to wear a mask, not only for their protection but also for those more vulnerable members of society, but for some reason all Trump seems to do is call it politically correct or see it as a sign of weakness.

[edwinchester]

18 minutes ago, Opl said:

The only negative info people want to know about Trump is when he has been last tested negative for COVID

It's highly likely that information will never see the light of day as it will probably show that he was out campaigning and fund raising when he was known to be positive or that he was not being tested daily as has been the story for months.