The Past 24 Hours Or So

Your Daily Dose of Trump and His Administration News

• President Trump on Wednesday disputed the death rate of the coronavirus as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), calling the 3.4 percent figure “really a false number.”

“I think the 3.4 percent is really a false number,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in a phone interview when asked for his reaction to the death rate reported earlier this week. “Now, this is just a hunch. But based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this.” “Personally, I think the number is way under 1 percent,” Trump continued.

He also downplayed the severity of the virus saying, “A lot of people will have this and it’s very mild.” “If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by sitting around and even going to work. Some of them go to work, but they get better.”

• A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked President Trump’s administration’s “Remain in Mexico” plan for asylum-seekers to stay in the country while their case plays out in U.S. courts in California and Arizona.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will prevent the government from enforcing its policy unless the Supreme Court gets involved before March 12. But the ruling will only apply to Arizona and California, the states under the court’s authority, and not New Mexico and Texas

• Vice President Pence will travel on Thursday to Washington state, which is grappling with an increasing number of coronavirus cases. Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tweeted that the vice president will travel to Olympia. He will meet with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and other state and local officials in the capital city.

• The White House is raising objections to a bipartisan Senate measure that would aim to phase down the use of heat-trapping chemicals in air conditioners and refrigerators.

• President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has sold his stake in Cadre,  a company investing in Opportunity Zone projects offering tax breaks. Three years ago Kushner’s stake in Cadre was worth $5 million. He just sold it for $25-50 million after it benefitted from Opportunity Zone tax breaks that Kushner himself pushed for.