The Past 24 Hours Or So

Your Daily Dose of Trump and His Administration News

• President Trump took to Twitter on Monday to accuse the “Fake News Media” and Democrats of trying “to inflame” the coronavirus outbreak, as the virus spreads globally and across the U.S. It’s unclear exactly what prompted Trump’s tweet, but many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have issued calls for putting politics aside as the national grapples with the outbreak.

“The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant.”

• Trump spent Monday at a campaign fundraiser in Florida. $4 million to be raised at a lunch with 250 attendees.

• The US aviation industry and the Trump administration are in a pitched battle over the response to the coronavirus pandemic. In a series of contentious conversations, agency officials and aviation executives have clashed over the administration’s demand that airlines collect new kinds of data from passengers to help officials track potential virus carriers. Airlines say they can’t meet that demand right away – a claim some administration officials say they don’t believe.

• Trump told aides he’s afraid journalists will try to purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One, a person close to the administration said. The source also said Trump has asked the Secret Service to set up a screening program and bar anyone who has a cough from the White House grounds. “He’s definitely melting down over this,” the source said.

• Mike Pence personally asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to target his newly announced coronavirus quarantine at visitors from the U.S., but to “go global,” per senior Israeli officials.

• President Trump confirms that the White House is looking at special federal relief for the hotel, cruise, and airline industries amid the coronavirus downturn.

• Video from Friday shows President Trump shaking hands with Rep. Doug Collins, who just confirmed that he is self-quarantined after coming into contact with someone recently diagnosed with coronavirus.

• Rep. Matt Gaetz, said he was put into a “closed up room” on Air Force One after he found out he might have been exposed to Covid19. After landing, Trump “coaxed” him up front before leaving. “He was not hyper cautious about being in the same space that I was in.”

• The CDC announced that as of March 9, seventy-eight state and local public health labs across fifty states now have the capacity to test up to 75,000 people for COVID-19. State/local public health staff determine which specimens should be tested. The availability of 75,000 kits is considerably lower than the one million DA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said would be available. 

• At a briefing, Vice President Pence contradicted the CDC, “Testing is now available in all state labs in every state in the country. Over a million tests have been distributed. Before the end of this week, another 4 million tests will be distributed.”

• Vice President Mike Pence was uncertain if President Trump, who was in close physical contact with members of Congress who recently opted to self-quarantine due to their proximity to someone with the virus, had been tested. Throughout the press conference, Pence stressed the importance of “common sense” precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

• Pence says the president made it a “priority” to get people off California ship. Trump said last week that he would have preferred to leave them on ship because they might drive coronavirus numbers up but that others wanted them off.

• The federal government is not reporting nationwide testing results for the coronavirus. Journalists must go state to state to gather the numbers. Only 4300 tests have been administered.

• Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), who President Trump last week selected as his newest acting chief of staff, will self-quarantine at his home after learning that he may have come into contact with a person who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said.

• The National Association of Immigration Judges condemned the Trump administration’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, following their order to remove CDC posters at immigration courts that displayed, in English and Spanish, warnings about the coronavirus and tips on how to prevent the spread of the disease.