Trump To Declare National Emergency Over Coronavirus: Live Updates
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Fri, 03/13/2020
Update (1120ET): It looks like we’ve just learned what President Trump plans to announce at this afternoon’s press conference. Media reports are claiming that the White House is planning to declare a national emergency.
Dozens of cities and states have already declared emergency status to open up access to more money that can be used to fight the virus.
But Trump’s declaration would invoke the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act – more commonly known as “the Stafford ” – and use it to speed up the government response.
The G-7 has just confirmed that it plans to hold a video conference on Monday to discuss a coordinated response between all of its leaders.
Update (1105ET): Clearly eager to make up for Wednesday night’s disastrous performance in the Oval Office, President Trump has announced plans to hold another press conference at 3 pmET.
I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020
After Trump’s last performance, some are pushing for the White House to make Dr. Fauci the official federal government spokesman on all things crisis related.
.@repmarkpocan's charge for #COVID19 response.
"4. Please re-read Point 3." pic.twitter.com/C6KT4vzpMp— Meg Tirrell (@megtirrell) March 13, 2020
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau will hold a press conference at noon, presumably to discuss the situation with his wife and the fact that he likely has also contracted the virus, as people infecting their spouses has been a common occurrence during the outbreak, especially during the early days.
Of course, no matter what Trump does at this point, his critics will simply question why he didn’t do it sooner.
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