So is the UK exemption just a reward for doing Brexit? Trump hates Europe because, like China, they are competition. So he just does any stupid, childish, self-serving thing he can. Does he really think we don't have video recordings of him saying just a few days ago that the virus was a hoax and no real threat to the US? Too little too late. And his claims about Europe not doing anything are baseless - Italy banned flights from China six weeks ago.
14
No fear!
I‘m Your CORONA-President!
I‘ll make Your CORONA great again!
4
Here's my March Madness: when will the US cases cross 10K? 100K? my bets are 3/19 and 3/27 respectively. This is just to say this needs to be addressed decisively now. This is a medical issue not a trade or financial issue. Look at how the markets voted during the speech on this. Wall Street & the big banks need to get on the line to the Secretaries that article 25 might be needed to save the market and monetary policy.
7
If you are paid hourly & not working, there are no deductions, these workers are not helped by a payroll tax cut.
If you are paid salary & working from home, there is no need.
If you are paid hourly & working, a withholding reduction is helpful. A reduction would be wiser as it helps keep SSA & Medicare solvent - to the greatest extent possible.
trump just said, "I believe it [payroll tax cut] would be a great thing beyond this [current situation]." HINT!!!!!! 2021 budget cuts coming! he's chumming the waters!
We haven't paid for the $30 billion dollar farmer bailout due to trump's tariffs, and now he's wanting to bailout the oil industry.
To wipe-out a trillion dollars of SSA funding would be an unconscionable unforced error and add to the U.S's already 23 trillion dollar debt. Not to mention, threaten the future payments of over 67 million current beneficiaries.
At least in 2011, the Administration only reduced the withholding by 2%, a $20 billion reduction of today's budget.
I'm all for loans, not free money bailouts and not for stripping SSA's funding for a year.
4
Perhaps the most representative of the idiocy of the larger covid-19 response: "Denmark is suspending naturalization ceremonies because a handshake is officially required for their completion."
Why can't they continue the ceremonies with participants wearing gloves?
2
With seasoned, experienced professionals and lifelong public servants like Stephen Miller, Jared Kushner and Princess Ivanka there to guide him, we can rest assured that Donald John Trump has matters firmly in hand. Indeed, their steady hands and deep understanding of science, economics and politics were evident in last night’s masterful presidential oration to the nation and the world.
But seriously, folks... was that really the President of the United States I saw on the tube, or a deer frozen with fear and confusion in the headlights of an oncoming truck?
9
Do you know Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine? That is what's happening now, with Trump's European "blockade." This is Putin's plan to weaken Europe. That's why UK is excepted because Boris is part of Putin's plan. There was a brief mention in the press about Steve Mnuchin meeting with a Russian minister to "implement the agreements made at Helsinki and Osaka," which we have no idea about. Makes sense, doesn't it?
Not saying that Putin PLANNED Covid-19! Just saying that wicked dictators use natural disasters (and sometimes planned events) for their own purposes. See Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine.
5
The presidential address failed to mention how we are going to pay for the medical costs (even the testing) of the uninsured or how we are to test and treat the people in our midst who fear deportation. Our medical "system" is designed to implode in a crisis like this, and banning travelers from "Europe" (the EU? the EU plus eastern European countries?) will not be enough to compensate for that flaw.
2
I read the transcript this morning, but to get the full effect I just watched the speech. The President's monotone delivery indicates that he had no idea what he was saying. To him it was word salad with no meaning. One baseline expectation of Presidents should be that whether we agree or disagree with them on policy, we get a sense that they understand and believe what they are saying. Trump fails this test.
President Reagan, in decline in the second half of his second term, was infinitely more tuned in and composed.
Scary stuff.
10
Trump just has to stop paying for everything with our credit card, the tax cut for the rich and corporations (that buy back their stock) huge increase in defense spending, trillion dollar deficits. It is time to tax capital gains as income.
3
My family in Europe is grateful. After the travel ban goes into effect on Friday, Americans will be able to make visits to Europe and return to the U.S. Nevertheless, the ban on Europeans visiting the U.S. will certainly discourage Americans from travelling. Since the U.S. has more virus cases than any European country (they're just not testing them and counting them), the ban will keep Europeans safer.
7
Inadequate and inappropriate response from an Inadequate and inappropriate "president." But credit where due: he lived down to my expectations.
9
Did anyone notice EU countries, e.g., Ireland, UK, that have Trump golf courses or hotels weren’t included in the travel ban? I’m sure every measure taken to protect the public is first vetted to make sure Trump and the Trump Organization won’t be affected by it.
Measures to contain the coronavirus should have been instituted BEFORE the first case was diagnosed in the USA. Trump&Co have been scrambling to catch up ever since all the while lying to the American public.
5
That speech made matters worse.
Money to bail out zombie companies. Travel moratorium with Europe.
The emphasis should have been on doctors, ICU's, testing and vaccines.
7
Comments from an experienced MD PhD
Someone is now trying to blame the virus on the rest of the world to deflect attention from their shortcomings in dealing with it.
As we see today, banning travel from Europe had the opposite of the desired effect on the stock market, and a non-selective ban probably doesn't make much sense at this point anyway. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is out!
The initial announcement about blocking shipments of goods as well, for the most part, makes absolutely no sense, and was "clarified" last night, probably after someone realized that it didn't make sense and doing that would probably double stock market losses today.
All in all, Europe didn't react signiificantly slower than we have.
Naming the coronavirus by location of origin is ignorant and incorrect.
The appearance of the coronavirus was a statistical event, and is largely something is much more likely to happen in a huge nation of almost two billion people and its correspondingly large food chain than a country like the US with only about 1/5 the population of China. Just like something is more likely to happen, all other things being equal, in California or Texas versus Rhode Island.
1
And in 2018 he disbanded the national pandemic response structure we had in place. Penny wise pound foolish comes to mind. And now the lack of his true leadership skill is on full display. He and his team are scrambling like a cat in kitty litter to cover up their mistakes. Cities, states and ourselves will be the best defense against Coronavirus.
8
The NYTimes needs to stop its daily assault on the white house and urge people not to panic. Panic is worse than any disease. Stores are sold out of hand sanitizers, masks, even toilet paper. People are stealing masks from hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
This is a new virus and scientists everywhere are working towards a vaccine, as well as conducting trials for effective drugs for those that demonstrate serious complications.
I'd like to understand how the CDC lab that was making the test got infected such that the test kits didn't work correctly. What kind of manufacturing controls do they have where the reagent didn't work, but kits were sent out anyway. Human error I get, but when you manufacture something, you test it before sending it out.
The biggest question the NYTimes should be pursuing is "who decided not to use the WHO test kits that were made available, but turned down." I'm guessing that decision was not made by the white house, but I don't know. The CDC receives over 7 billion dollars a year, but cannot make a test kit when the recipe is known because the lab it was being created in was contaminated with the virus? If it was a private company, it would have been shut down by the FDA on inspection.
We need to know that billions given annually to the CDC budget actually go towards mitigating disease spread in the US; that is their only reason to exist.
The decision of President Trump of banning all visitors from continental Europe remind me of the farmer closing the door of the barn after the horses are all gone.
4
Reading the comments here, it is astonishing to me that many continue to support and defend Donald Trump. One wonders just how far off course he needs to steer the ship before these supporters pull their heads out of partisan sands and realize that Trump is (and has been) an utter failure as a president.
9
This is the point where Trump would normally declare bankruptcy, get a divorce and leave others to clear up the mess and take the losses. It will be interesting to see how he rises to the challenge now that it is harder for him to run away. Managing anything is easy in good times, any fool can do it. It takes skill and tenacity to survive in hard times. Sadly not qualities found in this administration.
5
Exempting the United Kingdom from the travel ban is in the U.S. national interest. The Trump Golf Resorts must be kept running for the economy.
2
I am no longer able to deal with him and his feckless administration. I did read that as his motorcade arrived at the CDC there were protesters lining the route with signs "asking for a TRUMP VACCINE." I really liked that. "The virus will not have a chance against us" yeah, right. The virus a climate change. All hoaxes
3
The media especially CNN spent last nite wasting time critiquing Trump's speech. Why don't they interview people with ideas and solutions for the crisis in a calm discussion (unlike Chris Como)
This A.M. Tom Friedman spoke on CNBC. He addressed 5 problems. He said the government should tap Jeff Bessos and Amazon to be the head of testing and distribution and Bill Gates to head up a committee to figure out how to get the medical treatment and logistics out there.
Now that is thinking outside the box.
4
It is wonderful that the countries where Donald Trump owns golf courses have been spared this ban.
3
The UK is getting a lot of heat from readers here about not being part of the ban when in fact Ireland, Turkey, Ukraine and many other countries are not part of the ban either. People should wind their necks in before coming up with stupid conspiracy theories like Trump golf clubs being part of it or Boris Johnson and Trump being best friends. Currently the relationship between these two is very icy with Trump having slammed down the phone during their last call and Johnson cancelling his scheduled trip to the White House.
What Trump said on TV and to millions of America should call into question whether or not he is suffering from senility:
"He said he was “suspending all travel from Europe to the United States,” when in fact it applies only to foreigners, and he said it would “apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo” across the ocean, when in fact his order affects only people."
He had one job to do and that was to correctly read it from a teleprompter. God help us.
And Trump and the Republicans dare to criticize Biden for his gaffes.
And then he tries to act like a leader.
“We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation and one family.”
Came across like what an abusive husband or father would say after a fit of rage.
Trump is a liar and never sounds sincere unless he is at one of his rallies and demonizing everything from Democrats, to immigrants, to the media and of course Joe Biden.
Nope I won't put politics aside because for Trump this is nothing but politics and reelection.
One thought I had when listening to Trump is how important it is to not say stupid things.
Reminds me of when Ronald Reagan jokingly said (when testing the announcement system at a convention center) that war had been declared on Russia and it would be bombed in the next few minutes.
People thought he was serious.
At least Reagan always sounded truthful and sincere when making a speech unlike the racoon faced man in the oval office now.
5
The “too little too late Trump Administration” addressing the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s credibility is ZERO. He is the guy who said just a week ago that the “coronavirus is no worse than the flu”... He says anyone can walk in and get a test for the virus, although there is a shortage of test kits available. Everything out of his mouth is confusing and erroneous, causing more confusion to the public. This blameless “the buck doesn’t stop here” President is a disgrace to America.
6
Now trump says he wants to unify the nation and we're one big happy family. As my grampa used to say... "he's an hour late and a dollar short."
The only solution to the current crises is Article 25.
6
"He said he was suspending all travel from Europe to the United States,” when in fact it applies only to foreigners ...
Trump is incapable of stringing a sentence of two words together without at least one of them being a lie. How can we take ANYTHING he says seriously? He should be letting his knowledgeable medical experts do all the talking while he goes off and plays golf somewhere.
2
Early in 2018, the CDC closed down its world-wide network of pandemic response facilities. They did that because Republicans and president Trump did not continue funding it.
I want to point something out: Smaller government is not always better government. That one decision may have cost a lot of lives.
18
While one expects the bravado of "the virus will not have a chance against us" despite the fact that it has already taken lives in the U.S. and is spreading, apparently there was no consultation with the European Union or other European leaders before the travel ban, which is wildly arbitrary. If Trump were serious about still trying to keep a virus out that's already in, a complete ban would be the way to go, but instead there are exceptions for the U.K. and U.S. citizens and green card holders, who are just as likely to have picked up the virus in Europe as native Europeans. I'm surprised there's no exception for people from Russia. Of course, if our government hadn't messed up the test kit situation royally, putting us far behind other developed nations, we could at least test those people when they arrive (as well as everyone in the U.S.). On the positive side, it appears that the experts have at least been temporarily allowed to tell the truth, which is going to make life hard at Fox News.
8
can every reference to covid-19 have in parenthesis (aka hoax per trump)
3
It is not good days. We have to stop being angry, which I am, and think about how to move forward. Without this fool of a president who has not a clue.
I think my America will continue on.
We are a good people.
Stay with me, my America, and dump Trump.
9
@Pat I'm an Independent but in November, I'm going to vote a straight Blue ticket. I'm not voting for anyone; I'm voting against someone and his party that has gone nuts.
5
Fond of heights, President Icarus flew too close to the sun’s corona, and now his waxen wings are but a melting mess. Will we come crashing down with him?
5
Does the travel ban include Russia? They're lying about their infection load.
9
With the irresponsible Trump response - denial and false reassurance - glaring on every headline for weeks, I guess it must be a relief to Europeans that Americans are self-quarantining.
4
His political Wsterloo, no?
3
One can only hope.
4
Trump's semi coherent, wheezing "address" will go down in history as one of the worst Presidential addresses of any sort, let alone one in time of crisis. After hearing that rudderless diatribe, I will marvel if any of his followers dare to address Biden's supposed lack of mental acuity again.
15
Why not England?
6
@Carol Because the UK (England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland) is not within the Schengen free movement zone, which includes the worst hit country Italy. There are 20+ European countries not in Schengen and none of these are covered by the ban, including the United Kingdom and Ireland.
1
@Martin thank you, but I would sy it is a matter of time
@Carol
Because there are Trump golf courses and resorts in the UK and Ireland.
6
Reading from Trump's favorite book: ◄ Psalm 7:15 ►
King James Version
"He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made."
We are now in bear market but Trump predicted if Democrats gain control of the White House the stock market will enter a bear market. Expect airlines stocks to depreciate. Many of the flights coming in from Europe usually went through Heathrow Airport anyway. Unless he wants to ban Lufthansa and SAS flights?
4
The ban will do nothing but send European markets lower. He does nothing when he should be arranging test kits then when he should do nothing he does something stupid, thereby worsening the crisis
10
Wait, so is Trump part of the Democrat hoax now? Or is he admitting that they were right and he’s wrong? And why not suspend air travel from the UK? This show is more confusing than ‘Twin Peaks’...
10
$1 short
Day late
7
Despite the Republicans best attempts to destroy and politicize the nonpartisan American infrastructure and all of its institutions, I am glad that Trump did not get around to firing Dr. Fauci or all of the CDC, replacing them with servile Trump hacks. Without a functioning government and a clown-puppet Senate, Americans are not safe. Thanks goodness as well for Nancy Pelosi for pointing out that much more money needed to be allocated from Congress and not in some idiot partisan bid to throw money to Trump voters. The virus doesn't care who you vote for.
10
The Cabinet must invoke the 25th Amendment now. Too many will die because of Trump’s incompetence.
8
Junior varsity leading this crisis. I did not feel reassured. What a disappointment.
8
Yet, Americans will STILL have to pay to be tested. This man continues his buffonery. Right now, the mortality rate in Italy is hovering just below 7%, yet "this virus will not have a chance against us." That's right, I keep forgetting, you're with the US Gov't. Trust you. You're here to help.
Trump is now crying/begging for unity and non-partianship. No, we are "not in this together." He is part of the "haves" and as the GOP has proven, they care not one iota for the "have nots."
It comes as no surprise that Trump's decision to suspend travel from Europe for the next 30 days was unilateral. He's spent 3 years making it abudantly clear we have no Allies and America is pariah in the free world.
11
Watch Trump's speech. He looks like a robot, not someone to lead us in this crisis. It looks like it is all he can do to barely read the teleprompter, let alone show some emotion. It is clear that reading is a struggle for him. Too much time watching TV and playing golf (like last weekend despite the crisis). But at least he did not promise to dump the Affordable Care Act this time.
10
Trump blames Europe for the failure of his (largely imaginary) perfect Chinese travel ban that was supposed to save us.
Somebody has to be blamed. Always.
8
Can someone please explain to me how a man who doesn't believe in evolution is going to handle viral mutations?
6
"We must put politics aside".
I couldn't agree more! And since you're the biggest politician in the land, we may as well start with you.
10
Very Well Stated.
3
Like everything this president does, his "solution" is smoke and mirrors. Helping small businesses sounds good, right? Well....
"Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy, 99.7 percent of all U.S. firms are small businesses."
"Under the current SBA definition of a small business, you could have 1,500 employees and still be considered a small business."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevecooper/2012/09/20/the-government-definition-of-small-business-is-b-s/#116e3a4c360a
What do you want to bet Trump, Inc. will be at the front of the line for some of that $55 billion?
5
Of course, banning Europe and not the UK makes no sense, but then again, Boris did not outflank his lies and deceptions like "it will be over by April" and it "is a hoax" yesterday.
It was Merkel's going on the record, sided by Germany's top scientists, to announce that things will get ugly for everybody, which put him totally on the defense, laying him bare as the empty suit he is. You could see that in his manner of delivering this newest drivel, obviously not even knowing what he read.
Scaramucci (out of all people!) perfectly summed up his appearance yesterday:
"(he) looked like a scared, sedated puppy who just got neutered"
So banning EU flights, but not UK, was not only his latest non scientific approach not to confront the "foreign virus," but rather his pay-back to the audacity of Merkel to openly put his ignorance in place.
6
@svenbi There are 20+ European countries the ban does not apply to, including Ireland. Why focus on the UK?
1
Events to look forward to this weekend, Friday the 13th, the Ides of March and Trump golfing. (hopefully).
3
Those who do not believe in evolution — for example, the president — are now confronted with evolution’s purest form: a new virus, which evolved from a different strain. The non-believers will employ denial, finger pointing and say it is not so bad, but the hard truth is hitting home: their non belief is deadly to others.
As for anti-vaxxers: you should be held accountable criminally for anybody you infect.
6
So. Friday is the 13th, and we have the Ides of March this weekend, the coronavirus is making us all crazy and some very sick, stock market is crashing and we have no idea where this is going. And then we have Trump. Maybe this is mother nature's way of cleansing the environment. They can see blue sky's in China now, that's a positive.
2
Luckily Americans have a stable genius at the helm in these troublesome times.
2
tRump wants us to unify into “one family” — does that mean we can all now enrich ourselves at the public trough like his family?
4
12/4/2008: a NYT byline read, businessman “Trump Sees Act of God in Recession,” to limit his financial responsibility for inept and reckless loans he had engineered with lending partner Deutsche Bank. Unsurprisingly, as president facing a worldwide crisis it’s Europeans, China, Democrats and the non-conservative media who are at fault for his seemingly inept and reckless executive actions. Pattern?
3
The Trump administration fired the U.S. pandemic response team in 2018 to cut costs.
7
Heck of a job Donnie.
Lies, misinformation, self congratulation, finger pointing, lack of clarity and once again making believe that the problem is not already here and that an expanded partial travel ban will be enough. Has an address to the nation from the Oval Office ever been so poorly conceived and so poorly delivered?
Even worse: Who knows what he'll say tomorrow without a teleprompter.
Trump is like a bellicose drunk at the end of a long bender careening down an icy mountain road in an unmaintained bus without the first clue on how to steer, angry that we the passengers are screaming for someone, anyone who knows how drive to take the wheel.
9
On February 11, the CDC’s Dr. Fauci spoke about the Covid-19 epidemic at the Aspen Institute and opined that travel bans are essentially ineffective once a pathogen has infected a sufficient number of people inside the U.S. that community exposures will lead to widespread contagion. At best, banning travelers from outside the country will only buy a bit of time to mobilize a response to the disease.
Unfortunately, as Dr. Fauci was speaking a month ago, our ‘President’ was playing golf, when he wasn’t bellowing word salad at one of his Cult of the Red Hat ‘rallies’, playing golf or watching Sean Hannity and listening to Rush Limbaugh — both of whom decried Covid-19 as a “Deep State Democrat hoax” and expressed their expert medical opinion that it is nothing more than the common cold with a fancy name.
He then spent weeks trying to sell that sort of willful ignorance and tin foil hat conspiracy theory nonsense to the American people.
Now that the Covid-19 horse is not only out of the barn, but rampaging through china shops all over town, Trump goes on national television to announce he’s going to close the barn door. Nothing to worry about! We’ll put band aids on it!
Is it any wonder that the public is in panic mode and markets are imploding? Minutes after his halting teleprompter recitation, stock markets around the world resumed their swoon. Trump has not calmed anyone — instead his display of hopeless, helpless incompetence has only brought despair.
9
The only “foreign virus” I know of is Mr. Trump. I do hope there is a way to stop him infecting politics in America and elsewhere.
4
Wishing Tom Hanks and his wife a good recovery from Covid 19
They are in hospital in Queensland Australia
4
Why did it take days for Trump to do what virtually all other government leaders have done, from County Executives to Governors? No plans, rejection of scientific advice, nothing to instill confidence in his leadership and a belated and feeble monitor reading attempt to bolster his fading reputation. Will this be the straw that breaks the president's back. We can only hope that some good results from this devastating disaster.
3
American exceptionalism at its finest.
Response by the Trump administration was bound to be less than impressive since Trump has seen to it personally that science, logic, standards, compassion, coherence & facts no longer play a role in managing much of anything anymore.
5
On 2/27 I posted, “As an American teaching at a university in S. Korea, I actually feel safer here than I would in the US… If other countries develop a near real-time teaching capacity similar to Korea’s, their infection statistics might prove just as bad or even worse.” Updates and more takeaways: 1. Confirmed cases stopped accelerating in Korea, and even with close to 8000 cases, fatalities have been kept below 1 percent (cf. Italy’s 6 percent). “Early detection and treatment appear to be key,” I wrote. 2. Gov’t here has been so far managing without drastic measures such as adopted in China and Italy. In addition to widely available tests and universal healthcare, gov’t has been at pains to provide real-time information to help citizens act responsibly on their own. Detailed recent whereabouts of those who test positive are tracked down, for example, and published on the Internet (while protecting their anonymity), so that others who might have come in contact with them can self-quarantine or request tests. 3. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is a trained scientist and not known for conflating cases. When she says 70 percent of Germans could be infected, it could also mean 70 percent of the world population. Efforts at containment, while ultimately not successful, may help slow down the rate of infection until the vaccines are developed. It could mean the difference between hundreds of millions dead before there is a cure—please do the math—or a mere fraction thereof.
4
Why allow travel from the UK, but not the rest of Europe? What’s so special about The UK?
1
@Michael Krause This is misinformation, the ban doesn't apply to many other European countries either, including Ireland, Ukraine & Russia. The apply only applies to counties in the Schengen free movement zone where the infection rate is at its highest.
For Trump to declare the earth is flat would make more sense than what he said last night.
3
So will this crisis finally prove that it was a hoax? No, no, no, not the virus, that one is for real. I meant the Trump presidency...
4
The fact that he is excluding the UK from the banned list of European flight arrival countries without explanation is laughable and nonsensical. The UK has a higher rate of infection than most of the countries on the list. Also, what's to stop travellers hopping across the English Channel and flying from London to the US. This is ludicrous and immature policy making of the first order and just about sums up his fitness to hold the highest office in the land. It also shows, not for the first time, that he'll read anything put in front of him by that aspiring junior fascist Stephen Miller, who has the potential to be a more virulent cancer on American society and freedoms than Trump himself.
4
"“We are all in this together,” he said. “We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation and one family.”"
AT LONG, LONG LAST!
1
So Tom hanks flew into australia already infected with coronavirus. Should australia now ban all U.S. citizens? How would trump feel about that.
2
Wow, I wish I lived in a country where the virus didn't have a chance!
3
The hubris, arrogance and mendacity here is stunning. I hope Chauncey Trump has had lots of fun playing president.
Now what?
Golly:
I’m so relieved to hear this will be “temporary.”
I’m so relieved to hear the “superrich” will have to pay their taxes on time.
I’m so relieved to hear this is a “foreign” disease.
What was it he said about “this American carnage?”
4
No mention of banning people from Mexico. lol! I suppose Mexico isn't testing for the coronavirus.
1
God help this world if a far more lethal and easily-spread virus creeps onto the scene. We are inept. No wonder the climate crisis is kicking our tales. We refuse to work together and obey the dictates of preparedness and science. We are truly penny wise and pound foolish. That said, I am heartened at the transparent and active response of the ROK and Italia. Rays of hope? The U.S.? Oh, man.
2
Trump's Oval Office statement about the Coronavirus was nonsensical. He showed no evidence of real understanding of the big picture. His knee-jerk response is short-sighted and inadequate. The payroll tax cut idea is just a bad one. It will not help those who will lose income. The travel ban is a mystery. The fact that he cannot focus on the domestic threat and the healthcare crisis is so sad for us.
71
what is it about britain?
his failing golf courses in scotland and ireland?
there is no science behind the exception.
the emperor wears no clothes and he travels with a ship of fools.
3
The American people knowingly succeeded in installing a real estate magnate/ failed casino operator/necktie and bottled-water salesman/ founder of a fake university and reality TV clown in the highest office in the land -- where today in broad daylight he is mismanaging a global pandemic, colluding with Russia, managing several undeclared wars, destroying the stock market, appointing Supreme Court and federal judges by the score, building an Imaginary wall, issuing lying tweets by the hour, driving the country into bankruptcy, renting out rooms in his hotels to foreign governments, predicting the weather, all without batting an eyelash, squeezing a brain cell, reading a book or an intelligence report, or missing a day on the links.
Where is the 25th amendment when we need it?
8
Q:The most intelligent “Life” on this Planet?
A: Virus
2
Only the low-intelligence immoral failure that is Trump could make Brownie look good.
1
Everyone is politicizing this frightening tragedy to use against Trump, Trump, Trump....
Yet none of the leftists and elitists - and few in the media - direct a grain of concern toward the root of the problem. And that is the gruesome and horrifying entrapment and consumption of wild animals at these Chinese “markets”. Even SARS was traced to one of these markets in China, a different city from Wuhan. Keep in mind folks we are not talking about livestock, we are talking koalas and wolves in cages. Often tortured before being consumed (as though dogs aren’t bad enough). Some people over there eat animals alive. We are talking bats in bowls of soup...eaten in restaurants by women in full make up and dressed to the nines. The way these animals suffer is gut wrenching.
Yet when called a Chinese virus - which is factually where it derived, Nancy Pelosi jumped on the tired old race baiting wagon - going on familiar lectures of xenophobia. Guess the torture and consumption of these innocent creatures doesn’t bother her...
These practices are not only cruel and barbaric, but they endanger the entire world. The president was correct to restrict travel from China, despite the cries of xenophobia from the elitists and those on the left. Europe would have been wise to do the same.
You know - self righteous blowhards call it culture. The rest of us call it ignorance. Major health hazards ready to happen.
3
The virus, covid-19, that Mr Trump is using to campaign with has already killed over a dozen American citizens.
Mr Trump could had tweeted it, or had Rupert Murdochs Fox news spread his conspiracy theories.
We need leadership we can trust at this point.
Its impossible to trust this man
2
Trump is truly a one-trick pony -- knee-jerk xenophobia is his answer to everything. He was accidentally correct in restricting travel from China, but then squandered the weeks that bought the USA by denying that there was a rapidly growing problem. Now that it's everywhere, restricting travel from the EU is completely pointless (you can't travel in Italy anyway).
2
My question is...was this brief speech delivered by a terrified five-year-old, a guy who was drugged to the gills, or somebody who realized that Anthony Faucci was right behind him with an angry look in his face and a twelve-gauge?
4
So much time wasted by Trumps failure to take this threat seriously and for those around him to cater to his ego and need for approval. Trump not only decimated epidemiological staff at the CDC but also eliminated the defense offices that planned for pandemics! The level of stupidity, the playing with people’s lives is unfathomable, irresponsible, almost criminal in the level of neglect. Today a former Obama official speculated the next thing will be to turn responsibilities for dealing with the virus to the States and the blame the governors when bad things happen. I can’t say I disagree with that speculation. You heard it here.
3
I am disappointed that Trump left the UK out of his travel ban. Maybe our Prime Minister will ban travel to the US so that we don’t become infected by such ignorant and xenophobic thoughts and actions.
1
This is completely ridiculous. Either ban all travel from Europe including Americans and green card holders, and those from the UK, where numbers are escalating, or take a more measured response. The virus does not observe national boundaries, Completely without sense, but what can we expect from an irrational president. This is a political move to hit Europe, which views Trump with utter contempt, as we all should. Hello, the virus is already here in the U.S. and very little was said about how to contain it. And so-called journalists on Fox news are running around saying that the virus is merely an attempt to impeach Trump again. I am ashamed of this country for putting up with this maniac.
7
During a declared national emergency/pandemic, Congress is taking a
week-long break!?
They will resume discussions and decisions AFTER the break!?
smh....dismissal equals denial.
5
Did anyone else notice the labored intake of breath and strange wheezing after every sentence or piece of a sentence.
And the strange posture with the hands folded, and the thumbs twitching uncontrollably.
9
And Congress takes its break?
4
Pretty frustrating to know that because your country can't implement proper public healthcare, my country, next door, is going to be more vulnerable.
Every day, right next to this pandemic reporting, this newspaper's columnists sneer at the candidate who would try to implement such a system, while raising up the one who says he would veto it.
4
Isn’t that somehow what Trump always was dreaming of? Closed boarders for everyone from abroad?
Finally America a fortress island.
2
The man is genius! It has only been what 6 weeks since the chinese quarantined Wuhan. Today he has decided to act. I like a timely man, a man who knows his priorities, like his poll numbers,and protecting his own interests and image.
And building a wall, but- in the sky is also on brand. Of course testing and tracking the earliest victims would have been vastly more efficacious.That of course would have required a functioning government, which our great leader has been madly demolishing from day one of this rather bizarre[ embarrassing,shameful] era. So even though the world economy is on the verge of collapse and millions,tens, hundreds of millions are at risk of disease and death we can rest easy and proud of our great nation once again.
I keep thinking of that brave Iraqi who took of his shoe and threw it at a past president of ours. I am sort of nostalgic for those days.
I was hoping we would get through this trumped up time,this deranged time, more or less unscathed. No such luck.
Maybe the Europeans can come up with a ban for us, say a ban on republicans from entering the EU. It would be a good idea as they are so infected with swamp of pathogens that they are.
I would make a donation to the cause, maybe save up a supply of old shoes.
6
Congratulations to the presidents aides who finally found the courage to stand up to the president and convince him not to wear his MAGA hat last night.
5
Trump divides Europeans into 1st and 2nd class. He points to Europe. He exempted the United Kingdom. To distract from his own mistakes in the treatment of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country. After all, who believes that the slimmed-down healthcare system in the United States will adequately treat these cases? There are massive doubts. Every European healthcare system is superior to the US. And then this lout comes along and points to the Europeans. Incredible. Should he first sweep in front of the door.
5
@Thomas Meyer He exempted the UK and Ireland because he has golf courses there. He knows what is important to protect - his businesses.
5
So biased to use a photo from Istanbul instead of Rome or Paris and play some mind-games with the reader. Flights from countries in the the Schengen zone - which includes 26 mainland European counties - not Turkey would be banned. There is only a single confirmed case in Turkey as they took necessary countermeasures several weeks before any European country and of course US did.
4
@Regular Citizen Turkey is mostly a non-test zone. With that - no cases to report. Congratulations!
What neglectful parents went out and left us with this sniffling, bleary babysitter? He looks like a college student on a 7 A.M. sidewalk at the end of Spring Break.
Trump’s undignified blaming of China and Europe while congratulating himself has gone from aggravating to weird. It must be a rehash of one of his statements from bankruptcy court.
Trump spent days coming up with this yawner?
Proud of yourselves, Senate Republicans?
8
So, Trump happens to be the first president who has demonstrated he can keep us from leaving the country. Not sure how I feel about that. Terror probably covers it.
3
While I understand the right of a country to restrict travel from other countries during these extraordinary times, leaving the UK out of the "Europe" restriction baffles me. It is transparently political.
You can't find an excuse for it: It's an island? So is Iceland, so is Malta, so is Cyprus, so are island parts of many EU countries like the Canary Islands, Madeira, Faroe Islands, etc.
The UK also has infections of its own.
But most disgustingly, this president is using this as an opportunity to blame foreigners. Yes, we need to have a real discussion about China when all is said and done. But right now this does nothing but spread fear.
At the very least, this crisis is showing us that the American president cannot handle his job. So far many of his polemics have been political, and therefore more "dismissible", but this is very real. Please, vote him out in November.
4
@S What are your thoughts about Ireland, Turkey. Ukraine and a dozen other European countries being left out of the ban? Also political?
1
No fear!
I‘m Your CORONA-President!
I‘ll make Your CORONA great again!
1
So the travel restriction does not include the U.K. because......
2
The coronavirus has already evolved into two different strains. So we already have virus #19 and #20 on our hands. Today the world is focused on eliminating #19. #20 is just emerging onto its own. We still have time to take steps against #20 and yet it is probably also creeping into the population unchecked. Work on #20 must also begin immediately. #19 has a new DNA that multiplies 10,000 times faster and spreads faster. Who knows how deadly #20 is. #20 must be worked against now and nipped in the bud otherwise we will have #21 and then #22....
Banning all travel is an extreme measure that will hurt even more than the virus itself. All passengers who show symptoms must be tested before boarding the plane and a containment section has to be built on every plane, ship and even bus for any sick passenger who slips through. This way the spread will be minimum.
Instead of closing shops and factories only those 60 years and older must be kept away. There has to be a trade off. We will be better off even if some younger ones get infected and we made sure they recover than to bring life to a standstill. Life must go on. Quite a few people around the world are from hand to mouth on a daily basis. They cannot afford a shut down. Their chances of getting the virus is less & their starvation is 100% immediate.
This is a world problem and if America needs to remain the world's leader we must produce test kits for all corners of the globe. Trump's response is chipping @ our leadership.
@Sajidkhan
COVID-19 is an ͢R͢N͢A virus.
By what criteria does America claim or deserve to be the world's leader in this context?
1
Of course Trump we Europeans are at fault!!! But we’ve got general health care, intelligent leaders and not masses of desperate street people. Good luck dear Americans with a president who seeks division and blame instead of compassionate leadership.
7
A neighbor said she had to check out the BBC news to see if the Republic of Ireland was affected by the travel ban as she could not get the answer from the news media here. The news here was that just Great Britain was exempt.
Does this even make sense? Wouldn’t Americans who are travelling through Europe just as easily get sick and bring the virus home with them?
I don't even know where to begin with that speech he gave. It was awful. His "baby" the stock market is making him worse. He can't manipulate it any more and he can't manipulate the coronavirus news. I wonder who he's gonna fire next?
2
The stable genius (SG) has told over 16, 000 lies in the past 3 years. He doesn’t care that most Americans don’t trust him. The SG needs to stop talking and texting. He needs to step aside and let the experts, like Dr. Fauci, tell us the truth. He needs to let the professionals work on this crisis without restrictions on their ability to keep the public informed and without interference from the SG.
1
But, but Trump said there was nothing to worry about.
1
His golf clubs in the UK are buffered. Why else exclude that one space?
1
Just as one could have predicted. He is totally destroying our economy. It will take years to recover. This is joe he self destructs. He takes us all with him.
How considerate!
2
But travels from UK are alright? Trump really doesn't like the European Union. Alexander Stubb, a former Finnish prime minister, gives Trump some well-deserved criticism on Twitter:
"Any attempt to contain the #CoronaOutbreak is welcome, but the decision of @realDonaldTrump to exclude the UK from a European travel ban is nothing short of irresponsible. Viruses do not recognise borders. Decisions should be based on facts, not politics."
Dacian Cioloş, a former prime minister of Romania, aslo spoke out on Twitter:
"Viruses know no borders or nationalities. Nationalism & blame games are no antidote. This is a global crisis, which requires global solidarity, @realDonaldTrump. Containment measures are needed, but not arbitrary ones. Europe will be your partner, but not your scapegoat. "
Shame on you Trump.
2
I must have missed the part of the article that explains why the UK is exempt from the travel ban. Did anyone else catch it?
1
It’s a China virus and most cases are in Chinatowns in California and Seattle.
The idea that the EU or European countries did not do enough is laughable. In Germany, for example, two critical measures were taken in the beginning of January.
First, Germany's extensive network of highly technical laboratories (including independent labs) were given the necessary materials to test for the virus and the information on how to test for it. Second, all laboratories were given permission to test for the virus, Germany did not rely on a single national institute of public health, like the CDC, to be the sole institution permitted to the test for the virus. This has sped up diagnosing those who are infected.
This is also the reason for the currently lower and later onset of the viral outbreak in Germany.
Travel bans won't accomplish anything if communities can't test quickly enough to quarantine those already infected.
3
Agree that someone else wrote the address, and dear leader didn’t have the remotest interest or understanding of what he was reading. The Dow futures and global markets are now tanking so expect an orange meltdown.
5
corona virus is really scarry. People are so much scared in goinf out of thier homes, eating anything outside and going for outings.
I’m in Barcelona right now visiting a friend who lives here and got called by my family immediately. My travel partners and I immediately went to the airport (after seeing nothing refuting it) while we were feverishly trying to book new flights. It was chaos at the airport. The wording from trump was ALL flights for 30 days. People were freaking out. Young college students on spring break were crying. We saw some fighting. Heard much yelling. It was terrible. It wasn’t until after being there an hour in line, where I received a twitter notice with the Homeland Security office statement of what it really meant. I tried to tell as many people as possible. Trump is to blame. He has handled this so bad. Just Tuesday stayed here was handling it and it was no big deal. Didn’t need the test because it was fine. The man at the helm isn’t capable. I hope those who vote understand this. I’m sticking with my original flight. I had booked a one way for $2000 with insurance and hoped to get that back (I cancelled after I read DHS statement). We were desperate. I hope trump goes down in flames. And the battleground states show him what an absolute menace of a president and human being he is.
7
I have to give Paul Krugman credit from the beginning of a Trumps presidency he has predicted a crisis not of Trumps own making would come along and it would expose Trump and his sycophants to be the foolish incompetents they have always been.
5
Next Trump will probably give COVID-19 a demeaning nickname and try to bully it into submission by the force of his amazing will. He certainly won't contain it with his brilliant medical knowledge or decisive actions.
Today the US needs a president and all it has is Trump. Sad.
4
This is hitting Trump where he is most vulnerable. A know-it-all who doesn't understand science and who won't listen to advice. A man who is set against international institutions and cooperation, the most effective ways to deal with a pandemic. Someone who aims to cut money to science, medicine and public health, and simply doesn't get it.
Unfortunately everyone is going to suffer from this level of ineptitude and ignorance at the top. Trump will go down as the worse US President ever.
4
What should have been said by a President last night? 1. We are prepared to setup emergency isolation hospitals in every state, whenever they are needed. Each states' National Guard will begin this tomorrow. 2. Drive-up testing kiosks will be available in every town at your city hall and police stations. Testing is free. 3. Every household will be issued 2500$ per person and $500 in food stamps per person so they can stay at home for a month starting tomorrow, if your income is under 100k on last years tax return. 4. Schools and colleges will close and the month will be added to end of this year. 5. Everyone will be treated and cared for, no one will be turned away. signed Madame President.
9
“The virus will not have a chance against us,” Mr. Trump declared in his 10-minute speech, reading from a teleprompter in an uncharacteristic monotone. I am so glad a "real expert" is explaining to us how a virus could be bullied from our planet.
This must be part of the "unmatched wisdom" some leaders show in time of crisis.
2
It would seem that screenings at the source, of departure, would make more sense than wholesale shutdown of travel from the Continent, Asia, it is understandable, China especially, but Europe? Does this apply to those flying in on private aircraft, didn’t think so.It sounds as though it’s just a matter of time before all air and mass travel is suspended. BTW payroll tax cuts or tax payment delays are idiotic and play into the agenda set forth by the Republicans but also enthusiastically endorsed by those Republican lite candidates such as Likable Joe Biden, in an effort to ultimately reduce Social Security and Medicare benefits, check old Joes record on this, he has long championed cutting safety nets while endorsing obscene military budgets, endlesss, wars and aid to Israel( like “ start up nation” really needs it, please).
4
@Ted
Biden will lead us to the next Trump – the cycle won't be broken
1
Self-denial finally meets the reality. This is a tornado hitting us right now, like one of the NYT reports depicted. Yet, there's an even big storm brewing for decades and is waiting for our response for years now. What is Trump's response to it, the climate change？The coronavirus will not be the last avoidable man-made disaster. The climate change will bury humanity if the world is full of Trumps.
At last Trump has done something approaching sensible.
However, I don't think his travel restrictions go far enough. Exempting my country is foolish at best, idiotic at worst.
That said, I cannot point to my Govt' as a shining example of how to manage an epidemic, far less a pandemic. Last weekend there were multiple high attendance sporting events, including two internationals. As I write the Cheltenham Festival is underway, it started on Tues' & finishes tomorrow. This attracts a large international attendance. Further high attendance sporting events are due this weekend. I'm using these events as examples as they are high visibility.
From day one the worldwide response has been reactive rather than proactive. The spread of the virus in the beginning looks to have been covered up by China. The danger this virus causes has been downplayed by Trump. His statement that "The virus will not have a chance against us". is incredible.
I'm in the high risk group for this virus (asthma, scarred lungs, compromised immune system). I'm taking sensible precautions & that doesn't mean I won't get it. My layman's view is that the virus will keep going until it can't find enough victims who are unable to fight it off.
3
(Sigh) So this is leadership, huh? A con man so out of his element that it appears only now he is beginning to grasp the enormity of the situation. He looked like a deer in headlights last night. I pray for my country that we come to our senses in November and purge this scourge and send him packing. Let's hope that he doesn't do any more harm by his gross mismanagement. Let's take care of each other, because this man is incapable of it.
5
The FDR statement that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself sounds sort of silly years later. Can you imagine the criticism if any political leader said that today?
“In the course of the speech Trump mischaracterized de his own policies, even though he was reading from a teleprompter. He said he was ‘suspending all travel from Europe to the United States,’ when in fact it applies only to foreigners, and he said it would apply ‘to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo’ across the ocean, when in fact his order only affects people. He corrected the latter on Twitter...”
Are we to believe that those two astounding “mischaracterizations” were actually on the teleprompter, or that Trump plucked them out of the air for dramatic affect? Whatever the explanation, they could not be a better illustration of the chaos and utter lack of credibility of anything that come from Donald Trump and his floundering administration.
The announcing and correcting of serious presidential/government policy decisions by Twitter is no way to run a country in crisis - or at any other time.
3
Friday at MIDNIGHT means ? Midnight between Thursday and Friday OR Midnight between Friday and Saturday ?
4
Thank you! Nobody seems to know!
Blatantly political, too-little-too-late, scientifically inappropriate response. The U.K. has more confirmed cases than many European countries ( not « other » European countries, the Brits willfully extracted themselves from the European community recently, remember?); but Trump considers Johnson his « friend » (unlike Merkel and Macron who dare to disagree with him). Covid-19 (THAT’S its name) shows no passport and respects no boundaries ... so the U.S. government can keep pretending it can be stopped at a borde at everyone’s peril ... the proof : it’s already in most states. This is what happens when you put a dangerous fool at the head of a country, and then a real disaster strikes which requires real leadership. We may or may not be able to eradicate the virus any time soon - as for the other problem, there’s a sure cure available in November.
1
Good Morning,
I am an American Citizen currently in Florence for business and Family care.
I am perfectly healthy !
I just wanted to thank my wonderful President for putting the travel ban on Italy and practically making me a “Prisoner” here.
I had a ticket to go back to my family with two kids on March 30.
I was just wondering if he will pay for my hotel, meals, business expenses……here ?
There are also about 60 people waiting for me to enjoy a scheduled business dinner. Is he going to pay for those cancellation too ?
And I am pretty sure he will want my taxes done and file for April 15. I paid them for 30 years every April, lots of them.
I am pretty sure he will send a big fine if I am late.
I will make sure this email will reach a lot of people, but most of all I will remember when he will need my vote in November.
Just wanted to let out some anger.
I will survive.
Lu Van
I have a strange feeling Trump will delay the election using his “emergency” powers. His reasoning would be to protect the people at the voting booths waiting in line to cast their vote which could increase the voters’ chance to catch Covid-19.
Call me paranoid.
3
On 12/31 China told WHO about COVID-19. On 1/30 WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. By 2/29 WHO had sent COVID-19 tests to 60 countries. We chose not to use it. When asked why it wasn’t used, even temporarily, no one in the admin will say.
Yet now that the virus is here, the stable genius (SG) thinks that travel bans are the best way to stop it from spreading. The SG continues to act as if he is still on his reality show.
In 2018 the SG abolished the structure that Obama put into place to deal with a health crisis. Had the SG continued to build on what was already in place and hired component people maybe today we would be better prepared.
The leader of our response to Ebola, Ron Klain, stated that we should be preparing hospitals for the increase in patients and that we should be doing more testing on the most vulnerable to help us be better prepared. Instead the SG is telling people to go to their doctors. This won’t help the CDC keep track of the virus.
S Korea has come up with innovative strategies for addressing this crisis and is testing about 15,000 people a day. Last week we were told that we would have 1 million tests by the end of the week. Then we were told it would be 75, 000. On Monday Azar didn’t know how many people have been tested.
It seems to me that the SG and his team haven’t quite met the MAGA standard. But then was it ever a standard?
5
The consequences of electing an unprofessional, unqualified, and incompetent president, were on full display last evening during that oval office speech.
The delivery of the speech resembled a deer in the headlights, delivering what might be considered, the longest run-on sentence the world has ever known. A bigly string of words, delivered in a monotonous and unconvincing tone.
3
Thanks, Peter Baker…sorry, can't read through the entire article until I take care of family and neighbours…if we don't have selfless leadership, it's up to us to practice 'survival'. Later!
1
The virus does not differentiate between those who have brains and those that do not.
Those that do, take care, be safe and heed science. Use common sense.
Those that do not, follow your fearless leader and I wish you the best. This isn't a hoax and it's not China's fault.
2
Trump: “The virus will not have a chance against us.”
What a slap in the face to those who have lost ones and to those struggling - because of, yes, the coronavirus.
3
Does the ban include Russia? They are European but also Asian.
South Korea ok, there’s no Covid 19 there.
This is so Trumpish: ignore/deny the problem until it explodes in to your face and then find somebody to blame.
7
I see this is the headline, and I usually read it. But I’ve stopped reading what Trump has to say, because he no longer has credibility.
2
Trump is too late. One might hope that people will remember his approach to this virus when comes the Election Day. His approach has already killed American citizens, and it's only just beginning. I only hope local US governments and every citizen thinks fast but thoroughly, takes a strong initiative and acts swiftly.
1
It is all about himself and cannot even get facts about something this important right. Blame the foreign virus, blame foreigners, blame everyone and everything else but the actions his poorly run administration has taken. He has no idea that he should leave this all to the real professionals, no matter how smart he thinks he is.
1
Trump could barely manage to read from the teleprompter. Squinting eyes, slurred words, at times just plain incoherent. (Who and what is barred entry from Europe? Everyone? Foreign nationals only? All goods? No goods? Trump had to tweet out an explanation later.) Isn’t it obvious that Trump is on drugs or had a stroke or something? Why isn’t anyone in the media saying this? The man is clearly unfit for office.
6
The criticism that trump's careening clown car of an administration is getting for their "handling" of this situation is warranted - just like it has been warranted in every other situation they've "handled." Incompetence, constant contradiction, and complete collapse are this administration's hallmarks.
In fact, one could connect the dots (tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses, deregulation of industry, environmental laws gutted, funding cut for public health, etc etc etc...) that have led us right to where we are: a pandemic with an anemic response, lackadaisical testing protocols, and haphazard and conflicting statements. No one in this so-called administration knows where we are going or how to right the ship.
The only thing for sure is this going to get worse.
Are we sick and tired of all this "winning" yet? I am.
4
In the new season of "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, aka The West Wing", let's get someone else to be the President.
The current actor brings nothing to the role and insists breaking the fourth wall by using Twitter to enact major policy announcements.
1
So Europeans can’t come to America because they might spread the virus.
Americans currently IN Europe can come back to America.
So I have a question.
Exactly how does the virus determine who is European and who is not?
6
@Leonard Cohen The virus checks passports, similarly to deer knowing where the deer crossing signs are.
1
Trump wants to be in the headlight in order to give the impression that the whole world turns around him. The corona pandemic is much more important that his barrages, so he was out of the headlights, got jealous and came up with this suspension which makes little sense: instead, strengthening the public health system by mobilizing all available resources is desperately needed.
Trump has consistently wrecked federal institutions. Now one can see the result of the downsizing, if not dismantling, of the CDC. He can do so because the powers behind his throne have effectively silenced the internal debate in the GOP.
Trump as any would-be dictator may be looking for a catastrophe in order to demand additional power. To quote Lenin: "The worse, the better"
1
Folks, we're in trouble. With Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner writing Trump's speech, it's no wonder it was largely incoherent. The White House has risen to its level of incompetence. We're on our own.
6
A travel ban from Europe makes zero sense. We need to ask ourselves why the U.K. is granted an exemption when there are reported several cases of Covid19 there. Affinity with Boris? Golfing in Scotland, anyone?
Trump’s incompetence was on full display last night. He is not equipped to deal with this crisis. His megalomania will not allow the medical community to be the public face. No talk of testing kits made available, relief for sick hourly wage earners. It’s time for Congress to invoke the 25th amendment for the sake of us all.
6
"reading from a teleprompter in an uncharacteristic monotone."
He always reads in a monotone. Like he is slogging through a, hmm, swamp. I seriously think that Trump never learned to read well, and that is why he insists on bullet points for his briefings.
It may be dyslexia; it may be sheer laziness and lack of interest in the wider world.
I could vote for both.
I bet everyone knows for whom my vote is not going.
3
Trump has banned all travel for Europe, except from the UK and Ireland.
I see people asking what could be the logic of excluding those two countries. Is it because they have fewer cases? No. There are several EU counties with fewer COVID19 cases than either. Is it some nefarious plan to increase divisions between the UK and EU? No, Ireland is in the EU and is perhaps the most pro-EU country in the Union.
The answer? I guess it’s because Trump’s Turnberry golf hotel is in the UK and Trump’s Doonbeg golf hotel is in Ireland.
Trump’s motives rarely stray far from naked self-interest.
7
There you have it. The Asian and European markets are in nose dive already. This speech by Trump is now history. Remember those documentaries about critical events in the past, when they focus on the key events leading to various disasters. That was it. The most incompetent US administration in history just made everything worse than it had to be.
2
Speaking from U.S. Ground Zero, the only concern whatsoever I have about this pandemic is that our nation is led by a sociopath who cares nothing for human life.
We are blessed locally with brilliant scientists, an abundance of dedicated health care professionals, thoughtful political leaders, and an engaged citizenry.
Our schools are shut down, our civil life is on pause, hundreds of thousands will suffer loss of income and community, and many more will suffer and—yes—die from this dreadful disease.
Our only hope is that our President’s interest in preserving his own power leads him to protect us. Unfortunately, his willful ignorance is leading him to believe that no measures to address public health need be taken, but that a beautiful wall will keep out a virus. Oh, and tax cuts. Always, tax cuts.
God help us all.
2
I don’t understand the exemption to the UK, which also has some 500 cases.
Does he think that the virus skips over English speakers?
Perhaps my non-super genius brain just doesn’t get the rationale.
6
Halting transatlantic travel is a recipe for yet another oil price nosedive, which will teach his Trumpness how double-sided will be anything he says from now on.
After being at war mostly with its own people for two years, this president is overlooking their medical care in the middle of a once in a century crisis. This is mad.
People currently in the US will be martyrs within a few weeks.
2
I read last night that the president’s anemic speech—which hardly addressed what this country truly and urgently needs to survive the Coronavirus pandemic—was penned by son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior advisor Stephen Miller.
I was wondering why our commander-in-chief felt it necessary to keep Europeans, save for
citizens of the UK, from entering the US. Why the exception for the UK? Was there a tacit implication that Europeans are dirty?
Knowing that Miller—architect of the administration’s vile policy of caging babies and children once separated from their parents at the southern border—was involved in writing the speech explains why it smacked of xenophobia.
4
WHO called out on “alarming levels of inaction” . Speaking for themselves, actually.
3
“The virus will not have a chance against us,” Mr. Trump declared in his 10-minute speech.
So we're all being lied to even in an address to the nation that finally acknowledges, after months of denial, that the coronavirus is a threat. The United States has so few test kits it's a joke. Our federal government, starved of resources and personnel, has no idea how many people in our country are actually infected. We have an inadequate number of hospital beds to treat the sick unless, by some miracle, the infection curve flattens out -- a lot. There is no vaccine. There is no medication comparable to Tamiflu that can mitigate the effects of the virus once it has infected us. More than 20 million people lack health insurance and consequently are unlikely to seek medical attention if they contract the virus. A huge percentage of workers don't get sick leave from their jobs, so if they're infected they'll come to work and infected their fellow employees. Supply chains abroad aren't functioning, so we don't have rapid access to some key medications for supportive care, or even sufficient masks for health care workers.
And we have a narcissistic, puerile president, aided and abetted by the Republicans in Congress, who has no idea how to handle a real crisis and who has surrounded himself with a handful of people whose only job is to lick his boots.
Yep, Trump's assertion would be accurate if it read: "We will not have a chance against the virus."
4
“Foreign virus?” “America first?”
This was a halting, error-ridden, xenophobic address by someone who has no idea what he is doing. Contrast this with the speech by Merkel, who is also a trained scientist. She was straightforward, fact based, reassuring but let people know what the worst case scenario could be.
We live in an open society where legitimate criticism of our leaders should lead to better responses. Trump’s charge of politicization after his own disinformation campaign, mishandling the crisis and blaming Democrats is something. If there was a Democratic president this inept, who had bungled and underprepared for a pandemic the Republicans would certainly not give them a pass.
We desperately need a competent adult in the White House. I wish the general election were much sooner than November.
5
“The virus will not have a chance against us,” Mr. Trump declared in his 10-minute speech.
So we're all being lied to even in an address to the nation that finally acknowledges, after months of denial, that the coronavirus is a threat. The United States has so few test kits it's a joke. Our federal government, starved of resources and personnel, has no idea how many people in our country are actually infected. We have an inadequate number of hospital beds to treat the sick unless, by some miracle, the infection curve flattens out -- a lot. There is no vaccine. There is no medication comparable to Tamiflu that can mitigate the effects of the virus once it has infected us. More than 20 million people lack health insurance and consequently are unlikely to seek medical attention if they contract the virus. A huge percentage of workers don't get sick leave from their jobs, so if they're infected they'll come to work and infected their fellow employees. Supply chains abroad aren't functioning, so we don't have rapid access to some key medications for supportive care, or even sufficient masks for health care workers.
And we have a narcissistic, puerile president, aided and abetted by the Republicans in Congress, who has no idea how to handle a real crisis and who has surrounded himself with a handful of people whose only job is to lick his boots.
Yep, Trump's assertion would be accurate if it read: "We will not have a chance against the virus."
4
Mr. President, a high achieving 9th grader could provide better leadership. As an employee of a Fortune 500 tech company I am sorely disappointed. Your one and only attempt at managing a real crisis is an utter disappointment.
5
The 24/7 criticism the president is undergoing is warranted. He still doesn’t get it.
6
Well I guess Trump likes travel bans. Defending the USA against the foreign hordes and all that...
And really, banning travelers from countries with high numbers of COVID-19 patients isn't totally stupid, especially because there is now good evidence that asymptomatic people can be contagious.
But the numbers of new cases that might come in on airplanes is dwarfed by the number of cases here already. Officially it's 1312 as of Wed 10:50 PM PDT, but everyone knows it must be much higher because we're still not able to test widely.
Another way to estimate the likely number of cases present now is to start with the total number of US deaths (38) and the typical time between infection and death (19 days), and the fatality rate (~1%). That means that around 19 days ago there were probably around 3800 cases in the US. The case numbers double about every six days, so the estimated current number of cases is maybe 8-times as high: ~30,000 cases.
So the real challenge right now is how to keep those ~30,000 contagious Americans, some of whom are asymptomatic, from infecting their friends and neighbors.
The answer to that is social distancing. This travel ban is a drop in the bucket by comparison.
3
This is a national emergency and we have someone who hides the truth, cut the disease budgets, muzzles scientists. And so much more that contributes to anxiety for everyone I know.
How is anyone ok with this? This is life and death and he is tilting the scale to death. Because nothing he does is saving lives.
Seriously. How is anyone ok with this?
3
Watching tonight's address by trump, I realized how unprepared and lacking in knowledge our government now is. Immediately I also felt how lucky we are that we are only facing a moderate pandemic. If our nation was instead facing even a minor military or terrorist attack, like a missile strike or 9/11, we would be in much much more serious trouble. trump's face showed total lack of understanding of how to address the crisis. The lack of preparation & coordination is simply exacerbating things. Many people will die.
I hope trump's lies, to keep his stock portfolio high, will be worth it for him. He put American lives at risk - just for money.
2
Typical cheap Trumpism putting the blame elsewhere, in this case, Europe. And then the line that doubtless will please his diehard supporters : "... the most advanced health care." Perhaps, but for how many Americans?
2
The emperor's fiddle sounds a bit out of tune...
2
Since Republicans have for decades screamed from the rooftops that government is the problem why would anyone expect a government run by republicans to handle a crisis with intelligence and competence. I don’t and never would.
1
Meanwhile, there have been 34,000,000 cases of the flu with 20,000 resulting deaths this season. There have been about 30 deaths caused by Covid-19 in the U.S. So why is Covid-19 a pandemic but the flu isn’t? Irrational fear. Better buy some more toilet paper.
Lights! Cameras! Inaction! Trump and his band of merry incompetents could not have gotten this more wrong. Jason Wang from Stanford Health Policy says it is already too late for us. In fact, we couldn't have done things any worse than what we have done.
We could have learned from the government of a tiny island of 23 million people, just 81 miles from mainland China. That little country had frequent flights back and forth and hundreds of thousands of citizens who live and work in China. That little country had 2.7 million visitors from China last year. But as of today, Taiwan has less than 50 cases. That’s many fewer than its neighbors like Japan and South Korea and one of the best containment track records in the world so far. The Netherlands, with a comparable population, has five times as many cases despite having much less frequent direct travel with China. Why can't we learn any lessons? Why can't we do the right thing? Why can't we rely on a government to do the basics? Sick and tired seems too trite, but apt for this moment.
6
The Australian stockmarket dropped nearly 5% between the start of Trump’s address and the end. So much for global leadership, from a man who can’t even get his facts straight when the situation is really serious. Trump wouldn’t survive one day in a parliamentary democracy.
3
The virus is one problem; panic is another.
This virus is not the end of the world. Asian countries have shown us that it is manageable. It is probably less deadly than we think since most people infected show no or mild symptoms: what we see are mainly severe cases, some fatal.
The other problem: panic, is already causing damage. In moments like that the world needs leadership, somebody we can trust. I am afraid that not many people believe that Mr Trump can handle the current crisis, including his supporters. The only hope is that it will somehow fizzle out, either for natural reasons or by actions taken locally.
2
Until now I thought Britain was part of Europe. So thankful exceptions to the travel ban are based on science and not a reward for toadyism. Boris is the true stable genius.
1
I think that Trump was pressured by his aides to make the announcement. Not too many days ago he was proclaiming that it was a "Democratic plot" to discredit him and that it was "fake news." He also had urged people with mild symptoms to go to work and that it was worse than a cold. A doctor reported that half of his patients were convinced that the Corona virus was a hoax. I guess that comes from just watching FOX news and believing what their president says.
4
Thankfully, America has a strong president that puts our country first in the face of all enemies and weak allies who always turn to America to lead them, defend them and feed them money. America first! like the parent that puts on the oxygen mask first before aiding the children and others. Steady leadership from President Trump and our fine physicians, researchers, and epidemiology experts will quell panic and keep our country as safe as possible.
@Peter
Thanks, Jared. In other news...
2
@Peter Apparently, the markets don’t have the same delusions that you do.
3
If the president so much as opens his mouth and it's not about when widespread testing will be available, I don't care what he has to say. At all.
Fine, he's bungled it. His administration is a mess. Whatever. Recriminations can come later. Right now, I only want to hear a plan for increased testing, producing medical equipment, and protecting health care workers and first responders.
Biden and Sanders, this goes for you too. The first thing you talk about on the debate stage should be your plan to deal with the pandemic.
3
Most panicked reaction to a cold in human history. Our bodies have immune systems. Remember?
2
The complete absence of leadership right now is stunning. I am afraid that Mr.Trump has ruined more in this country than we might believe - he managed to kill the “let’s fix this” attitude that used to prevail on all levels with “let’s ask the President” - who turns out to be less of a genius than a wooden stick and the least competent person in office you could imagine.
4
Gatornationals, which brings 100,000 people to Gainesville Fl, and begins today, has NOT been postponed nor cancelled. I would say "what are they thinking," but apparently they're not.
3
I can’t help but wonder how our country would be handled right now, in the midst of a healthcare crisis, if Hillary Clinton had been elected instead of Donald Trump.
I know I, a nurse of decades, would be less afraid.
4
Interesting reading the comments here this morning. Trump's performance has left many readers unimpressed.
Has Trump done any better or any worse than any other leader of a major nation? UK, Germany, Italy, South Korea, China?
@Sendero Caribe
Trump's performance compared to the other major nations? Egregiously worse. As usual.
Educate yourself before forming an opinion: take a Youtube tour of the articulate, reassuring and substantive addresses by a random half-dozen European leaders. Read status bulletins by the European CDC or national health departments.
You will see leadership, mobilization, transparency and support. You will see unveiling of social and economic support plans. You will see teamwork science-based decisionmaking.
Toodle over to South Korea and look at a graph of daily cases for the past 10 days and you will see a definite decline - they have conducted massive testing and intervention and they have turned the corner.
It's not perfect here in Europe, but it is a normal response - as you would expect of democratic leaders. One thing you won't hear is anyone announcing to their populace that they are the best in the world. You will hear a lot of calls for cooperation, encouragement of hope, taking precautions in order to protect the weakest, and description of the country as a family. You'll hear some fines and penalties for non-compliance with quarantines.
The United States, as usual, is in a xenophobic bubble where they assume that whatever they do, including nothing, is the best in the world because they are the US of A.
As an American, I am embarrassed and worried about my native land.
4
@Sendero Caribe Yes. While other leaders have been addressing the crisis in a sensible way, Trump spent weeks denying that the epidemic even existed. He called it "Fake News" and a "hoax". Then when he was finally forced to accept it as a problem, he overreacted last night. He is utterly failing to show leadership in this crisis. No surprises there.
5
@Sendero Caribe Yes, he has done much worse than any of those leaders. He did nothing, and insisted that his "staff" do nothing, for months. We knew of the Covid-19 in December. That is more than three months ago. Remember please, that he eliminated the pandemic response team created by President Obama. He eliminated it. Let me repeat--he eliminated it. His childish, vengeful incompetence has come home to roost for all of us.
3
I despair at how inept and clumsy the Trump administration has shown itself to be. There are so many questions screaming for answers that it boggles the mind. Why couldn't we do what Taiwan did? The steps taken there to handle the outbreak are not actually that radical, but they were swift. First, they ignored official denials by the Chinese regime and its WHO puppets and began checking passengers from Wuhan for symptoms as far back as December. They also cut off flights from China far earlier than other Asian countries and the rest of the world. This allowed it to keep a much closer eye on Chinese visitors to Taiwan and contain any cases that did arrive. Subsequent bans included Korea, which for some reason we STILL allow travel too and from. Even more frustrating is the fact that Taiwan has achieved this control with transparency and clear communication, without having to forcibly lock people into ill-equipped and under-staffed hospitals or even their own homes. We have so much to learn but I worry we have run out of time to learn those lessons.
5
Good outcomes going forward could include the dismantling of the very medieval CCP (the cause of this outbreak) and the permanent shut-down of Rupert Murdoch and Russian disinformation.
A bright new world awaits - rule of law, freedoms of press and speech, transparency and accountability. No more lies; no more propaganda.
3
Ok, I get it. Most people here has an axe to grind against Trump. I have no problem with that. But whatever you think of his motivations for banning travel from Europe, the fact is that restricting movement of people is an essential element of slowing the spread of this virus. Those who denounce this decision as simply xenophobic are missing this important point.
1
@Paul It is too little too late. The horse has bolted for that. The travel restrictions are just political window-dressing tinged with spite and xenophobia rather than any rational scientific basis.
2
The travel ban is a distraction.
The real news is the scandalous lack of readily-available, widespread testing in our nation, a prerequisite for effective control of Covid-19 epidemic.
8
Modeling showed that if the Chinese had taken action a week earlier, they would have cut cases by 66%.
This was revealed in the latest research from the University of Southampton in the UK: Social distancing, quarantine, self-isolation, public event cancelling and similar interventions have a dramatic lowering effect on coronavirus.
Trump's paltry and overdue 'plan' ignores the entire topic of interventions beyond a weird choice to block Schengen visitors unless they trans-ship themselves through the UK. Not having returning US citizens go into mandatory self-isolation completely ignores the most obvious data in Europe, where travellers are a primary vector. Mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for returnees from Italy is nearly universal at this point throughout the EU.
While Trump is ignoring the most salient issues - coverage for the uninsured, cash for the gig/hourly workers, unleashing the logjam of test kits and protection of health workers and their infrastructure - he is also failing to address the most basic issue of halting transmission.
Here is the article on the discovery of the benefits of interventions, which could have cut the Chinese cases by 66%:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/research-finds-huge-impact-of-interventions-on-spread-of-covid-19
4
What possible purpose does this serve other than to make bold face headlines? The virus is already here, we have community spread, and probably much more than we know given that we're still not testing people in any real numbers. The WHO has already stated that blanket travel restrictions like this are useless.
But let's pretend for a moment that halting travel from Europe would actually contain the virus. If that were true, why exempt Britain? The UK has more confirmed cases than some European nations. This is classic Trump, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. The supposed purpose of the travel restriction is completely undercut and its uselessness exposed by exempting the United Kingdom. Brexit didn't provide them with some magic immunity from European germs.
5
Coronavirus doesn’t watch Fox News or listen to Donald Trump. Americans shouldn’t either.
We should listen to experts, scientists, doctors, and state and local officials whose priorities are the health and safety of all citizens.
If reputable news organizations feel they must report what the President says, it should be preceded by the warning “Trump falsely claimed. . .” and followed by facts and reliable information from experts.
8
In the 80s when the AIDS crisis hit some health authorities claimed that as many as 100 million people in the US could become infected.
Fast forward to 2020 and the number is about 1 million. Adjusted for population growth the 1918-18 flu epidemic killed the equivalent of 2.3 million Americans, many young and previously healthy.
The Coronavirus kills few young and helthy individuals. Merkel's claim that 2/3rds of Germans could be infected seems bizarre.
It is fascinating that the September 11, 2001 program utilized the civilian aviation system for its visible operational architecture, and the coronavirus similarly derives key elements of its narrative from aircraft and air travel symbolism. In the later case, aviation was portrayed as active converted weaponry delivering highly dramatic destruction; in the later case, as passive plague ships. In both cases, fear is the real weapon. And with it, a new vocabulary ("radical Islam," and "social distancing") necessary to psychologically adopt and project that fear, based on a hostile "contamination" theory of culture.
1
@HPE Just sharing personal experience - we just returned to Spain, via CDG-MAD, from almost three weeks of travel, none of which to outbreak zones. Upon entering Egypt, on 2 March, from KTM via IST, EVERY PASSENGER had their temperature checked, was questioned (passengers from outbreak areas had additional screening) and passports checked page by page. It was well done, calmly, and efficiently. But neither in Paris nor in Madrid did we face any questions or health checks, nor observe anyone else experiencing them. That said, our friends and travel companions had returned to the USA last week and faced no questions or health checks in DTW, having flown KTM-DOH-DTW.
3
Characterizing the criticism of Mr. Trump by most democrat politicians, and the President's response to that criticism, by deliberately misdirecting the word "hoax" is typical of a writer who cannot seem to separate his own personal feelings from his reportage. Belittling that word, in this or any context, given the grave events that led up to the Mueller hoax (and beyond), perhaps reveals more about Mr. Baker than anything else. Does he actually have feelings of guilt about his investigations into the Russian collusion hoax which never but never exposed the real truth, that it was a hoax? Given the tone of his little and snide use of that word, right here in the third paragraph, suggests that he is incapable remorse, that his intellectual arrogance is more important than the truth.
Mr. Trump's response to the virus has been consistent with all the other important and serious problems he is most assuredly and effectively dealing with. Most of those problems, including this current one, were typically ignored or not nearly as effectively addressed by past presidents.
2
@Len There are people already in prison, or on their way, as a direct result of what you term a hoax. Unfortunately, the person most deserving of prison, Putin's little puppet, isn't on his way quite yet.
There is a reason so much of the Mueller Report was redacted, and it's not because it was "hoax".
2
Unfortunately, Trump's teleprompter reading identified an utterly disastrous approach--minimize the threat and protect those with money while looking for opportunities to make a few dollars with private service testing. Just another attempt to calm the sheep before fleecing them.
Many inside the administration know this is madness--but do not want to be the first to stand up and cry "foul", wishing it would all go away.
It will not go away. What many countries have managed, we are positioning ourselves to fail utterly.
The death rates overall are running at 6% looking at deaths divided by total cases with a known outcome. Italy's numbers are 44% death rate. Italy shows what happens when an elderly population overruns the medical system with this virus. This value may be higher because deaths happen faster than recoveries and the caseload is building. South Korea's numbers are about 16% for cases with a known outcome because of their better case management.
Deaths compared to total cases is an underestimate because the total cases includes cases that do not have outcomes and people die faster than they recover. Deaths/(total caes): All = 3.7%, Italy=6.6%, S. Korea=0.8%.
The Trump administration will do well to match the Italy's record, S. Korea shows best practice.
1
For the good of the nation, Donald Trump should resign from office and retreat entirely from public life. No more rallies. No more tweets. And no more depravedly monotone and misleading statements--written by one of his henchmen--being read from the Oval Office, sullying the notion of presidential leadership at a level not seen since the Harding administration.
9
Again. Infectious disease specialist here. Our response is one of too little too late. Same with almost every other country I have seen. The exceptions being Singapore and Taiwan. The limitations in travel are arbitrary. If we are going to lock down movement it has to be all travel. Someone from Italy can easily get to the UK and fly here. That’s what people are not grunt. Country of origin means nothing in this day and age.
We wasted our precious time. China bought us a good month of time to start surveillance testing. We did nothing but bicker about the stock market and “over reacting”. I am sorry but when one of the worlds largest economies shuts itself down completely, the threat is very real.
I have talked until I am blue in the face. Warned people. Now we have almost no masks at my hospital. Or even gloves. Does anyone realize what this means?
We are in for a crazy, scary, year. One with no leadership to guide us
6
I don't care about Trump's delivery. The problem is that he made a short speech and then had to issue major corrections. How is such amateurism possible? Trump is going to have to dig deep here and start choosing his words very carefully.
3
It’s unbelievable to me how Trump fired the CDC team that handled the Ebola epidemic. Now people have died while time was wasted!
Normally in a national/international emergency the U.S. would lead the effort to fight the illness or virus in an effective and constructive manner.
We normally would have a President who would lead coordinated efforts and reassure the American public.
Meanwhile, Trump not long ago blamed the Democrats for having this virus be another way to impeach him.
3
Trump is entering into panic mode. Expect more irrational decisions in the next days, as the truth comes out.
8
What Americans and the world need is a moratorium of lying, exaggeration and blaming other by our president. Instead of protecting his political chance he must listen to scientist and meet legislators and governors and mayors from both parties. He must step off the stage; this is not about him.
1
Wednesday night we got "Teleprompter Trump" who read a prepared text that tried to stay close to what the health experts have said for weeks about the danger while claiming credit for the $8.3 billion in aid that Congress appropriated after he only asked for $2 billion.
Thursday we will get "Twitter Trump" who will contradict the measured statements of "Teleprompter Trump" and he will be complaining that the Democrats are politicizing the pandemic (despite the fact that he has politicized it at every turn including his first press conference on the virus where he called Democratic leaders all sorts of names).
We are going to see and hear far more from Twitter Trump than Teleprompter Trump in the coming weeks and it is going to make a very bad situation worse.
3
By not using the test kits that the WHO had distributed, (instead the USA
claimed they were “suspect” and wanted OUR OWN home made tests developed),
we in the USA are the last in line to be tested.
Which company has been contracted to develop these “better” tests?
What is the cost to tax-payers?
Why did the USA refuse the WHO’s tests? Was it truly for “safety” reasons,
or, as I suspect, a big money grab by Big Pharma.
6
Payroll tax cut will give something to Mitch McConnell in appreciation, gutting Social Security to give way for more privatization control of what hasn't been hoarded and hidden in off shore bank accounts that McConnell protects for them, not us.
Why does it feel like I'm about to eat a salad with a comb?
2
After 9-11, I moved to this relatively remote location for greater peace of mind and a better environment. It turns out to be a good place for an oldster to wait out a pandemic. People around here can go days or weeks without interaction with others, There is one reported case in the entire state. Only one.
As for those in the "civilized" parts of the country where extraordinary measures are being imposed, I hope all stay calm.
I am reminded of an old Twilight Zone episode "The Shelter". In this episode, a physician who has recently added a bomb shelter to his home is having a cookout with friends and neighbors, when a nuclear attack warning comes over the radio. The shelter is only big enough to accommodate the physicians family, but the panicked guests demand access as well. It doesn't take long for the veneer of civility to peel away.
So keep calm, folks. As is said int he Chinese curse, we are living in interesting times.
4
As a Brit, its truly frightening that one person should have such power and cannot easily be gainsaid. In Britain, Parliament provides checks and balances. Government is done by the members of the cabinet, and a vote in the house.
Cabinet would vote down a Prime minister who behaved like Trump, putting the lives of citizens at risk.
I watched Boris Johnson in the early days behaving somewhat like Trump. It did not last more than 1-2 days and he was totally on board with the true seriousness of the situation.
2
@Richard that’s not true, though: the Tory majority renders Parliament incapable of meaningful control, and the Tory-packed House of Lords is no better.
@Cameron right now, both parties are co operating in this. There is no party political nonsense like Trump is still peddling in the USA, neither are we blaming other countries. It's counter productive.
What I missed hearing from the President was the reasoning for "social distancing" and why, given that most people don't know someone who is a confirmed case, we need to shut down anything that involves a large gathering.
This was the message we needed from the President - a clear explanation about why canceling things was not over-reaction.
Our letter from Cornell, which is going on-line after spring break, was very clear, explaining that the action was to slow down the rate of infection, to improve the odds that our healthcare system could handle the patient load, to give us time to determine if the virus would attenuate in warmer weather, to find effective anti-virals. To give us more time.
To smooth out the curve - the rate of serious infection - so that we don't see all of the cases in a very short period of time overwhlming the medical capacity. Flu season runs from October through April - Coronavirus could burn through a community in less than 3 months.
If the President of Cornell could explain the draconian measures, why can't our leadership?
We need to be told what we must do, and why the hard things - like canceling the St. Patricks Day parade, which is not yet canceled - is the smart necessary decision.
But we were not told that a few hard months will save lives.
7
This is completely confusing. Ireland is outside Schengen travel area and so exempt from ban but if I travel in Schengen before going to US then am I banned?
1
Until 31 Dec 2020 there is free movements between the EU and UK. So Mr Trump has simply routed that traffic through London. British Airways will be glad.
5
A country that rebuilt its defenses to defend against domestic and foreign threats was unprepared to defend against this nano sized virus wearing a crown originating from Wuhan, China, called Coronavirus. With no deployable vaccine in sight and only a natural antiviral that could be deployed immediately being ignored by experts, the choices presented to the president for executing desperate measures will get rolled with ruthless efficiency, I hope and with at least the goal to end the panic pandemic. Whether the virus will be eradicated and when will remain to be seen. I trust nature to be our strongest ally in the war against Corona and the suspension of most travel to and from Europe is natural progression to start to restrict the spread. What has already happened has happened and we need to deal with this global pandemic with nerves of steel, fearlessness and unity.
2
@Girish Kotwal
Its too late to start talking unity now after a constant torrent of divisive tactics and race baiting. panic is not the problem. Complacency is.
A bit of panic might cause something to be done such as distributing testing kits.
This is completely ineffective - the virus has already spread too much in the US for a flight ban to have any effect.
8
On the one hand, suspending travel from China turned out to be a good thing. On the other hand, minimizing the crisis, calling it a "hoax," politicizing it by claiming it was mostly an attempt by the opposition to "get" this POTUS, and wearing a campaign hat on an official visit to the CDC was highly inappropriate. Ok, look where the balance of 1) who's being political and 2) who's right that it hasn't been handled well falls.
9
I would fly to the U.S. via a Dublin stop-over, except I have no intention to go before November elections. Besides, I had no idea that the virus exempts certain passport holders. Truely an amazing pandemic.
13
The real grounds to impeach DT was incompetence. We have a major crisis requiring the ability to digest scientific data and analysis: who is in charge? A creationist. The Sec. of Health is not a medical professional, but a lawyer and former lobbyist for the drug companies. Listen to his interviews and you can hear how little he understands of what is happening. We do have qualified professionals, like Dr Fauci, and his public voice, not that of the fools running the Admin, needs to be the main one. As for the economy, Kudlow's blundering incompetence once again comes into play: what good is suspending all or part of SS payments for someone no longer being paid? Why try to stimulate demand when people will be confined to their homes? Why lower interest rates when no one in their right mind will borrow money to ramp up supply in the face of zero demand? By all means take some of these measures AFTER the epidemic, to help stimulate the recovery: Obama's reduction of SS withholding to 4.2% certainly did help spur demand (and was probably stopped a year too early). Laying out, in conjunction with the G-7, a coherent economic plan for recovery, would do much to calm markets. The silence of leaders of the WB, IMF, ECB, and major governments has been frightening.
19
There is no rationale for this travel ban. As a non America citizen, It is possible still to fly from China, to say the UK, hang out for 14 days, then fly on to the USA? So the assumption is, that there is a 14 day incubation period?
1
Trump must allow Dr. Anthony Fauci to take control of the COVID-19 narrative as well as the task force. The importance of Dr. Fauci's research in the early days of the HIV epidemic cannot be overstated. He should not be muzzled by the White House and forced to run his findings and recommendations by Mike Pence.
Dr. Fauci's testimony yesterday before the House Committee on Oversight should be required viewing. Trump's speech was written for a panicked Wall Street, not an anxious nation seeking scientifically informed guidance.
17
Trump says “We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation and one family.” - when he excludes lawmakers of the Democratic Party by holding closed door meetings with GOP senators to discuss how to take measures against the pandemic. Thankfully, we have a sensible House of Representatives which allows health experts such as Dr. Fauci to inform the American public on what must be done to contain this virus. Not surprising that later that day, Trump announces the EU travel ban. Credit to Fauci and the House Oversight Committee for allowing transparency. Trump better wise up, and hang up his ego in the locker room. It's going to get sweaty.
8
Trump lives in the here and now, in the moment. One thing he is clearly not is a manager with strong planning skills.
Unfortunately, the American people have selected the worst possible person to manage this health crisis. I really wish Trump would have a moment of truth and appoint a bipartisan person to manage the crisis: how about Elizabeth Warren. There is no one else I can think of with that sheer willingness to get to the bottom of problems no matter what and speak truth to power, whilst building consensus to get hard decisions approved.
Think of all the time wasted over the past 2 months: the testing, the problems with who pays for what, the uninsured, the weakly insured, those without paid sick leave, all those people who keep infecting others for fear of the cost. The fragmented health infrastructure across states, the federally mandated quarantines that are coming...
They say that the US has roughly 1300 infected? With so few reporting and testing, reality is probably well in excess of 10000 already.
7
It seems Trump is unaware that the UK is the largest transit point for airlines in Europe, with Heathrow the busiest airport. In any case, the travel ban measure for Europeans is far too late in the game.
17
@Harry Oh, he probably knows it, he just doesn’t care. You have to remember he has golf courses in the UK which I believe is why he didn’t extend the ban there.
With absolutely no credibility, and I do mean zero—
It doesn’t really matter if Trump can’t even read his own teleprompters and confuses cargo and trade with people.
The sooner he’s removed from power, one way or another, the better for all of us.
24
Trump's Plan B - declare martial law and postpone the election indefinitely.
Even Giuliani before he became a caricature came through as "America's Mayor" at a time of crisis. Is it possible to imagine Trump stepping up and acting in any way which could be considered responsible? His actions as America's President is deplorable at the best of times. Now, here he is trying to bumble through a world-wide emergency. We'll get through this in spite of him. We might not be so lucky next time . November!
8
@Stu Reininger
In November he will pull a stunt. He will say the election was rigged by foreigners, not accept the result and call a state of emergency.
I cannot even imagine him giving a gracious concession speech. Over 20 women are waiting to Weinstein him.
He will pull a stunt for sure with Lindsey, Mitch, Doug, Jim, Kennedy and every other toady backing him up.
Funny! Writing from Salzburg, Austria: we have about 13 cases in our alpine region of which 6 are Brits on a skiing vacation here (they brought the virus in). Two others are a Norwegian couple who also came with the virus. Oh, and in another part of Austria is a family from Slowenia - the wife brought the virus from the Biogen conference in Boston to her then vacation destination in Austria.
9
The tragedy within the tragedy. It will take a major medical crisis for Trump supporters to finally forsake their flawed saviour when America's inexistent safety net leads to the deaths of unknown numbers of people.
If nothing else, coronavirus is remarkable means to test a nation's mettle and decency in times of extreme crisis. The pathological selfishness at the heart of the American capitalistic system represents a great source of species shame as far as I am concerned.
5
As far as I can tell, only two countries in the world are mounting an adequate response to the dangerous and rapidly spreading corona virus.
China pretty much pulled out all the stops and has managed to turn the corner away from continued spread. Sure, this may be easier for an authoritarian state to accomplish than for a democracy, but given the overall numbers, it is a near miracle that they have apparently managed to get their piece of the pandemic under control, despite having to do enormous damage to their economy.
Italy, where I live, waited a few weeks too long, but has now reacted forcefully to the pandemic by first locking down most of 3 regions in the wealthy, industrial north, and then extending the lock-down to the rest of the nation. Every sort of public gathering has been cancelled, all non-essential businesses are closed, people are prevented from traveling outside their town (or neighborhood in the larger cities), all physical contact between people is strongly discouraged, and frequent hand-washing and elbow coughing are strongly encouraged.
In Italy you know it's serious when all the coffee bars and restaurants are closed. We'll know in 2-3 weeks if Italy can turn the corner, too.
But, it appears to me that the US response to all this is mostly disbelief and denial, confusion and rancor, and it's breaking my heart. Get it together, folks. Now!
State govts. need to simply ignore Trump and his sycophants, then do the right thing, based on science.
17
Actually, although not widely reported, Denmark has pretty much shut down. gatherings of more than 100 people are stopped, all public workers have been sent home for 2 weeks, and all private companies have been urged to shut offices, with economic help already promised
2
The simplest step would be to increase ventilation in buildings.
@Kevin Cahill Princeton University said today that the virus can last in air for three hours. Ventilation will just exacerbate the problem.
2
I guess this isn't a democratic hoax after all? I eagerly await the President's clarification tweet on the subject. In other news, a lack of universal healthcare in the US along with a lack of leadership is going to cost the lives of many thousands.
There was only one candidate whose policy afforded us all that right. And he was swept aside by an establishment of bankers, media, and billionaires who now weep at the plummiting stock market.
Ah the irony.
5
It would be nice if the 24/7 blaming did stop. It could start with the president stop calling Covid 19 a foreign virus and bragging and blaming Europe. If Trump would finally listen to and not contradict medical experts and seek economic advice from someone other than ex-Fox News commentators, that would help everyone. Maybe he could tell his people in the House and Senate that for now, their job is to legislate not bark at the moon. We are currently in a small village in Spain, hoping to return to the U. S. at the beginning of April. Here, the virus is big news, but the news shows how to make yourself safe. There was a demonstration on how to really wash one’s hands correctly, which is something I had never seen. They talked with a local doctor who gave a regional perspective. They had an interview with an infected woman, via Skype, where she and her uninfected, quarantined family told their story. It is time to stop blaming and start learning from others.
12
Comparing the number of cases per country is misleading. Russisa or Turkey have very low numbers, but maybe only because they are not properly testing. South Korea seems the exact opposite. Germany has a capacity of 12k tests per day. The U. S. has performed less than 10k tests in total over six weeks. The number of confirmed cases seems now about the same with ten times more deaths in the States. Do the math. The travel ban should be imposed the other way around (too).
7
It's a very strange feeling to me that we are being isolated from the world - for good reason as far as public health measures, but I feel like the ideological groundwork was laid during Trump's first campaign with the wall to the south. Then came issues with entry across the Canada-US border. Then statements about not wanting cruise ship passengers...intimidating western geographic regions. And now blocking travel from Europe. It's as though Trump is trying to seal us off hermetically...for what? It's like a science fiction movie.
The US currently has 37 deaths from 1000 reported cases (3.7%) whereas here in the UK we have 8 from 460 cases (1.7%). I can't believe the mortality rate in the US would be nearly 3 times that of the UK so something's definitely up with your figures. I can only conclude that either your testing is somewhat inadequate, or someone is lying to you. I do fear for the US as this escalates, largely because of your health and welfare systems. By comparison, here in the UK (and indeed the rest of Europe) control will be managed centrally through our national health services. Testing and treatment/hospitalisation will be free. If a vaccine or effective drug treatment is developed, it will be free or at least available at a state regulated prescription price (currently £9 in the UK) All workers will be guaranteed statuary sick pay if they self-isolate (currently a minimum of £94/week for up to 28 weeks in the UK). I guess that what even US Democrats (based on the political choice you are now apparently making) appear to consider to be Socialism, has its advantages.
6
@Shaun
The death rate in the US will be higher than other countries due to poor health of the general populace. Diabetes and obesity from poor diets and lack of exercise, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses from smoking and air pollution combined with a lack of universal health care will make for a perfect storm. Sad.....
2
It would be kind to note that Ireland, along with the UK, is also exempt from the travel ban.
I am concerned that people on Medicare will be last on the list when an ICU bed is required to survive. Hospitals are always watching their bottom line. They make resource allocation decisions based on profits everyday. Medicare reimbursements don't cover the cost of the care that they provide.
I discovered this reality the hard way when I was diagnosed with cancer. I scheduled my surgery with the hospital, and was surprised that I had to wait several weeks. I followed up with my Dr., and she was also concerned and surprised. She asked my what kind of insurance I had. When I said Medicare was my coverage, she said something like,"that makes sense now." This hospital was part of a non-profit system. Thank goodness I was able to change Drs/hospitals and get my surgery right away. I went to the University of WI Hopspital and Clinics and received exceptional care.
I started isolating myself from all humans yesterday. I live alone, have a stocked pantry, and my car is fueled. I also have 90 days of my medication. Thankfully, I live in the country and can walk outside freely without running into human beings.
If someone you love needs medical treatment during this pandemic and are on Medicare please advocate for them!
7
It'll be interesting to see if this finally pushes that solid 40% of cultlike support for Trump down and to what. And how badly he loses the election. I'm guessing this is also the moment Trump realizes he never should have run for this office. He might never admit it but he should really withdraw from the campaign and let some other Republican run.
2
@Eknath
I wonder if it wakes up the large number of Americans who didn't bother to vote?
It never ceases to amaze me that there is plenty of blame heaped on people who did their civic duty and voted but those too lazy of too busy to bother get a pass from the likes of you.
Shut ‘er down.
This is the only thing to do, given what we are seeing worldwide. We must systematically, immediately shut down all but essential public and private services.
If we don't seize this last opportunity, right now, we will in a matter of weeks overwhelm our first responders and hospital capacity.
Where the schools are concerned, essential services like meals and other social services should be provided, but convening class needs to cease. Fortunately, our youth are little affected by the virus, but they can still carry it and shed it.
For the sake of our first responders and medical professionals on whom we rely, please, let's shut down, flatten the infection curve, and give ourselves a chance to ramp up testing, determine the spread of the virus, and manage this once-in-a-century public health crisis.
18
A total over reaction. The virus is here and is spreading by the tens of thousands daily. This will become evident in two weeks.
We overreacted to 9/11 and we are in the midst of a lethal panic attack.
The elderly are another matter.
Lack of testing is part of the coverup.
Incompetence or on purpose?
1
Plenty of words about stock prices. And not a single word about how the uninsured are supposed to get through this crisis.
43
@J Anders
Good point. Call the New York Times or any other news outlet.
Covering the market is easy, discussing health insurance during a pandemic is hard.
@J Anders
If it isn't obvious by now that Trump and his Republican administration does not care one bit about the uninsured or those who will lose income if they become sick, I don't know what to tell you. They do not care.
@J Anders
Here's a clue. An American chatter in a political chat room the other day expressed his complacent opinion that 'life isn't fair. And guess what ? I like it that way, I don't want life to be fair, there are always winners and losers.' This is the ethos of contemporary America where it is every individual for themselves....
Maybe I missed this in the article, but I didn't notice any rationale given for which countries are included in the travel ban. Why not the UK? Why not Turkey? Could we shortcut the answer to 'Which countries are not included' by getting a list of countries the Trump Organization does business with?
25
Trump has golf courses in the UK. There’s the rational
In Mr. Trump's remarkably self-serving speech regarding the coronavirus this evening he boasted of his accomplishments and disparaged our European allies for failing to act decisively sooner. Then, rather than adopt a position of solidarity with the rest of the world Mr. Trump took the bizarre path of highlighting other leader's weaknesses, perhaps thinking this only makes him appear stronger. Alas-no. He even used the speech as an outlet to take credit for the economy once more: "...because of the economic policies that we have put into place over the last three years, we have the greatest economy anywhere in the world by far." Seriously bad form. When will this man realize he is _not_ the center of the universe? That all of us here on Earth are in on this together and that only together will we prevail.
40
RE: "a series of measures intended to tackle the virus and its economic impact"
What about its health impact?
RE: “The 24/7 criticism the president is undergoing is unwarranted at a minimum,” said Representative Mark Green
When everything Trump has done has been specifically calculated to hurt some people while helping his own than criticism is not unwarranted. Now in a health crises which he intentionally downplayed, if not outright lied about, where people's very lives may be in danger and where he got rid of the pandemic response team in 2018 that could have helped, than yes criticism should be expected.
14
Does this man have any other response to a problem than to build a wall? There are so many areas that this administration has failed in that would have made a much bigger difference than his travel bans. The entire world was given the viral genetic code by the Chinese on Jan. 10th. The South Koreans are able to test 20,000 people per day now yet there were fewer than 5000 Americans tested in total as of 2 days ago. Trump attempted to downplay the seriousness of this disease by saying it was under control and the numbers were decreasing when they clearly weren't. And Trump eliminated the White House office that coordinated our country's response to pandemics. Even Dr. Fauci stated it would have been better if that office was still functioning. These are not political opinions, they are statements of fact. To accept Trump's assertion that everyone who complains is just trying to politicize this disease is to feed a dangerous fantasy that will result in thousands of unnecessary deaths.
23
Tonight we witnessed Trump finally meeting his match. Not a person, but a substance invisible to the naked eye, with no regard for one’s station nor ethnicity. Too small to be profiled and creating an impact so large across the globe we all feel the earth shift beneath us.
Well, we are a global community and the time has come for us to make individual sacrifices to benefit the greater good. This surely will be a harder lesson for some nations (US?) than others, but I’m hopeful we’ll work together and come out the other side better prepared to address the existential crisis of climate change.
11
I heard that monotone early this morning on BBC World Radio, and I wondered if it was a live person speaking.
The monotone reveals all. His handlers know that with something as important as the health of the American people it is best for somebody to write a text that states what is to be done or is being done.
But Trump then finds it paralyzing to be kept from speaking entirely by using phrases praising himself.
Yet the question remains. Will the text writer actually present science-based statements if that is what is needed. Here no science, just a declaration on closing the door to Europeans.
Maybe this is something that Joe Biden will face if he becomes President.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
14
For me, yesterday was a little like 9/11 in the realization that life as I’ve known it is on pause.
I wish they’d close schools.
17
@GWE
This is even more dangerous. 9/11 was limited to a fixed geographical region, whereas the entire globe is affected by a hitherto unknown pandemic in contemporary times.
The rich and complacent should take heed, for the virus does not differentiate according to one's stock portfolio.
1
Believe, tough as things are, I think Europeans en masse would chose to take their chances with European healthcare and contagion control than risk going to the US.
43
@Jacques - Actually it is not so easy to be tested on request here in SE.
We have a very fine OnLine health website at 1177.se and anyone who has reason to want to be tested must call the 1177.se telephone number.
I know someone with possible corona symptoms who did just that, call, and had to wait in the qeue for 45 minutes-and was then turned down.
If "hen" (Swedish for he/she) had been accepted, testing would be free, which I mention because I understand from reading Times comments that in the US the going price is nearly $400 USD.
As a US as well as SE Citizen I understand that I might be allowed to fly if I could show that I do not have COVID 19.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
3
@Larry Lundgren Yes.. agree. but as I said, "tough as things are." The real problem with this virus is that it's about controlling contagion rather than mortality and the healthcare end is at the end of the line. Controlling contagion, in other words, is everything, and speed of reaction (self-quarantining) is vital along with testing. It can be hard for some to get tested anywhere but without testing there is no chance of detection and control. Problem is, infected people may not show symptoms for some time which makes testing even more vital as soon as symptoms appear. Drive in tests now available at most hospitals where I am...
1
@Jacques Thanks Jacques, In following generally good information given here I do not think I ever hear clear statements like those you make in your reply - controlling contagion rather than mortality and then explaining different reasons for testing. Will search later today for drive-in testing here in SE and even in my part of USA.
Larry
I arrived at JFK on Tuesday,March 10 from Africa with a connection in London. I was not screened at all-no temperature taken, no questions about where I'd been (I used the automated passport scanners which only capture the photo page on passport). Nothing.
In contrast, at the two African land borders I crossed immediately before departure all these things were done, and I was asked about my prior travel in both my departure airport and at Heathrow. Good Luck America. We're gonna need it.
44
The information about Denmark is outdated; there was a press conference last night. All schools and public institutions in Denmark will close until Friday March 27th. No gatherings of more than 100 people indoors. Companies have been encouraged to send employees to home.
2
“Ordinary life in many places will no longer be the same for the foreseeable future”. Exactly what portion of the future can be for seen?
5
Regarding face masks, we've been told, initially 'don't buy up masks if you're not sick...we need to ensure there are enough masks to go around for those who are actually sick.'
Then we heard 'while a mask worn by an infected person will help prevent them from spreading the disease to others', a healthy person's wearing a mask won't prevent them from catching the disease from others'. Yet, I've not seen any explanation as to why or how this is...that the same mask can keep an illness In, but not keep that same illness Out.
And elsewhere in today's NYT, we were told 'unless you are already infected, face masks won't help'. That's rather confusing/ambiguous, and seems to be another way of trying to say what I said above.
Either way, what's not being said/acknowledged is... isn't it safe to assume that there are many people out there who are sick, but who've yet to show symptoms? So if these same people don't know they are sick/infected, they are being told (more or less) that there's no need for them to wear a mask.
The way I see it, while I've no reason to think I have the virus, 1) my wearing a mask can't hurt (at least, I've not heard otherwise...) and 2) maybe I myself have the virus but am not yet showing symptoms. So my wearing a mask is also a courtesy to those around me. Net, net, I'll be wearing a mask, symptoms or not.
3
@Lisa I think the request to healthy people not to wear masks is that (aside from the general shortage) healthy people are likely to be careless about how they use them. That’s all. Everything else you say, I think is spot on.
Masks can block large particles, preventing the most of the fluid globules of coughing and sneezing from spraying all over people and surfaces. This is why sick people should wear them.
Masks don’t block all the fine particles such as viruses, which is why they are a poor protection when healthy people wear them.
This doesn’t strike me as difficult to understand.
Measures taken to counter a pandemic could be seen as a great preparation for the climate breakdown which is happening at great speed and which would demand far greater action than the virus but still seems too abstract for people. As the mechanism of global warming requires decades of positive feedback from humanity before temperatures go down, our poor response now is suicidal (see the authoritative IPCC reports).
Too many irresponsible people continue to fly for non-urgent business (or use other forms of fossil transport). Extremely dangerous practices such as fracking or using tar sands for oil exploration continue. So this is just the beginning of the Great Unravelling. Reckless humanity needs to re-learn the basics of biology and survival or face the same extinction it has condemned so many other living beings to.
Global container shipping with its huge output of climate gases must stop. Pleasure liners running on heavy oil must be taken out of business NOW. In Africa and Asia, on parched soil, hundreds of millions of small farmers can't grow their crops anymore. In temperate regions, even things like the apple harvest has failed.
Overfishing also plays a part. Homo Sapiens will soon scamper around like polar bears lost on a melting ice cap.
9
I'm deeply confused as of why UK-US flights remain in operation? The virus spread is out of control in the UK and the UK government STILL allows large crowds at sport events, schools etc.
20
Indeed.
Brexit does nothing to stop the novel human coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), with its designed name COVID-19.
Nothing.
@Thomas The last thing you want to do is listen to people in political circles. Clueless would be a kind description of them.
@Thomas
Donald Trump's mother was a Scottish immigrant. Can't forsake family ties.
Why has Trump excluded the UK from the travel ban? Does he get that we have coronavirus too, our government hasn’t put in place any travel restrictions or social distancing strategies yet, and our passports don’t get stamped when we go to/from EU countries? So if we wanted to come over to the US at the weekend, having spent the past month rolling around in Milan, we could and they’d never know? He would know that if he had actually coordinated with the EU diplomats. Completely baffling.
35
@Sophia
Latest theory: Trump wants to ensure that his resorts in Scotland and Ireland will not suffer from a travel ban... would that be impeachable, too?
1
I don’t think many Europeans will want to travel to the US during this crisis, if they can help it. The risk of getting sick (anywhere) is too high at the moment, and I would not like to rely on your health service to look after me.
26
The UK and Russia, whose two leaders are friendly to Trump, are excluded. That makes sense.
But what about China? They have more cases than the rest of world combined. That doesn’t make sense.
5
USA restaurants will be bady hit by the travel ban and some businesses will go under and there will be high unemployment. So many businesses depend on tourism to keep afloat. Something like 18 million tourists a year visit the USA from Europe.
NZ is being hit badly in the tourism area and as NZ isn't on the travel ban we're hoping to pick up a small portion of tourists that used to go to Europe from the USA. Our exchange rate is great as you get more buck for your USA dollar in NZ. We don't have any coronavirus cases in the South Island of NZ and no one is wearing masks. Life's good so come on over! Our government was onto it straight away when the problem was known worldwide. Our government will be making more travel ban announcements tomorrow. Aussie newspapers are deeply critical of Trumps delayed actions to protect the USA people and the USA medical Association is highly critical of the USA governments slow response and apparently the equipment they have to test for the virus isn't working properly and is run down. Sounds like you're going to end up like Italy.
7
Merkel consults health experts, Trump consults bankers. Didn't expect something else.
And what america needs more than a cut in payroll tax is for once a free access to healthcare for everyone. At least to get everyone tested and treated for the virus. Something the europeans don't need to do because this is already implemented by default.
Expect america to be hit hardest because neither the political system nor the head of state is thinking in a term of a common society, where all the citizen, their fate, their situation, their health are linked together.
25
@Mathias Weitz Actually the States probably won’t be hit too hard, because the US does not have the high population density that Europe has (aside from the exceptions of big cities like NYC, Los Angeles, etc.) It’s much harder to get Coronavirus if you live in the suburbs or rural areas as does 70% of the US population. Here in Germany, we all living on top of each other.
@Angela Good point! Germany is roughly one third the population of the US, living in an area roughly the size of our state of Montana.
It may certainly make sense to install a travel ban - but Trump can‘t limit himself to public health policy: he wants to sanction the EU as his perceived political opponent. This is clear from his wording and the fact that travelers from the UK are not banned. Good luck if he thinks his ideology will impress a pandemic. If you look at the UK cases, they are relatively almost as high as in the countries neighboring Italy, and currently with a higher mortality rate. And many UK residents have been skiing in the Alps (including in Italy) recently or been on the continent. Instead of fighting the virus together, he sows distrust and exclusion. By the way, the so highly dangerous free movement of people also exists among the states of the US, but on measures there yet...
11
There are 7.58 billion people on the planet.
With an infection rate of 50% (which virologists are now saying is within the realm of possibility) and a mortality of 3.5% (which if the currently known rate) we would be looking at over 132,000,000 deaths world wide. And close to 6,000,000 in the United States alone.
Let that sink in for a moment.
And then pray that this Administration stops playing around with this thing, and starts to address it with the kind of urgency and decisive decision making it requires.
17
Shutting down travel from the Schengen countries is a sensible move at this point.
Rate of infections / deaths = 55/ 2.3 per million people in Schengen
Rate of infections / deaths = 57 /2.2 per million people in China
Rate of detected infections / deaths = 4/ 0.1 per million people in the US
The European countries in Schengen are going to be much harder hit by the virus than China was.
The death rate in Italy is worryingly high, at 6.6%. This could mean that the Italians have a more lethal strain of the virus than other parts of the world.
There are reports from Singapore that Indonesia and the Philippines are exporting infected people to them so we should shut down travel from those countries as well.
Europe faces a challenge that the U.S. does not - a high population density. People literally live on top of each other here, and avoiding the virus requires mindful social distancing to prevent viral spread. (In the US 70% of the population lives in either suburban or rural areas and the situation here in Germany is reversed). Thus, Angela Merkel’s commentary on the inevitable spread of the virus might be likely for Germany. So despite the omission of such meaningful details in the President’s address, the one month moratorium makes sense.
4
Limiting crowded events and travel is the only way to slow the spread, along with proper hygiene precautions. Due to the lack of early testing and inaction by our government, containment is no longer possible.
3
You should have done that 100 years ago. would have presented a certain Trump family from immigrating to the US. The world would be a safer place now.
128
Trump should go back in time to save the world from himself. I’d watch that movie.
@Valerie S
So immigration is good as long as its not Trump. That's the principle that you plant your flag on?
@Valerie S
Of course, if Germany had been dealt with differently 100 years ago think of the uncounted millions and their descendants who’d be alive today.
The virus is obviously highly contagious and it’s doubtful that warmer weather will slow its spread, as Trump is betting. It’s been warm in the Southern Hemisphere and the virus is spreading there now. Tom Hanks is in Australia and contracted it...and it’s still summer there.
61
@Brian
And the 1918 Spanish flu killed only a small number of older people its first winter....and then came back for the rest a few months later.
Interesting point. Although we don’t know when and where Hanks and his wife caught it.
If you haven't seen the full address from the Oval Office, you owe it to yourself to find it and watch. It's staggering. He sounds like one of those AI machines on the other end of the phone when you call and say something and the machine repeats what you said and asks the next question. Stephan Hawking's voice synthesizer sounds more human than Trump. You're left with the impression that someone else wrote it and he's reading it, but disagrees with it. November can't come soon enough. I hope we're all still here by then.
283
@PeteG
TV watching is SO much better through someone else! Thanks for this. I have a radio.
3
@PeteG
Every time Trump is monotone like that, he's reading words somebody else wrote that he doesn't agree with. He'll be tweeting nonsense again in a few hours - watch.
4
@PeteG
The cabinet should invoke the 25th amendment now.
5
Trump is finally successful in banning certain people from certain countries.
Are his friends from some Muslim countries also exempt?
23
Behind the Narcissist Mask: The Bully, Coward, Liar and Fraud [HuffPost]
--The Narcissist Mask: the narcissist is in essence an emotionally stunted child with an adult savvy for ruthless manipulating.
--The Narcissist Bully: Narcissists are classic bullies. They ambush, attack without cause, and prey on the most vulnerable within their grasp, usually those who love and depend on them, namely their spouse and children, who as a result carry lasting emotional and psychological trauma.
--The Narcissist Coward: Narcissists are cowards who are fundamentally terrified of themselves and anyone who might see through their mask.
--The Narcissist Liar: Narcissists are liars who continuously attempt to control others’ perceptions of them and, when they can’t, resort to nasty, often violent reprisal. The narcissist may cast himself as a highly principled person, but in reality he is only concerned with his own needs and is too weak to face life’s truths, especially those that threaten his defenses. He may talk a good game, but when it comes to the truth, he stonewalls, blames and shames others, and always deflects accountability.
--The Narcissist Fraud:
Narcissists are by nature frauds who lie, exaggerate, and brag about themselves and denigrate others to bolster their image. They hate themselves but hate others even more, and everything they do is in service of asserting a superior face no matter what reality exists inside themselves or within their family.
56
Russia’s State TV Calls Trump Their ‘Agent’ [TheDailyBeast]
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russias-state-tv-calls-trump-their-agent
--Sometimes a picture doesn’t have to be worth a thousand words. Just a few will do. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov returned home from his visit with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last week, Russian state media were gloating over the spectacle. TV channel Rossiya 1 aired a segment entitled “Puppet Master and ‘Agent’—How to Understand Lavrov’s Meeting With Trump.”
--Vesti Nedeli, a Sunday news show on the same network, pointed out that it was Trump, personally, who asked Lavrov to pose standing near as Trump sat at his desk. It’s almost the literal image of a power behind the throne.
38
Closing the dog door after the horse is in the house.
61
The Ties Between Crime and Malignant Narcissism[PsychCentral]
--Perhaps the most terrifying symptom of malignant narcissism is the lack of empathy...
‘It doesn’t matter.’ ‘We’ll see.’ The Trump Doctrine is sounding more fatalistic every day.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/it-doesnt-matter-well-see-the-trump-doctrine-is-sounding-more-fatalistic-every-day/2018/10/18/218d3b8a-d14d-11e8-83d6-291fcead2ab1_story.html?utm_term=.f45b72e47f20
It was Feb. 27, 2004, and Donald Trump was on “Larry King Live” to talk about his new hit TV show “The Apprentice.” Eight episodes had already aired — including one titled “Ethics Shmethics” — and the real estate mogul seemed pleased to gab with King about his return to relevance. Near the end of the segment, a caller from Burlington, N.J., asked Trump how he handles stress. “I try and tell myself it doesn’t matter,” Trump replied. “Nothing matters. If you tell yourself it doesn’t matter — like you do shows, you do this, you do that, and then you have earthquakes in India where 400,000 people get killed. Honestly, it doesn’t matter.”
23
Watching the Coranavirus race around the World has given me déja from another time in my life.
I came out in 1980 at the age of 22. By the time I was 24, the pandemic-to-be, AIDS, was eviscerating the gay community, city by city, country by country.
For many reasons--including shame espoused by some religions--a fatally slow response by governments, an unprepared medical community, and yes some in my community--a pandemic that's still with us had its beginnings.
Now at 62 I'm witnessing a different pandemic--this time travelling at lightening speed; in time-lapse fashion. It's very surreal, and frightening.
84
Trump sitting there reading from a teleprompter, looking and sounding like a zombie was unbelievable. His stooges came up with that idea of restricting Europeans from travelling to the US was on the spur of the moment, leaving thousands of people stranded and customs and immigration employees in total chaos. Have Americans seen enough of Trump and the GOP? Vote them out!
153
Congratulations, Trump voters, your diploma from Trump University should be arriving by mail in a few days. You’ve earned it.
188
What a disaster. History will remember Trump's address and his lack of leadership as a Crisis of Incompetence.
69
GOP much likelier to be infected with COVID because their minions are telling them it's a hoax and fake news. Only God could come up with a plan like this
54
I think one of the key lessons from all of this is that China’s one party rule, under Pooh, is really doing a great job. They really seem concerned about the big picture, their citizens, and are not just keeping up appearances. We will all be in really good hands in the future. Such paragons of excellence.
Said the pot to the kettle.
4
It got real today. WHO declaring a pandemic. Dr. Fauci sounding the alarm about what changes to expect in how we conduct our lives. Italy on lockdown. Angela Merkel estimating that 75% of Germany may become infected.
In the US.. We got a rambling what ?? full of errors and nonsense.
I was told (to use one of Trump's favorite sayings) that Stephen Miller, Kushner and the first daughter had a hand in "writing" that. They obviously never heard of informing countries that their citizens will soon not be allowed in the US; or that facts matter. Clarifying major announcement points on Twitter is really a good way to (not) make yourself look good.
We had better pay attention to our state and local leaders for leadership. None is present in the White House.
We are not prepared with hospital facilities to handle an increase in critical care cases.
Visit any emergency room to see all the people on gurneys in hallways waiting for a room on any given day.
Of course, he who knows so much "medical" probably has a solution to that for us.
November cannot get here soon enough!
83
President Trump needs a neuro-psych evaluation. His demeanor during his Oval Office address was downright alarming. It is long past time that Trump's medical team levels with the American public regarding what exactly is wrong with him. Because clearly something is.
God, if you're listening...
108
@MSPWEHO
I read somewhere that the 25th amendment is not an option because acting cabinet members cannot voting mass movement. Not sure about how true that is.
Because large gatherings are not on due to COVID19 it precludes taking to the street in an overwhelming people power rally.
Apocalypse Now
2
It’s not *God* who makes decisions,
it’s the people who have the Free-Will to make choices.
1
Yes, it makes you wonder who is really running the country, doesn’t it?
1
I just finished talking with my friend in Taiwan. She told me that they are now able to test people for this virus and get the results in 15 minutes. If this is true, I hope people in your country and my country are aware of this test. The lack of testing in your country surely is the biggest mistake in the handling of this crisis. It's too bad that the circus that's being going on in your country since the election of Trump has left your country light years behind a country like South Korea in handling this type of catastrophe.
97
If I were sick and poor, Taiwan would be my destination.
1
I guess this is not the stimulus Wall Street was hoping for..
The worst president ever will go down with a crash in his so much loved stockmarket..
53
In 2014 Fox News Video, Trump Touts ‘Disaster’ As A Way To Make America Great Again
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fox-news-video-trump-disaster-maga_us_5c4a41d4e4b0287e5b893788
--“When the country goes to total hell — then you’ll have riots to go back to where we used to be when we were great,” he said on a “Fox & Friends” show.
8
@Pray for Help
Well, he did say he thought Oscars should only go to movies like "Gone with the Wind"...
1
A real president would do so much better. It's almost poignant that Mr. Trump is trying to belittle the virus itself, as if expecting it to react the way he imagines human victims of his abuse will do. The monotone in this public address belies that he is completely out of his element in this challenging situation - he was completely disinvested in what he was saying, to the degree that he didn't even notice that some of it was false. Compare that with his performance at rallies, which highlight the strengths he does have: invective and one-dimensional thinking. Perhaps there's a place for such a person - shock radio comes to mind - but in the White House he's as useful as a coronavirus.
658
@Jonathan We were wakened at 2:00 AM CET in Spain with recommendations to get out of the country and back to the U.S.
And, with everything else Trump touches there was, and still is, uncertainty and questions-will Trump change his mind in the next few minutes?
So, we scrambled and booked flights home at twice the price we originally paid. So, no worries about airline profits.
Yet, I feel less safe in the U.S. given the shoddy leadership Trump has exhibited during this crisis.
Yes, we would stay here if there was certainty of coming home without further crisis created by Trump.
31
@Jonathan
What we need are COVID-19 test kits. But instead of talking about that, the president has simply made all briefings and meetings with the federal Health and Human Services Department classified.
How is that any different than what China's communist government did?
28
@J Anders
Well, for starters, Trump has made a lot less effort than the Chinese government's early intervention, and that is saying something.
The Chinese deserve plenty of criticism for their delay and obfuscation in the opening days of the epidemic. They should be condemned internationally for their cruel live-animal markets that have now launched a pandemic and an epidemic as well as hideous suffering and trade in endangered species.
Nonetheless, Trump's inaction has been even worse, especially in light of how we are a Western democracy with a formerly shining reputation for science, medicine and the ability to marshal forces against disease.
19
Ok, so people of Europe - except the UK (which is IN Europe by the way) cannot come to the US. So all you other Europeans can fly to the UK or Canada and come on in! Pay no attention to the cheeto-haired person in the White House because he, and his lick spittle administration as well as the entire GOP, are very busy flushing our country down a drain and have been doing that for the last 3+ year. Quite frankly I have no idea why anyone would even want to come to the US considering all the garbage emanating from - you-know-who...
123
@Sofedup I am in Europe right now. Not even for money would I WANT to come to the US at this point. The US has not even uncovered the tip of the iceberg in terms of spread of the infection. The country has been living in a state of denial for at least 2.5 months - I fear for my many elder friends in the US, some with good access to excellent health care, but many with none of that.
I'm rather glad I am where I am now. #happilystranded
15
@Me —I don’t think the people have, but we have lacked real leadership.
1
@Sofedup The UK is *not* in the Schengen, which was the basis of the ban. Do keep up!
”quarreling with rivals”?! There is not, and has not been, any “quarreling.” There has been acceptance of reality by the sane and reasonable, juxtaposed against the anti-factual idiocy of Trump and his army of fools.
62
The most pointless, senseless, and unhelpful national address ever.
185
NYT has failed to point out that the Homeland Security statement which clarifies the travel ban said it only covers foreign nationals who have travelled to CERTAIN countries in the previous 14 days (so going via UK won’t help) and that the exemptions go well beyond the UK: the ban apparently only covers the Schengen area countries which is 26 countries (or 29 if they mean to include Vatican City, Monaco and San Marino which have open borders with the Schengen area - do they?) The non-Schengen countries include the UK and at least 19 other countries, which are presumably also exempted: Ireland Russia Ukraine Romania Bulgaria Belarus Croatia Serbia Bosnia Montenegro Macedonia Kosovo Cyprus Belarus Moldova Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan & Andorra. So very mixed messaging and a confused sense of geography. Or was Trump just trying to sound as anti-foreign as possible in mentioning only the UK as an exemption?
37
Politico points out that Trump has golf courses in UK and Iteland, which also is excluded from the ban.
The only good thing that could come from this terrible crisis is admission by Trump supporters that Trump has no idea how to do his job, let alone manage this crisis. Trump's six real estate bankruptcies should have tipped off Trump supporters that he was full of hot air, that all those proclamations how smart he was, the self described "stable genius", were figments of his childlike imagination. For three years we had to endure Trump's endless boasts and abusive condescension until now, when we need a President Eisenhower, we are stuck with the three stooges, all rolled into one con man.
769
@Retired CEO Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I am quietly thinking the same. Maybe this crisis is the Toto in the Wizard of Oz that has pulled back the curtain, exposing the authentic Donald John Trump, a narcissistic self-appointed genius.
14
@Retired CEO
What this crisis will show is that Trump is constitutionally incapable of leading the nation in a crisis - and even in normal times. His performance last night was "pathetic" (a term he likes). It was clear that all he could do was read what others had written for him. He really has no idea what to do other than blame others for the situation the nation is in.
When we need a Churchill, we have a court jester.
15
@Retired CEO
"admission by Trump supporters that Trump has no idea how to do his job"
This will NEVER happen - ever. You've got a better chance of seeing Pope Francis declare that God doesn't exist.
16
Why do I feel that a speech by Donald Duck would have done just as much to reassure the markets?
70
excuse me if I mock -- but what, epidemiologically, makes Ireland and the UK safer? They speak English? UK now has a Trump-friendly Prime Minister? Good grief.
159
@B.L., Ireland and the UK are not in the Schengen travel area. They can enforce their borders and control travel with the European Union.
@gf Oh, so there's no Coronavirus in the UK or Ireland, then, right?
"Enforce their borders" is meaningless. A virus doesn't stop and turn around at the passport control booth.
1
@gf He has golf courses there. Could hurt his profits.
5
I don’t understand how any informed person can listen to that “speech” if it can even be called that and not be completely terrified.
134
@RE : They can"t. And we are.
38
True but half the country are not informed.
2
IMHO, Donald Trump disregards the spreading of the coronavirus early on by withholding the tests kits. He wanted it to spread far and wide. For six weeks, with China was locking up Wuhan and later the whole of Hubei, less than 500 tests were done in the entire US. The strategy was for the contagion to spread so widely, the Democratic primaries and nominations, and maybe even the general election have to be called off. He will call for a country-wide state of emergency and will rule the entire country like a dictator. All kind of gatherings except work will be banned - just like what is happening in Italy now.
33
Useless now with widespread contagion here — although we don’t realize the full extent due to lack of testing thanks to the destruction of effective public health leadership from the politicized CDC. Probably just an excuse to provide billions in aid to the poor airlines in a few weeks even though they of course will never refund for travel now dangerous or useless to canceled events.
28
Russia and the Brexit UK are excluded from Trump's Euro-ban. Putin strikes again.
57
I hope he also blocks untested Americans from spreading corona in Europe. With 3 million uninsured citizen running around I would be seriously more considered by travelers inside US. Blocking infection areas like Italy or Nordrhein-Westfalen would make more sense. Good thing is that less European will bring the virus back to the old continent.
39
What a disgrace. Let us hope this incompetent narcissistic psychopath in the White House and his disgusting GOP Lackeys are routed in November and convicted of their countless crimes. We can only hope the utter lack of response and leadership we are seeing is his downfall.
135
Mordor has taken Washington.
38
The best measure of fairness and equality in regard to the comments posted to this headline NYT article is to reflect upon them had they been made by a president of the United States of America, in lieu of the speech delivered by Mr. Trump tonight.
2
As the anonymous philosopher said “We ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Listen to the doctors in northern Italy, a first world country, a prosperous region. Hospitals are overflowing with nothing but the Covid-19 patients who have severe breathing problems admitted. All medical staff devoted only to those patients, not enough ventilators. Brace yourself.
56
I am terrified. I'm a 70 year old man with respiratory problems, whose wife, 72 years old and also with respiratory problems, just got out of the hospital after an out-of-nowhere heart attack. I feel like we have targets painted on our backs. Our government is is the hands of a certified know-nothing idiot and a cabinet of political buffoons. The CDC, run by a Trump appointed hack, has bungled its job. The idiot has now ordered the latest info on the disease to be classified secret. Meanwhile, the one per cent is fueling up its private jets and yachts to flee the country, or moving to its hideaways in Montana.The rest of us? We are totally screwed.
366
@larry bennett I'll say. Good luck to you and your wife.
67
@larry bennett
You could be my parents. I’m equally terrified for them and pray they can avoid another hospitalization. I’m sick over this.
5
@larry bennett The CDC details guidelines for people to avoid getting infected:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention.html and for people who are the most vulnerable: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html.
It mostly involves isolation and hygiene measures.
You should contact your primary care provider and ask for further advice. As China has shown us, the spread can be halted - confinement works. May you and your wife keep yourselves out of harm’s way. Good luck.
6
This is the point where Trump's gaslighting and incompetence finally become undeniably clear. The virus is not political. It can’t be shamed by nicknames, or called a ‘never-trumper’, but it will expose him none-the-less.
73
I hope Europe recipocrates the travel ban as soon as possible. The US has a number of severe institutional handicaps that will cause the virus to spread like wildfire. A few examples are a healthcare system that combines the best possible care in the world with Haiti style healthcare provision for the poor (not on Medicaid) and uninsured. Absence of paid sick leave will also figure prominently among the reasons why this will get out of control. Glad to have Merkel at the helm because she listens to experts instead of calling them fakes.
233
I said that!! It will happen! Just like with tariffs he literally has no justification for doing! Why not SL, PRC, Aussie?
20
@Chris Merkel, who holds a science PhD, is an expert herself. The president of the most powerful nation in the world has taken legal action to block his grades from becoming known.
7
Some sort of travel restrictions are prudent, but this may be an over-reaction considering the virus is already here. One restriction I do believe should be put in place is banning all future cruises. These are by definition vacations and non-essential. They have the potential to cause hundreds of people to be infected on one vessel. They should be stopped for the time being.
33
@James Fear But you have to remember he needs something to crow about at his rallies. For a month or more he's been bellowing, to great acclaim, about keeping the Chinese out. But that didn't keep the virus out. So he needs something else for the rallies, and looks like it's going to be the Italians.
25
There is no one on planet earth who I trust less than Trump to effectively steer us through this crisis. Coronavirus is one adversary he cannot sue, fondle or bully his way through.
151
COVID-19 will be Trump’s downfall, and his bizarre address from the Oval Office shows that he can barely read. He cannot belittle, bully or denigrate the virus into oblivion by tweet. Come November, the pathological liar and vulgarian ignoramus will be shown the door, finally. Science will be the foe he cannot vanquish.
240
AMEN!!!!
It will take a pandemic to rid the world of this republican administration and their so-called cancer.
57
@KennethWmM poetic justice!
12
@KennethWmM
He may be shown the door, but there zero chance he will go through it, until he is being dragged out by the Secret Service, kicking and screaming.
3
The response of USA, my new Country, reflects the USA-center-of-universe mentality of Americans and the bully attitude of USA to the world. I think Australia, Canada, Mexico and the rest of Latin America, as well as African countries should not allow USA nationals to enter in their territory for their best interest. After all, we are not willing to perform wide-spread testing to know the best course of action and we do not even know how many dozens of thousands of Americans are already infected. As an example, we do not know if Tom Hanks got Coronavirus in California days ago, or in the airport in his way there, and he was only diagnosed because of Australian protocols. It is not only shameful the USA approach in terms of diagnostics, but more importantly completely inadequate to gather information for experts to enact recommendations to control the virus in the most efficient manner.
99
I am so sick of this man and his supreme incompetence, his severe sociopathy, and his despicable, self-centered greed.
353
Let’s see how taxpayer bailouts to a non-essential industry like cruise lines goes over with voters who can’t afford heath insurance, co-pays, out-of-pocket, and prescription drugs.
Please Republicans do it!!
90
So much for the Evangelical idea that Trump was sent by God to straighten out America. With Trump comes a plague As Kurt Vonnegut said “God has a custard pie up his sleeve”.
101
@Llewis
If I were a believer I might think that God sent Trump to punish us for our sins.
2
He was sent by G-d.
G-d ran plum out of locusts.
2
The way we live has suddenly, drastically changed. We are in a post-Coronavirus world. It's the new 9-11.
23
I find it interesting that there are no restrictions on places that have Trump facilities, e.g., UK, India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, etc. They must be immune from COVID 19.
170
America, please wake up. This guy (trump) is a moron who is absolutely incapable of grasping how deficient he is. This guy makes dan quail seem brilliant.
He has squashed the scientific community from talking about what is happening, and he has filled that vacuum with nonsensical dribble. His belief that this was nothing with which to be concerned resulted in two months of non existent testing which has gotten us into a big hole. The end result is that this scourge is now rapidly reproducing in our country, and no longer needs inputs from outside our nation to do damage.
Trump supporters, it is time to forget your pride and admit this guy is a disaster. He was never going to improve your economic conditions, and now he may very well get some of us dead. Own it.
206
To donnies supporters, own it or die from a hoax...
27
Very true, although his name is Dan Quayle. Ah well, potatoe, potahtoe.
2
Will someone answer this question for me? Apparently, we turned down using the testing kits the rest of the world is using. Instead, we had to develop our own. Then the kits were not put together properly, leading to more delay. QUESTION: who of trump’s buddies got the context ( kickback) to develop a differe testing kit?
119
Sorry typos. Who from among trump’s buddies got the contract to develop a different testing kit?
31
I think it was a delaying tactic by Trump to hide the number of cases as long as possible.
The six bankruptcies make even more sense than usual.
11
Peter we just all have too much stuff on our plate now to cleanup your framing on a daily basis. You’re like a student in a class who refuses to read the instructions and keeps turning in wrongheaded ten page essays answering the question you felt like you wanted to be asked. You’re just in the tank for Conservatives and I think have actually come to like Trump for some weird reason.
3
VOTE. BLUE. NO. MATTER. WHO.
89
Jared Kushner brought peace to the Middle East. He’ll get us through this too.
50
Donald can’t help himself but to blame people. Europe has taken ampel measures and installed for instance heavy testing in its north to detect cases early. And caseload is still very very low given the number of people who live there. Italy has taken drastic but proportionate measures after a lax start. And i am sure France and Spain will cope with this too and do what is needed. Let’s see in 3 weeks how far the US is with this disease given his complete inaptitude. He can blame whatever he wants. But if this gets out of hand in the US, he has only himself to blame.
374
@HPE and when the pandemic reaches deadly proportions here in the US, it will be the Europeans who will rightly bar American citizens from entering.
99
@HPE - Vietnam would disagree about Europe, they suspended travel from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom on Monday. They suspended Italy last week
Most of the recent cases down here came from USA, mainly returning Australians. Australia will probably suspend travel from all of Europe, including UK and Ireland plus the USA.
11
Just for the record, Italy banned flights from China in late January.
The Italian government is making hard choices, adopting every measure possible to mitigate contagion and putting the health of the people within its borders before all else.
13
So the stable genius doesn’t think travelers from France, Germany, Belgium, and Norway won’t fly to London in order to circumvent his ban or simply take a train over to London from France?
He says he’s going to stop the flow of goods and then minutes later says “oops” didn’t mean that.
Weeks ago he said “we have 15 cases and soon we will be at zero”.
This leader does not inspire confidence.
8 more months to election day.
192
@Patricia Brown You're assuming the UK will let them in. The UK is not in the Schengen Area and not in the EU. It controls its own borders (unless all the 26 countries named in the ban) and can turn away those opportunist, potentially sick Europeans.
When Pence and Kudlow stood beside Dr. Fauci today while Fauci delivered a critical assessment of the virus, I knew Trump finally accepted reality. Somehow, someone got thru to him that he couldn't ignore CV and it would magically disappear. Even worse for Trump, he can't blame Obama for this miserable failure.
Trump wasted three months accepting reality and during those three months an unknown number of people were needlessly exposed. Test kits weren't ordered, masks are in short supply, hand sanitizer impossible to find but even worse, no nationwide plans are in place. Every town, city and state is approaching the crisis differently, and some, not at all. By now, there should have been an overall game plan that addresses the 29 million Americans w/o health insurance and millions of undocumented people who fear deportation if they seek medical care.
For those who remain incredulous that Trump filed bankruptcy six times, corona has laid bare his deplorable management skills. Trump supporters selected an abject failure as president and now the entire nation will pay the price. Many will pay with their lives.
904
@Medical student
What may have gotten to him is the knowledge that a political ally flew on Air Force 1 with him after being in contact with a person with the virus. He is a germaphobe and has, potentially been exposed.
80
@Medical student
Boom. Well said.
Let's see how this plays out. Trump has no one to blame but he will certainly try. Blame Europe, blame China, blame Obama (you know he'll try).
The question is, how hollow will it sound? And will his supporters, who appear willing to follow him over a cliff, be ready to face the facts that a science-denying infantile narcissist may be the worse possible leader during a health crisis?
105
@C
Another question to ask is what will you all do when the media can no longer effectively drum up fear of Coronavirus after we've all either gotten it (and beaten it uneventfully) or seen others get it and beat it uneventfully?
What will you say when the markets rebound on their own just in time for the election?
Who will you blame? The people for not....being more afraid? Trump? For....telling people to not panic?
Only about ten hours to go until the WH explains to us what the president meant to say.
102
The pandemic is sure to go away now that Donald Trump’s used his tough-talk on it.
46
This is Trump's Waterloo. Maybe he can get away with shooting a single person in the middle of fifth avenue but not thousands.
192
This administration ought to invest in better, more, and faster testing kits and in developing the drug supply chain the country needs now not just for new vaccines and antivirals but for drugs China previously supplied which we are having trouble getting. All the pesky scientific things we like to ignore until we actually need them. This European travel ban won't stop anything no more than a physical border wall will because it's too little too late. Travel bans only work at the outset of an infectious disease. Coronavirus is here and has been for months we just don't know how widely because of lack of adequate testing. The WHO says travel bans may actually have a greater negative impact: https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/updated-who-recommendations-for-international-traffic-in-relation-to-covid-19-outbreak . Finally if this is to some legitimate purpose why exempt the UK which has more cases than a lot of the countries on the list? Makes zero sense.
30
Also I believe travel ban exempts US citizens and their families.
...
10
@UlliPo He hgas three golf courses located where we can still fly to them.
13
Another of the continuing great and sweeping episodes demonstrating Trump's grandiosity, including, among other things, that border wall he has finished on the southern border; the conclusion of a peace agreement with North Korea, and his fantastic peace agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Never let us forget! Onward!
22
This virus has shown a serious flaw in the international nation-state system. There is a serious disconnect between local public health authorities and the WHO (at the U.N. level). Even the CDC has not been proactive in these past fallow years to prepare state and local public health officials on how to prepare for this black swan. We need a more proactive international authority that communicates down to the local...not unlike a Central Bank with the ability to make direct deposits into individual accounts.
14
@JUHallCLU
But that would be "socialism"...
In his address, Trump said: "I will soon be taking emergency action, which is unprecedented, to provide financial relief. This will be targeted for workers who are ill, quarantined, or caring for others due to coronavirus." I hope this is true, and that Congress will hold his feet to the fire to make it true.
136
Yes, but it’s too narrow. Millions more will be harmed economically than this relatively slender slice covered by Trump’s proposal.
Trump’s stingy provision doesn’t allay the fears of gig and hourly workers, the undocumented, or the millions of Americans who need to be staying home in the interest of public safety.
Trump’s paltry and halting “plan” keeps most people still confronting the crisis without a safety net.
Proud of yourselves, Senate Republicans?
19
@Steve
Would it surprise you that Trump’s first instinct was to provide relief to the hotel and oil industries?
15
@Steve you give him way too much credit.
3
It is incredibly difficult to heed Trump’s advice to “unite” and put politics aside when most of what he does is intended to divide.
I have no doubt what he’d be up to if tables were turned.
Unsurprising he isn’t prepared to handle this credibly. It’s been a game for him.
Thank goodness for federal employees like Fauci.
317
@STG
While I agree with you, the thought has occurred to me that Fauci, who has made many statement recently that contradict the VSG, may be next in line for firing.
5
@STG
We just learned that Trump never consulted the EU before issuing his travel ban.
This morning:
"The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation.” -- EU President Ursula Leyen.
Nice 'Uniting' and 'teamwork,' Donnie.
7
Excluding Britain from the travel ban is nothing more than propping up his pal Boris, who was likely exposed himself (see: UK health minister). It is so transparent.
Clearly Trump and his idiots think we, too, are all idiots.
But we are not.
I am listening to Tony Fauci and my local public health department. Period.
171
@Joanne
I think the fact that Trump owns golf estates in the UK and Ireland played a role here.
2
This is the fire drill. Not the fire.
Not yet.
12
@r a
But the fire has been burning merrily and out of control in the background for months. The fire department (i.e. the guy with the fire orange hair) has no idea it is there.
Up until early this week, Switerland had traced every single case, and had taken the appropriate measures. They don't even test in the US. We were going to go to Connecticut in Apri l, but will have to cancel because my husband and my daughter's boyfriend are Swiss. We are safer here.
3
This is a general comment on the pandemic and how it affects countries throughout the world.
1/ The NYT provides extremely accurate and easy to read informations (world map of cases and summary tables). This was expected, but it is comforting to have such a clear information.
2/Data from a few countries are surprising, to the limit of being unbelievable:
With similar number of cases, mortality rates are about similar in the US (3% of 1000 cases), France (2% of 2200 cases), Japan (1,5% of 1200 cases).
There is a clear outlier, Germany (3 deaths on 2000 patients). This needs to be checked. Either, it is wrong, or, it may tell us something important.
21
@Jean Roudier A quick comment from a health care professional in Germany. The numbers are in fact real. And I say we still don't test enough. I expect German numbers to be way higher than the roughly 2K from this morning. We have 3 cases here in the hospital where I work as of today; mild cases, they will walk out of here just fine.
I still believe the German officials waited too long with directed measures. Allowing Carneval season to proceed was beyond stupid. The most effected county, Heinsberg in NRW, is at the epicenter of Carneval and the terrifying peak of infections there most likely related to this wonderful opportunity for the virus to hit its mark.
No point. it's already in full circulation in the us. Just your racist president blaming someone else.
77
Of course, no one told him that UK has not blocked travel from Europe, or that no country in Scandinavia has as many cases as the UK. This was just an excuse to be nice to Boris and mean to Europe. This totally ignores the real facts, but then that is expected for the Trump.
410
@JS As of 5:30 this morning (GMT) the UK had 430 active cases reported; Norway, 628, Sweden 498 and Denmark 513. Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
20
@JS It has nothing to do with case numbers -- read the Proclamation. The countries named in the ban are all in the Schengen Area, ie. do not control their borders. They are listed in the Proclamation as:
"Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland"
The UK is excluded because it's an island that controls its borders, outside of the Schengen area.
7
You completely misunderstand how travel in Europe (which the UK and Ireland are part of) works. We all travel freely and our passports are not stamped. There is no way that US officials would be able to know if someone arriving from the UK or Ireland had just spent the past few months in Italy, France, Germany, Denmark.
65
The CDC has bungled this from the beginning. Wonder why....could it be that the guy in charge--appointed in 2018 by the trump administration--is an anti-gay, religious extremist with zero leadership experience at any public health agency of any size? And before him, the trump appointed woman was more worried about her tobacco stocks and implementing rules preventing CDC scientists from using the words "evidence-based" or "fetus" in its reports? To whit, prior to trump, the CDC was the national and world leader in infectious disease response (Google: Ebola, Zika, H1N1), sending out literally millions of test kits where and when they were needed. It's now March. This thing started in December. Many people in the U.S. still can't get tested. We are still guessing as to the extent of the spread in this country and how to manage it. But we do have another a travel ban. And everything would really be better if Democrats and the main stream media would stop reporting all this bad news.....
164
The country needs test kits to be available across the country, generally available to the public in retail stores, even. We need ICU beds. We need ventilators. We need protective equipment for our healthcare workers, and potentially for the general population. We need to provide paid sick time to all employees.
To this point, Trump is proposing a rehash of stuff from two years ago. Travel bans, and tax cuts that I'm afraid are just a smokescreen for a similar giveaway to corporations and the one-percenters. It's nothing but concern for the economy.
Voters, it's past time to put adults back in charge. Don't just vote in November - drive others to vote.
And the Republicans need to be mercilessly hammered over this. This is Katrina on steroids, and they are once again demonstrating utter incompetence at anything other than competing in elections and giving away our government to the highest bidders.
293
@Detective Frank Drebin Concern for the stock market, not the economy. We need support for hourly workers who will have to miss shifts, like many childcare and food service workers.
6
@Detective Frank Drebin You would he would lose but I would not bet against him.
Trump employing xenophobia rather than scientific evidence in this speech. Government needs to fund massive sick leave and emergency hospital resources/equipment. Forget the airlines and the stock market - people need immediate access to basic needs like food, housing, and care.
93
The leadership that America and the world does not need. For every problem, this odious man blames others and never takes responsibility.
Tomorrow the market will collapse and we will have to wait until 20 January 2021 for a grown-up to be back behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
115
...if the virus—and he—even allow Americans to vote.
That was the weirdest delivery of a speech I can recall from the Oval Office. It appeared to be very difficult for him to read the message from his teleprompter; to provide the necessary emphasis and instill any confidence in this listener that he was capable of leading this fight. It was read like a nervous 13 year old addressing the School assembly who seemed to have little understanding of his message.
Overlooking the delivery issues, the content was xenophobic and comprised of his usual self-congratulatory, we are the greatest platitudes, which are proving meaningless.
He is not covering himself with glory in his handling of this crisis. Finally, he has met a threat that is resistant to his bloviating.
800
@David Evans
Unfortunately, your comment is a perfect example of the politicalization of a shared threat to the commonwealth of the nation.
Regardless of the validity of your political points, tonight the shame is on you for sacrificing the general welfare of the nation for your political goals.
11
@David Evans To me more like a nervous 13 year old in a remedial reading class.
76
@Francis
The truth hurts to hear doesn’t it…
131
“ We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation and one family.” Sorry Donny boy, I don’t want you in my family. Just sit down and shutup and let the Adults take it from here.
280
@NOTATE REDMOND Trump makes Biden, or Bernie, or Amy, Kamala, Elizabeth, Pete, Corey ... look better everyday. Even Mitt Romney wouldn't create a dangerous mess this bad.
1
Tonight the president said “We are all in this together. We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation and one family.”
Two day ago he said “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. “
There is an example of the President putting politics aside.
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Tomorrow he will be back to his usual routine of hateful propaganda. Donald Trump is a fraud, but he’s a predictable one.
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This "is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
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@Lan Sluder that quote has gone through my head for the entirety of Trump's presidency. Sad.
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But what a dumb move to exclude the UK, the have so many more cases than other European countries such as Austria, Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, etc.
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@xyz NOTHING to do with case numbers. The Proclamation predicates on those countries in the Schengen Area, ie. the 26 states of Europe that have no passport or border control at their mutual borders. No border control means free roaming of the sick.
The UK is not in the Schengen.
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@Lex But it also has not way to control where travellers came from. I travel a lot, also to the UK. Non-existing passport control in terms of stamping your passport. I can be in London this afternoon and board a flight to NY, and nobody would know.
Rest assured, there is no way I would currently set foot into the US without a very good reason to.
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@Lex It's amazing how simple-minded people can be.
You do know there's free roaming of the sick happening now in the US, courtesy of Trump's incompetence?
You do know that it is simple to fly from the Schengen area to London, and then on to the US?
Trump's speech is nothing more than a charade, connived to convince the gullible that Trump is actually doing something.
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Does Mr. Trump not know that the UK Health Minister was just diagnosed with the Coronavirus?
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He only knows what Putin tells him to know.
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The bigger and more important question is...does little donnie know how to read a teleprompter, have ANY reading comprehension skills?
Does little donnie know that this is not a hoax YET and by telling the virus how great he is and how great and wonderful our country is won’t make a difference???
Clueless and more dangerous that the bomb we hope he never gets to set upon on the planet.
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@JCAZ Trump’s law: the answer to any question that begins with “does Trump know...” is always “no”.
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Trump stopped Europeans from coming to the US? That decision must've really hurt. Probably never thought he would've uttered such a directive.
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@Riyaz Guerra
he still welcomes the British, despite the evidence that their numbers are above 500. But 45th does not believe in facts.
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@xyz --and Ireland. Do you think he meant the Ireland that is part of the UK, or the Ireland that is a member of the EU?
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@xyz You don't seem to believe in facts either. The 26 countries named are in the Schengen Area, the stated basis of the ban. The UK is not in the Schengen area and controls its borders/therefore the sick roaming across them.
It is as simple as that.