Trump takes test then bans UK travellers from f lying to United States
DONALD TRUMP last night announced that he was extending America’s European travel ban to include the UK and Ireland.
In a bullish press conference at the White House, the President wore a ‘USA’ baseball cap and defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Surrounded by his ‘coronavirus taskforce’, including Surgeon General Jerome Adams and Vice-President Mike Pence, a defiant Mr Trump confirmed he had been tested for Covid-19 but said his temperature was ‘totally normal’. ‘If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here,’ he added.
Mr Trump, who has been in direct contact with at least three people who later tested positive for the virus, said he was expecting his test results ‘in a day or two’.
Scores of journalists had their temperatures taken as they entered the James Brady Briefing Room for the press conference, with one turned away after registering a spiked reading of 99.9F.
The President hit back after being accused of sending ‘mixed messages’ during a press conference on Friday when he repeatedly shook the hands of CEOs from major US companies as he declared a state of emergency.
‘It almost becomes a habit,’ he said, noting that ‘getting away from shaking hands is a good thing.’
Mr Trump put on what one NBC commentator called a ‘table-thumping performance’ while surrounded by stony-faced advisers, including his coronavirus ‘tsar’ Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Medicare and Medicaid boss Seema Verma, White House coronavirus response co-ordinator Dr Deborah Birx, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The President praised his administration’s response to the crisis, saying: ‘I want to express my appreciation for the hard work done by the people behind me.
We’re using the full power of the federal government to defeat the virus.’
The ban on travellers from the UK will start at midnight tomorrow. Under it, US citizens and green card holders will be allowed to return home but will be funnelled through 13 airports and subjected to screenings and quarantine.
‘If you don’t have to travel, I wouldn’t do it,’ Mr Trump said when asked if Americans should travel outside their home states. He also commended Apple for closing all stores for two weeks and urged other companies to follow suit.
Clearly delighted by the stock market gains that took place on Friday after he declared a state of emergency, he said: ‘I was honoured to see that the stock market set a record in a short period of time. Maybe I should hold a news conference five times a day.’
Mr Trump spent part of last weekend at his private Mar-aLago resort in Florida with at least three people who later tested positive for the virus, including a top aide to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
The House of Representatives passed a bill in the early hours of yesterday morning which will provide billions of dollars to give up to two weeks of paid sick leave and free testing to millions of Americans. It is expected to be passed by the Senate tomorrow.
Mr Trump’s emergency order has freed up more than $50billion to fight the virus. The US has recorded 20,226 cases of the virus with 50 confirmed deaths.