Trump will resume virus briefings

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Monday that he plans to resume daily coronavirus briefings at the White House in part because of a spike in cases.

“We have had this big flare-up in Florida, Texas and a couple of other places, so I think what we’re going to do is I’ll get involved and we’ll start doing briefings,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that the first briefing may come as soon as Tuesday.

Some White House officials, including adviser Kellyanne Conway, had called for Trump to return to the podium to resume the near daily briefings he conducted earlier in the pandemic. Those events were suspended in April shortly after Trump drew criticism for appearing to indicate the virus could be treated with antiseptics.

The briefings were also a chance for Americans to hear from public health experts advising the White House, including Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci. While Trump has insisted he has a good relationship with Fauci, he also recently described him as an “alarmist,” and top aides have taken to openly criticizing him.

Trump said the briefings would likely take place at 5 p.m. EDT.

Asked on Friday why Trump discontinued the briefings, Conway told reporters that “some people are encouraging him to stop.” Some Republicans on Capitol Hill thought the briefings, and Trump’s penchant for going off script, were damaging his support.

Recent polling indicates most Americans do not trust corona virus related information from the president and instead have more faith in statements from medical experts such as Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed that only 30% of voters trusted information from Trump about the coronavirus, and 67% did not. By contrast, 65% of voters trusted Fauci and 61% trusted the CDC.