Donald Trump has accused the World Health Organization of being a 'pipe organ for China' and misleading the US over the coronavirus crisis. The US president suggested the US could take action against the WHO. 'We're coming up with a very distinct recommendation,' Trump said. 'We're not happy with it.'
Continue reading...Category Archives: Donald Trump
Trump is seizing the courts – only a Democratic win in November can stop him
Trump’s transformation of the federal judiciary means the stakes have never been higher in an election than they are for Democrats
He is 37 and less than 10 years out of law school. He had never tried a case, nor served as co-counsel at trial, when he was tapped last year for America’s federal bench. But he did go on Fox News to push the cause of Brett Kavanaugh when Trump’s supreme court pick was mired in sexual abuse claims two years ago.
And now he is bound for the second highest court in the land.
Continue reading...Trump offers rosy predictions for coronavirus testing as US passes 1m cases
President claims economy will rebound and suggests US, currently testing 200,000 a day, will be testing 5m ‘very soon’
Donald Trump has predicted a “great” economic rebound in the fall and claimed the country would soon be performing 5m coronavirus diagnostic tests a day, as the number of confirmed cases in the US surpassed a million.
Some health experts have suggested that the US would have to carry out 5m tests a day by June to reopen its economy safely. Others have suggested as many as 20m tests a day would ultimately be needed. The US daily rate is currently 200,000.
Continue reading...Trump to order meat-processing plants to continue operating amid pandemic
President to sign executive order meant to soften blow of a chicken and pork shortage among other meat on US supermarket shelves
Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order on Tuesday meant to soften the blow of a chicken and pork shortage among other meat on American supermarket shelves.
The order will use the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure, forcing meat production plants to stay open as the president and agricultural leaders say the coronavirus outbreak is threatening the country’s food supply.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: US reaches one million confirmed cases – live updates
- US reaches milestone according to Johns Hopkins figures
- President said he ‘would have to check’ dates of the warnings he received
- Cuomo: New York deaths are lowering ‘but not at a tremendous rate’
- Hillary Clinton expected to endorse Joe Biden today
- Live global updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
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Mike Pence’s office has dubiously argued the vice president does not need to wear a mask because he is regularly tested for coronavirus.
The vice president faced questions about his lack of mask usage earlier this month after a photo circulated of a mask-less Pence greeting Colorado governor Jared Polis, who was wearing a mask in the picture.
Vice President Mike Pence was criticized for ignoring mask guidelines when visiting the Mayo Clinic facilities in Minnesota today.
Footage of Pence’s visit showed the vice president not covering his face as he met with the clinic’s employees and at least one patient.
PENCE flouts Mayo Clinic policy that everyone on campus wear a mask, even as he meets with staff and a patient. pic.twitter.com/kfo64KQDhU
Mayo Clinic had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today.
Continue reading...Who is behind the US protests against coronavirus lockdown? – video explainer
Some experts have warned that the recent anti-quarantine rallies and counter-protests taking place nationwide could cause a surge in coronavirus cases in America. Guardian US writer Adam Gabbatt explains where these protests originated and who is behind them
Continue reading...African Americans bear the brunt of Covid-19’s economic impact
Pandemic spotlights racial disparities, with black workers expected to feature disproportionately in the 26m recent unemployment claims
Just two months ago in the Cabinet Room of the White House, sitting at a table surrounded by a handful of his black supporters, Donald Trump once again praised his job creation record. “Black people right now are having the best, statistically, the best numbers that you’ve ever had, and it’s really an honor,” he said. “Nobody has done more for black people than I have. Nobody has done more.”
That was 27 February and Trump was also still claiming he had done an “incredible job” with the looming coronavirus pandemic. Now the virus has led 26 million Americans to file for unemployment. While the US Bureau of Labor Statistics will not release unemployment figures broken down by race until the beginning of next month, economists are certain that black Americans are suffering the brunt of Covid-19’s economic impact and will probably suffer the most dramatic consequences of the looming recession.
Continue reading...Trump returns to White House briefing, subdued but no less shameful
President retreated over the weekend after his bizarre musing that disinfectant could be injected into coronavirus patients
His autocratic tendencies are well-known. His sudden absence from public view prompted fierce speculation and rumour. One headline suggested that he was “brain-dead”.
The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s whereabouts remain unknown. But after a lost weekend, Donald Trump bounced back into the spotlight on Monday determined to prove that he is not only healthy but working very, very hard.
Continue reading...Birx sidesteps Trump disinfectant remarks and warns distancing will last months
- Health expert says measures will be in place through summer
- US needs ‘breakthrough in testing’ to speed up reopening
- Coronavirus – latest US updates
- Coronavirus – latest global updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Donald Trump’s coronavirus response coordinator, Dr Deborah Birx, has cautioned that social distancing measures are likely to stay in place throughout the summer, as the administration’s health expert sought to downplay the president’s dangerous suggestion that injected disinfectant and ultraviolet light could play a role in medical treatment of Covid-19.
Related: How has the coronavirus transformed Spain?
Continue reading...Donald Trump set to fall back on xenophobia with re-election plan in tatters
The president had been intending to campaign on a strong economy and facing a socialist opponent but scapegoating foreigners has worked for him before
Donald Trump had been intending to run a re-election campaign based on a strong economy and a socialist opponent. Both have vanished in the past month. But the US president still has his ultimate weapon: xenophobia.
Related: Debacle of Trump's coronavirus disinfectant comments could be tipping point
Continue reading...Trump says briefings ‘not worth the effort’ amid fallout from disinfectant comments
The president remained behind closed doors after advisers reportedly warned him that the briefings were hurting his campaign
After more than a month of near-daily White House coronavirus press briefings, Donald Trump stayed behind closed doors on Saturday after advisers reportedly warned the president that his appearances were hurting his campaign.
Trump himself referenced his absence when he wrote on Twitter that the briefings are “not worth the time & effort”. The president wrote the tweet on Saturday evening, when he would usually be taking the podium to address journalists.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Brazil’s health system on verge of collapse, medics warn
Leader of US group peddling bleach as ‘miracle’ cure wrote to Trump before remarks; Australia and New Zealand mark Anzac Day from driveways
- Leader of group peddling bleach as ‘cure’ wrote to Trump this week
- Global report: Sweden queries lockdowns as Germany keeps guard up
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
- US coronavirus updates – live
- See all our coronavirus coverage
I’ll hand over to my colleagues in London shortly. In the meantime catch up with the most recent developments with our ‘Coronavirus: at a glance’ here.
Related: Coronavirus latest: at a glance
Thailand reported 53 new coronavirus cases and the death of a 48-year-old Thai man who was infected with the virus along with four other family members.
Of the new cases, three were linked to previous cases, one had no known links, and 42 are migrant workers who have been under quarantine at an immigration detention centre in the southern province of Songkhla.
Continue reading...Trump attack on Biden highlights president’s own past dealings with China
Trump Organisation’s far-flung real estate business has involved dealings with Chinese state-owned firms on several occasions
Donald Trump has a share in a New York property development that borrowed tens of millions of dollars from China, it was reported on Friday.
The debt derived from a 30% share the US president owns in a billion-dollar building on the Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, which was refinanced in 2012 with $211m of the funding coming from the state-owned Bank of China, Politico reported on Friday.
Continue reading...Revealed: leader of group peddling bleach as coronavirus ‘cure’ wrote to Trump this week
Mark Grenon wrote to Trump saying chlorine dioxide ‘can rid the body of Covid-19’ days before the president promoted disinfectant as treatment
The leader of the most prominent group in the US peddling potentially lethal industrial bleach as a “miracle cure” for coronavirus wrote to Donald Trump at the White House this week.
In his letter, Mark Grenon told Trump that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it “can rid the body of Covid-19”.
Continue reading...Trump floats dangerous coronavirus treatment ideas at daily briefing – video
Donald Trump prompted a backlash from medical experts after floating the idea that they could look into heat, light and injections of disinfectants as a cure for Covid-19. His public health advisers immediately played down the idea, and medics warn that trying such ideas could be fatal. Coronavirus response coordinator Dr Deborah Birx appeared caught off guard when Trump asked her directly if heat and light would cure the deadly disease. ‘Not as a treatment,’ Birx replied
- Medical experts denounce Trump’s latest ‘dangerous’ Covid-19 treatment suggestion
- Coronavirus US live: Trump says federal distancing guidelines could extend into summer
Coronavirus live news: experts reject Trump’s ‘disinfectant’ theory as Russia reports 5,849 new cases
Doctors call president’s comments ‘jaw-dropping’ and dangerous; Algeria, Egypt, UAE shorten ease restrictions for Ramadan, Indonesia increases them; Follow the latest updates
- Medical experts denounce Trump’s ‘dangerous’ treatment suggestion
- Panama: lockdown leaves festivalgoers stranded on beach
- UK coronavirus updates – live
- At a glance – latest developments
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Iran has reported 1,168 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 88,194. There have been 93 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 5,574.
The Taliban have rejected appeals for a cease fire from Afghanistan’s president, as the country records its biggest daily rise in new coronavirus cases, reports my colleague Akhtar Mohammad Makoii.
The country recorded 95 new cases, bringing the overall total to 1,330, it recorded 2 new deaths bringing the overall number of deaths to 43.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: medical experts denounce Trump’s latest ‘dangerous’ treatment suggestion
Doctors warn president’s musings on disinfectant as a cure for coronavirus could lead to death
Donald Trump has stunned viewers by suggesting that people could receive injections of disinfectant to cure the coronavirus, a notion one medical expert described as “jaw-dropping”.
At Thursday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing, the US president discussed new government research on how the virus reacts to different temperatures, climates and surfaces.
Continue reading...Ramadan begins amid coronavirus restrictions as Trump ‘disinfectant’ theory dismissed
Countries with Muslim populations wrestle with best way to observe holy month amid outcry over US president’s latest suggestion
The governments of nations with large Muslim populations were divided on coronavirus restrictions as Ramadan began, with with some easing lockdowns while others enacted travel bans.
As the Muslim holy month was set to begin, US health experts rushed to warn against Donald Trump’s suggestion of exploring the use of UV light on people and injecting disinfectant as a way of combatting coronavirus.
Continue reading...US House passes $484bn coronavirus relief bill to fund small businesses and hospitals
Measure heads to Donald Trump’s desk after passing House by vote of 388-5, as lawmakers meet for first time in weeks
The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $484bn coronavirus relief bill on Thursday, funding small businesses and hospitals and pushing the total spending response to the crisis to an unprecedented near $3tn.
The measure passed the Democratic-led House by a vote of 388-5, with one member voting present. House members were meeting for the first time in weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: Andrew Cuomo slams Senate leader Mitch McConnell over ‘reckless’ state bankruptcy proposal
- New York’s death rate may be lower than estimated
- Elizabeth Warren’s brother dies of coronavirus
- Trump mega-donor pushes to end Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order
- Live global updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
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Dr Deborah Birx reportedly had to convince Trump to come out against Georgia’s plan to start reopening non-essential businesses this Friday.
Trump said during yesterday’s press conference that he disagreed “strongly” with Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s reopening plan, which many public health experts have warned is dangerously hasty.
At a meeting before Wednesday’s briefing, task force members discussed the likelihood of being asked about [Kemp’s] controversial move to open up many businesses such as nail salons and bowling alleys, [a White House] source added. ...
During the meeting, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other task force members said if the scientists were not in agreement with Trump on the Georgia issue during the news conference it would pose a problem.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said she would likely extend the state’s stay-at-home order while looking at allowing some activties with restrictions in place, emphasizing that the state’s reopening would take place in waves.
“It will permit some activity if our numbers continue to go down and our testing continues to go up,” the Democratic governor told MSNBC this morning. “But It’s too early to say precisely what each wave looks like and when it happens.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says reopening has to be "strategic and thoughtful": "I've heard governors across the country, on both sides of the aisle, say it's not going to be like flipping a light switch, we're not just going to go back to pre-Covid 19 posture" pic.twitter.com/6gGHbUkFPC
Continue reading...