The New York governor has brushed off Donald Trump's claim that the president has the ultimate say on when and how to reopen the economy. Andrew Cuomo says Trump's assertion is inaccurate and unconstitutional, adding: 'There are many things you can debate in the constitution because they are ambiguous. This is not one of those things that is ambiguous.'
Continue reading...Category Archives: Donald Trump
The coronavirus ‘propaganda’ video Trump played to media – video
Donald Trump has used a press briefing on coronavirus to play a propaganda-like video praising his record on the pandemic. Prior to playing the video, which comprised clips from his preferred network, Fox News, the president said: ‘Most importantly, we’re going to get back on to the reason we’re here, which is the success we’re having.’
- Trump claims 'total authority' and attacks media in chaotic briefing
- Wounded by scrutiny, Trump turns briefing into tantrum
Donald Trump: ‘When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total’ – video
US president Donald Trump has claimed he has ‘total authority’ to supersede decisions made by state governors to ease social restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. ‘When someone is president of the United States the authority is total', Trump said during a White House press briefing. Reporters questioned the assertion, asking: ‘You said that when someone is the president of the United States their authority is total. That is not true. Who told you that?’ Trump replied ‘We are going to write up papers on this'. Although claiming he had the authority to ‘call the shots’ for each state's lock-down regulations, Trump insisted he was ‘getting on very well with the governors’ and is ‘certain there won’t be a problem’
- Coronavirus – latest updates
- Trump claims 'total authority' and attacks media in chaotic coronavirus briefing
- Wounded by media scrutiny, Trump turned a briefing into a presidential tantrum
Wounded by media scrutiny, Trump turned a briefing into a presidential tantrum
President lashed out at reporters, swiped at Biden and refused to accept that he had put a foot wrong in coronavirus response
A toddler threw a self-pitying tantrum on live television on Monday night. Unfortunately he was 73 years old, wearing a long red tie and running the world’s most powerful country.
Donald Trump, starved of campaign rallies, Mar-a-Lago weekends and golf, and goaded by a bombshell newspaper report, couldn’t take it any more. Years of accreted grievance and resentment towards the media came gushing out in a torrent. He ranted, he raved, he melted down and he blew up the internet with one of the most jaw-dropping performances of his presidency.
Continue reading...Trump claims ‘total authority’ and attacks media in chaotic coronavirus briefing
In a bizarre tirade, the president bristled at a suggestion by one of the media that his power was restricted
Donald Trump has declared in a White House briefing that his “authority is total” when it comes to lockdown rules during the coronavirus pandemic, and he denied that he was weighing firing Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s foremost infectious diseases expert who sits on the coronavirus task force.
After a weekend reprieve from presidential briefings that have been likened to Trump rallies for their uninterrupted flow of Trumpian id, the president returned to the lectern on Monday to deliver one of his most bizarre performances yet.
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: Andrew Cuomo details ‘horrific level of pain’ as deaths pass 10,000 in New York
- Concerns US lawmakers are using briefings to make stock decisions
- Death penalty states urged to release stockpiled drugs for patients
- Live global updates
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It’s been one month since Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, and many of his key promises remain unfulfilled.
An in-depth NPR investigation found many of the pledges that Trump made in his March 13 Rose Garden speech have only been parially realized, while others have gone completely ignored.
NPR’s Investigations Team dug into each of the claims made from the podium that day. And rather than a sweeping national campaign of screening, drive-through sample collection and lab testing, it found a smattering of small pilot projects and aborted efforts.
In some cases, no action was taken at all.
Independent congressman Justin Amash pushed back against Trump’s claim that he has the authority to reopen the economy at the federal level, an assertion that is also challenged by constitutional experts.
President Trump is flat-out wrong. The president has no authority to “close down” or “open up” the states. He’s the one creating conflict and confusion. Put down the authoritarianism and read the Constitution. https://t.co/3AFqRx7YTX
Continue reading...Major oil-producing nations agree historic 10% cut in output
Saudi Arabia and Russia reach truce after collapse in demand caused by coronavirus
The world’s largest oil producers have agreed a historic deal to cut global oil production by almost 10% to protect the market against the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Members of the Opec oil cartel and its allies have agreed to withhold almost 10m barrels a day from next month after the outbreak of Covid-19 wiped out demand for fossil fuels and triggered a collapse in global oil prices.
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: Trump heralds disaster declarations in all 50 states and says US is ‘winning’
- Cuomo: ‘We need to be smart in the way we reopen’ economy
- Trump to base reopening call on ‘facts and instincts’
- US deaths pass 20,000 and confirmed cases reach 529,843
- WHO envoy says virus ‘will stalk the human race’
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Storms and tornadoes have hit the south today with 20 states, including Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana affected. That raises two dangers for residents - Covid-19 and the elements. However, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said that people should prioritize shelter over social distancing in the case of emergency.
Director Michel and our team are monitoring the weather and standby ready to assist. Have a safe place to go. If you go to a public shelter please wear a mask, bandana, or scarf around your nose and mouth. Practice social distancing. We will get through this! pic.twitter.com/owoDLwL3rI
Louisiana, which has the fourth-highest number of deaths of any state despite ranking only 25th in population, has reported a drop in deaths. The 34 deaths from Covid-19 reported on Sunday was the lowest total in Louisiana since 1 April. Fears the state will run out of ventilators and intensive care beds have also eased. 840 people have now reported to have died from the virus in Louisiana since the start of the outbreak.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune also reports that the number of most serious crimes, such as homicide and robberies, have fallen since Mayor LaToya Cantrell ordered the closing of most businesses in the city last month. However, other crimes such as some categories of domestic violence and shoplifting have risen.
Continue reading...Fauci confirms NY Times report Trump rebuffed social distancing advice
Health adviser says on CNN ‘you could logically say if you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives’
Prominent US public health adviser Dr Anthony Fauci appeared on Sunday to confirm a bombshell New York Times report which said he and other Trump administration officials recommended the implementation of social distancing to combat the coronavirus in February, but were rebuffed for almost a month.
Continue reading...US’s global reputation hits rock-bottom over Trump’s coronavirus response
International relations expert warns policy failure could do lasting damage as president insults allies and undermines alliances
Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, which he once dismissed as a hoax, has been fiercely criticised at home as woefully inadequate to the point of irresponsibility.
Yet also thanks largely to Trump, a parallel disaster is unfolding across the world: the ruination of America’s reputation as a safe, trustworthy, competent international leader and partner.
Call it the Trump double-whammy. Diplomatically speaking, the US is on life support.
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: Trump says he’s ‘not determined’ to open the country in May
- Cuomo ‘cautiously optimistic’ infection rate is slowing in New York
- Trump wants to reopen the country next month
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What does protest look like under a stay-at-home order?
This evening, activists are lighting a candle in solidarity with more than 90,000 people typically incarcerated in state prisons and jails in New York state, as coronavirus threatens to turn crowded, unsanitary prisons into death traps.
Lighting a candle for all incarcerated people tonight in solidarity with #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth pic.twitter.com/fzWJZ8O7Yj
It is inhumane to let people die in cages. That has always been true, and it is especially true now in the midst of a global pandemic.
6 y/o and I are joining the @FreeThemAll2020 campaign in calling on @NYGovCuomo to #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth. pic.twitter.com/vrAjImhUAe
#FreeThemAll4PublicHealth #FreeThemAll because people don't belong in cages pic.twitter.com/bWZGnmQQar
Advocates have been pleading for weeks that San Francisco move people out of homeless shelters and into hotel rooms, given that the conditions inside these facilities are often unsanitary and crowded, making it easy for a virus to quickly spread.
Now, there has been a major coronavirus outbreak inside a homeless shelter in San Francisco: nearly 70 residents at MSC South have tested positive, which is roughly half of all the people who were tested.
After 70 residents of a San Francisco homeless shelter test positive for Covid-19, advocates say others are trapped in lockdown in shelters with restrictions. "Telling them they cannot leave is not protecting them"-@Leahfsw. "People need to be moved to hotels, not just locked up" pic.twitter.com/YTfxVaMIGg
Continue reading...WHO warns of ‘deadly resurgence’ if coronavirus controls lifted too soon
As global deaths pass 100,000, White House adviser also cautions against lifting restrictions
The World Health Organization has warned that a premature lifting of restrictions on peoples’ movements by countries fighting the coronavirus pandemic could spark a “deadly resurgence”, as global deaths from the virus passed the grim milestone of 100,000.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, said it was working with countries on ways in which lockdowns could be gradually eased, but said doing so too quickly could be dangerous.
Continue reading...Barr claims Trump-Russia investigation was FBI attempt to ‘sabotage’ the president
Attorney general asserts that investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia was ‘without basis’, despite evidence
William Barr has said without evidence that he believes the Russia investigation that shadowed Donald Trump for the first two years of his administration was started without any basis and amounted to an effort to “sabotage the presidency”, he said in an interview with Fox News Channel that aired on Thursday.
The attorney general offered no support for his assertion that the FBI lacked a basis for opening the investigation and made no mention of the fact that the bureau began its investigation after a Trump campaign adviser purported to have early knowledge that Russia had dirt on his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
Continue reading...Coronavirus US news: New York sees record daily death toll as unemployment rises by 6.6m – as it happened
- Governor says state recorded 799 deaths on Wednesday
- Trump reportedly planning second taskforce on economy
- US unemployment rises 6.6m in a week
- Live global updates
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Fact check: The majority of states have less than 10% positive cases
Earlier, Dr Deborah Birx, a coordinator on the coronavirus response task force, said that 63% of the states (31 states) had less than 10% of total people tested for Covid-19 be positive. A quick glance at data provided by the Covid Tracking Project, a collaborative, volunteer-run project that collects data from local health departments, shows that about 28 states plus US Samoa meet that threshold.
Continue reading...WHO warned of transmission risk in January, despite Trump claims
Notes to global health leaders on 10 and 11 January highlighted possible infection routes
The World Health Organization warned the US and other countries about the risk of human-to-human transmission of Covid-19 as early as 10 January, and urged precautions even though initial Chinese studies at that point had found no clear evidence of that route of infection.
Technical guidance notes seen by the Guardian and briefings by top WHO officials warned of potential human-to-human transmission and made clear that there was a threat of catching the disease through water droplets and contaminated surfaces, based on the experience of earlier coronavirus outbreaks, such as Sars and Mers.
Continue reading...In shadow of pandemic, Trump seizes opportunity to push through his agenda
With coronavirus occupying people’s attention, the Trump administration is giving handouts to big business, appointing judges and rolling back regulations
The last time America was facing a possible economic depression, Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s chief of staff, observed: “Never allow a good crisis go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible.”
It is advice Donald Trump and his Republican allies appear to have taken to heart.
Continue reading...How coronavirus changed the world in three months – video
In just three months, the coronavirus has turned the world upside down. But how did it play out so quickly? We take a look back to where it all began – from its origins in south east Asia, to its acceleration across Europe and the US. As the infection rate increased and countries went into lockdown, people began to find imaginative and inspiring ways of coping with our new reality
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: 400,000 cases confirmed in America as Cuomo says New York is flattening curve
- Bernie Sanders ends 2020 presidential run
- US sees highest one-day death toll
- Black Americans dying in greater numbers from Covid-19
- Live global updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
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The White House is reportedly having discussions about reopening the economy next month, which could cause friction with health experts who have warned against lifting “stay at home” orders too quickly.
CNN reports:
Officials said the options being discussed on reopening the country vary widely in scope, from recommendations on benchmarks for when individual states can begin easing restrictions to a nationwide ‘big bang’ that Trump previewed Tuesday evening on Fox News. The officials said the conversations were still preliminary and would likely evolve over the course of the next weeks.
Still, some officials have even begun mulling the type of event Trump may want to mark the day when nationwide restrictions are lifted after he suggested a ‘big celebration’ when the crisis is over. ...
At some point, the president is going to have to look at Drs. Fauci and Birx and say, we're opening on May 1. Give me your best guidance on protocols, but we cannot deny our people their basic freedoms any longer.
Barack Obama called for a “robust system of testing and monitoring” to confront the coronavirus crisis.
Social distancing bends the curve and relieves some pressure on our heroic medical professionals. But in order to shift off current policies, the key will be a robust system of testing and monitoring – something we have yet to put in place nationwide. https://t.co/evkTSrzReB
Continue reading...Trump stokes fresh coronavirus row as Wuhan reopens
US president accuses World Health Organization of China bias as New York records its highest daily death toll and Wuhan lockdown eases
Donald Trump has criticised the World Health Organization (WHO), and by implication Beijing, saying the global body is “China centric” and “biased” towards the rival superpower.
As Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, began to return to normal life, Trump said the WHO had “been wrong about a lot of things”, and threatened to put a hold on WHO funding. When asked if that was a good idea during a pandemic, Trump denied saying it, and then said they would “look at it”.
Continue reading...Trump order encourages US to mine the moon
Executive order says US will oppose any international effort to bar it from removing chunks of moon, Mars or elsewhere in space
The world may be racked by the coronavirus, but Donald Trump has less earthly concerns on his mind, too, after signing an executive order encouraging the US to mine the moon for minerals.
The executive order makes clear that the US doesn’t view space as a “global commons”, opening the way for the mining of the moon without any sort of international treaty.
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