Trump
announces 30-day suspension of travel from Europe
The
restrictions will not apply to the UK.
By GABBY
ORR 3/12/20, 2:27 AM CET Updated 3/12/20, 6:29 AM CET
WASHINGTON
— U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 30-day ban on foreign
visitors from most of Europe in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus
— ratcheting up his administration’s response after battling criticism for
previously downplaying the crisis.
In a rare
address from the Oval Office, Trump said the European Union had “failed to take
the same precautions” as the U.S. had implemented to contain the coronavirus
outbreak, prompting his decision to temporarily suspend travel between the two
continents. The restrictions will not apply to the United Kingdom, where the
number of confirmed cases topped 400 on Wednesday.
“We made a
life-saving move with early action on China, now we must take the same action
with Europe,” Trump said in an 11-minute televised address, referencing his
February decision to restrict travel from China, where the virus began. “Smart
action today will prevent the spread of the virus tomorrow.”
The address
marked a dramatic shift in messaging for Trump, who has spent weeks vowing that
the coronavirus would die down quickly, pledging that a vaccine was coming soon
and insisting that it was similar to the seasonal flu — all assertions his own
health officials have disputed.
But on
Wednesday night, Trump chose as his backdrop the Oval Office, a location
usually used to deliver somber or momentous news. It's the location John F.
Kennedy chose to tell the nation about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the place
Ronald Reagan picked to discuss the Challenger explosion and the setting for
George W. Bush to calm a nation on Sept., 11, 2001.
Trump
blamed travelers from Europe for bringing coronavirus to the U.S. | Mark
Wilson/Getty Images
It was the
second time Trump had made such a prime time address — his previous Oval Office
speech came during the 2019 government shutdown, and he used the occasion to
try and sell the public on his effort to build a southern border wall.
This time,
Trump blamed travelers from Europe for bringing coronavirus to the U.S. "A
number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from
Europe," he said.
After Trump
finished his remarks, the Department of Homeland Security clarified that the
new order would not bar all travelers from Europe, just foreign nationals
traveling from Europe to the U.S. The order also doesn't prohibit the travel of
legal permanent residents and the immediate family members of U.S. citizens.
The
guidance does apply, however, to people transporting cargo from Europe, the
White House told POLITICO. Still, goods and cargo will be permitted to enter
the U.S., another statement that needed clarification after Trump was finished.
Trump was
careful to avoid dire language as he talked about the economy, which he and
congressional Republicans have routinely cited as a major accomplishment as
they campaign for reelection.
Trump also
addressed some expected economic measures during his speech, saying he would
“soon be taking an emergency action” to provide financial cushion to business
owners and individuals hit by the coronavirus. He said the Small Business
Administration would provide emergency capital to impacted companies, and vowed
to defer tax payments for certain entities that have been affected by the
virus.
The
president then asked Congress to include a paid sick-leave mandate and payroll
tax cut in a stimulus package that is currently being ironed out on Capitol
Hill. While lawmakers have coalesced around the sick-leave proposal, the
payroll tax cut has been a harder sell.
Always
aware of the markets, Trump was careful to avoid dire language as he talked
about the economy, which he and congressional Republicans have routinely cited
as a major accomplishment as they campaign for reelection.
“This is
not a financial crisis, this is just a temporary moment of time that we will
overcome as a nation and as a world,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. economy
is well-positioned to withstand the impacts of the virus because “our banks and
financial institutions are fully capitalized and incredibly strong.”
Yet anxious
investors were unmoved, as Dow futures fell after Trump's speech.
Overall,
Trump did adopt a more solemn tone during his address, a change for a president
who, as recently as Monday, compared the rapidly-spreading virus to the common
flu and tweeted that “nothing is shut down, life and the economy go on.”
The remark
was the latest in a series of inaccurate comments Trump has made about the
virus as the number of confirmed U.S. cases has climbed over 1,000. Often, his
public statements have contradicted top U.S. officials and Cabinet secretaries
who have encouraged Americans — particularly older adults and those with
chronic health conditions — to take the outbreak seriously.
The U.S.
president’s warning came hours after two U.S. officials testified on Capitol
Hill that the worst is yet to come, and suggested that Americans should brace
for further disruptions to their daily lives.
On
Wednesday, Trump said all elderly individuals should cancel “nonessential
travel in crowded areas” to reduce their risk of exposure to the virus.
“Every
community faces different risks and it is critical for you to follow the
guidelines of your local officials,” he said.
The
president’s warning came hours after two U.S. officials testified on Capitol
Hill that the worst is yet to come, and suggested that Americans should brace
for further disruptions to their daily lives such as school closures, travel
bans and cancellations of large gatherings.
In two
surprising developments Wednesday night, the National Basketball Association
suspended all games until further notice after one player tested positive for
the coronavirus, and actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson announced they
had both contracted the virus.
And the
virus appeared to grip Washington, D.C., ever more tightly. A staffer in
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell's D.C. office contracted coronavirus, marking
the first known case on Capitol Hill. And at the Justice Department, employees
received notice that there was a potential case at the agency. Over at the
White House, public tours of the building were canceled.
“We have
got to assume it is going to get worse and worse and worse,” said Anthony
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
and a member of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, at a
congressional hearing earlier Wednesday.
Fauci’s
testimony was validated hours later when the World Health Organization
officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, triggering a swift decline in
U.S. markets and prompting Trump to schedule his televised address.
In Europe,
Italy has suffered the most with over 10,000 cases. The country suspended most
of its commercial activity on Monday as it essentially asked its population to
shelter in place. Elsewhere in Europe, France, Spain and Germany all have over
1,000 cases.
China
remains the hardest hit, with over 80,000 cases and upwards of 3,000 deaths.
South Korea and Iran have also seen massive outbreaks, and Trump placed travel
restrictions on both countries.
Hours after
the pandemic declaration, Trump announced his plans to address the nation about
the deadly virus — a move that put some officials inside the administration on
edge, given the president’s attention-grabbing comments so far.
One
administration official suggested Trump could “kiss a second term goodbye” if
he failed to strike a more serious tone about the coronavirus outbreak that has
already infected several hundred Americans and could impact a significant chunk
of the U.S. population, according to epidemiologists who have been closely
tracking the virus.
Even before
Trump addressed the nation, his decision to deliver an Oval Office address
alerted aides and lawmakers to a possible change in his approach.
One White
House official said the president’s concerns about containment and public
safety rose significantly on Tuesday, when several elite colleges — including
Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — announced
that classes would be moved online and students should refrain from returning
to campus at the conclusion of spring break. News coverage of the nationwide
quarantine in Italy, where the virus has continued to spread uncontrollably and
overwhelmed the country’s health care system, also unnerved the president, the
same official said.
As concerns
about public safety and worsening economic conditions accelerated inside the
West Wing on Wednesday, Trump tried to strike a positive tone on Twitter:
“America is the Greatest Country in the world… together we are putting into
policy a plan to prevent, detect, treat and create a vaccine against
Coronavirus to save lives in America and the world. America will get it done!”
The
combination of mounting economic concerns and questions about the federal
government’s emergency preparedness has posed one of the gravest threats yet to
Trump’s quest for reelection.
In the same
breath, however, Trump criticized congressional Democrats who spent much of
Wednesday working to cobble together an economic stimulus package they could
send to the Senate by the end of the week.
The
administration has urged lawmakers to take swift action after watching the
coronavirus crush investor confidence and put the U.S. economy on the precipice
of a recession this week. But Democrats and some Republicans have pushed back
on the president’s proposals, including his demand for a payroll tax holiday.
Opponents claim it would provide little to no financial assistance to hourly
workers who either cannot go into work due to illness or end up facing layoffs
because of the impact the virus has on industries.
“Someone
needs to tell the Democrats in Congress that CoronaVirus doesn’t care what
party you are in,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
The
combination of mounting economic concerns and questions about the federal
government’s emergency preparedness has posed one of the gravest threats yet to
Trump’s quest for reelection. For months, the president’s 2020 campaign has
relied on rising wages, low unemployment and economic expansion to make the
case to voters that Trump has been good for their pocketbooks and can do even
more with another four years in office. Now the coronavirus outbreak has
threatened to upend that message, while putting Trump’s every move under a
microscope as he works to contain a novel virus about which much remains
unknown.
Trump even
made his first concession to his campaign schedule on Wednesday night,
canceling upcoming events in Nevada and Colorado. Previously, Trump had reused
to follow the lead of his two remaining Democratic challengers, who both axed
rallies. Until late Wednesday, Trump had still been scheduled to participate in
a fundraiser in Las Vegas, host a rally in Denver, Colo., and speak to the
Republican Jewish Coalition between Thursday and Saturday.
“Out of an
abundance of caution from the coronavirus outbreak, the president has decidedto
cancel his upcoming events in Colorado and Nevada," said White House
spokesperson Stephanie Grisham.
Caitlin
Oprysko, Meridith McGraw and David Lim contributed to this report.
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