Donald Trump did a rare broadcast from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening to address the nation on coronavirus. In a slow-paced speech lasting just ten minutes, Trump frequently referred to how his team had moved quickly and taken unprecedented action, comparing the number of cases in the United States favorably to those in Europe—without mentioning the handy oceans to America’s east and west.
To emphasize how far Trump feels the United States is ahead of Europe, he took one genuinely extraordinary action: ending all travel between the United States and Europe for 30 days beginning at midnight on Friday. Trump exempted the U.K. from this restriction, even though the U.K. has more cases than a number of European nations and just had its worst day for new cases on Wednesday. Such a restriction to travel to and from large parts of Europe has not happened since World War II.
Thursday, Mar 12, 2020 · 2:07:44 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
Apparently Trump’s ban on European travel doesn’t include cargo, and doesn’t include U.S. citizens. Considering that most of the countries on the banned list have far fewer cases than the U.S., they would probably feel relieved if American citizens were banned.
Still, continuing to allow unrestricted travel to the U.K. while it has hundreds more cases than some of the banned countries. Could there be … a reason for that?
In addition, Trump indicated that he will ask the Small Business Administration to provide loans to businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak, though he provided few details. Presumably Trump will make this request through provisions of the Stafford Act which allows a number of financial actions on the declaration of a emergency.
Trump also suggested a cut in the payroll tax. Democrats in both the House and the Senate have already spoken out against this move, saying that it would not be an effective stimulus, would take funds away from Social Security and other programs, and would provide no assistance to many hourly workers.
In the speech, Trump made a call for an end to partisanship, but he also repeatedly made claims that his actions on the coronavirus had been fast, effective, and “professional”—none of which sync with reality. Trump also used several peculiar turns of phrase, such as insisting that he was conducting "the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history."
Throughout the speech, Trump proceeded at a hesitant, plodding pace, frequently working his way through longer words while sweating noticeably under the lights. His odd cadence and expression throughout the speech couldn’t help but add some additional concern around statements earlier in the day in which Trump claimed that he had not been tested for the coronavirus and “saw no reason” why he should be.