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Remarks by Trump, Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing, 04-04-20
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 5, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
April 4, 2020
4:15 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: It’s a busy time. Very busy time. And let me begin by again expressing our support, solidarity, and love for the people of our great country. We’re fighting for you and we’re enduring all of this together. And we will soon prevail together. We’re making a lot of progress.
We appreciate all of the great assistance from the governors and people within the states. The relationships have been, really, very good. I spoke with Governor Cuomo. We’re working very hard to get additional things to New York as quickly as possible.
We — as you know, we took care of the hospital, including personnel — the 2,500 beds that we build just recently at Javits, including personnel. And we opened it up to COVID, and that’s something that we also did in Louisiana, and we’re doing it in Dallas.
So we have a lot of not only hospitals being built, but now we’re manning the hospitals because states are, in many cases, unable to get additional people to work. It’s — it’s just an incredible situation. There’s never been anything like this.
{snip}
Our Supply Chain Logistics Task Force, led by Admiral John Polowczyk, who’s doing a fantastic job, will ensure they’re distributed to the healthcare and critical infrastructure workers in the areas with the most pressing requirements. That’s the 60 million masks that we’re talking about and the hundred and — 180 million N95 masks. A hundred and eighty million. Who ever heard of 180 million masks?
And this is a incredible thing. A lot of times — and we have to stop playing this game — if a governor wants 200 ventilators, and I say, “No, we’re going to send you 1,000. We think you need more than 200,” and then the media meets with the governor and they say, “Oh, you got more. Well, it’s not enough. The President should have sent more.” So he’s asking for 200. We give him 1,000. They say, “How’s the President doing?” “He should have given more.” Because that’s politics. That’s politics. And that’s unfortunate, because we can’t play that game.
And, you know, that’s one party doing it, and the other party is happy. But they’re all really happy because they should have been doing this work themselves for a long period of time. Many of their cupboards were bare.
{snip}
Q But what are your contingency plans for the Republican National Convention?
THE PRESIDENT: We have no contingency plan. We’re having the convention at the end of August, and we think by the end of August, we’ll be in good shape. We have no contingen- — you know, it’s going to be in North Carolina, as you know, in Charlotte. And I think we’re going to have a great convention.
I notice — I think we had an opponent, but I — I almost didn’t know who it was. He got .00001 percent of the vote. But I heard he dropped out three or four weeks ago. I’m not sure. Maybe you could tell me. That’s the kind of opponent I had. And hopefully we have another one just like that in Joe.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, the governor of New York today said that he is still desperate for ventilators and that he has accepted 1,000 of them from the Chinese government. Are you concerned that states —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, what he didn’t say is — okay, let me tell you what he didn’t say.
Two very good friends of mine brought him those whistleblower — brought him those ventilators, right? Two very good friends of mine — they brought them. If you’d like their name, I’ll give you their name.
Q But should states and cities have to rely on —
THE PRESIDENT: No, but he — the governor didn’t —
Q — China and Russia for supplies?
THE PRESIDENT: — mention that. It came through the Chinese — the country of China. But they were given by two friends of mine, but he didn’t tell you that.
Now, the governor also —
Q Who are your friends?
THE PRESIDENT: You’ll see when you read the letter.
The governor also asked for 40,000 — 40,000. He wanted 40,000 ventilators.
Now, the governor, as you know, had a chance to get 16,000 a few years ago. He decided not to get that. The State of New York has asked for help. I’ve given him four hospitals, four medical centers. Then I gave him an additional hospital. Then I gave him military people to operate the hospital. They were not supposed to be COVID hospitals. The boat — the ship is not — an interesting thing happened with the ship. People aren’t in accidents because there’s nobody driving. There’s nobody taking motorcycle rides down the West Side Highway at 100 miles an hour. People are away. So people aren’t being injured.
Now they’re asking whether or not we could open up the ship for COVID. We have given the governor of New York more than anybody has ever been given in a long time. I’ll just say — I was going to say “in history,” but in a long time. And I think he’s happy.
But I think that — because I watched what he said today, and it was fine. I wouldn’t say gracious. It wasn’t gracious. It was okay. I must tell you, Gavin Newsom has been gracious –Los Angeles, California, the job we’ve done, and all of California.
Q But why does that matter if they’re gracious or not gracious if they need the supplies?
THE PRESIDENT: It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. But I think when we’ve given as much as we’ve given to New York, somebody should say —
Nice — I’ll tell you who’s been very nice: Mayor de Blasio has been very nice. He understands what we’ve given him. We brought him some more ventilators, too, yesterday.
But nobody has been given like New York. And I think — I know he appreciates it. He just can’t quite get the words out, but that’s okay.
Q So when he says — but when he says that he needs 40,000 —
Q Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Please, go ahead.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, can we talk about the — Captain Crozier of the USS Roosevelt?
THE PRESIDENT: Which one? What?
Q Captain Crozier, who was removed. The captain who was removed as the commander of the USS Roosevelt.
I don’t know if you saw the videos of sailors cheering for him as he left. Our reporting shows that some sailors have said that they are worried to reenlist because they are not convinced that commanders are taking care of their health and taking care of them.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q What do you say to them? And does how removing —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t know much about it.
Q How does removing this captain —
THE PRESIDENT: I can only tell you this —
Q — take care of their health?
THE PRESIDENT: Here we have one of the greatest — here we have one of the greatest ships in the world. Nuclear aircraft carrier. Incredible ship with thousands and thousands of people. And you had about 120 that were infected.
Now, I guess the captain stopped in Vietnam and people got off in Vietnam. Perhaps you don’t do that in the middle of a pandemic or — or something that looked like it was going to be — you know, history would say you don’t necessarily stop and let your sailors gets off, number one.
But more importantly, he wrote a letter. The letter was a five-page letter from a captain, and the letter was all over the place. That’s not appropriate. I don’t think that’s appropriate. And these are tough people. These are tough, strong people.
I thought it looked terrible, to be honest with you. Now, they made their decision. I didn’t make the decision. Secretary of Defense was involved and a lot of people were involved. I thought it was terrible what he did to write a letter. I mean, this isn’t a class on literature. This is a captain of a massive ship that’s nuclear powered. And he shouldn’t be talking that way in a letter. He could call and ask and suggest.
But he stopped in Vietnam. A lot of people got off the boat. They came back and they had infection. And I thought it was inappropriate for the captain of a ship to do —
Q Were you consulted about his removal?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to — I don’t want to comment as to whether or not. But I agree with their decision 100 percent.
In the back, please.
Q Joe Biden actually just attacked you in a tweet. I don’t know if you have seen it.
THE PRESIDENT: He just what?
Q Attacked you. He just said that —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, he didn’t write anything. Look, he has people — he has professionals from the Democrats writing.
Q Mr. President, let me just read what he said. He said, “Donald Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus, but he is responsible for failing to prepare our nation to respond to it.” How do you respond to that, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, he didn’t write that. That was done by a Democrat operative. He doesn’t write. He doesn’t — he’s probably not even watching right now. And if he is, he doesn’t understand what he’s watching.
But just so you understand, it was very nice what they wrote. And, I don’t know — you know, they released it at a strange time. You know, sort of a strange time to release something like that. But he admitted I was right.
And if you read the Federalist story, which most of you won’t because you don’t want to, but you’d learn something, because if you go — it goes to a chart, times.
I was early. Dr. Fauci, I think — I don’t think he’s changed his mind, but he said it was a very important step when we stopped China from coming in from the specific area that was heavily infected. We’d have a whole different thing right now.
So I don’t really know what Joe Biden said. I don’t really care. And again, I see — every once in a while I’ll say something, I’ll make a speech, and then it’ll be critiqued and I’ll get this beautiful, brilliant critique. Joe Biden didn’t write that. Joe Biden didn’t write that. He wished he did, but he didn’t.
Go ahead. Please. Back.
{snip}
Q Can you just clarify about that German order though?
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, please.
Q Was that diverted, sir, or was that not diverted?
THE PRESIDENT: We’ll get you the information.
Q And can I ask one for Dr. Fauci? I was wondering about what you’re seeing as far as lupus patients, in regards to coronavirus. I know the President mentioned this earlier, but what does the medicine say?
DR. FAUCI: What is the question? Is that, “What is the incidence of coronavirus?”
Q Yeah, I mean, if you lupus, do you have —
DR. FAUCI: Yeah. Yeah.
Q — a greater chance of getting coronavirus or —
DR. FAUCI: There is — right now, this is being looked at in a natural history study. We don’t have any definitive information to be able to make any comment that that — it’s an obvious good question, because it might be a way for us to get some interesting and potentially important data as to the role of those medications. But that’s something that is now being looked at, but we don’t have any data to be able to say anything definitively.
THE PRESIDENT: And I hope they use the hydroxychloroquine, and they can also do it with Z-Pak, subject to your doctor’s approval, and all of that. But I hope they use it because I’ll tell you what: What do you have to lose? In some cases, they’re in bad shape. What do you have to lose? It’s been out there for a long time, and I hope they use it. And they’re going to look at the — with doctors. Work with doctors. Get what you have to get. But we have it stockpiled, and it’s — we have a lot of it, and we’re getting more of it.
And as I told you, I spoke to Prime Minister Modi. We’re getting more of it, but we have a lot of it. And I hope they use it, because it’s been used for a long time and therefore it’s passed the safety test. FDA has been terrific. Dr. Hahn, I appreciate it very much, too. But I’ve seen some results.
Now, it’s early, I guess. It’s early. But — and you should — they should look at the lupus thing. I don’t know what it says, but there’s a rumor out there that — because it takes care of lupus very effectively, as I understand it. It’s a, you know, a drug that’s used for lupus.
So there’s a study out there that says people that have lupus haven’t been catching this virus. You know, maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. Why don’t you investigate that?
And there’s also other studies, you know, with the malaria, that the malaria countries have very little — people that take this drug for malaria, which is very effective for malaria — that those countries have very little of this virus. I don’t know. You’re going to check it out.
But I think people should — if it were me — in fact, I might do it anyway. I may take it. Okay? I may take it. And I’ll have to ask my doctors about that, but I may take it.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, on the jobs report numbers —
THE PRESIDENT: Do you guys ever stop? Do you want to keep going for a little while? Huh? I mean, do you ever stop? How many times do you ask — and in many cases, it’s the same — actually, a lot of good questions.
Go ahead.
Q In the jobs report —
THE PRESIDENT: But keep going? Yes?
Q Yes, sir. This is what we do.
THE PRESIDENT: So you’re not going to blame me that I kept it going too long? People said, “Oh, he kept…”
Q It’s Saturday, yeah. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: No. I mean, no, it’s amazing. I’m telling you, every hand went up. I thought we’ve gone through — and they’re all — every —
I think every single hand went up the last time.
Q We’ve got nowhere else to go.
THE PRESIDENT: You know what it shows you? It shows you that you love what you do.
Go ahead.
Q We do love what we do, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: You do. No, you do. And some of you do it well. Not all of you.
Go ahead.
Q No offense taken.
THE PRESIDENT: I’m not looking at you, by the way.
Q So we did get the jobs reports numbers yesterday. Obviously, that’s kind of a small portion because it’s only the first half of March. Was there anything in there that was any sign of optimism? I mean, obviously, we all saw the numbers, you know, down at retail, down in hospitality. Was there anything that you said, “Okay, maybe with this virus we will see some sort of net gain in jobs”?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, the job numbers are what they are. We asked everybody to go home, don’t work. So the numbers are going to be, you know, astronomical. We understand that. I understood that.
I know somebody said that the numbers are meaningless, and then they took that to mean, “Oh, jobs don’t mean anything.” And, you know, it was just another fake news story. It wasn’t me that said it, by the way. It was a very smart person. But they meant it by saying it really is what — that’s why I answer your question very carefully. The numbers are what they are. We know the numbers were going to be massive, because we told everybody to go home and lock your door, essentially. Right? “Don’t come to work. You can’t come to work. Don’t go outside. Don’t breathe. Don’t do anything.”
We got to open up our country. But I know — I know that it’s coming back. And in my opinion, it will come back very strong. There’s a tremendous energy. There’s a tremendous demand. And some good things have happened.
I mean — I don’t know. You know, there’s one habit that, as you know, most of you — and a lot of you have covered me a long time before I did this — I was never a big believer in shaking hands. But I decided, if you don’t shake hands, you’re not going to be winning a lot of contests. Right now, I’m not sure you have to shake hands anymore.
A couple of people have told me — Deborah, you told me that if we didn’t shake hands, the incidence of flu — flu is a big deal also — and that flu might be cut down in half. Who knew that shaking hands was such a bad thing? I felt it. I mean, I always felt it. And, you know, I was never to a point where I can’t shake somebody’s hand. I knew people like that too. But there aren’t too many of them.
But when I ran for office, all of a sudden, I’m shaking hundreds of hands. And if I don’t, I wouldn’t even be standing here. But I think that’s a custom that maybe people don’t have to. We have to get close together, we have to sit together at the stadiums, we have to sit next to each other in restaurants. All that stuff is going to happen, but I think the concept of shaking hands maybe is something that’s going to be a little bit from the past. Let’s see what happens. Maybe they’ll go right back to shaking hands.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Pretty much what’s happening.
Mike, please.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: The stories are incredibly moving about what healthcare workers are doing every day. It’s not just that they’re going back into the hospital in places like New York and New Jersey, and earlier than that, in Washington State and California, where this first began. It’s not just that they’re providing care to people. But because of the nature of how contagious the coronavirus is, they’re also supplementing for family.
I mean, that’s what — that’s what gets to me when I hear the stories that, understandably, in nursing homes and in hospitals they’re restricting visitors — and they should — to prevent the spread of the virus to be brought into the hospital or to be brought out.
And so to hear the stories of healthcare workers who are holding up an iPhone while someone who’s critically ill with the coronavirus may well be saying their last goodbyes to their family, and then to be there in those moments — I mean, our healthcare workers are — they’re not just doctors and nurses today, they — they’re supplementing for family, for people all across the country.
And I just think — you know, tomorrow is Palm Sunday. It’s Holy Week in the great Christian tradition. And I have people ask me, from time to time — send me an email, or on the many conference calls we have — they said, “What can we be praying about?” And my first thought is with the families who have lost loved ones and the patients who are struggling with coronavirus. But during this very special week, I just encourage people to pray for our healthcare workers. Pray for them and their families. They are really the hands and feet every day, not just of healthcare, but of the heart of the American people. And we are all grateful for them every hour of the day.
THE PRESIDENT: And think also about the Army Corps of Engineers. Now, it’s a little different, depending on where they are and where they’re working. But the Army Corps of Eng- — throwing up a hospital in New York City: 2,500 beds in three days? I mean, think of that. And FEMA, what they’re doing. And the National Guard is now delivering for the state because the state were unable to get — we’d drop it at a big warehouse where we’re told to drop it, and the states were unable — some of the states were unable to bring it from the warehouse to the site.
So we got the National Guard to become a delivery service, if you can believe it, and they would bring it. And some of those sites were dangerous sites. They were very dangerous sites. Think of that. It’s been amazing. It’s been amazing.
I just think — I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m so proud of this country. And, really, it’s a world problem and some countries in the world are just handling it so well.
You know, again, I keep saying it: It’s 151. That was as of two, three days ago. It’s probably more. Some people said they didn’t know there were that many countries. That’s how big this is.
And Mike said something also. You have Palm Sunday tomorrow. Think of it. We’re not going to churches on Palm Sunday. But think of next Sunday: Easter. And I brought it up before: I said, maybe we could allow special for churches. Maybe we could talk about it. Maybe we could allow them, with great separation, outside on Easter Sunday. I don’t know, it’s something we should talk about.
But somebody did say that, well, then you’re sort of opening it up to that little — you know, do we want to take a chance on doing that when we’ve been doing so well.
But Easter Sunday, Palm Sunday. I’m going to be watching tomorrow live from Riverside, California — a great church. But I’m going to be watching on a computer. Right? On a laptop. I think, on Easter, maybe I’ll be watching from a laptop as opposed —
So how sad is it that we have Easter Palm and Easter Sunday, and people are watching on laptops and computers? It’s sad.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, ventilator manufacturers are doubling, tripling, even quadrupling their production, in some cases.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s true.
Q And yet, medical experts and some of these manufacturers are predicting that there will still be shortages of tens of thousands of ventilators. Is it time for you to level with the American public that there likely will be shortages of ventilators in some cases?
THE PRESIDENT: Could be. I mean, it could be you have shortages, and it could also be that you have some that have way overestimated the number of ventilators they need.
We think that — you know, we have a good — a good amount ready to move. I mean, literally, like an army, they’re ready to move to any hotspot. But some of the ones that you’re talking about — always a nasty question from CNN — but some of the ones.
Q Why is it a nasty question?
THE PRESIDENT: Because I think that, frankly, you know —
Q Shouldn’t Americans know whether there’s going to be shortages?
THE PRESIDENT: Because you know what? You’ve asked that question about 10 times over the course of about a month.
Look, we’re mobilized and ready to go. We have a lot of ventilators ready to go. And if we had given them all out, we wouldn’t, and you would be overstocked in many areas.
What we’re doing is we have a very good plan to take from some areas, even though we have the 10, or almost the 10,000. We’re also taking from areas that won’t be as badly hit as today we think they will be. There will be some areas hit harder than we think. And there’s nothing that Deborah or Tony or any of these professionals can do about it.
This thing moves in a lot of ways. But what we’re going to do is we are going to have — and if you look at us compared to a lot of other countries, we’re in much better shape. But these professionals have done an amazing job.
Now, over the next week and two weeks — this is going to be a very, very deadly period, unfortunately — but we’re going to make it so that we lose as few lives as possible. And I think we’re going to be successful. I think we already are successful in that regard.
When you look at that graph and you see all of the — the “bumps,” if you want to call it, at a very low level, and you see a couple at a higher level — they were tough — but you see all of those levels. You know, when you look in — and when you hear about Italy and then you hear about France and then you hear about — you know, what we have is we have many Italys all over. We have — they’re like countries. California is a country; New York is a country — if you look at them from the standpoint of what we’re talking about.
We have many, like, country spots. Some are hotspots and there’s nothing we’re going to do about it. One of the biggest surprises is Louisiana because it started off so good, and then all of a sudden, it shot up like a rocket. But we are going to try and have ventilators wherever we possibly can.
Jeff, go ahead.
{snip}
Q So does more need to be done —
DR. FAUCI: No, I mean —
Q — to make sure those areas are doing it?
DR. FAUCI: Put your foot on the — exactly what I said just before and I keep repeating: Just make sure everybody does at least the minimal amount of that physical separation, because the virus has no place to go if you’re physically separated.
THE PRESIDENT: And one of the reasons that I keep talking about hydroxychloroquine is that the question that nobody ever asks, and the question that I most hate the answer to, is: “What happens if you do have a ventilator? What are your chances?”
And I just hope that hydroxychloroquine wins, coupled with perhaps the Z-Pak, as we call it — dependent totally on your doctors and the doctors there — because you know the answer to that question. If you do have the ventilator, you know the answer to that question. And I hate giving the answer.
So I don’t want to get them there. I don’t want to get them there. There’s a possibility — a possibility — and I say it: What do you have to lose? I’ll say it again: What do you have to lose? Take it. I really think they should take it. But it’s their choice and it’s their doctor’s choice, or the doctors in the hospital. But hydroxychloroquine — try it, if you’d like.
The other thing: If you have a heart condition, I understand. Probably you stay away from the Z-Pak. But that’s an antibiotic. It can clean out the lungs. The lungs are a point of attack for this horrible virus.
But when you have a ventilator, don’t ask the answer because I hate it. If you have it, and it’s working beautifully — I don’t like the answer, because it’s not a very high percentage.
So I want to keep them out of ventilators. I want to keep them — if this drug works, it will be not a game changer, because that’s not a nice enough term; it will be wonderful. It’ll be so beautiful. It’ll be a gift from heaven if it works. Because when people go into those ventilators, you know the answers, I know the answers, and I’m glad you don’t write about it.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, you spoke earlier on the SBA’s loan program that got up and running yesterday. But we’re hearing from a lot of small-business owners a lot of concerns about whether they will get this money. Some say some of the banks weren’t ready to start processing loans. Some banks are layering —
THE PRESIDENT: That’s so false. We’re way ahead of schedules. The banks have been great.
Q Some banks are layering extra restrictions on people.
THE PRESIDENT: JPMorgan Chase. Bank of America. They’re so far ahead. This is typical with you, in particular. “We hear they’re behind…” They’re not behind. It’s been a flawless — it’s been flawless, so far. Far beyond our expectations. You should say, “I hear you’re doing well, but maybe…”
I don’t even hear of any glitch. They’ve done billions of dollars of loans to small business.
Q Can you ensure people they will get their money, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: And these are great loans. These are loans that get immediately paid off. These are loans that get businesses back.
I wish you could ask a question where something is working so well. Now, maybe things won’t work well, and I don’t mind that kind. But where something is working so well and you ask a question in such a negative way —
Uh, it’s doing great. Yeah, go ahead.
Q Some banks are adding extra rules, sir, for —
Q Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: It’s doing great. Really good. Maybe it won’t in two weeks, and I’ll respond differently. But it’s doing great. You know it and so does everyone else. Everyone is shocked how well it’s doing.
{snip}
Q — some demographics such as seeing that men might be more susceptible to the virus, seeing in Europe more cases among the between 30 and 50 class. Has the data that you’ve seen in the past two weeks changed that assessment? Are men more susceptible? What are you seeing?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think it changed much, has it?
DR. BIRX: No, it’s the same pattern as Europe.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s the same pattern. Same answer that we’ve given you for the last —
Q So that includes — that includes folks with — between 30 and 50 being more adversely affected than what we’ve seen in Asia?
DR. BIRX: No, I — tomorrow, I’ll bring you all the graphs back so you can it (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: We can bring an updated graph, but it’s very similar.
Please.
{snip}
Q One last question on ventilators. The governor of New York said that he received donation in ventilators from Jack Ma of Alibaba, which I think is your friend. Would you call on the business community to donate ventilators, not necessarily to New York, but other states like Louisiana —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I would.
Q — and Michigan?
THE PRESIDENT: No, Jack Ma is a friend of mine and he’s made it very possible to get about 1,000 from ventilators from China. But that was from him and my other friend. It was really a gift, and we appreciate it very much. It was very nice of them.
All right. I think we’ve had enough.
Q One more?
THE PRESIDENT: We’ll be seeing you very soon. And I’m sure that you know that all of us are going to be working very hard. We’re working very hard. We are really coming up into a time that’s going to be very horrendous, probably a time like we haven’t seen in this country. Wouldn’t you say? I mean, I don’t think we’ve seen a time like this in the country.
And we’re getting to that — that point where it’s going to really be some very bad numbers. And we want to keep those numbers a lot lower than they would have been. And we will do that.
We have tremendous talent working. We have tremendous people, and that includes governors; that includes everybody. Everybody is working.
But unfortunately, we’re getting to that time when the numbers are going to peak, and it’s not going to be a good-looking situation. I really believe we probably have never seen anything like these kind of numbers. Maybe during the war, during the — a World War, or a World War One or Two or something. But this is a war all unto itself. And it’s — it’s a terrible thing.
We will be seeing you soon. We’ll keep you totally abreast. We’re also going to be releasing new ventilator numbers, because we have a lot of them coming and a lot of them going to different locations.
And we appreciate it very much. Thank you. Thank you.
END
5:59 P.M. EDT
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 5, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
April 4, 2020
4:15 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: It’s a busy time. Very busy time. And let me begin by again expressing our support, solidarity, and love for the people of our great country. We’re fighting for you and we’re enduring all of this together. And we will soon prevail together. We’re making a lot of progress.
We appreciate all of the great assistance from the governors and people within the states. The relationships have been, really, very good. I spoke with Governor Cuomo. We’re working very hard to get additional things to New York as quickly as possible.
We — as you know, we took care of the hospital, including personnel — the 2,500 beds that we build just recently at Javits, including personnel. And we opened it up to COVID, and that’s something that we also did in Louisiana, and we’re doing it in Dallas.
So we have a lot of not only hospitals being built, but now we’re manning the hospitals because states are, in many cases, unable to get additional people to work. It’s — it’s just an incredible situation. There’s never been anything like this.
{snip}
Our Supply Chain Logistics Task Force, led by Admiral John Polowczyk, who’s doing a fantastic job, will ensure they’re distributed to the healthcare and critical infrastructure workers in the areas with the most pressing requirements. That’s the 60 million masks that we’re talking about and the hundred and — 180 million N95 masks. A hundred and eighty million. Who ever heard of 180 million masks?
And this is a incredible thing. A lot of times — and we have to stop playing this game — if a governor wants 200 ventilators, and I say, “No, we’re going to send you 1,000. We think you need more than 200,” and then the media meets with the governor and they say, “Oh, you got more. Well, it’s not enough. The President should have sent more.” So he’s asking for 200. We give him 1,000. They say, “How’s the President doing?” “He should have given more.” Because that’s politics. That’s politics. And that’s unfortunate, because we can’t play that game.
And, you know, that’s one party doing it, and the other party is happy. But they’re all really happy because they should have been doing this work themselves for a long period of time. Many of their cupboards were bare.
{snip}
Q But what are your contingency plans for the Republican National Convention?
THE PRESIDENT: We have no contingency plan. We’re having the convention at the end of August, and we think by the end of August, we’ll be in good shape. We have no contingen- — you know, it’s going to be in North Carolina, as you know, in Charlotte. And I think we’re going to have a great convention.
I notice — I think we had an opponent, but I — I almost didn’t know who it was. He got .00001 percent of the vote. But I heard he dropped out three or four weeks ago. I’m not sure. Maybe you could tell me. That’s the kind of opponent I had. And hopefully we have another one just like that in Joe.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, the governor of New York today said that he is still desperate for ventilators and that he has accepted 1,000 of them from the Chinese government. Are you concerned that states —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, what he didn’t say is — okay, let me tell you what he didn’t say.
Two very good friends of mine brought him those whistleblower — brought him those ventilators, right? Two very good friends of mine — they brought them. If you’d like their name, I’ll give you their name.
Q But should states and cities have to rely on —
THE PRESIDENT: No, but he — the governor didn’t —
Q — China and Russia for supplies?
THE PRESIDENT: — mention that. It came through the Chinese — the country of China. But they were given by two friends of mine, but he didn’t tell you that.
Now, the governor also —
Q Who are your friends?
THE PRESIDENT: You’ll see when you read the letter.
The governor also asked for 40,000 — 40,000. He wanted 40,000 ventilators.
Now, the governor, as you know, had a chance to get 16,000 a few years ago. He decided not to get that. The State of New York has asked for help. I’ve given him four hospitals, four medical centers. Then I gave him an additional hospital. Then I gave him military people to operate the hospital. They were not supposed to be COVID hospitals. The boat — the ship is not — an interesting thing happened with the ship. People aren’t in accidents because there’s nobody driving. There’s nobody taking motorcycle rides down the West Side Highway at 100 miles an hour. People are away. So people aren’t being injured.
Now they’re asking whether or not we could open up the ship for COVID. We have given the governor of New York more than anybody has ever been given in a long time. I’ll just say — I was going to say “in history,” but in a long time. And I think he’s happy.
But I think that — because I watched what he said today, and it was fine. I wouldn’t say gracious. It wasn’t gracious. It was okay. I must tell you, Gavin Newsom has been gracious –Los Angeles, California, the job we’ve done, and all of California.
Q But why does that matter if they’re gracious or not gracious if they need the supplies?
THE PRESIDENT: It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. But I think when we’ve given as much as we’ve given to New York, somebody should say —
Nice — I’ll tell you who’s been very nice: Mayor de Blasio has been very nice. He understands what we’ve given him. We brought him some more ventilators, too, yesterday.
But nobody has been given like New York. And I think — I know he appreciates it. He just can’t quite get the words out, but that’s okay.
Q So when he says — but when he says that he needs 40,000 —
Q Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Please, go ahead.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, can we talk about the — Captain Crozier of the USS Roosevelt?
THE PRESIDENT: Which one? What?
Q Captain Crozier, who was removed. The captain who was removed as the commander of the USS Roosevelt.
I don’t know if you saw the videos of sailors cheering for him as he left. Our reporting shows that some sailors have said that they are worried to reenlist because they are not convinced that commanders are taking care of their health and taking care of them.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q What do you say to them? And does how removing —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t know much about it.
Q How does removing this captain —
THE PRESIDENT: I can only tell you this —
Q — take care of their health?
THE PRESIDENT: Here we have one of the greatest — here we have one of the greatest ships in the world. Nuclear aircraft carrier. Incredible ship with thousands and thousands of people. And you had about 120 that were infected.
Now, I guess the captain stopped in Vietnam and people got off in Vietnam. Perhaps you don’t do that in the middle of a pandemic or — or something that looked like it was going to be — you know, history would say you don’t necessarily stop and let your sailors gets off, number one.
But more importantly, he wrote a letter. The letter was a five-page letter from a captain, and the letter was all over the place. That’s not appropriate. I don’t think that’s appropriate. And these are tough people. These are tough, strong people.
I thought it looked terrible, to be honest with you. Now, they made their decision. I didn’t make the decision. Secretary of Defense was involved and a lot of people were involved. I thought it was terrible what he did to write a letter. I mean, this isn’t a class on literature. This is a captain of a massive ship that’s nuclear powered. And he shouldn’t be talking that way in a letter. He could call and ask and suggest.
But he stopped in Vietnam. A lot of people got off the boat. They came back and they had infection. And I thought it was inappropriate for the captain of a ship to do —
Q Were you consulted about his removal?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to — I don’t want to comment as to whether or not. But I agree with their decision 100 percent.
In the back, please.
Q Joe Biden actually just attacked you in a tweet. I don’t know if you have seen it.
THE PRESIDENT: He just what?
Q Attacked you. He just said that —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, he didn’t write anything. Look, he has people — he has professionals from the Democrats writing.
Q Mr. President, let me just read what he said. He said, “Donald Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus, but he is responsible for failing to prepare our nation to respond to it.” How do you respond to that, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, he didn’t write that. That was done by a Democrat operative. He doesn’t write. He doesn’t — he’s probably not even watching right now. And if he is, he doesn’t understand what he’s watching.
But just so you understand, it was very nice what they wrote. And, I don’t know — you know, they released it at a strange time. You know, sort of a strange time to release something like that. But he admitted I was right.
And if you read the Federalist story, which most of you won’t because you don’t want to, but you’d learn something, because if you go — it goes to a chart, times.
I was early. Dr. Fauci, I think — I don’t think he’s changed his mind, but he said it was a very important step when we stopped China from coming in from the specific area that was heavily infected. We’d have a whole different thing right now.
So I don’t really know what Joe Biden said. I don’t really care. And again, I see — every once in a while I’ll say something, I’ll make a speech, and then it’ll be critiqued and I’ll get this beautiful, brilliant critique. Joe Biden didn’t write that. Joe Biden didn’t write that. He wished he did, but he didn’t.
Go ahead. Please. Back.
{snip}
Q Can you just clarify about that German order though?
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, please.
Q Was that diverted, sir, or was that not diverted?
THE PRESIDENT: We’ll get you the information.
Q And can I ask one for Dr. Fauci? I was wondering about what you’re seeing as far as lupus patients, in regards to coronavirus. I know the President mentioned this earlier, but what does the medicine say?
DR. FAUCI: What is the question? Is that, “What is the incidence of coronavirus?”
Q Yeah, I mean, if you lupus, do you have —
DR. FAUCI: Yeah. Yeah.
Q — a greater chance of getting coronavirus or —
DR. FAUCI: There is — right now, this is being looked at in a natural history study. We don’t have any definitive information to be able to make any comment that that — it’s an obvious good question, because it might be a way for us to get some interesting and potentially important data as to the role of those medications. But that’s something that is now being looked at, but we don’t have any data to be able to say anything definitively.
THE PRESIDENT: And I hope they use the hydroxychloroquine, and they can also do it with Z-Pak, subject to your doctor’s approval, and all of that. But I hope they use it because I’ll tell you what: What do you have to lose? In some cases, they’re in bad shape. What do you have to lose? It’s been out there for a long time, and I hope they use it. And they’re going to look at the — with doctors. Work with doctors. Get what you have to get. But we have it stockpiled, and it’s — we have a lot of it, and we’re getting more of it.
And as I told you, I spoke to Prime Minister Modi. We’re getting more of it, but we have a lot of it. And I hope they use it, because it’s been used for a long time and therefore it’s passed the safety test. FDA has been terrific. Dr. Hahn, I appreciate it very much, too. But I’ve seen some results.
Now, it’s early, I guess. It’s early. But — and you should — they should look at the lupus thing. I don’t know what it says, but there’s a rumor out there that — because it takes care of lupus very effectively, as I understand it. It’s a, you know, a drug that’s used for lupus.
So there’s a study out there that says people that have lupus haven’t been catching this virus. You know, maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. Why don’t you investigate that?
And there’s also other studies, you know, with the malaria, that the malaria countries have very little — people that take this drug for malaria, which is very effective for malaria — that those countries have very little of this virus. I don’t know. You’re going to check it out.
But I think people should — if it were me — in fact, I might do it anyway. I may take it. Okay? I may take it. And I’ll have to ask my doctors about that, but I may take it.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, on the jobs report numbers —
THE PRESIDENT: Do you guys ever stop? Do you want to keep going for a little while? Huh? I mean, do you ever stop? How many times do you ask — and in many cases, it’s the same — actually, a lot of good questions.
Go ahead.
Q In the jobs report —
THE PRESIDENT: But keep going? Yes?
Q Yes, sir. This is what we do.
THE PRESIDENT: So you’re not going to blame me that I kept it going too long? People said, “Oh, he kept…”
Q It’s Saturday, yeah. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: No. I mean, no, it’s amazing. I’m telling you, every hand went up. I thought we’ve gone through — and they’re all — every —
I think every single hand went up the last time.
Q We’ve got nowhere else to go.
THE PRESIDENT: You know what it shows you? It shows you that you love what you do.
Go ahead.
Q We do love what we do, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: You do. No, you do. And some of you do it well. Not all of you.
Go ahead.
Q No offense taken.
THE PRESIDENT: I’m not looking at you, by the way.
Q So we did get the jobs reports numbers yesterday. Obviously, that’s kind of a small portion because it’s only the first half of March. Was there anything in there that was any sign of optimism? I mean, obviously, we all saw the numbers, you know, down at retail, down in hospitality. Was there anything that you said, “Okay, maybe with this virus we will see some sort of net gain in jobs”?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, the job numbers are what they are. We asked everybody to go home, don’t work. So the numbers are going to be, you know, astronomical. We understand that. I understood that.
I know somebody said that the numbers are meaningless, and then they took that to mean, “Oh, jobs don’t mean anything.” And, you know, it was just another fake news story. It wasn’t me that said it, by the way. It was a very smart person. But they meant it by saying it really is what — that’s why I answer your question very carefully. The numbers are what they are. We know the numbers were going to be massive, because we told everybody to go home and lock your door, essentially. Right? “Don’t come to work. You can’t come to work. Don’t go outside. Don’t breathe. Don’t do anything.”
We got to open up our country. But I know — I know that it’s coming back. And in my opinion, it will come back very strong. There’s a tremendous energy. There’s a tremendous demand. And some good things have happened.
I mean — I don’t know. You know, there’s one habit that, as you know, most of you — and a lot of you have covered me a long time before I did this — I was never a big believer in shaking hands. But I decided, if you don’t shake hands, you’re not going to be winning a lot of contests. Right now, I’m not sure you have to shake hands anymore.
A couple of people have told me — Deborah, you told me that if we didn’t shake hands, the incidence of flu — flu is a big deal also — and that flu might be cut down in half. Who knew that shaking hands was such a bad thing? I felt it. I mean, I always felt it. And, you know, I was never to a point where I can’t shake somebody’s hand. I knew people like that too. But there aren’t too many of them.
But when I ran for office, all of a sudden, I’m shaking hundreds of hands. And if I don’t, I wouldn’t even be standing here. But I think that’s a custom that maybe people don’t have to. We have to get close together, we have to sit together at the stadiums, we have to sit next to each other in restaurants. All that stuff is going to happen, but I think the concept of shaking hands maybe is something that’s going to be a little bit from the past. Let’s see what happens. Maybe they’ll go right back to shaking hands.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Pretty much what’s happening.
Mike, please.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: The stories are incredibly moving about what healthcare workers are doing every day. It’s not just that they’re going back into the hospital in places like New York and New Jersey, and earlier than that, in Washington State and California, where this first began. It’s not just that they’re providing care to people. But because of the nature of how contagious the coronavirus is, they’re also supplementing for family.
I mean, that’s what — that’s what gets to me when I hear the stories that, understandably, in nursing homes and in hospitals they’re restricting visitors — and they should — to prevent the spread of the virus to be brought into the hospital or to be brought out.
And so to hear the stories of healthcare workers who are holding up an iPhone while someone who’s critically ill with the coronavirus may well be saying their last goodbyes to their family, and then to be there in those moments — I mean, our healthcare workers are — they’re not just doctors and nurses today, they — they’re supplementing for family, for people all across the country.
And I just think — you know, tomorrow is Palm Sunday. It’s Holy Week in the great Christian tradition. And I have people ask me, from time to time — send me an email, or on the many conference calls we have — they said, “What can we be praying about?” And my first thought is with the families who have lost loved ones and the patients who are struggling with coronavirus. But during this very special week, I just encourage people to pray for our healthcare workers. Pray for them and their families. They are really the hands and feet every day, not just of healthcare, but of the heart of the American people. And we are all grateful for them every hour of the day.
THE PRESIDENT: And think also about the Army Corps of Engineers. Now, it’s a little different, depending on where they are and where they’re working. But the Army Corps of Eng- — throwing up a hospital in New York City: 2,500 beds in three days? I mean, think of that. And FEMA, what they’re doing. And the National Guard is now delivering for the state because the state were unable to get — we’d drop it at a big warehouse where we’re told to drop it, and the states were unable — some of the states were unable to bring it from the warehouse to the site.
So we got the National Guard to become a delivery service, if you can believe it, and they would bring it. And some of those sites were dangerous sites. They were very dangerous sites. Think of that. It’s been amazing. It’s been amazing.
I just think — I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m so proud of this country. And, really, it’s a world problem and some countries in the world are just handling it so well.
You know, again, I keep saying it: It’s 151. That was as of two, three days ago. It’s probably more. Some people said they didn’t know there were that many countries. That’s how big this is.
And Mike said something also. You have Palm Sunday tomorrow. Think of it. We’re not going to churches on Palm Sunday. But think of next Sunday: Easter. And I brought it up before: I said, maybe we could allow special for churches. Maybe we could talk about it. Maybe we could allow them, with great separation, outside on Easter Sunday. I don’t know, it’s something we should talk about.
But somebody did say that, well, then you’re sort of opening it up to that little — you know, do we want to take a chance on doing that when we’ve been doing so well.
But Easter Sunday, Palm Sunday. I’m going to be watching tomorrow live from Riverside, California — a great church. But I’m going to be watching on a computer. Right? On a laptop. I think, on Easter, maybe I’ll be watching from a laptop as opposed —
So how sad is it that we have Easter Palm and Easter Sunday, and people are watching on laptops and computers? It’s sad.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, ventilator manufacturers are doubling, tripling, even quadrupling their production, in some cases.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s true.
Q And yet, medical experts and some of these manufacturers are predicting that there will still be shortages of tens of thousands of ventilators. Is it time for you to level with the American public that there likely will be shortages of ventilators in some cases?
THE PRESIDENT: Could be. I mean, it could be you have shortages, and it could also be that you have some that have way overestimated the number of ventilators they need.
We think that — you know, we have a good — a good amount ready to move. I mean, literally, like an army, they’re ready to move to any hotspot. But some of the ones that you’re talking about — always a nasty question from CNN — but some of the ones.
Q Why is it a nasty question?
THE PRESIDENT: Because I think that, frankly, you know —
Q Shouldn’t Americans know whether there’s going to be shortages?
THE PRESIDENT: Because you know what? You’ve asked that question about 10 times over the course of about a month.
Look, we’re mobilized and ready to go. We have a lot of ventilators ready to go. And if we had given them all out, we wouldn’t, and you would be overstocked in many areas.
What we’re doing is we have a very good plan to take from some areas, even though we have the 10, or almost the 10,000. We’re also taking from areas that won’t be as badly hit as today we think they will be. There will be some areas hit harder than we think. And there’s nothing that Deborah or Tony or any of these professionals can do about it.
This thing moves in a lot of ways. But what we’re going to do is we are going to have — and if you look at us compared to a lot of other countries, we’re in much better shape. But these professionals have done an amazing job.
Now, over the next week and two weeks — this is going to be a very, very deadly period, unfortunately — but we’re going to make it so that we lose as few lives as possible. And I think we’re going to be successful. I think we already are successful in that regard.
When you look at that graph and you see all of the — the “bumps,” if you want to call it, at a very low level, and you see a couple at a higher level — they were tough — but you see all of those levels. You know, when you look in — and when you hear about Italy and then you hear about France and then you hear about — you know, what we have is we have many Italys all over. We have — they’re like countries. California is a country; New York is a country — if you look at them from the standpoint of what we’re talking about.
We have many, like, country spots. Some are hotspots and there’s nothing we’re going to do about it. One of the biggest surprises is Louisiana because it started off so good, and then all of a sudden, it shot up like a rocket. But we are going to try and have ventilators wherever we possibly can.
Jeff, go ahead.
{snip}
Q So does more need to be done —
DR. FAUCI: No, I mean —
Q — to make sure those areas are doing it?
DR. FAUCI: Put your foot on the — exactly what I said just before and I keep repeating: Just make sure everybody does at least the minimal amount of that physical separation, because the virus has no place to go if you’re physically separated.
THE PRESIDENT: And one of the reasons that I keep talking about hydroxychloroquine is that the question that nobody ever asks, and the question that I most hate the answer to, is: “What happens if you do have a ventilator? What are your chances?”
And I just hope that hydroxychloroquine wins, coupled with perhaps the Z-Pak, as we call it — dependent totally on your doctors and the doctors there — because you know the answer to that question. If you do have the ventilator, you know the answer to that question. And I hate giving the answer.
So I don’t want to get them there. I don’t want to get them there. There’s a possibility — a possibility — and I say it: What do you have to lose? I’ll say it again: What do you have to lose? Take it. I really think they should take it. But it’s their choice and it’s their doctor’s choice, or the doctors in the hospital. But hydroxychloroquine — try it, if you’d like.
The other thing: If you have a heart condition, I understand. Probably you stay away from the Z-Pak. But that’s an antibiotic. It can clean out the lungs. The lungs are a point of attack for this horrible virus.
But when you have a ventilator, don’t ask the answer because I hate it. If you have it, and it’s working beautifully — I don’t like the answer, because it’s not a very high percentage.
So I want to keep them out of ventilators. I want to keep them — if this drug works, it will be not a game changer, because that’s not a nice enough term; it will be wonderful. It’ll be so beautiful. It’ll be a gift from heaven if it works. Because when people go into those ventilators, you know the answers, I know the answers, and I’m glad you don’t write about it.
{snip}
Q Mr. President, you spoke earlier on the SBA’s loan program that got up and running yesterday. But we’re hearing from a lot of small-business owners a lot of concerns about whether they will get this money. Some say some of the banks weren’t ready to start processing loans. Some banks are layering —
THE PRESIDENT: That’s so false. We’re way ahead of schedules. The banks have been great.
Q Some banks are layering extra restrictions on people.
THE PRESIDENT: JPMorgan Chase. Bank of America. They’re so far ahead. This is typical with you, in particular. “We hear they’re behind…” They’re not behind. It’s been a flawless — it’s been flawless, so far. Far beyond our expectations. You should say, “I hear you’re doing well, but maybe…”
I don’t even hear of any glitch. They’ve done billions of dollars of loans to small business.
Q Can you ensure people they will get their money, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: And these are great loans. These are loans that get immediately paid off. These are loans that get businesses back.
I wish you could ask a question where something is working so well. Now, maybe things won’t work well, and I don’t mind that kind. But where something is working so well and you ask a question in such a negative way —
Uh, it’s doing great. Yeah, go ahead.
Q Some banks are adding extra rules, sir, for —
Q Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: It’s doing great. Really good. Maybe it won’t in two weeks, and I’ll respond differently. But it’s doing great. You know it and so does everyone else. Everyone is shocked how well it’s doing.
{snip}
Q — some demographics such as seeing that men might be more susceptible to the virus, seeing in Europe more cases among the between 30 and 50 class. Has the data that you’ve seen in the past two weeks changed that assessment? Are men more susceptible? What are you seeing?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think it changed much, has it?
DR. BIRX: No, it’s the same pattern as Europe.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s the same pattern. Same answer that we’ve given you for the last —
Q So that includes — that includes folks with — between 30 and 50 being more adversely affected than what we’ve seen in Asia?
DR. BIRX: No, I — tomorrow, I’ll bring you all the graphs back so you can it (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: We can bring an updated graph, but it’s very similar.
Please.
{snip}
Q One last question on ventilators. The governor of New York said that he received donation in ventilators from Jack Ma of Alibaba, which I think is your friend. Would you call on the business community to donate ventilators, not necessarily to New York, but other states like Louisiana —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I would.
Q — and Michigan?
THE PRESIDENT: No, Jack Ma is a friend of mine and he’s made it very possible to get about 1,000 from ventilators from China. But that was from him and my other friend. It was really a gift, and we appreciate it very much. It was very nice of them.
All right. I think we’ve had enough.
Q One more?
THE PRESIDENT: We’ll be seeing you very soon. And I’m sure that you know that all of us are going to be working very hard. We’re working very hard. We are really coming up into a time that’s going to be very horrendous, probably a time like we haven’t seen in this country. Wouldn’t you say? I mean, I don’t think we’ve seen a time like this in the country.
And we’re getting to that — that point where it’s going to really be some very bad numbers. And we want to keep those numbers a lot lower than they would have been. And we will do that.
We have tremendous talent working. We have tremendous people, and that includes governors; that includes everybody. Everybody is working.
But unfortunately, we’re getting to that time when the numbers are going to peak, and it’s not going to be a good-looking situation. I really believe we probably have never seen anything like these kind of numbers. Maybe during the war, during the — a World War, or a World War One or Two or something. But this is a war all unto itself. And it’s — it’s a terrible thing.
We will be seeing you soon. We’ll keep you totally abreast. We’re also going to be releasing new ventilator numbers, because we have a lot of them coming and a lot of them going to different locations.
And we appreciate it very much. Thank you. Thank you.
END
5:59 P.M. EDT
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