Trump news: President rages at reporter during coronavirus press conference and insists there will be no national lockdown

Chaotic week at White House as president scrambles to support Americans during worsening crisis

Donald Trump waives interest on student loans

Donald Trump has closed the US-Mexico border, put a hold on student loan repayments, suspended elementary school testing, extended the deadline for Americans to file their tax returns and cancelled June's G7 summit with world leaders as part of his administration’s bid to make up for lost time following the coronavirus outbreak.

A number of US senators, notably Republicans Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, are meanwhile facing calls to resign after being accused of “insider trading” after it emerged they dumped stock options in response to a briefing on the outbreak on 24 January, with even Fox News host Tucker Carlson joining in the outrage and demanding Burr step down.

The president has said that he was "not aware" of those reports but called the senators "very honourable people."

In California, 40m citizens are being ordered to stay indoors as the crisis deepens, while in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered the closure of non-essential businesses across the state.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warns that the city could run out of medical supplies within three weeks without "radical" action from the federal government as the mayor prepares the possibility of a "shelter-in-place" order.

Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden also has attacked the president's response, after he berated a reporter and has waffled on an emergency order that could mandate companies rush the manufacturing of critically needed medical supplies.

Susan Rice, who also served under the Obama administration, dismissed claims by the president that his predecessor was ill-equipped to respond to a pandemic and pointed to Mr Trump's dismissal of his own pandemic response team among his national security advisers.

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Key Points

• President rants at reporter and denies national lockdown
• Trump finally gets his wish and closes Mexico border to block spread of virus
• US senators accused of 'insider trading' over stock dump
• Treasury extends US tax filing deadline by three months
• Pelosi and Schumer warn $1trn bailout proposal 'too pro-business' as talks begin

[20 March 2020 15:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

A tale of two polls as Trump summons former economic adviser back to White House to boost coronavirus response team

Earlier, we reported on a poll suggesting Trump's approval rating had climbed over his about-turn on the the coronavirus.

Well, here's another to dramatically undermine that finding. 

To bolster his team, Trump is bringing back Kevin Hassett, former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers who left the administration last June.

Now a CNN pundit, Hassett said of the current healthcare crisis yesterday: "We're going to have to either have a Great Depression, or figure out a way to send people back to work even though that's risky... Because at some point, we can't not have an economy, right?"

[20 March 2020 16:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump annouces hold on student loans

The president is giving his latest Covid-19 press conference at the White House and is joined by a new reporter, one Sean Spicer for Newsmax, a man who is no stranger to the Briefing Room.

 

Trump kicks off by saying he's had positifve calls with Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell on the congressional stimulus package and by praising governors Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsome for their efforts in New York and California respectively.

But his major annoucements of the morning are as follows...

Alex Woodward has the latest on this.

[20 March 2020 16:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

Mike Pompeo warns against 'dishonest' news sources spreading misinformation on coronavirus

Here's the secretary of state just now:

He was followed by acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf:

[20 March 2020 16:25 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump signals coronavirus pandemic will continue in US for a long time

Here's John T Bennett on a revealing line from the president.

[20 March 2020 16:35 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump says no national lockdown and rants at 'nasty' reporter

As the president says he's a "smart guy" and "feels good" about the coronavirus crisis having a happy ending and touts a malaria drug as a possible answer, here he is saying there's no need for a total lockdown as the Midwest is not effected to the same degree as "hotspots" like New York, California and Florida.

He has also just harangued NBC reporter Peter Alexander for being "nasty" for asking about fear and panic.

 

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," he tuts.

[20 March 2020 16:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

New York governor orders city's workers to self-isolate

While all that was going, New York governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered the Big Apple's entire workforce, barring essential services personnel, to stay home, following California's lead. 

He also halted all evictions for 90 days.

 

He also shouldered the entire burden for the decision himself, which is what real leadership looks like.

[20 March 2020 17:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

California's homeless at risk as charities urge action

Coronavirus infections could impact more than 60,000 homeless people in California, where officials have released millions of dollars in emergency funds to shelter the balloning numbe of people without a permanent place to live.

Over the next two months, more than half of the state's 108,000 homeless are likely to contract the virus, according to governor Gavin Newsom.

On Monday, San Francisco Bay Area counties issued a "shelter in place" order impacting 6.7m residents, including the nearly 30,000 homeless people in the area. Officials have urged them to seek shelter, though advocacy groups have warned that crowding into shelters could also put people at a significant health risk, while health officials have recommended limiting groups to no more than 10.

Here's Alex Woodward's report.

[20 March 2020 17:38 · Alex Woodward]

Did Trump forget Sean Spicer?

The president appeared to not recognise his former press secretary and Dancing with the Stars contender.

[20 March 2020 18:21 · Alex Woodward]

Interest will be waived on federally held student loans for at least 60 days, Donald Trump has announced

Student loan payments may also be suspended for up to two months to give borrowers "greater flexibility during the national emergency", according to a US Department of Education statement.

The move allows borrowers to "temporarily stop their payments without worrying about accruing interest" with interest rates set at zero per cent

Trump said the administration will consider extending that timeframe and suggested other student loan actions could be forthcoming.

[20 March 2020 19:13 · Alex Woodward]

Within three days, the president has offered mixed messages and a lack of clarity over the Defence Production Act as hospitals and health workers brace for shortages of critically needed medical supplies.