Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2020

March 10, 2020

Q. Mr. President, what's your message to Americans who are worried about the economy?

Q. Mr. President, do you think that the payroll tax holiday, the two-part strategyââ

The President. So we just had a great meeting. Tremendous unity in the Republican Party. And we're working on a lot of different things. We've also had some very good updates on the virus. That's working out very smoothly. Tremendous people. It's a tremendous Task Force. They have done a great jobânot a good job, a great job.

As you know, it's about 600 cases, it's about 26 deaths, within our country. And had we not acted quickly, that number would have been substantially more. But we just had a meeting on stimulus, and you'll be hearing about it soon. But it was a great meeting.

There's great unity within the Republican Party.

Economic Stimulus Measures/Global Coronavirus Outbreak

Q. Mr. President, Republican Senators yesterday, they seemed rather skeptical of this. They weren't sure that they wanted to do it on a payroll tax holiday. How do you convince them? Is that the right approach?

The President. Well, I was just with the Republican Senators, and there wasâthey were just about all there, mostly all thereâand there's a great feeling about doing a lot of things. And that's one of the things we talked about.

Q. And what about the ideas proposed by Nancy Pelosi? It raised someââ

The President. Well, we're going to see. They came in very chopped up. A lot of them are things that she wanted to get for other things, and we're looking at the people. We're looking at solving this problem.

Also, some very good numbers coming out of some countries where it started earlier. And we're seeing some fairly good numbers come out of those countriesâthat's a good thingâ including China. And they've released numbers, and we've gotten some numbers from China that look pretty promising. So we'll be able to further report.

Please.

Coronavirus Testing/Domestic Containment Efforts

Q. But, sir, why not get tested yourself? I mean, you've interacted with Matt Gaetz and Doug Collins in the last few weeks.

The President. Well, I don't think it's a big deal. I would do it. I don't feel thatâany reason. I feel extremely good. I feel very good. But I guess it's not a big deal to get tested. And it's something I would do.

But again, I spoke to the White House doctorâterrific guy, talented guyâhe said he sees no reason to do it. There's no symptoms, no anything.

And you know what? If there were, you people would be the first to know it. You wouldâ you would maybe even tell me about it.

Yes, please.

Prevalence of the Coronavirus in the U.S./Domestic Influenza Fatalities

Q. Mr. President, have you been briefed that up to a hundred million Americans could ultimately be exposed to the virus?

The President. I've been briefed on every contingency you can possibly imagine. Many contingencies. A lot ofââ

Q. But that number.

The President. ââa lot of positive. Different numbers. All different numbers. Very large numbers. And some small numbers too, by the way.

Look, right now I guess we're at 26 deaths, and if you look at the fluâthe flu, for this yearâ we're at 8 millionâwe're looking at 8,000 deaths. And you know, hundreds of thousands of cases, but we have 8,000 deaths. So you have 8,000 versus 26 deaths, at this time.

With all of that being said, we're taking this unbelievably seriously, and I think we're doing a really good job. And, again, the Task Force, headed up by the Vice President, has been fantastic.

Q. Mr. Presidentââ

Global Coronavirus Outbreak/Coronavirus Testing Protocol/Coronavirus Prevention Efforts in the U.S.

Q. Why has the U.S. been so slow with testing? Other countries have tested tens of thousands.

The President. No, I think the U.S. has done a very good job on testing. We had to change things that were done and that were nobody's fault. Perhaps, they wanted to do something a different way, but it was a much slower process from a previous administration. And we did change them. We made the changes. But the testing has gone very well. And when people need a test, they can get a test. When the professionals need a test, when they need tests for people, they can get the test. It's gone really well.

Look, the biggest thing that we did was stopping the inflow of people early on, and that was weeks ahead of schedule, weeks ahead of what other people would have done. In fact, other people, mostly, would probably not have done it even until now. And that's made a big difference.

[*At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.*]

Coronavirus Containment Efforts in the U.S.

Q. Are you planning to fire anyoneââ

The President. For what?

Q. ââbecause of the spread of the virus in the United States. The numbers have changedâ

â

The President. No, I think the people are doing a fantastic job. In fact, just todayâI have it

insideâGovernor Newsom, Gavin Newsom of California, said tremendousâthere's an article that just came out; I had it inside, and I showed it to the Senators, and I showed them other articles tooâwhere GovernorsâDemocrat Governors are saying we've done a fantastic job.

Gavin Newsom said there's not a thing that he's asked for that we weren't able to get him.

And you know, he's beenâhe's a critical guy, like we all are. But it was a very positive statement.

Many Democrat Governors have said that the Task Force and the Federal Government, what we've done, has been terrific.

Q. Mr. Presidentââ

National Economy

Q. Mr. President, how long should Americans be prepared for the economy to suffer?

The President. Well, this was unexpected. This was something that came out of China, and it hit us and many other countries. You look at the numbers; I see the numbers withâjust by watching you folks. I see itâit's over a hundred different countries. And it hit the world.

And we're prepared, and we're doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away. We want to protect our shipping industry, our cruise industry, cruise ships. We want to protect our airline industry, very important. But everybody has to be vigilant and has to be careful.

But be calm. It's really working out. And a lot of good things are going to happen. The consumer is ready, and the consumer is so powerful in our country with what we've done with tax cuts and regulation cuts and all of those things. The consumer has never been in a better position than they are right now.

So a lot of good things are going to happen. Thank you very much, everybody.

NOTE: The President spoke at 1:57 p.m. in the Ohio Clock Corridor at the U.S. Capitol. In his remarks, he referred to Physician to the President Sean P. Conley. Reporters referred to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi; and Reps. Matthew L. Gaetz II and Douglas A. Collins.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Republican Senators, meeting with President; Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: U.S. Capitol.

Locations: Washington, DC.

Names: Conley, Sean P.; Newsom, Gavin C.; Pelosi, Nancy; Pence, Michael R.

Subjects: China : Coronavirus outbreak; Congress : House of Representatives :: Speaker; Congress : Members, meetings with President; Diseases : Coronavirus, domestic prevention efforts; Government organization and employees : Federal regulations, review; Immigration and naturalization : Foreign nationals and refugees, U.S. admission policy; Taxation : Tax relief; White House Coronavirus Task Force; White House Office : Assistants to the President :: Physician to the President; White House Office : Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD202000144.