Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2020

May 11, 2020

The President. Thank you very much. Thank you. We're here today to provide an update on the unprecedented testing capacity developed by the United States, the most advanced and robust testing system anywhere in the world, by far. This afternoon I'll also announce new steps that we're taking to make tests even more widely available.

To battle a virus, my administration marshaled every resource at our Nation's disposal: public, private, military, economic, scientific, and industrial, all at your disposal. We launched the largest manufacturing ramp-up since the Second World War. There's been nothing like it since.

At the center of this industrial and scientific mobilization was the development of our coronavirus testing capabilities. In the span of just a few short months, we've developed a testing capacity unmatched and unrivaled anywhere in the world, and it's not even close. This is a core element of our plan to safely and gradually reopen America. And we're opening, and we're starting, and there's enthusiasm like I haven't seen in a long time.

Every American should be proud of the amazing array of talent, skill, and enterprise our Nation has brought to this challenge. In 3 months, the FDA has authorized more than 92 different tests, and over 9 million have been performed here in the United States. Three weeks ago, we were conducting roughly 150,000 tests per day. Now we're doing approximately 300,000 tests per dayâa 100-percent increaseâand it will go up substantially from that number.

This week, the United States will pass 10 million tests conducted, nearly double the number of any other country. We're testing more people per capita than South Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Sweden, Finland, and many other countriesâand in some cases, combined.

On Friday, the FDA authorized coronavirus antigen tests, an alternative testing technology that can be much more readily manufactured. Quidel Corporation, which makes this newly authorized point-of-care test, estimates that it will be able to manufacture 150,000 tests per day, immediately increasing to 300,000 tests per day within just a few weeks.

To further expand our Nation's testing capabilities, this afternoon I am announcing that my administration isâand that we've got this all approved; it's all doneâis sending $1 billion to America's States, Territories, and Tribes. So this has all been approved. We've gotten it done, completed. The money is going out. This major investment will ensure that America continues to conduct more tests than any country on Earth by far.

I said from the beginning that the Federal Government would back up the States and help them build their testing capability and capacities, and that's exactly what's happened. This partnership has truly flourished. We have really had a very good relationship with the States and the Governors and other representatives within the States, a relationship like, I think I can honestly say, has not been seen in this country for many, many years.

The Governors and us are working together very closely not only on testing, but on ventilators, where we have a capacity that's, at this point, virtually unlimited. And we're sending ventilatorsâas you probably heard from other countries, we're sending many, many thousands of ventilators to other countries because they're in tremendous need. And I think building up a lot of good will, but much more importantly than that, we're saving a lot of lives.

Most States are now doing a great job. My administration located 5,000 machines in 700 labs across all 50 States, and Governors have learned how to maximize these testing resources. The Federal Government is also supporting States with vital supplies, quick approvals of new tests, and one-on-one coaching from the team here at the White House on how to increase capacity and increase it very quickly.

In recent weeks, we've held multiple conference calls with every State, as well as with DC and Puerto Rico. We jointly developed testing projections and goals for each State for the month of May, altogether totaling 12.9 million tests. Think of that: 12.9 million tests.

Today I'm announcing that my administration will provide the collection supplies to help States meet their targets and meet them rapidly. During the month of May, FEMA and HHS will be delivering 12.9 million swabs to States nationwide. We already have them; the delivery will be very quick. We're prepared to provide millions of additional swabs if any State is on a pace to surpass its goal. And their goals are very high. We've set them very high; we've told them to set them very high.

My administration will also provide approximately 9 million transport media, which are used to transfer swabs to the lab processing. A complicated process, but we've made it simple. As a result of these actions, every single State will be able to test more people per capita in May alone than South Korea has tested in 4 months since the outbreak began.

This major commitment is possible because of the massive mobilization of American industry, including Puritan Medical Products, U.S. Cotton, Abbott Labs, and Thermo Fisher. Some of these incredible companies produced and produce rapidly for us, and their products are here with us this afternoon. These are all different products that were literally just developed andâif you can imagine that. And these are the best machines and the best equipment anywhere in the world. And other countries are calling us, and we're trying to work as much as we can, not only on ventilators, but also with testing.

My administration also continues our tireless effort to expand testing in the most underserved communities. Through our partnership with the private sector, leading pharmacies and retailers are now operating over 240 testing sites across the country, and that's in addition to all of the other sites that we have working. Seventy percent of these sites are located in communities with unique vulnerabilities.

There will be more than 300 sites by the end of this week, and retailers are making plans to open up hundreds and hundreds more locations within the next 30 days. These additional sites are helping us ensure access to testing in every community. My administration is fighting relentlessly to protect all citizens of every color and creed from this terrible virus, the invisible enemy.

In addition to vast amounts of testing supplies, my administration has partnered with the private sector to coordinate the delivery of more than 90 million N95 masks, and these are of the highest qualityâmany are made right here in the United States, a capacity we didn't have at all at the beginningâ126 million surgical masksâlikewise, many are made here; 9 million face shields; 21 million surgical gowns; 993 million gloves; and 10,690 ventilators. We're building thousands of ventilators in numerous plants all across our country. It's incredible, actually.

This global pandemic has inflicted great pain and hardship on our people. It should have never been allowed to happen. It should have been stopped at the source. We mourn for every life the virus has claimed, and we share the grief of all of you who have lost a loved one, and that goes worldwide tooâmany, many countries, 184 countries, at least.

Thanks to the courage of our citizens and our aggressive strategy, hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved. And we have savedâand if you look at on a per-100,000 basis, we're at

the best part of the pack, right on the bottom. Germany and us are leading the world. Germany and the United States are leading the world: lives saved per hundred thousand.

In every generation, through every challenge and hardship and danger, America has risen to the task. We have met the moment, and we have prevailed. Americans do whatever it takes to find solutions, pioneer breakthroughs, and harness the energies we need to achieve a total victory.

Day after day, we're making tremendous strides. With the dedication of our doctors and nursesâthese are incredible people, these are brave people, these are warriorsâwith the devotion of our manufacturing workers, food suppliers, and lab technicians, and with the profound patriotism of the American people, we will defeat this horrible enemy, we will revive our economy, and we will transition into greatness. That's a phrase you're going to hear a lot, because that's what's going to happen.

We're going into the third quarter, and we're going to do well. In the fourth quarter, we're going to do very good. And next year, I think we're going to have one of the best years we've ever had, because there's a tremendous pent-up demand. It's a demandâand I'm feeling it. I've felt things a lot over my life, and I've made a lot of good calls. It's a demand like I don't think I've ever seen. There's a pent-up demand. There's a spirit of this country like few have seen. And I think you can sayâand we've helped a lot of the countries a lot. Really, a lot. There's a tremendous spirit all over the world to beat this terrible, terrible thing.

But we're transitioning to greatness, and the greatness is going to be in the fourth quarter, but it's really going to be next year, and it's going to be a year like we've never had before. I really believe that. As good as we've doneâand we've done great; we had the best economy in the history of the world, not just here, but anywhere in the world. You can talk China, you can talk any other countryâwe had the best economy anywhere in the world.

And we were going for numbers, whether it was unemployment numbers, where we had our best numbers; employment, also, numbersâa little differentâwhere we had our best numbers, almost 160 million people. All of thatâwe had the greatest stock market numbers ever. I think we had 142 days where we set records in a short period of time. A hundred and fifty-two days, we set records in the stock market. We rebuilt our military, all built in the United States. All of our equipment builtâ$1.5 trillion plus.

On the southern border, the wall is being built. It's being built rapidly. And now you don't hear the opponents talking too much about the border. They don't like to talk about it, because it seemed that we were right on a lot of things. One of the things we were right aboutâone of the many things was the border. We have a very powerful border. Now, we had one of the best weeks in the history of our border, between the United States and Mexicoâour southern border. We have very few people coming inâvery, very few. Almost record low numbers.

And the wall is being built. It's up to 181 miles already. It's being built. It's being built rapidly. People don't talk about it anymore because it's very successful. In the area where the wall has builtâthat is a lot still, but we want to be up to 450 by a very short period of time. Early next year, we should be up to 450 and, very shortly after that, over 500 miles to be completed.

But it's had a tremendous impact. But again, we've had the best numbers. The last thing we want now with this pandemic is for people to come across our southern border. And again, we're doing record numbers, meaning record low numbers.

So I just want to thank everybody, and I want to introduce Admiral Giroirâif you could, please come up and Brad, if you wouldâBrad Smith. And they're going to do a little explaining as to what we've done with regard to testing and how successful it's been. And then, we'll take some questions after that.

Thank you very much.

Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Health Brett P. Giroir. Well, thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership and for your high expectations that really made this all come together and for the uniform support of everyone in the White House and the administration. And thank you, Secretary Azar, for providing his leadership at HHS and allowing both Brad and I the opportunity to work on this project.

I think it's clear that America does lead the world in testing. I'll go through some of the charts that show that we lead quantitatively. I will also suggest that we lead in the diversity of tests, which are very important to establish the testing ecosystem to keep America safe. And clearly, as we've said multiple times, no one beats America when it comes to quality.

So let's start potentially with the next slide.

[*At this point, Assistant Secretary Giroir presented and discussed a series of slides detailing*

U.S. coronavirus testing capacity. He concluded his remarks as follows.]

And combined with that, the Secretary's Office of Minority Health will soon be awarding a large contract to guarantee a national network of State, local, and community-based organizations to assure that those underserved, particularly racial and ethnic minorities, are linked to the services that they need, not only testing, but in care as well.

And with that, I'd like to hand it over to Brad Smith, who's the Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, but has really been the chief operating officer to make all of this come together.

Brad.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Deputy Administrator Brad Smith. Thank you, Admiral. I want to talk through a little bit specifically the work that we've been doing with the States.

So, as the admiral mentioned, over the past few weeks, we've been working with each State to set a target for their testing goal for May. Withinâover the series of a couple of different calls, we've aligned on what those goals are. And as the Admiral mentioned and the President mentioned, they add up to over 12.9 million tests in the month of May.

[*Deputy Administrator Smith presented and discussed a series of slides detailing Federal- State collaboration in expanding coronavirus testing capacity.*]

So we hope that we've put together the right pieces of the puzzle: having access points for patients and Americans across the country, having the specimen-collection supplies needed to take the test, having the machines, and then also having the lab testing supplies with the machines.

So thank you very much.

The President. Thank you very much, Brad. And maybe you'll both stay there. Could be some questions.

Okay. Please, John [John Roberts, Fox News]. Go ahead.

Coronavirus Among White House Staff

Q. [Inaudible]âyou can't hear me. We had a situation here at the White House on Friday, where a member of the Vice President's staff tested positive for coronavirus, which has now caused three of the top U.S. officials involved in the coronavirus response to self-isolate. A two- part question: Where did the system break down to allow that to happen? And whereâwhat

would you say to employers who look at the experience here at the White House and say, "Are we ready for this?"

The President. I don't think the system broke down at all. One person tested positive, surprisingly, because, the previous day, tested negative. And three people that were in contactâ relative contact, who I believe they've all tested totally negative, but they are going to, for a period of time, self-isolate. So that's not breaking down. It can happen. It's the hidden enemy.

Remember that. It's the hidden enemy. And so things happen. But the three tested negative. The one who tested positive will be fine. They will be absolutely fine.

Yes, John.

Q. And what do you say, Mr. President, to other companies who may look at this and say, "I don't know if we're ready for all of this"?

The President. Well, I think, you know, we have a lot of people in the White House. And we had one. Basically, we had one person. Soâand we had a lot of people that work here. This building is shocking, if you looked at the numbers. And it's also tremendous numbers of people coming in. Normally, you wouldn't do that. But because we're running a country, we want to keep our country running. So we have a lot of people coming in and out. Many of those peopleâmost of those people are tested depending on what portion of the Oval Office area they're going in.

Everybody coming into the President's office gets tested. And I've felt no vulnerability whatsoever, John.

But the two people, as I said, and three people, areâthey have been tested, and it's negative, and be probably out of quarantine very quickly. Okay?

Jon [Jonathan Karl, ABC News].

Coronavirus Among White House Staff/Coronavirus Testing Access and Technology

Q. Mr. President, if I can follow up on that: Your staff, your senior staff, as you just referenced, is able to get tested every day. When will it be that Americans across the country will be able to get tested every day, as they go back to work?

The President. Very soon. I mean, really, very soon. It's an interesting question, because normally, you would have said that "you are not tested," and you would have been, you know, knocking us for not getting tested. So, if we get tested, it's a problem. And if we don't get tested, it's a problem.

But I like the way your question was phrased better this way, because it is a positive. We are tested; we have great capability. You look at all of these machines here. They're incredible machines. They're the best anywhere in the world. No place in the world has this kind of equipment. Other countries are callingâsophisticated countriesâand they're calling. Lots of countries. And we're trying to make as much as we can available to them, because there's nothing like what we've been able to do in aâliterally a couple of months.

What they've been able to doâthe private sector, what theyâhow they got it done. This is a 5- to 15-minute test, as an exampleâthe Abbott Laboratories test. These tests are highly sophisticatedâvery quick, very good. This is things that didn't even exist a short while ago.

So we do have a great testing capability at the White House. We're doing it. And I think, generally speakingâwe had a call with the Governors the other dayâgenerally speaking, without exception, they were all extremely happy with what's going on, with respect to their testing. Okay?

Resumption of Economic and Commercial Activity

Q. But should people be told to go back to work until they have that assurance that they and their coworkers are able to get a testââ

The President. Yes.

Q. ââwhich we're still not there?

The President. We're leaving that up to the Governors, as you know. And if we see something wrong, we'll call them out, and we'll stop it. But we are leaving it up to the Governors. Some are being not aggressive enough, in my opinion, and some are being a little bit aggressive, but they're being very careful.

And the people of the country, they've learned a lot over the last 2 months. They've learned about social distancing and washing your hands and other things that we've all learned and talked about. They've learned aboutâI see everybodyâjust about everybody has a face mask on.

They've learned about face masks, the good and the bad, by the way. It's not a one-sided thing, believe it or not.

But our country has learned. Our country has been incredible. And you see the numbers; they're dropping very substantially. The numbers are dropping around our country very, very substantially.

So we leave that, Jon, up to the Governors, and I think they're making a lot of good decisions. We've had, as I said, a great relationship with Governors, Democrat and Republican. And I think, overall, they're making very good decisions.

Nobody in this group. All of the ones behind the rope. That's interesting. Please.

Coronavirus Testing Access and Technology/Coronavirus Mortality

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You said in your comments earlier: "We have met the moment. We have prevailed." To you, sir, is the mission accomplished? Even with 1.4 millionââ

The President. No, we've prevailed on testing, is what I'm referring to. That was with regard to testing. You never prevail when you have 90,000 people, 100,000 people; when you have 80,000 people, as of today; when you have thisâthe kind of death you're talking about, when you have potentially millions of people throughout the world that are dying. That's not prevailedââ

What I'm talking about is: We have a great testing capacity now. It's getting even better.

There's nobody close to us in the world. And we certainly have done a great job on testing. And testing is a bigâis a very big, important function. By the way, some people consider it more important than others, to be honest with you. But testing certainly is a very important function, and we have prevailed. We have the best equipment anywhere in the world.

Okay, please. Yes. Please, go ahead.

China/Coronavirus Vaccine Development

Q. There are a variety of reports that Chinese hackers are attempting to steal technology related to vaccine research. Is this something you're concerned about? What can you say?

The President. So what else is new with China? What else is new? Tell me. I'm not happy with China. They should have stopped this at the source. They could have stopped it right at the source. So now you're telling me they're hacking? So I just say this, Steve [Steve A. Holland, Reuters]: What else is new?

Q. If I could follow up, sirââ

The President. We're watching it very closely.

China-U.S. Trade Agreement

Q. Theâif I could follow up, sir: The South China Morning Post, the Beijing newspaper, says that China would like to reopen negotiations on the trade deal to make the terms more favorable to them. Is this something you'd be interested in doing?

The President. No. Not at all. Not even a little bit. No, I'm not interested. We signed the deal. I had heard that too: They'd like to reopen the trade talk to make it a better deal for them.

China has been taking advantage of the United States for many, many years, for decades, because we had people at this position, right here where I'm standing, sitting right in that officeâ the Oval Officeâthat allowed that to happen.

No, I'm not interested in that. Let's see if they live up to the deal that they signed. Okay? Please, go ahead.

Economic Stimulus Legislation/Economic Recovery Efforts

Q. Mr. President, what are your thoughts about a second round of direct payments to Americans that's included in the House Democratic bill?

The President. Well, we're talking about that with a lot of different people. I want to see a payroll tax cut. I want to see various things that we want. I want the workers to be taken care of.

But we are talking about that. We're negotiating with the Democrats. We'll see what happens. But as I said, it's a transition, and it's aâthis is really going to be, in my opinionâwe'll see, but I think it's going to be something that's going to be very special. It's a transition to greatness, and greatness is next year, right from the beginning. I think we're going to do fantastically well.

I view the third quarter, as I said, as a transition quarter. It could be pretty good, but a transition quarter. Toward the end of the fourth quarter, you're going to see some numbers that are going to be tremendous, I think. And next year, you're going to have potentially the kind of numbers that you saw before, and maybe even better, because there is that pent-up demand that isâyou know, a lot of people wanted to do things. They were ready to do things, and they've had to hold back because of the virus.

So I think you're going to have, with that pent-up demand, a phenomenal year next year, unless somebody messes it up by coming along and raising taxesâdoubling, tripling, quadrupling your taxes. Like a certain party, namely the Democrats want to do. You'll mess it all up.

You know, we had the greatest in the world. I presidedâthis administration presidedâover it. It got great for a reason. And we'll do it again, and we'll do it very quickly and very easily. I see that happening.

Yes, ma'am. Please.

Protective Face Masks

Q. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Almost everyone, as you noted, in the Rose Garden is wearing a mask today. Why haven't you required everyone at the White House to wear masks before now?

The President. Well, if they're a certain distance from me or if they're a certain distance from each other, they do. In the case of me, I'm not close to anybody. I'd like to be close to these two gentlemen. They're hard-working, great men, but they just said, frankly, "Let's keep it this way." So, obviously, in my case, I'm very far away from everyone.

But if you look at all of those people over there, every one of them from what I seeâthese are White House staffers, they're White House representatives, they're White House executives, and everybody has a mask on.

We've hadâjust about everybody I've seen today has worn a mask. Yes. Please, go ahead.

Q. Is thatâwere you the one who required that, sir? The President. Yes, I did. I did. I required it. Yes. Please. Go ahead.

Coronavirus Testing Access

Q. Mr. President, you're now promising that everyone who needs a test will be able to get one at some point soon. Can you give us some figures on what you're changing to ramp up testing? When will that be a true statement, exactly? And how exactly are you going to accomplish that?

The President. Well, it's a true statement already. We have more testing than any country in the world by far. But I'll let Admiral go into a little bit of the future.

Assistant Secretary Giroir. When you look at the testing numbers that we worked with collaboratively with the State leadershipâit's not just with the Governor, but the State health officers, the State epidemiologists, the public health labsâit's really a combination of testing those who need something for diagnosis, diagnostic testing; tracingâso testing those who have been around the people with a diagnosis.

[*Assistant Secretary Giroir continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

The other thing I would say is, particularly as we move into the summer, there are surveillance mechanismsâand I talked about them beforeâlike a weather radar. And just think about that weather radar. The influenza-like illness network, which is at about 75 percent of health care institutions and syndromic surveillance. So if we see a blip on that weather radar, combined with CDC personnel in every single State, and with contact tracers, we really run to the fire, right? And that's when you detect, you trace, and you shut off that outbreak right when it starts.

Q. [Inaudible]

Q. Mr. Presidentââ

The President. Phil [Philip Rucker, Washington Post], go ahead.

Q. ââthere does seem to be a double standard here, Mr. President, where members of your own staff can get tests frequently when they need it, but ordinary Americans cannot.

The President. Yes.

Q. So when will the rest of America have the same access that members of your own White House have to testing?

The President. And you know what? If we didn't get the tests, if we did no tests in the White House, you'd be up complaining, "Why aren't you getting tests for the White House?" See, we can't win, because if we didn't get the tests, you'd be upâI understand you very well, better than you understand yourselfâand frankly, if we didn't get tests done, you'd be up complaining about the fact that we didn't have the tests done.

Now that we're doing so well on tests and so quick and so fastâ5 minutes, et ceteraâand so accurate, you're complaining that we're getting too many tests. So you can't win.

Go ahead, Phil.

Coronavirus Among White House Staff

Q. Yes, Mr. President, many Americans want to return to their normal lives, but they're afraid to do so. How can you ensure Americans that it's safe to go to their own workplaces when the most secure workplace in the country, the White House, cannot contain the spread of the coronavirus that's infected some of your own staff?

The President. Well, when you say "some," so we have a person and the person gotâ something happened right after a test was done. Three other people met that person, came into relative contactâvery little contactâand they're self-quarantining. That is not exactly not controlling it. WeâI think we've controlled it very well.

We have hundreds and hundreds of people a day pouring into the White House. It's a massive office complex, including the very large building right behind us that you know so well. So I think we're really doing a very good job in watching it. And I think it's very well contained actually.

And part of the reason, it is because of all the tests we're able to give. But it was one person, and the other people were only peopleâthey're quarantined. You understand this, Phil; they're quarantined for a specific reason. The reason is, they were in the general proximity of the one person. And the one person, I believe, will be fine in a very short period of time.

Vice President Michael R. Pence

Q. Why hasn't Vice President Pence followed the CDC guidelines of self-isolation and other people who might have been exposed to that person?

The President. Well, that, I'm going to have to ask that he will give you that information. Whatever he is proceeding and doing, he will give you that information. I'll make sure that they put out a notice.

John. Go ahead. Please.

Coronavirus Impact on Children/Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome

Q. Mr. President, up until now, it's thought that the most vulnerable people were those above the age of 60 or 70 or 80 and that children were pretty much, I don't want to say immune from this, but weren't affected by it. But all day long in the news today, we have been hearing and seeing this terrible syndromeââ

The President. Yes.

Q. ââthat some 85 children have now. Three of them have died. What is the Task Force talking about in terms of that? And what could be done about it?

The President. Yes, we're seeing that all over the world now with young children. A very, very tiny percentage, but it's stillâit's the swelling and the skin rash. And we're looking at that very closely, John. It's a phenomenon that's just been brought to everyone's attention a couple of weeks ago.

Admiral, you may have something to say about that.

Assistant Secretary Giroir. So thank you for pointing that out. And again, I've said many times, I'm a pediatrician and a pediatric ICU doctor. This syndrome, which we callâare similar

to Kawasaki syndrome. It has been seen in a novel coronavirus before, and it's associated with illnesses. So we have a very strong activation on this.

[*Assistant Secretary Giroir continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

We know what the basic treatment is, but this is a little bit different than we normally see. So there really is an activation among all the branches within HHS, working with networks at children's hospitals and ICU nets. It is a small percentage, but it is quite frightening. And this reflects the fact that this virus affects the vasculature. We see clotting; we see strokes. And this is a vasculature phenomenon of inflammation we see in children.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome/Coronavirus Morality Rates

Q. Mr. President, with this newly emerging syndrome now among young children, what do you say to parents who would like to get their children back to school, but are now looking at this and potentially afraid to do that?

The President. Well, again it's a tiny percentage. But you're right, so we're looking into it very strongly. And the admiral, as he said, he's known about this for long before this happened. But it is a very, very small percentage. And people recover from that; the children recover from that. Right?

Assistant Secretary Giroir. Yes, sir. Most do recover from this, but it is a serious, and it can be a fatal, condition. So we do want to make sure that parents understand that high fevers, red rashes, particularly on your child, you may need to contact your health care provider. There are treatments for this. They work very effectively if gotten early, at least for the vast majority of the cases.

The President. We're studying that very closely, and it's been on the radar for weeks actually, because we've seen this for quite a while. But it's been very rare, but we're looking at it very closely. It's very important to us.

I think one of the things we're most proud of isâthis just came outâdeaths per 100,000 people, deathâso deaths per 100,000 people: Germany and the United States are at the lowest rung of that ladder. Meaning, low is a positive, not a negative. Germany and the United States are the two best in deaths per 100,000 people, which, frankly, to me, that's perhaps the most important number there is.

Please, go in the back, please.

Coronavirus Testing Access/Shooting Death of Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County, Georgia

Q. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I have two questions: one on the Ahmaud Arbery case and one on the coronavirus. The first on the coronavirus: The Vice President is said to be in some sort of self-isolatingâkeeping his distance from people. What do you say to Americans who say: "How can you keep me safe? How can you reopen the government, if even the Vice President is self-isolating?" And why hasn't testing gotten up to the point where every American who wants to test can get a test?

The President. Well, the Vice President, first of all, has been tested, and he's negativeâand was tested yesterday, tested today, and he's negative. He's in very good shape. And I think that that's going to be fine.

As far as Americans getting a test, they should all be able to get a test right now. They should be able to get a test.

That's the problem with a question like that. We go through a whole announcement saying "We're number one in the world by far," by a factor of two, and even three and four depending on where you're looking, and I get a question, "When will everybody be able to get tested?" If somebody wants to be tested right now, they'll be able to be tested.

As far as the incident, I think it's horrible, and it's certainly being looked at by many people. I'm speaking to many people about it. He lookedâI saw the picture of him in his tuxedo; it was so beautiful. I mean, he looks like a wonderful, young guy. Would have been a wonderfulâI mean, just a wonderful guy. I think it's a horrible thing. I think it's a horrible thing.

Now, with that being said, as you know, they're studying the case very carefully. They're interviewing everybody involved, and we'll see what happens. To me, it's a very sad thing.

I spoke to a number of people that are very much involved in it. I've been following that one very closely. It breaks your heart to watch it. It breaks your heart. And certainly, the video was aâit was a terrible-looking video to me.

But you have a lot of people looking at it, and hopefully, an answer is going to be arrived at very quickly. But it's something that is heartbreaking.

Shooting Death of Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County, Georgia

Q. I have a specific question about the case, if I could ask it.

The President. Go ahead.

Q. The specific question I have is, you've said that there possibly are things that happened that were not recorded on the tape. Could you just expound on what you mean by that and your thoughtsââ

The President. Yes.

Q. ââon whatâ[inaudible].

The President. Well, I saw the tape, and when they moved left, I don't believeâwhen they moved left, outside of the tape, nobody saw what was going on. Nobody saw it. It's an empty spot on the tape, I guess.

Now, do they have additional tapes? I hope. But I will say that it's something that, based on what I saw, doesn't look good. Somebody that I have a lot of respect for is Senator Scott of South Carolina, you know who I'm talking about. He's a great gentleman. He's a great Senator. He's a great gentleman. Tim Scott. And I called him 2 days ago. I said: "Tim, what do you think? Tell me. What do you think?" He's very disturbed by it. He's very disturbed. And I'm very disturbed also.

Please, go ahead.

Coronavirus Testing Access and Technology

Q. President Trump, thank you. I have two questions, one on testing and one on Democratic States that you've tweeted about. First, the money for this new testing support today comes from the CARE ActâCARES Act, which you signed into law 42 days ago. Did your delay in embracing widespread testing have anything to do with the desire to suppress the official number of U.S. cases and deaths as you try to reopen the country?

The President. No, we just wanted to make sure that we had the proper machinery apparatus and everything else out there before people started wasting money. It's a method of saving money. We wanted to make sure we had even things like this. Plus, they have machines that are

far more complex than this. They have massive machines at some of the laboratories that can do millions of tests. We wanted to make sure everything was in place. Okay?

Go ahead.

Resumption of Economic and Commercial Activity/Secondary Effects of Social Isolation

Q. And earlier today you tweeted that Democrats are moving slowly for political purposes. But why do you believe that their motive is politics rather than public safety? And how do you respond to criticism that you're also motivated by politics to try to grow the economy ahead of the election?

The President. Well, I think that if you look at Pennsylvania, as an example; if you look at various other StatesâI won't get into themâthe people want to go back. The numbers are getting to a point where they can, and there just seems to be no effort on certain blue States to get back into gear. And the people aren't going to stand for it; they want to get back.

They're not going to stand for it. They want our country opened. I want our country opened too. I want it opened safely, but I want it open.

Don't forget, people are dying the other route. You can go with the enclosed route: Everything is closed up, you're in your house, you're not allowed to move. People are dying with that too. You look at drug addiction, you look at suicides, you look at some of the things that are taking place, people are dying that way too. You could make the case, it's in even greater numbers.

So it's a situation that some peopleâand I've noticed that some States could be moving more quickly. And also, at the same time, safety. Look, safety is paramount. But people are dying in the lockdown position too. And everybody understands that. They're just starting to find out. And look at what's going on with drugs, and look at what's happening with suicides.

Yes, please. Please, go ahead.

Coronavirus Prevalence Rates

Q. Hi, Mr. President. So Americans have been self-quarantining for several months now, social distancing, yet we're still seeing about 20,000 new cases a day, 1- to 2,000 deaths. Is there anything else the administration is planning to do to get these new cases under control? Because we seem to be on a plateau. Or is this just a fact of life?

The President. Well, excuse me. There are 20,000âthe numbers are way down from what they were two weeks ago. I mean, the numbers are really coming down, and very substantially. And this weekend was one of the lowest we've had. This isâyou know, the numbers are coming down very rapidly all throughout the country, by the way. There may be one exception. But all throughout the country, the numbers are coming down rapidly. I think you see that, Admiral.

Coronavirus Mortality Projections

Q. Yes, but does thisâthe models, sir, are projecting now 130,000 cases that go through August. Is thatâdo you agree with those models? Is that your expectation as well?

The President. Well, the models haven't been exactly accurate. These are models done by a lot of think tanks, a lot of universities. If you look at some of the models, they have been way off. Few of the models have been accurate.

But as far as the models are concerned, if you go by the model, we were going to lose 2.2 million people. And because we tookâwe mitigatedâwe did things that were very tough for our

country to do, frankly. We had to turn off our whole magnificent economy. We had to turn down the whole country. We're at the lowest of all of the models.

I mean, if you look at, I guess, one-hundred-and-twentyâ100- to 120,000 people would be at the low side. And we're atâthere's nothing low. Look, nothing low. One is too many people. And I say it all the time: One person to lose for this is too many people. It's a disgrace what happened.

But if you look at the models, we're at a lowâat the lowest of those projections. But the models are not models done necessarily by the White House. They're models done by many people all over the world. And if you take the most respected of those people, many of those models are wrong. I mean, they've been wrong as far as the U.S. is concerned, because those numbers are nowhere near what was projected, potentially.

Federal Coronavirus Response/Restrictions on Travel From China to the U.S.

Q. Do you have an expectation of what the death toll is going to look like by the summer, by theââ

The President. You know what? I don't want to think about it, even. I know that we're doing everything we can. We're doing a good job. We acted very early. We acted extremely early in keeping China out of our country and banning people from China coming in, other than our citizens, which we obviously had to take. And they were quarantined or watched carefully. They were tested. They were watched very carefully.

But we had about 40,000 people coming in from China, from Asia, and we had to obviously take the people. Can you imagine if I said, "You're a U.S. citizen, and we're not going to take you"? That doesn't work.

Soâbut they were very carefullyâI was with Ron DeSantis. He said they putâliterally put the people that came in from China in quarantine for a substantial period of time.

No, that was a big decision. I think we saved hundreds of thousands of lives by acting very early. And when I did thisâI think the admiral can say itâeverybody was against my doing it. Everybody. Everybody was: the professionals, the doctors. I was pretty much by myself on that one. And it was a lucky thing we did it, because we saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Yes, please. Go ahead.

Nursing Homes and Elder Care Facilities

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Earlier today the Vice President urged Governors to have all their nursing home residents tested. Why not just mandate that? Why not require that? Have you considered that?

The President. Well, I would certainly consider that. I will mandate it if you'd like. I wouldâI think it's important to do, and I think, frankly, some of the Governors were very lax with respect to nursing homes. It was obvious right from the beginning. The State of Washington, where 26 or 28 people died very early on. And I would have said, "nursing homes." And I did say "nursing homes." That's what they should. Now, some of the Statesâmany of the States are doing that, but I think all of the States should be. They have the capacity to do it. They should be doing nursing home. That is a real vulnerability.

Coronavirus Among White House Staff

Q. Could I follow onâthe two staffers that were announced last week as testing positive, are you aware of any additional White House staffâ[inaudible]?

The President. No, not at all.

Q. Thank you.

The President. I'm only aware of people that saw them, were tested, the tests were negative, and they're quarantining anyway. Soââ

Please, go ahead.

Vice President Michael R. Pence

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to ask: Are you now, or are you considering, separating some more with Vice President Pence as a precautionary measure?

The President. Well, first of all, the job he's done on Task Force, the job he's done, frankly, as the Vice President of the United States has been outstanding. And he's a warrior too, just like doctors and nurses. I mean, he is working so hard, and he meetsâhe's coming into contact with a lot of people. But again, he tested negative, so we have to understand that. But he comes into contact with a lot of people.

It's something probably, during this quarantine period, we'll probably talk about. I have not seen him since then. But I would say that he willâhe and I will be talking about that. Yes, we could talk on the phone.

Q. And I have a question for Admiral Giroir, if I could.

The President. Please.

Q. The President just said that Dr. Fauci, Dr. Hahn have tested negative. Then, why do they need to be isolating? Is there some concern that they could be spreading the virus in some ways? Are they concerned about the testing? Why do they need to isolate?

Assistant Secretary Giroir. So this is a very fundamental concept, and I'm so happy you brought that up, because it underlies a lot of the questions here. If you test negative just at that one point, that just means you have tested negative for that point in time. We know that the incubation period for this virus can be many days.

So the CDC guidelines really says that if you're in close contact, just testing negative on that one day doesn't mean you won't be positive later on. So the prudent and the recommended thing to do is to self-isolate yourself for the entire period of incubation and, really, then some. So that's what they're doing. It's a precautionary manner, because they were negative. We all hope that they remain negative, but if they turned positive in a day or two or became symptomatic, that's still possible, even with a negative test.

The President. Okay?

Q. Thank you, sir.

The President. Go ahead. Phil.

Q. Mr. President, in one of your Mother's Day tweets, you appear to accuse President Obama of the biggest political crime in American history, by far.

The President. Yes.

Former President Barack Obama/Investigation Into Russia's Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election

Q. Those were your words. What crime exactly are you accusing President Obama of committing? And do you believe the Justice Department should prosecute him?

The President. "Obamagate"âit's been going on for a long time. It's been going on from before I even got elected. And it's a disgrace that it happened. And if you look at what's gone on, and if you look at, now, all of this information that's being releasedâand from what I understand, that's only the beginningâsome terrible things happened, and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again.

And you'll be seeing what's going on over the nextâover the coming weeks. But Iâand I wish you'd write honestly about it, but unfortunately, you choose not to do so.

Yes. Jon, please.

Q. The crimeâwhat is the crime exactly that you're accusing him of?

The President. You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.

Jon, please.

Coronavirus Testing Access/Coronavirus Prevalence Rates

Q. Yes, Mr. President, if I can just get a clarification on the testing. We've seen clearly that the numbers of tests have gone up.

The President. Yes.

Q. There have been some advancements on testing. But you've said twice here today that every American who wants a test can get a test.

The President. Yes.

Q. That's not the case. One-point-nine million tests per day is far short of every American that wants a test to be able to get a test.

The President. Well, I'm going to have the admiralâbut I will say, just from listening and hearing, like you doâwe all doânot everybody should get a test because they have to have certain things. And they're going to know when they're not feeling right. Those are the people that will be getting the test. But, Admiral, I'll let you take it from there, please.

Assistant Secretary Giroir. So everybody who needs a test can get a test. We have plenty of tests for that.

Q. [Inaudible]

Assistant Secretary Giroir. Right now, in America, anybody who needs a test can get a test in America, with the numbers we have. If you're symptomatic with a respiratory illness, that is an indication for a test, and you can get a test. If you need to be contact traced, you can get a test.

And we hopeâand not hopeâwe are starting to have asymptomatic surveillance, which is very important. Again, that's over 3 million tests per week. That is sufficient for everyone who needs a testâsymptomatic, contact tracing, and to our best projections, the asymptomatic kind of surveillance we need to get that. And that's the way it is.

[*Assistant Secretary Giroir continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

If I became symptomatic, I would get a test. And if it were positive, I would isolate and there'd be contact tracing to stop that just the way it was done here. If I'm not symptomatic, I do the precautions as everyone is recommended in phase one. And that's the essence of safetyâ safely opening America.

The President. And, Jon, the numbers are coming way down, and they're coming down rapidly, and that's a beautiful thing to see. And that's pretty much universally all across the country. They're coming down very rapidly. So very important.

Please go ahead.

Coronavirus Testing Access/Meatpacking Plants

Q. [Inaudible]âif I can ask the admiral ifâso, Americans who are going back to work shouldn't expectâand shouldn't need, shouldn't want to have the same thing that people coming to work here at the White House have, which is the ability to get tested regularly, regardless of symptoms?

Assistant Secretary Giroir. Soââ

Q. Is that what you're saying?

Assistant Secretary Giroir. So let me clarify as well: People who come into close contact with the President get tested on a regular basis. Okay? If I were not in close contact with the President specifically, I would not get tested like most people here do not get tested. That's a very specific circumstance.

When I work at HHS, I go to HHS; I don't get tested. I do the exact thing that we ask Americans to do: to monitor your symptoms. If you are symptomatic, self-isolate, get tested with one of our community-based testing sites at your hospitals. There are even at-home testing now that has been authorized. And to cooperate; that if you need to be contact traced, be contact traced and cooperate with your local public health. But not everybody who walks in here gets tested every time they do. If you're symptomatic here, at HHS, at a meatpacking plant, at a school, you need to get tested.

The President. And the meatpacking plants now are doing very well. There's great testing around those plants. And we're finding out who had the problem. They're being quarantined. And the meatpacking is moving along very nicely.

But they were trouble spots. They were hot zones, definitely. Please.

And you know, one thing I think is very important though, Jon, just to finish: We have nowâand nobody says it; they just don't want to write itâby far, more tests than any other country in the world. Not even a contest. And the quality of our test is the best anywhere in the world. That's very important to say.

Please, go ahead.

Coronavirus Testing Access

Q. So, to make sure I understand the White House's position, are you saying that right now you feel there is enough testingâadequate testingâacross the United States? Or do you feel that it needs to be ramped up? And by how much, if so, does it need to be ramped up?

Assistant Secretary Giroir. We've beenâI think we've been clear all along that we believe, and the data indicate, we have enough testing to do the phase one gradual reopening that has been supported in the President's plan and the Task Force's plan. And it has to be a phased reopening. Nobody is saying, "Turn the light switch on, and everyone go," because then it would be really impossible to control the spread of the virus.

[*Assistant Secretary Giroir continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

Now, I am not going to come here and say, "We can absolutely swear it's God's truth that this is the number we need." But we know we have enough to open, and we're going to be very careful with our ILINet, with our surveillance programs, and let the data come in to inform us even further as we grow and learn.

And I think Brad mayââ

Deputy Administrator Smith. And let me just add a little bit to that, because most days, I don't come to the White House to work; I either go to FEMA, or I go to HHS. And let me just talk you through what the protocols are there, because I would never get tested if I wasn't coming to the White House.

[*Deputy Administrator Smith continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

And so there's a lot of precautions that we're taking in the Federal Government that are separate from testing, and those are the precautions that the agencies use that Admiral Giroir and I are working at every day are using to let us continue working.

Q. Mr. Presidentââ

The President. If people want to get tested, they get tested. We have the greatest capacity in the world. Not even close. If people want to get tested, they get tested. But, for the most part, they shouldn't want to get tested. There's no reason. They feel good. They don't have sniffles. They don't have sore throats. They don't have any problem. If they do feel there's something happening, they have the absoluteâeasy. In fact, Ron DeSantis of Florida, the Governorâdoing a fantastic job in Floridaâhe said he's got a little bit of the opposite problem. He's got so much testing that people sit around and wait for people to come in, that they have farâa great overcapacity for testing. And there are numerous other States that have told me the same thing. That's, by the way, a good problem, not a bad problem. Okay?

Yes, go ahead, please.

Global Coronavirus Pandemic/China

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You said many times that the U.S. is doing far better than any other country when it comes to testing.

The President. Yes.

Q. Why does that matter? Why is this a global competition to you if, every day, Americans are still losing their lives and we're still seeing more cases every day?

The President. Well, they're losing their lives everywhere in the world. And maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me; ask China that question, okay? When you ask them that question, you may get a very unusual answer.

Yes. Behind you, please.

Q. Do you want to follow up?

Q. Sir, why are you saying that to me, specifically? That I should ask China?

The President. I'm telling you. I'm not saying it specifically to anybody. I'm saying it to anybody that would ask a nasty question like that.

Q. That's not a nasty question. Why does it matter, whenââ

The President. Okay. Anybody else? Please, go ahead. In the back. Please.

Q. I have two questions.

The President. No, it's okay. We'll go over here.

Q. But you pointed to me. I have two questions, Mr. President.

The President. Next. Next, please.

Q. But you didn'tâyou called on me.

The President. I did, and you didn't respond, and now I'm calling onââ

Q. Sorry, I just wanted to letââ

The President. ââthe young lady in the back. Please.

Q. I just wanted to let me colleague finish.

The President. Okayââ

Q. But can I ask you a question, please?

The President. ââladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Q. But you called on me.

The President. Thank you very much.

NOTE: The President's news conference began at 4:15 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. In his remarks, the President referred to Press Secretary to the Vice President Katherine R. Miller; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony S. Fauci; Commissioner of Food and Drugs Stephen M. Hahn; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert R. Redfield; and Glynn County, GA, resident Travis McMichael, who was charged in the murder of Mr. Arbery that occurred on February 23.

Categories: Interviews With the News Media : News conferences :: May 11. Locations: Washington, DC.

Names: DeSantis, Ronald D.; Fauci, Anthony S.; Giroir, Brett P.; Hahn, Stephen M.; McMichael, Travis; Miller, Katherine R.; Pence, Michael R.; Redfield, Robert R., Jr.; Scott, Timothy E.; Smith, Brad.

Subjects: Agriculture : Meatpacking industry, strengthening efforts; Armed Forces, U.S. : Funding; Business and industry : Manufacturing industry :: Government and private sector, coordination efforts; China : Coronavirus outbreak; China : Relations with U.S.; China : Trade agreement with U.S.; Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Coronavirus pandemic, international cooperation efforts; Defense and national security : Border security; Diseases : Coronavirus, domestic prevention efforts; Economy, national : Strengthening efforts; Employment and unemployment : Unemployment rate; Florida : Governor; Georgia : Shooting death in Glynn County; Germany : Coronavirus outbreak; Health and Human Services, Department of : Assistant Secretaries :: Health; Health and Human Services, Department of; Health and Human Services, Department of : Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Health and Human Services, Department of : Food and Drug Administration; Health and Human Services, Department of : National Institutes of Health; Health and Human Services, Department of: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Health and Human Services, Department of: Food and Drug Administration; Health and medical care : Health care workers, service and dedication; Health and medical care : Medical equipment and supplies; Health and medical care : Nursing homes and senior care facilities; Health and medical care : Research and development; Immigration and naturalization : Foreign nationals and refugees, U.S. admission policy; Mexico : Border with U.S., infrastructure and security; Russia : 2016 U.S. elections, interference; Taxation

: Tax relief; White House Coronavirus Task Force; White House Office : Assistants to the President :: Press Secretary to the Vice President; White House Office : Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD202000358.