President Trump described himself as a “wartime president” as he summoned the sacrifices made during the Second World War to call on Americans to pull together to secure a “total victory” over the coronavirus epidemic.
During a regular White House briefing on Wednesday, he invoked emergency powers that allow his administration to marshal the private sector to respond to what he again referred to as the “Chinese virus.”
He said he would deploy one naval hospital ship to New York City, which is rapidly becoming the epicenter of the emergency, and a second to the West Coast.
“Every generation of Americans has been called to make sure it sacrifices for the good of the nation. In World War II, young people in their teenage years volunteered to fight,” he said.
Workers, he said, slept on factory floors to keep assembly lines running.
“Now, it’s our time we must sacrifice together because we are all in this together,” he said. “We’ll come through together.”
Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, which affords the president a broad set of powers to use the domestic industry to produce essential materials and goods needed in a national security crisis.
“It’s a war,” he said. “I view it as a, in a sense, a wartime president. It’s a very tough situation.”
This week has brought a turnaround in White House tone. On Monday, a grave president and his officials warned the public that the crisis could last until August as they urged the population to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people. A day later, they turned their attention to an economic stimulus package designed to help businesses and workers weather the crisis.
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On Wednesday, Trump said the nation would defeat the “invisible enemy.”
“It will be a complete victory, a total victory,” he said.
Vice President Mike Pence stared straight ahead but nodded slightly as Trump put an optimistic gloss on an outbreak that has already killed at least 116 Americans, with no end in sight.
Italy reported 475 deaths, the highest daily total by any country so far, as nations around the world stepped up their efforts to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Two Canadian provinces declared states of emergency. In Hong Kong, health authorities are issuing electronic wristbands to returning travelers to monitor their period of self-quarantine.
And Britain, which like the United States, unveiled drastic social distancing guidance on Monday, announced that all schools would close at the end of the week.
The moves came as a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University reached 200,000 confirmed cases around the world, with more than 8,000 deaths.
Markets plunged yet again, triggering an automatic halt in trading, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the nation could face 20% unemployment.
Trump dismissed that figure as a “worst-case scenario” and said, “We’re no way near it.”
The coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force warned the nation to prepare for a rapid increase in cases. More tests going into the field, said Deborah Birx, would bring a surge in the number of people testing positive.
“We will see the number of people diagnosed dramatically increase over the next four to five days,” she said, urging commentators to understand that the increasing rate was an artifact of increased testing rather than a spike in actual numbers of cases.
Earlier, Trump issued a tweet declaring that the border with Canada was being closed by mutual agreement for nonessential travel. Officials were unable to explain immediately how it would work and whether it would apply to Americans in Canada wanting to return.
During the briefing, Trump said the closure would still allow medical services, industry, and armed forces to cooperate across the border but prevent day-trippers from crossing.
