Early in the vice presidential debate Wednesday evening, Vice President Mike Pence said that President Trump “suspended all travel from China” as the coronavirus pandemic threatened the United States. He repeated the claim later in the debate, saying, “President Trump made that decision before the end of January to end all travel from China.”
That is only partially true.
The restriction Trump imposed went into effect on Feb. 2. It applies only to foreign nationals who have traveled to China in the last 14 days. That restriction does not apply to U.S. citizens who have traveled to China. Nor does it apply to foreign diplomats or to the families of U.S. citizens and legal residents.
According to the New York Times, 40,000 people in the U.S. made the flight from China to the U.S. in the two months following the order.
Trump boasted about this restriction himself during the last debate, saying that it had saved millions of lives.
