TheNewsGuru

Tag: trump

  • Trump calls for sack of COVID-19 expert Dr Fauci

    Donald Trump has promoted a tweet calling for the firing of Dr Anthony Fauci, after the White House’s top infectious diseases expert suggested the US president cost lives by delaying social distancing measures.

    Amid an escalating coronavirus pandemic, which has so far killed more than 22,000 people in the US alone, Dr Fauci appeared to confirm details of a bombshell New York Times report which described the bungling response to the crisis by Mr Trump and senior aides.

    Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper why the administration failed to act in mid-February when he and other officials advised measures to slow the spread of the virus, Dr Fauci said: “You know, Jake, as I have said many times, we look at it from a pure health standpoint.

    “We make a recommendation. Often, the recommendation is taken. Sometimes it’s not. But we – it is what it is. We are where we are right now.”

    Read Also: S/Korea to ship 600,000 coronavirus testing kits to U.S.
    In a rambling overnight Twitter tirade, Mr Trump reacted furiously to the Times’ report.

    After a series of complaints about the “Lamestream Media”, Mr Trump shared a tweet by DeAnna Lorraine, a Republican former California congressional candidate, which read: “Fauci is now saying that had Trump listened to the medical experts earlier he could’ve saved more lives.

  • COVID-19: WHO reacts to Trump’s threats to cut funding

    COVID-19: WHO reacts to Trump’s threats to cut funding

    The World Health Organisation, WHO on Wednesday replied U.S. President Trump and advised him not to cut funding amid an “acute phase of a pandemic”.

    The UN agency debunked Trump’s accusation that it “very China-centric,”.

    It said that continuing work with China is vital for research to combat the virus around the world.

    Mr. Trump on Tuesday criticised the organization in a tweet. He said the organisation “really blew it,” adding that he will review the U.S.’ funding.

    But Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior advisor to director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a virtual press conference Wednesday from Geneva explained the agency’s operations.

    He said it “was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and work with the Chinese to understand this.”

    “This is what we did with every other hard hit country like Spain and had nothing to do with China specifically,” he added.

    Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, during the briefing hit back on Mr. Trump’s suggestion to cut funding to the organization and insisted that because the world remains in the “acute phase of a pandemic … now is not the time to cut back on funding.”

    Reuters said the U.S. contributed more than $400 million to the WHO in 2019.

    China, the second largest contributor, paid $44 million.

  • Coronavirus death toll surpasses 12,000 in US

    Coronavirus death toll surpasses 12,000 in US

    The United States has recorded 12,291 deaths from the raging Coronavirus pandemic sweeping through all its 50 States.

    There are at least 387,547 cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 12,291 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally of cases.

    So far Tuesday, there are at least 19,351 new cases and 1,305 deaths have been reported, according to the tally.

    The total includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as all repatriated cases.

    Wyoming is the only state not reporting a death from coronavirus, according to CNN.

    New York is the epicentre of Coronavirus in the US, recording 138,863 cases and 5,489 deaths. The City recorded 714 death on Tuesday alone.

    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is worried about coronavirus cases and hospitalizations increasing again as some people start to leave their homes.

    “The weather has turned warm. People have been in their homes for one month, everyone has cabin fever and they’re coming out in greater numbers,” Cuomo told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

    Earlier Tuesday, Cuomo said at his daily press briefing that hospitalizations may be leveling off and social distancing “is working,” but stressed that New Yorkers need to keep doing it.

    He told Burnett his focus isn’t merely on preventing a second wave, but working to improve the current situation in New York — an epicenter for coronavirus in the United States.

    “(I’m) not even worried about a second wave. I’m worried about getting out of the situation we’re in right now and saving as many lives as possible and that will be a direct coefficient of how well we comply with social distancing,” Cuomo said.

  • COVID-19: Trump sends two therapeutic companies to London to assist ‘critically ill’ Boris Johnson

    COVID-19: Trump sends two therapeutic companies to London to assist ‘critically ill’ Boris Johnson

    President Donald Trump said he has asked two therapeutics companies to ‘contact London immediately’ about assisting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s treatment

    Johnson, who was diagnosed with coronavirus about 11 days ago was admitted into the ICU of St. Thomas Hospital as his health took a turn for the worse.

    ‘I want to send best wishes to a very good friend of mine, and a friend to our nation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson,’ Trump said.

    ‘We are very saddened to hear that he was taken into intensive care this afternoon a little while ago. And Americans are all praying for his recovery.

    ‘He has been a really good friend pretty something special. Very strong. Resolute, he does not quit. Does not give up.’

    ‘I have asked two of the leading companies – these are brilliant companies, they have come up with solutions and just have done incredible jobs – I have asked them to contact London immediately.

    ‘They speak a language that most people do not even understand – but I understand something that they have really advanced there, therapeutically, and that they have arrived in London already.

    ‘The London office has whatever they need. And we will see if we can be of help. We have contacted all of Boris’ doctors, and we will see what is going to take place. But they are ready to go.

    Trump added: ‘But when you get brought into intensive care, that gets very, very serious with this particular disease.

    ‘So, the two companies are there. And with what they are talking about, and it is rather complex, and has had really incredible results.

    ‘We are working with the FDA and everybody else, but we are working with London with respect to Boris Johnson.’—Daily Mail

  • Trump warns Americans: ‘There will be lots of deaths next week…’

    Trump warns Americans: ‘There will be lots of deaths next week…’

    United States President, Donald Trump has told Americans to prepare for a lot of death in the coming week as the dreadful Coronavirus surges.

    The novel coronavirus has infected more than 1.1 million people and killed more than 60,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

    The US has more than 300,000 cases and more than 8,100 deaths, according to revised figures.

    Trump on Saturday said ‘There’s going to be a lot of death, unfortunately.’

    He said federal assistance would now be focused on areas that need it most.

    “In some cases we are telling governors we cannot go there as we don’t think they need it, or someone else needs it,” he said.

    “There will be a lot of death, unfortunately. There will be death. We are looking for an obvious focus on the hardest-hit regions.

    “Some spring up, they hit you like you got hit by a club,” he said.

    Trump added: “we’re going to be adding a tremendous amount of military, thousands of soldiers, medical workers, professionals,” to help deal with the pandemic.

    The military personnel will “soon” be advised of their assignments, he said, adding that “1,000 military personnel” were being deployed to New York City, BBC reports.

    Trump also said that he was employing the Defence Production Act, a federal law instituted in response to the Korean War in 1950, which allows it to requisition materials and facilities – seemingly confirming mask manufacturer 3M’s claim that it had been told by the US government not to send masks to Canada or Latin America.

    “Fema [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] has ordered 180 million N95 masks and we’re working now with 3M to see if that works out,” he said.

    “But we want them to help our country. We need the masks, we don’t want other people getting it… you could call it retaliation.”

  • US President Donald Trump announces result of second coronavirus test

    U.S. President Donald Trump has passed a second coronavirus test taken Thursday. He was tested with a rapid diagnostic tool that produced a result in less than 15 minutes.

    The result showed that he has not been infected by the virus.

    Trump disclosed the result Thursday at his White House daily briefing on the pandemic.

    “I think I took it really out of curiosity to see how quickly it worked,” said Trump.

    Trump first took the test last month after coming into contact with a Brazilian official.

    The Brazilian tested positive for the coronavirus, but Trump was negative.

    At the daily White House briefing, Trump announced plans for the U.S. military and federal personnel to operate a makeshift hospital set up in the Javits Convention Centre in New York.

    The emergency hospital is expected to help the city grapple with a flood of patients.

    New York is now the epicentre of the U.S. epidemic with more than 47,000 confirmed cases in the city.

    White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said the government will send to the New York public hospital system N-95 protective masks to help medical workers get through the next month.

    Kushner is a member of the coronavirus task force,

    Trump had initially played down the threat from the virus.

    He has now invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to try to order companies to produce hospital ventilators.

    The ventilators are essential in keeping alive patients hit hard by the COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

    He said he also used the law to get General Motors to produce more N-95 masks.

    “We have over 100,000 (ventilators) being built right now or soon to be started,” Trump said.

  • US won’t pay for Harry, Meghan’s security – Trump

    US won’t pay for Harry, Meghan’s security – Trump

    President Donald Trump says the US will not foot the bill for Prince Harry and Meghan’s security amid reports that the pair have moved to the US from Canada.

    Mr Trump tweeted he was “a great friend and admirer of the Queen and the United Kingdom”, but added: “They must pay!”

    The couple said they had no plans to ask for publicly funded security in the US.

    They have reportedly relocated to Meghan’s home state of California amid the intensifying coronavirus outbreak.

    They will formally step down as senior royals on 31 March and will no longer carry out duties on behalf of the Queen, but these arrangements will be reviewed after one year.

    In a statement released through a spokesperson on Sunday, the couple said: “The duke and duchess have no plans to ask the US government for security resources. Privately funded security arrangements have been made.”

    The couple and their son Archie have spent much of this year residing in Canada’s west coast, following a six-week Christmas break on Vancouver Island.

  • COVID-19: Trump signs historic $2.2trn financial stimulus bill

    COVID-19: Trump signs historic $2.2trn financial stimulus bill

    President Donald Trump on Friday signed the $2.2 trillion (N827 trillion) financial stimulus package to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

    This came hours after the country’s House of Representatives approved the bipartisan bill, which the Senate passed on Wednesday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the U.S. is currently the hardest-hit country in terms of the COVID-19 infections, accounting for no fewer than 99,000 cases.

    Under the law, the government will make direct payments totaling $290 billion (N109 trillion) to Americans earning below $99,000 (N37 million) per annum.

    They are expected to get directly get up to $1,200 (N451,000) each, in addition to $500 (N188,000) per child.

    On Wednesday, a record 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits amid massive job losses occasioned by the pandemic.

    The package includes the payment of another $260 billion (N97 trillion) to jobless and laid-off workers for up to four months.

    Small businesses with less than 500 employees and airlines will get a total of $881 billion (N331 trillion) as soft loans to cushion the economic effect of the virus.

    In brief remarks, after the signing at the White House in Washington, Trump thanked “Democrats and Republicans for coming together and putting America first”.

    He said the package would pave way for economic recovery in the U.S., adding that the country would have “a tremendous rebound’’.

  • COVID-19: Nigeria to receive $7 million U.S. humanitarian, health assistance response

    COVID-19: Nigeria to receive $7 million U.S. humanitarian, health assistance response

    By Dayo Benson Editor Politics,Law/Human Rights New York

    As part of its leading humanitarian and health assistance response to combat Coronavirus Pandemic around the world, The United States is to provide more than $7million funding to Nigeria and various sums to other countries around the world to fight the scourge.

    This came as President Donald Trump signed over $2 trillion Emergency Stimulus Package, approved by Senate and House of Representatives to aid Americans and businesses affected by the lockdown to slow the virus spread

    United States and other countries around the globe continue to battle the plague, even as the U.S. records the highest figure of confirmed cases globally.

    Nigeria is among 19 African Countries to receive the assistance which is also extended to needy countries in Europe, Asia, Middle East , Latin America, Middle East and North Africa. United Nations Organizations and Agencies are also beneficiaries of the gesture.

    This revelation was contained in a Fact Sheet released Friday, by the Office of Spokesperson, U.S. Department of State, Press Office, titled “The United States is Leading the Humanitarian and Health Assistance Response to COVID-19.”

    “More than $7 million in health and humanitarian funding will go toward risk communication, water and sanitation activities, infection prevention, and coordination.”

    “This assistance joins more than $5.2 billion in U.S. health assistance and more than $8.1 billion in total assistance for Nigeria over the past 20 years”, the fact sheet stated.

    Apart from Nigeria and Cameroon, the other three West African Countries to receive the aids are purely Francophone, namely Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.

    Other beneficiary from the Continent are from the East, Central and South African countries, including Ethiopia, Somalia and South Africa. North African countries are grouped with Middle East

  • BREAKING: Trump okays manufacturing of thousands ventilators as U.S Covid-19 cases surpasses 100,000

    BREAKING: Trump okays manufacturing of thousands ventilators as U.S Covid-19 cases surpasses 100,000

    President Donald Trump invoked the rarely used Defense Production Act on Friday to order the Department of Health and Human Services to compel General Motors to manufacturer ventilators hours after he sharply criticized the company for slow-walking production.

    “Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course,” Trump said in a statement.

    “GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.”

    Trump himself has been criticized for not quickly invoking his authority to use the act as the nation’s hospitals and health care facilities are in dire need of critical medical supplies. He announced he would use the act this month, but did not invoke it until Friday.

    U.S. surpassed 100,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus Friday, led by a continued jump in infections in New York and in new hotspots across the country.