4/1/20: Members of the Coronavirus Task Force Hold a Press Briefing

The President: Thank you all very much. Thank you. That's why the United States continues to wage an all-out war to defeat the virus, this horrible, horrible virus. You see how terrible it is, especially when you look at yesterday's numbers. And we explain why we are expanding our guidelines nationwide to slow the spread in 30 days. Together we have the power to save countless lives. We are attacking the virus on all fronts with social distancing, economic support for our workers, rapid medical intervention and very serious innovation, and banning dangerous foreign travel that threatens the health of our people.

And we did it early, much earlier than anyone would have thought and much sooner than anyone else. In this time of need, I know that all Americans will do their patriotic duty and help us achieve complete victory. As governments and nations focus on the

coronavirus

, there is a growing threat that cartels, criminals, terrorists and other malign actors will try to exploit the situation for their own benefit. And we must not allow that to happen. We will never let that happen. Today, the United States is launching enhanced counternarcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to protect the American people from the deadly scourge of illegal narcotics.

We must not allow drug cartels to take advantage of the pandemic to threaten the lives of Americans. In cooperation with 22 partner nations, U.S. Southern Command will increase surveillance, disruption and seizures of drug shipments and provide additional support to eradication efforts currently underway at a record pace. We are deploying additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft and helicopters; Coast Guard cutters; and Air Force surveillance aircraft, doubling our capabilities in the region. Very importantly, our

force

s are fully equipped with personal protective equipment and we have taken additional safety measures to ensure our troops remain healthy. Secretary Mark Esper, Attorney General Bill Barr and National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien will provide more details.

Also, I'm going to ask General Milley, who has done an incredible job in many ways, to say a few words. And also with us: our Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gilday, who you know, I believe he knows; and Coast Guard Commander Admiral Schultz. So I'll ask Mark to start and then we can go. And after that, we will answer the questions related to this. And then we'll move on to phase two, which is the virus itself. Well? Please thanks. Brand. Secretary Esper: Well, thank you, Mr. President. And good afternoon everyone. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today as we make this very important announcement.

At a time when the nation and the Department of Defense are focused on protecting the American people from the spread of the

coronavirus

, we also remain vigilant about the many other threats facing our country. Today, under the direction of the President, the Department of Defense, in close cooperation with our interagency partners, began enhanced counternarcotics operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. This initiative is part of the administration's whole-of-government approach to combat the flow of illicit drugs into the United States and protect the American people from its scourge. I want to thank all of our partners in this effort, including the United States Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug En

force

ment Administration, the Department of Justice, and

members

of the intelligence community, for their tremendous support and cooperation.

To carry out these enhanced operations, the President has ordered the deployment of additional ships, aircraft, and security forces to the United States Southern Command Area of ​​Responsibility. This force package includes Navy destroyers and littoral combat ships, coast guard vessels, P-8 patrol aircraft and elements of an Army Security Forces Assistance Brigade. These additional forces will nearly double our ability to conduct counternarcotics operations in the region. Additionally, 22 partner countries have joined us in this fight, bringing with them a variety of operational and intelligence capabilities necessary to defeat these criminal organizations. Last year alone, US Southern Command operations resulted in the seizure of more than 280 metric tons of drugs, many of which were intended to be shipped to the United States.

While this was an incredible achievement, there is still a lot of work to be done. Transnational criminal organizations continue to threaten our security by smuggling cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamines and other narcotics across our borders. These drug traffickers put our communities at risk, communities, and destroy lives. Each year, tens of thousands of Americans die from drug overdoses and thousands more suffer the harmful effects of addiction. Furthermore, corrupt actors, such as the illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela, depend on profits derived from the sale of narcotics to maintain their op

press

ive grip on power. The Venezuelan people continue to suffer greatly due to Maduro's criminal control over the country.

Drug traffickers are taking advantage of this anarchy by increasing their illicit activities. We must do more to prevent these drugs from reaching our shores. These enhanced counternarcotics operations now underway will further disrupt the flow of illicit drugs to the United States, deny our adversaries the financial resources they depend on, and build the capacity of our partner countries throughout the region. I want to thank President Trump for his leadership and support of this critical mission. This is a particularly important time for this operation to begin, as nations around the world are shifting their focus inward to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and many criminal organizations are attempting to profit from this crisis.

The enhanced operations we are announcing today will keep the

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ure on these criminal groups and protect the American people from the devastation caused by the flow of illegal drugs into our country. Mr. President, thank you for your leadership in beginning this important operation. While the men and women of the United States military work hard here at home to combat the coronavirus, we continue to take action around the world to defend our great country. Thank you and I would like to invite General Milley. Geneal Milley: Thank you, Secretary, for those words. And thank you, Mr. President, for his leadership.

And I want to publicly thank Admiral Craig Faller, commander of US Southern Command in Miami, for leading this operation, which is underway as of today; and also to Admiral Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral Schultz for his service contributions to this. There are thousands of Sailors, Coast Guardsmen, Soldiers, Airmen and Marines involved in this operation. Some time ago we became aware of information that drug cartels, as a result of COVID-19, were going to try to take advantage of the situation and try to sneak additional drugs into our country. As we know, 70,000 Americans die annually from drugs.

That is unacceptable. We are at war against COVID-19, we are at war with terrorists and we are also at war with drug cartels. This is the United States Army. You will not penetrate this country. You will not pass Jump Street. You're not going to come here and kill more Americans. And we will muster all necessary resources to prevent them from entering this country to kill Americans. So at this time, the Navy has recruited additional gray hull ships from both PACOM and EUCOM and to the naval fleet in Norfolk. And they have already set sail and are in the Caribbean right now.

In addition to that, there are 10 coast guards and there are Special Operations Forces and Security Force Assistance Brigades, along with Air Force reconnaissance aircraft. The bottom line is: you're not going to make it. Now is not the time to try to penetrate the United States with illegal drugs to kill Americans. We are the United States Army and we will defend our country, no matter the cost. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, secretary. The President: Thank you very much, General. Beautiful. Thank you. Bill. Attorney General Barr: Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you for your decisive leadership as we face this unprecedented challenge posed by the corona--coronavirus.

I would like to thank you for your support of this important initiative and thank everyone, the Secretary of Defense and all the services, for taking on this important initiative. Obviously, during this crisis, we are all focused primarily on COVID-19. But at the same time, our law enforcement and national security work must advance, protecting the American people from the full range of threats. For the Department of Justice, one of our top priorities must continue to be destroying the Mexican cartels. Its trafficking is largely responsible for the deaths, as we all now know, of 70,000 Americans a year. And the costs of this also don't count the families destroyed, the lives destroyed, the draining of our national treasury as state budgets are crushed by the burden that this... this narcotics trafficking causes.

The President has made it clear that we are in this fight against cartels to win, that we are not interested in half measures and that the threat posed by the cartel is not only a threat to law enforcement, but also a threat to national security. . And, in December, based on his success with the Mexican President in forging a cooperative relationship in the area of ​​immigration, he asked me to come and meet with President López Obrador and our Mexican counterparts to see if we could also establish a closer agreement. comprehensive and coordinated effort with Mexicans to confront the cartels.

And we have had some successful visits and conversations, and we currently have a number of activities underway against the cartels. And we anticipate, together with the Mexicans, that these will bear fruit in the coming months. But it quickly became clear that we can get the most immediate results, the best investment, when we increase the assets involved in interdiction on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of Mexico in the Central American countries. For years, cartels have been using these maritime routes to transport cocaine, mainly from Colombia, and now also from Venezuela. And these maritime routes on both coasts have become the main means of bringing cocaine to the United States.

Thanks to the excellent work done by the Department of Defense and our intelligence community, we know exactly where these traffickers are at sea, most of the time. But until now we have been significantly limited in our ability to intercept because of the number of assets we have deployed. Before today, this limitation meant that we could only intercept a fraction of the smugglers and various vessels that were detected. This will now double our capacity, and we are talking about hundreds of tons of cocaine now; We are now in a position to seize them. So this will radically improve our interdiction efforts and we believe it will put enormous pressure on the cartels.

And the effort SOUTHCOM is undertaking will save lives by removing drugs from the streets. Last week I announced the disclosure of charges of narcoterrorism, drug trafficking and other crimes against the former Maduro regime (16

members

of that regime) and their involvement in trafficking 250 metric tons per year. Much of that arrives by sea, as I mentioned at the time. But also, because of the pressure we are applying through our maritime interdiction, they are trying to establish an air route from Venezuela to Central America, which is one of the reasons why we are trying to act firmly against that corrupt regime. .

You know, this war on drugs has gone on for many decades. And at times in the past we have had great success and great results. And sometimes we have lost our sight, fortunately not in this administration. And I am grateful that you, Mr. President, have brought attention to this fight and the determination to use all the tools necessary to win the fight. The cartels must be defeated, both for the people of this country and for the people of Mexico and Venezuela. So I would like to thank you again, Mr. President, Secretary Esper, for providing the means necessary to help win this war against the cartels and others who seek to ship illicit drugs into our country.

And with that, I would like to introduce you to Ambassador O'Brien. Ambassador O'Brien: Thank you, General. Thank you, Mr. President. Today's action is another example of President Trump's bold leadership and his commitment to protecting the homeland against threats that seek to destabilize the United States and our Western Hemisphere. The uncontrolled flow of illegal drugs into the United States poisons our communities; fuels the dangerous epidemic: the addiction epidemic; and threatens the safety of all Americans. The impressive operationThe U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force interagency committee will address a variety of threats to our national security posed by drug traffickers and narco-terrorists.

It will reduce illicit financial support for drug trafficking, the drug trade that provides the corrupt Maduro regime in Venezuela and other bad actors with the funds necessary to carry out their malign activities. Under President Trump's leadership, we will continue to execute our maximum pressure policy to counter the Maduro regime's malign activities, including drug trafficking. And this operation will help strangle the funds that end up in that corrupt regime. Maduro, narcoterrorists and criminals must not make the mistake that, even as we work around the clock to combat the spread of the coronavirus, we will continue to execute the President's anti-narcotics strategy.

We are working on a number of important national security priorities as we confront this public health crisis. The United States will continue to combat misinformation and fake news about this virus. We will work with the world's largest oil producers to address volatility in global oil markets. We will always protect our military men and women around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. I want the American people to know that President Trump, Vice President Pence, and his administration are working tirelessly every day to protect the health and well-being of Americans and respond to the coronavirus. However, our adversaries should take note: this president has a clear vision of America's national security interests.

And let me be clear: It would be a mistake, a mistake with terrible consequences, for any adversary to try to harm us during this health crisis, or even ever, for that matter. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. President. The President: Okay. So do we have any questions about this? Because this group is going to work again. The are going to go. John, please. Press: A question for you, Mr. President, or for Secretary Esper. What has changed that allows these resources to be deployed now, whereas, as General Barr said, they were not available in the past?

The President: Well, for a long time we have had a lot of drugs coming into our country. And it's not that it's increased, we've probably reduced it a little bit, but it's still a tremendous number. Families are ruined. Lives are being ruined. It's amazing, especially being in this position. You would never believe it. I see things that no one would believe. I see reports that no one would believe. So I met up with the group behind me, all of us, and we said, "What do you think we can do?" And they think they can intercept. They think we can stop it before it reaches the shores.

And they come from everywhere. And we have incredibly talented people. So I think I'll let Mark give a little answer to that. But we just want to see if we can stop a large percentage of the drugs coming into our country. Secretary Esper: Sure. Thank you, Mr. President. So first of all, it's simply a matter of prioritization. The President has given us very clear guidance on what is important to him and the protection of the American people. And, as some of you know, I began a review months ago, looking at all of our different geographic combatant commands and looking at where we can free up time, money and resources to devote to other efforts.

In this case, we had looked at our inventory quite carefully. President Milley worked hard on this Admiral Gilday. And we felt that there was no risk to the fleet, to our operations to free, in this case, warships. We also freed up aircraft and other assets to apply to this presidential priority. And of course the Coast Guard did the same. So it was a very good operation. We believe this is very important to the American people and is completely in line with the President's direction. Press: And for how long will they be able to maintain this operational rhythm?

Secretary Esper: Well, it depends. What we are going to do is run it for a matter of time. I'm not going to reveal how long it will be. And then we'll evaluate it and then make adjustments from there. We can increase. We can decrease. We can sustain ourselves as is. But this will be an evaluation that we will do as an interinstitutional team. We will inform the President. And we'll get more guidance from there. The President: And, you know, we didn't do it for this reason, but it will also have an impact on the virus because we have people trying to get in.

So, not just drugs, but now we have a new phenomenon. . And that's at least for the next, hopefully, short period of time: the virus. Then we can have an effect on that as well. Please. The Press: Yes. Mr. President, could you expand on this a little? Because you link it to COVID-19, saying that these drug cartels were taking advantage of the situation, of this pandemic. The President: That's right. They were. La Prensa: How exactly... The President: Well, because we are focused on many other parts of the country, and even parts of the world. And all of a sudden, areas where we had pretty strict restrictions, to be fair.

You know, the wall is already about 160 miles long. And any area where we have that wall is, for the most part, contiguous. We have fillings. But we are exactly 161 miles away. And anywhere you have that wall, other than going around the edges, it stops everyone. I mean, we'll stop...no one has ever seen anything like it. That's how well it works. And the other side knew it worked very well: everyone. Because everyone was for it five years ago. Suddenly they changed. It's having a tremendous impact. But now we're focused on so many different things because of what happened, because of this horrible...

I say it's a horrible phenomenon that now we have to focus on drugs. And drugs arrive by different methods. And we have the best people at sea anywhere in the world, so we will have a tremendous impact on drugs. But one of the other things: we think we will also have an impact on the virus. Well? Yes please. La Prensa: Ambassador O'Brien, did China not report both the number of cases and deaths from the coronavirus? And if that's the case, Mr. President, what does that mean for our relationship with China and your relationship with President Xi?

Ambassador O'Brien: Well, first, I think the president has a great relationship with President Xi. And we would like to have a great relationship with China. Unfortunately, we are simply not in a position to confirm any of the figures coming out of China. There is no way to confirm any of those numbers. There are many public reports about whether the numbers are too low. You have access to reports coming out of Chinese social media and to some of the few reporters left in China. We simply have no way to confirm any of those numbers. Thank you. The President: We really don't know.

I mean, yeah, look, how do we know if they didn't report enough or if they reported the way they did? But the other night we got a great call. We are working together on many different things, including trade. They are buying a lot. They are spending a lot of money and giving it to our farmers. They are paying our farmers for the product. So, you know, let's continue with that. John. Yes. Press: I have another one, sir. You tweeted today that you had - you've uncovered intelligence that a sneak attack is being planned against US troops, US assets in Iraq.

Are we talking about Kata'ib Hezbollah again? Also... The President: I know what you're saying, but we only have information that they were planning something. And it is very good information. It was led by Iran, not necessarily Iran, but by groups supported by Iran. But that, for me, is Iran. And we just say, "Don't do it. Don't do it." It would be very bad for them if they did. Press: The last time they did it in early March, at Camp Taji, there was an army response against Kata'ib Hezbollah and only Kata'ib Hezbollah. His tweets. The President: By the way, that was a very powerful response.

That answer eliminated five different places, but it also eliminated a lot of very bad people. The Press: However, your tweets seemed to suggest that if it happens again, you could move up the food chain. The President: Well, that was a very big response. You know, we knocked out a lot of people. We look: they arrived at a place; We reached five big and ammunition sites. You saw... you saw what happened. And I won't say how many people died, but some bad people were killed. And many of them. That was a great answer. But this response will be greater if they do something.

Yes. You had one. Please. La Prensa: Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Going back to your conversation with President Xi, I wonder if you received an intelligence report that talked about the discrepancy in the numbers and if you raised that issue with President Xi. The President: We have not received that. But your numbers seem to be a bit low. And I'm being kind when I say that, relative to what we witnessed and what was reported. But we talked about it with him, not so much about the numbers, but about what they did and how they are doing it.

And we are in constant communication with - I mean, I would say the biggest communication is me and President Xi. The relationship is very good. We have, look, they are spending, they will spend, when things even out, this is obviously a bit of a hurdle, which has happened over the last month. But they will spend $250 billion buying our product: $50 billion for farmers alone, $200 billion for other things. They had never done that before. So we have a great trade agreement. And we would like to keep it, they would like to keep it and the relationship is good.

As for whether your figures are accurate or not, I'm not a China accountant. Press: Does this put things under tension in terms of the trade agreement? The President: No, because people simply don't know. People don't know where it came from. I think we all understand where it came from. And President Xi understands this. And we don't have to give it much importance. We didn't like the fact that they said it came from our soldiers. And they haven't pursued that. It was... and that was said by a mid-level person. I guess he wasn't a high level person.

I will always assume the best. I'll assume the high level people didn't know. It was a foolish statement. So, look, the relationship with China is good, and my relationship with him is, you know, really good. Please. Press: Can I continue with that point about Chinese propaganda that you mentioned, as well as Ambassador O'Brien? So in recent weeks, China has been sending out PPE, you know, masks. The President: Yes. Press: They have been selling or donating everywhere (Africa, Europe, Italy, Russia) and they have really pushed this narrative that they are taking a global leadership role in the crisis.

So what do you think about that? And are there any plans for the administration to take on that role? The President: Well, I don't care if they want it. Yes. I see it as a positive thing if they are helping other countries. We have 151 countries right now that are besieged by the virus. Under siege. Some are doing really badly. You know, they don't know about social distancing. These are countries that are not very sophisticated. They don't have great communication with the rest of the world. I mean, they don't know the things that we are doing and that others can do.

And if China can help them, I fully support it. I am in favor of everyone helping everyone. Soon we will have more ventilators than we need. We are building thousands of ventilators right now. Now, it takes a period of time to build them. And again, no one could have imagined that something like this could happen. We are building thousands. Very soon we will be at a point where we will have far more than we can use, even after building up reserves for some future catastrophe, which we hope will not happen. We will distribute them (the extras) all over the world.

We will go to Italy, we will go to France. He will go to Spain, which, you know, is very affected. Press: Just to continue on that note: Is there any truth to the report that your administration is halting the shipment of USAID PPE stockpiles abroad? The President: No. No, not at all the truth. La Prensa: So your administration is not... The President: No, we want... I would love for China and other countries to have additional supplies, medical supplies, to give to other countries. One hundred fifty-one - 151 - La Prensa: So, at this time, the United States still sends to USAID?

The President: Why should I stop that? Wouldn't it be terrible to stop him? Press: No, I mean, is the United States stopping sending our own reserves, through USAID, to other countries? The President: No. Whatever we have, whatever we have committed to, we commit to. But we also need a lot for ourselves, so we're very focused on that until we get through this. So obviously we won't ship too much until, now, we have too much of certain things and not enough of others. I just had a great chat today with... Doug McMillon from Walmart. And I gave him a very, very large order for gowns, protective equipment for the doctors, the nurses, forall.

And he's actually very excited about it. He is the biggest buyer of this kind of stuff. I mean, probably anything in the world. And he's very excited about it. And he said, "What size?" I said, "It's almost unlimited." When you look at these hospitals, the amount they're asking for, you almost say, "How can they use so much, whether it's masks or protective gear?" But we are supplying a huge quantity and we just ordered a lot from Walmart. And he has taken it personally. And I said, "Let it be shipped, not sent to a warehouse, but directly next to the hospital or wherever they need it," because we save a lot of time when we do that.

So Walmart, in addition to many other companies and people, is now involved at the highest level. Please. Press: The announcements made today aim to stop the flow of narcotics into the country. Are you concerned that we may be losing ground on the drug crisis as we fight? The President: No, I don't think we are losing ground, but we don't want to lose ground. That's why we're doing it. I don't want to lose ground. That's a big fight. I have seen many families where they are eliminated because they lost a son or a daughter, or a husband or a wife, or whatever, or all of them.

And we don't want to lose ground. And we are very focused on the virus. Very concentrated. And with this, we will never -- after this goes into effect, which essentially is now, will we have never been as focused on drugs coming into our country as we are now. And remember, as that wall gets bigger, that really helps us a lot. It really helps us a lot. Yes please. La Prensa: Is the Mexican government or any other Latin American government working together with this operation to help with this drug? The President: Many governments are, and Mexico, in particular, is.

And Mexico, right now, has 27,000 Mexican soldiers on our southern border, keeping people out of our country. And we are... very few people coming to our country right now. And as we complete, again, the wall, in addition to the 27,000 soldiers, it's... it's a very... it's a very difficult place to get into. When I... when I took over, people came in and brought whatever they wanted. They brought drugs of any kind and now it is very hard for them. And it will be increasingly difficult. But the President of Mexico is a great guy who has really helped us a lot: 27,000 soldiers, 27,000 Mexican soldiers.

And you remember when I first took office, they had all the caravans with 10,000, 15,000 people in the caravans. They were marching through Mexico. That doesn't happen anymore. Please, back. La Prensa: Mr. President, are narcomilitans like the FARC's 57th Front outside Colombia or the Maduro regime? Do you know if they are working together with the Mexican cartels? Is there any intelligence that indicates that? The President: I can't tell you that. I can... I know the answer to that. I think so. But I can't tell you that. We have information that would lead us to believe something very powerful, but I can't give you the answer.

Yes please. Jeff. Press: Mr. President, have U.S. forces in Iraq taken any precautions because of this particular attack? The President: Yes, of course. Sure. La Prensa: And you... The President: They are taking precautions and we are observing it very closely. And if something bad happens, it will be very painful for the other party. Press: Have you been in contact with the Iraqi government about this? The President: They know it, yes. They know. Press: Are they offering additional protection or something? The President: Well, we'll see. We'll see what happens. But you know, now we are left with a small force.

Over the years since I arrived, we have been bringing smaller and smaller products. And right now we are a small number, but we have very powerful air power there. We have a great base and, what it will be, you know, no one will be able to get close to it. No one can even come close to that. But in reality, to a large extent, we are gone. You know, we've taken out huge quantities and deployed them elsewhere, even bringing some home. The Press: And do you think tweeting about this will help prevent that from happening? The President: Yes, I think it's... it's not tweeting.

The press: -- Or maybe warn them? The President: It's called "social networks." They are social networks. It comes out. I have, you know, hundreds of millions of people. Number one on Facebook. Did you know that I am number one on Facebook? I mean, I just found out I'm number one on Facebook. I thought it was very nice for whatever that means. No, it represents something. And when I can explain to people: just don't do it. You know, it's going to be bad if you do. It's going to be really bad. And they don't need to. They already have enough problems.

Iran has enough problems without doing that. But we have been moving backwards substantially over the last year in Iraq. And that's how things are. The Press: You said before that you did not want to warn the enemy, whoever that may be in this case. Do you feel like maybe you did? The President: No. I'm just giving you a warning. It is not a warning. I'm giving you a warning. There is a big difference. What I'm saying is: if you do anything that harms our troops, they will pay a price. No, they did it last time, you know, according to the question.

They did it last time. We didn't think much of it, but we hit five big munitions sites very, very hard, and a lot of people accepted it. Lots of bad people. Many enemies accompanied him. And we didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but they paid a high price. This time they will pay a much higher price if they do something. La Prensa: Mr. President, now that we have Admiral Gilday here, perhaps we could ask a question about what the plans are for the Roosevelt, sir. The President: Sure. Admiral Gilday: In terms of the Roosevelt, we are making great progress in terms of testing and also movement, getting people off the ship.

So on the last day, we moved over 1,000. That number will increase to more than 2,700 by Friday as we continue to ramp up testing and ship those samples by plane. So we're getting there pretty quickly. La Prensa: And will the ship continue to be fully operational? Admiral Gilday: Now she is fully operational. La Prensa: And will it continue to be like this? Admiral Gilday: It will remain so. Press: Can I ask for a follow-up on that? What protocols are you implementing to help mitigate the spread of coronavirus among military men and women living and working in close quarters?

Admiral Gilday: Across the fleet, before we have ships underway for training exercises, for deployments, they are spending... those sailors spend 14 days in quarantine before 884 00:32:38,723 -- 00:32: 38,690 are launched. We have increased the number of testing equipment as well as doctors on board our ship at sea. That is why we have taken additional measures since the beginning of the COVID crisis. The President: And not many people will get off at different ports. Good? I think we... Admiral Gilday: Correct. The President: We have probably already decided. Well? Press: Are you referring to civilians? The President: Thank you. No... military, from ships.

Secretary Esper: I want to add one thing. I would like to add one thing to that. There seems to be this narrative that we should just shut down the entire United States military and address the problem that way. That is not feasible. We have a mission. Our mission is to protect the United States of America and our people. That's why we live and work in small spaces, whether it's an aircraft carrier, a submarine, a tank or a bomber. It's the nature of our business. But the chain of command has a very clear orientation. And I am confident that commanding officers and senior NCOs are taking all reasonable precautions to ensure that we practice, to the best of our ability, social distancing, disinfecting environments, etc., consistent with that mission.

And that's what I trust Admiral Gilday, Acting Secretary Modly, and all other service chiefs and leaders to do. And I'm sure we will. Because please know that we have a job to do and we will continue to do it: defend the United States of America. Press: Mr. President, you mentioned reservations before. The Washington Post reported today that the United States' PPE stockpile is nearly depleted. Is that the case? The President: Yes. The Press: And if so. The President: It is. La Prensa: How do you plan to mitigate that? The President: -- because we send it directly to the hospitals.

We don't want it to get to the reservation because then we have to take it when it arrives and take it to various states and hospitals. One of the things, and again we ask the state to do this as much as possible, is that many of the states have people who, whether that or clothing; They make clothes, a lot of clothes in many of the different states. We said, "See if you can get it directly from those manufacturers. Make a deal." We will use the Purchase Law, if necessary, with them. If they don't (by the way, a lot of people do), the spirit of what they are doing is incredible.

But we have asked states where they have large manufacturers of different types of equipment to use those local factories, those local plants, and manufacture them directly. Send it directly to hospitals. We are shipping things directly. As you know, we have almost 10,000 ventilators, which we need to have flexibility. Its alot. It seems like a lot, but it is not. Because, as you see on yesterday's board, as this scourge, this plague, this virus moves, it moves very quickly, and we still don't know if we're going to need it in Louisiana, in New York, you know, wherever this. So we are ready for it.

We are fully prepared for it. We will make shipments; we have already agreed to send over 1000 today to different sites, different locations. But we have to have the flexibility to move the ventilators to where... where the virus goes. And we'll be able to see it, you know, we'll be able to see it on the charts a couple of days in advance. So now we have quite a lot of fans. We have many more to come. We have a lot of... I think we have 11 companies that are making ventilators right now. Very good companies. And they are manufacturing them.

You know about Ford, you know about General Motors, but we have a lot of companies that make ventilators right now. So now the question is: you know, when you make one, it's not done in 15 minutes. It's not: a mask can disappear quickly; It takes time to build a fan. It's very, very... as we mentioned, it's complex, it's big, it's expensive... you know, etcetera. But we can move. We have great flexibility. John? La Prensa: I was just going to say, sir, do you want to go only to the coronavirus or stay with the army? The President: Yes, I think so... does anyone have any other questions for this great group of brilliant people?

Yes please. Press: Thank you, Mr. President. A question for Secretary Esper. That is, military personnel have been deployed throughout the country to help combat the virus. Is there any chance that they are planning to have military personnel treat or care for COVID-19 patients at some point? Secretary Esper: Well, excuse me. As you know, we currently have hospital ships deployed: one in Los Angeles and one in New York City. So they will be, they will be, they could treat patients as they come in. We are taking precautionary measures to screen them beforehand to make sure they are not exposed, so to speak.

The same thing happens with the military hospitals we are in; certainly, we are deploying again to New York, Seattle and other places. But the one thing we have to keep in mind where we are, where we are, is that these are deployable assets; they are unique. So if we want to retain the ability to deploy military doctors and military expeditionary hospitals across the country, we must preserve and protect them as best we can. That said, we remain fully available to assist as needed, as directed by FEMA, as requested by the Vice President and President. That's what we're committed to doing to the American people to help safeguard and protect them during this virus.

La Prensa: So, as part of that, will you care for coronavirus patients or will you strictly care for other patients and help (inaudible)? Secretary Esper: They could have called, I think the best use for them, based on their training and how they are structured and organized, is for trauma. We can ease the burden on hospitals with respect to their trauma patients, thus freeing up rooms and other doctors, particularly doctors who are, you know, respiratory nurses or infectious disease doctors to treat those types of patients. So I think it's the best use of our resources. But again, if things get tough, we are prepared to do what we can to help the American people, while preserving the medical capacity we need to support our operations and forces deployed abroad.

The President: And we are considering building two additional new hospital ships because these ships really... I mean, they really delivered a... a very positive blow to what they're doing coming to Los Angeles, going to New York. So we are very seriously considering building two additional ships of approximately the same size. La Prensa: Build two new ones or implement twonew? The President: It will be... well, build. But we are thinking about building two new ones or renovating another large boat. But this has really worked well. Probably two new ones. La Prensa: Just to follow up. La Prensa: So, Mr.

President. Mr. President. The President: Does this refer to the gentlemen, or do you want them? The Press: Yes. No. No. The President: Don't you want them to go back to work and capture all those bad people? The Press: A follow-up, Mr. President or Mr. Secretary. The President: Go ahead. Sure. Forward. Press: I know that Secretary Wilkie has said that he is on

hold

, waiting to know if it is necessary to open the VA hospitals, that is, open the doors to civilians. The President: True. Press: Are you talking about that? The President: Yes, we are. Press: Could we see that happen?

How soon would that happen? The President: In fact, certain hospitals, yes, certain hospitals, can move very quickly. He is a very capable man. We are ready to act very quickly. For example, in Louisiana they have a very large hospital, so we aim to act very quickly if we need them. You know, hopefully we won't need them. Press: When will you make that decision? Do you think we'll need it soon? The President: We will find out very soon. We'll only know when... the moment it happens. We prepare for the worst. We are preparing for the worst. Unfortunately, that's how we have to look at it.

Press: Just to follow up on the purpose of these warships, you mentioned something about treating trauma patients. And I'm just curious: What about things like, you know, giving birth? Would you expect there to be mothers, in New York, for example? The President: Well, as I understand it, they don't do that on the ship. That's the only thing they're not doing, other than COVID-19. They are not doing that. The birth of a baby... is not done on ships. Press: Can I have a follow-up question with Attorney General Barr, please? This has to do with visa restrictions on immigrant doctors.

Is the administration considering easing restrictions or eliminating them for doctors on J-1 or H-1B visas so they can help other doctors during this crisis? Attorney General Barr: Actually, immigration laws are no longer under the administration of the Department of Justice and I have not participated in any of those discussions. Press: Well, what about you, Mr. President? The President: Good. Any other question? Please go ahead. Press: Can you answer that question, Mr. President? The President: One more. One more for this group that I have here please. The press: To Secretary Esper: The WHO... is dealing with the issue of the coronavirus in Iran.

The WHO confirms that Iran is grossly underestimating its coronavirus cases: not only cases, but also deaths. According to estimates on the ground, the number could rise to fifteen thousand five hundred deaths. It has now been confirmed that 32 army commanders in Iran are in dire condition or have died. Now 8 percent of parliament is affected by the coronavirus. So are the Iran aggression polls today what President Trump just tweeted about? Do you think that, strategically, it is a deception on his part, or is it a very clear sign of desperation? Where are you strategically on that? Secretary Esper: Well, first of all, we have empathy for the Iranian people.

I mean, they've clearly been hit hard. As you know, I think the president has talked about it, certainly Secretary Pompeo. We have offered assistance, we have offered medical supplies, etcetera. They have rejected it. I... I think that if the Iranian regime took more interest in terms of taking care of its people in the context of this virus, it would be better served. Instead, the Iranian regime continues to want to spread its evil activities throughout the region. They want to continue sending the Quds Force and other forces to cause trouble throughout the region. We know that in some way, shape or form, they are funding, directing and approving any operations for Shiite militia groups in Iraq that target US forces.

So I think at the end of the day, again, I feel deep concern for the Iranian people. What is important is that the Iranian government focuses on them and stops this evil behavior that they have been carrying out for more than 40 years. I think the entire region, and certainly the Iranian people, would be better off for it. The President: And I think they want to reach an agreement; They just don't know, really, how to start. And former Secretary Kerry has given them some bad advice. It is very bad advice. Press: Do you think it is a bluff on your part?

The President: And I really believe that they want to reach an agreement, which is the Logan Law, but we would have to examine the Logan Law. All you have to do is take a look. I think Secretary Kerry has given you very bad advice. I think... I think they're dying to reach an agreement. Look, your country is in trouble. Its economy is destroyed. They're in, they've got a lot of bad things going on. I think they'd like to make a deal. They can solve it very quickly. No nuclear weapons. No nuclear weapons. The press: Do you feel that you are... would you be in a position to...?

The President: They cannot have nuclear weapons. It is very simple. Well, let's get these people back to work. Alright? Thank you very much to all. So, as we deploy our service members to combat both threats abroad and the invisible enemy at home, today I spoke with our nation's incredible warriors and military families. I spent a lot of time on the phone with thousands and thousands of families who were connected. To stop the spread of the virus, some of these families have delayed their planned transfers to their next destination. And in other cases, military families are also waiting longer to welcome their heroes home after deployment.

There is a tremendous burden to bear. And the families have been involved with us for a long time and they are amazing. Without families, they couldn't be the great service members they turned out to be, and they understand that. And I must say that protecting our military families is our top priority. So they understand what's happening regarding the virus and they understand it well. They have been fantastic. As Commander in Chief, I am deeply grateful for our service members, their spouses, and their children, whose love, devotion, and sacrifice keep America strong. To manufacture, procure and deliver crucial medical supplies to our doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, my administration is harnessing the power of American manufacturing, supply chains and innovators across industry and across industries.

And I just told you about Walmart and I could tell you about many more. Hanes makes protective equipment and masks, and we make huge quantities of product. There has never been anything like it. At the same time, I say to governors: "Get it yourselves, if you can, from your local businesses and from your local warehouses and factories. If you can do it, you should." Because of the actions we have taken under the Defense Production Act, manufacturers and suppliers are sharing with FEMA and HHS their orders and planned allocations to states and hospitals across the region. This allows FEMA and HHS to work closely with states, local governments, and the private sector to allocate critical resources to highly impacted areas.

Working together, we are completely focused on getting materials to the right place at the right time. So we want it to go directly to a hospital or directly to a certain state location and, ideally, not even to the states' warehouses. If we can avoid the warehouses, it will be even better because they go directly to a hospital. And an example of this is Ohio, the great state of Ohio. Senator Rob Portman called today and asked for help and got us... he did a tremendous job, along with Mike DeWine, the great governor of Ohio, to facilitate a donation of 2.2 million gowns. 2.2 million dresses.

Think about what that is: $2.2 million for Ohio-based Cardinal Health's Strategic National Stockpile. Cardinal Salud, we appreciate it. And they're doing a lot more than that and different kinds of things. We are deeply grateful for your contribution to protecting the lives and safety of our healthcare professionals. Cardinal has been working very well with us. FEMA and HHS formed a historic partnership with the private sector called "Project Airbridge" to bring supplies from other countries to the United States, including gloves, gowns, goggles and masks. These supplies will soon be distributed throughout the country. We have large cargo planes that arrive from various parts of the world.

New planes land every day in cities like New York, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles. Additional flights have been scheduled and we are adding more and more. And in fact they are arriving earlier than expected. Many of these flights arrive with a lot of material ahead of schedule. The amount of use, the amount of need, is something no one has seen before. We're getting a lot, but no matter how much we get, they seem to use it up very quickly. More than 17,000 members of the National Guard have been activated throughout our country. On Tuesday, the vice president sent a letter to governors, asking them to have plans to use the National Guard to move medical supplies from warehouses to hospitals.

So, a lot of times we deliver supplies to a warehouse in one state (somewhere in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut or wherever) and they have a hard time moving them. So what we are doing, if we don't take him directly to the hospital, is we have authorized (it was a special authorization) the National Guard to enter that facility and transport him to the state. So the National Guard is moving a lot of this medical equipment and supplies to a hospital or an area where the state needs them. As I said yesterday, difficult days lie ahead for our nation.

We're going to have a couple of weeks, starting pretty much now, but especially in a few days, that are going to be horrible. But even in the most difficult times, Americans do not despair. We do not give in to fear. We unite, we persevere, we overcome and we win. This week, all American hearts join with the people of New York as they continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic. To all New Yorkers: know that we are with you. I love New York. And every day we will be with you. And it may well be that others will replace New York.

There are some areas, some hot spots in other states that are really exploding. Some, like Louisiana, arrived very late. And then, suddenly, it was like an explosion. To confront this deadly plague, the United States is armed with capabilities undreamed of in centuries past. If you look at 1917, the pandemic, it was something. It devastated parts of this country but it devastated Europe. Devastated. They say that between 75 and 100 million died; some people say between 50 and 75 million people died. Think about it. And that was a long time ago, more than 100 years ago. Many books have been written about the pandemic of 1917 and 1918.

Our doctors are studying the genetic code of the virus and designing possible therapies and vaccines. Our planes transport supplies from all corners of the Earth. We are watching other countries and they are watching us to see whether or not, and who will be the first to find a cure or a remedy of some kind or even help, if it can help, and of course, a vaccine. We are looking very hard for a vaccine. Johnson & Johnson is doing well and other companies are doing very well. But our most powerful asset, our greatest weapon in this effort is the spirit of our people.

And we want to stay away, keep distance. Keep away. If you don't understand it, it solves a lot of problems. If you don't understand it... and you won't be able to get it if you keep your distance. The American spirit is unbreakable, unbreakable and unbreakable. Is incredible. I've never seen anything like it: the way people have come together, the unity of this country. So together we are going to win this war and the sooner we do it, the sooner we can start rebuilding. And we are ready to recover and return to a normal life. We went from the best economy in the history of the world, the best economy this country has ever seen: the best employment numbers we've ever had; 160 million people working, almost; 160 million... to a point where the professionals came to me and said, "Sir, you will have to shut down the country." I said, "What does that mean?" They said, "Sir, you'll have to close it." And we're going to develop it, and I think we're going to develop it quickly.

I think we are going to have a tremendous rebound. There is great energy and great pent-up demand. And as you know, phase three was fantastic, and phase four, which passed in Congress, and phase four, if that happens, will be great. I already proposed paying almost zero interest on bonds and proposed a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which would not only fix our roads, highways, bridges, tunnels and other things, but would also do some very good things. It's called "jobs." I also ask that restaurants and entertainment facilities return to the old corporation deductibility where corporations canbuy, because otherwise many of these restaurants will have difficulty reopening.

It takes a lot of time. And it's going to be difficult for them to reopen. So we're asking to go back to deductibility, where corporations can shop and go out to lunch, they pay and get a deduction on what they eat, they get a deduction on the bill and the same thing with entertainment. It's going to bring back a lot of people. I think it will open up the restaurant business. People forget that they had that years ago. And when they got rid of it, when they ended it for whatever reason, but they ended it, many, many restaurants closed, many entertainment facilities closed.

And now is a good time to get it back. It was... it was a terrible time for that business after they finished it. But this is a good time to get it back. It will keep our restaurants running. In fact, I think the restaurant business will be bigger and better than it is now. So we're talking about that too. And now what we will do is answer some questions. And I see Mike's back with some people. Brilliant. Doctor Fauci. And we... oh, how are you? Thank you Deborah. So we'll answer some questions and progress day by day.

Please. Press: Mr. President, yesterday you were talking about a friend you had who is in a coma. The President: Yes. Press: I'm sorry to hear that your friend is going through that. But you said, "This isn't the flu." There are still some people who think this is the flu, and over the last month, you've sometimes compared it to the flu, saying, "Treat it like the flu." or, you know, "Treat it like we handle the flu." So what changed your thinking or your language about it? The President: I think the severity. I also think about observing the way contagion is so contagious.

No one has ever seen something like this, where large groups of people suddenly, just by being in someone's presence, have it. The flu has never been like this. And there is: the flu is contagious, but nothing like what we have seen here. Also, the violence of it. If it gets to the right person (and you know what those statistics are), if it gets to the right person, that person is in serious trouble. And my friend was the right person. Press: When you found out about that with your friend, was that to some extent a turning point in his way of thinking?

The President: Yes, well, it is not a turning point. No. Before that, I knew how to do it, because I see numbers and statistics that, you know, aren't exactly very good. So... but... but it affected him very hard. He is strong, a very strong guy. But he is older. He is heavier. And he's kind of central casting for what we're talking about, and that affected him very hard. I've never seen anything like it. Yes Juan? The Press: Mr. President, and perhaps this is a question for Dr. Birx or Dr. Fauci as well: Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted last night, and we checked today, that there are still flights between hotspots like New York and Detroit, New Orleans too.

Several flights were completed today. Senator Graham's point is that if mitigation is going to be declared, shouldn't it be full mitigation? The President: Yes. Press: -- And you prevent people from traveling to these critical points? The President: Well, we are thinking about doing it. At the same time, it's just - you know, starting these airlines and starting this all over again is very difficult, John. It is very hard. And you have them going, in some cases, from one access point to another. If you look closely, they are usually from one access point to another. Very few flights.

New York to Miami. And, but we're thinking, we're certainly looking at it. But once you do that, you're really clamping down on an industry that's desperately needed. La Prensa: But how do you calculate whether or not the industry will stay afloat? The President: Well, let's... La Prensa: Or do we run the risk of spreading the contagion? The President: Yes. That is a calculation that we are analyzing right now. We are analyzing it very carefully. Please. Press: Let me continue with that, Mr. President. Not all governors have issued a stay-at-home order. You have all made it very clear how important it is to stay home; that we are in a desperate situation.

And this is how the spread is stopped, it is by staying at home. The President: Yes. Sure. Press: Why not take power away from the governors and simply issue a stay-at-home order for every state in this country? The President: Because the states are different. The states are different. And I understand that the governor of Florida, the great Governor Ron DeSantis, issued one today. And this is good. Brilliant. But there are some states that are different. There are some states that don't have much of a problem. La Prensa: What makes them different? The President: There are some... well, they don't have that problem.

They don't have thousands of people who are positive, or thousands of people who even think they might have it, or hundreds of people, in some cases. So you have to look, you have to look at the states. You have to give it a little flexibility. I mean, if a Midwestern state, or if Alaska, for example, doesn't have a problem, it's tremendously difficult to say, "Shut it down." So we have to have a little flexibility. Look, we are helping the governors. We are really here to help the governors. They are the first line of attack and, by the way, that includes shopping.

We are here and we support you. And there has never been support like the one we have given them. We have given them billions of dollars worth of things: medical supplies and ventilators; Thousands and thousands of fans. We have thousands under construction right now. We have thousands ready to go should you need it. There has never been anything like this. I mean, we, they, really, people have done it incredibly. We are building hospitals all over the country. We are building hospitals right now at a pace never before contemplated. They are mobile hospitals, but in reality they are not.

I mean, they are incredible structures. But we're building a lot of hospitals: Louisiana, New Jersey, New York. We have just completed a huge hospital complex. And we also have medical centers built in New York. I mean, we're building hospitals at a rate this country has never done before. And I hope everything turns out well. The Press: A follow-up to DeSantis, sir? The President: Please go ahead. Press: Yes, Mr. President. I just want to make sure we're clear. In airplanes, are we simply thinking about reducing routes between certain critical points, or is this a broader measure? The President: Well, we are looking at the whole matter, because we are now in a position where we want to do it.

We have to do that. And so we're looking at the whole thing. Yes. La Prensa: I would not... The President: And it is possible that we have... that we have some recommendations. Press: And my second question about economics. Only with oil: oil prices are very low. The President: Yes. Press: The Saudis have increased production. I know you've talked about liking low oil prices, but there's also the industrial aspect. The President: It's like the oil prices of 1950. And that's when they had big dollars, big, beautiful dollars. La Prensa: So, you defend the cuts? Do you advocate cuts in production?

You...? The President: Well, look, we have a great oil industry and the oil industry is being devastated. And, as you know, Russia... and I spoke with President Putin; We had a great call. Russia, Saudi Arabia... I spoke to the Crown Prince; We had a great call. But I think they will resolve it in the next few days. If you ask me, I think it's just... it's too simple to not be able to do. They both know what they have to do. So I think I'm confident that they'll both be able to figure it out. But it has devastated an industry around the world, not here.

I mean, all over the world, the oil industry has been devastated. So, to begin with, there was a lot of oil production. And then, on top of that, it was hit by the virus and business dropped 35 to 40 percent. So that business is difficult. And you know, they have ships all over the sea. I told you yesterday... all over the sea. Huge tanker trucks they are using for storage. They come out and just sit there. There is no place to go. They have huge quantities. Gasoline will now cost 99 cents a gallon and less. You know it. That's already starting.

It's appearing. Ninety nine cents. That's like giving a huge tax cut to the people of our country. When we're trying to get airlines going, if fuel costs a lot less, that helps keep airlines going, which is always a tough deal. It has always been a difficult business. But having said that, look, I want that industry to get back to where it was. We were also making records in that industry. We want it to get back to where it was. So I think Saudi Arabia and Russia are negotiating. They are talking. And I think they'll come up with something.

I will meet with the oil companies on Friday. I will also meet with independent oil producers on Friday or Saturday, maybe Sunday. But we are having many meetings about it. I think I know what to do to fix it. But if they can't solve it, then I think I know what to do to solve it. La Prensa: Can you give us an idea of ​​which direction? The President: We won't mention it now, but it is difficult. I think I know what to do to fix it. We don't want to lose our big oil companies. You know, we are the number one oil producer in the world.

And a month ago, when you said that, it was great. Today, when you say it, it doesn't have as much meaning. But I do think there is a way to solve that, or quite well. And I prefer not to do that. I think Russia and Saudi Arabia, at some point, are going to reach an agreement in the not-too-distant future because it is very bad for Russia. It is very bad for Saudi Arabia. It is very bad. I mean, it's bad for both of us, so I think they're going to come to an agreement. You know, the free market is a wonderful thing.

It's amazing how it can work. But I think they will reach an agreement. Yes, yes please. In the back. Press: Mr. President, a couple of questions. One for you and one for Mr. Wolf, if possible. More than 5 million immigrants in this country pay taxes through their identification numbers, but they will not receive money in their stimulus package. And no undocumented immigrants will receive any help from the government during this crisis. How do you suppose they survive during COVID-19? The President: Well, you know, you are saying "undocumented", that is, they entered illegally. And a lot of people would say we have a lot of citizens right now who won't be working.

Then, what are you going to do? It's something difficult. It's a very terrible question... it's a very sad question, I must be honest with you. But they entered illegally. And we have many people who are citizens of our country who will not be able to have jobs. Now, I think once we get rid of the virus, we will have a booming economy. I think it's going to go up pretty quickly. Maybe very quickly. And maybe slowly. But it will rise and everything will return. And I think it will actually come back stronger than before thanks to the stimulus.

But it's a really sad situation and we're working on it. I'll tell you, I'm not going to give you a hard and fast answer because I just want to tell you that it's something that I think about and it's something that we're working on. Please. Press: Can I ask Mr. Wolf a question? The President: Go ahead. Press: Thank you, Mr. President. A question for Dr. Fauci. Looking further ahead, when we're on the other side of this curve, are we looking at living with some sort of social distancing guidelines essentially until there's a treatment or a vaccine?

For example, people who are looking forward to summer talk about, you know, going to baseball games, going to concerts. We have political conventions during the summer. Are things like this possible or safe without a vaccine or treatment? Dr. Fauci: Yeah, I think if we get to the part of the curve that Dr. Birx showed yesterday when there are essentially no new cases or deaths over a period of time, I think it makes sense that we're going to have to relax social distancing. The one thing we hope to have, and I think we will have, is a much more robust system for being able to identify someone who is infected, isolate them, and then trace contacts.

Because if we have a really good containment program that prevents us from having to go into mitigation, we are in mitigation right now. That is social and physical distancing. The definitive solution for a virus that could reappear would be a vaccine. In fact, I was on the weekly conference call with the WHO-sponsored group of all the world's health leaders who are dealing with this. And we all came to the agreement that maybe we will have cycling with one more season. We will be much better prepared. We will probably have interventions. But the big change in this will be a vaccine, in the same way as a vaccine for other diseases, which were scourges in the past, that we don't even worry about now.

The President: And, Tony, how are the vaccines going, Tony? Dr. Fauci: I mean, the vaccine is, like I said, it's on target. We are still in phase one. There were three doses that we had to try. We have gone through the first two doses. We are at the highest dose now. When we get that data, it will take a few months for the data to make us feel safe tomove on to phase two. And in a few months we will be in phase two. And I think we are on target for the year or year and a half.

La Prensa: And would you mind if I asked you? You and Dr. Birx, have either of you received threats of any kind? Or have you been assigned a security detail, since you've been here every day in front of the camera, speaking? Dr. Fauci: Well, I mean, I... anything that has to do with security details, I would have to ask you to refer that question to the HHS Inspector General instead of me answering that. Press: Can I track testing, Dr. Fauci? The President: You don't need security. Everyone loves him. Furthermore, they would be in big trouble if they ever attacked.

You know, he was a great basketball player. Did anyone know that? He was a little short for the NBA, but he had talent. And he... won a game. I read the story. He won a game that was impossible to win against a great team. And his whole team said, "We can't beat this team." And he came in and they won the game. Good? That was a couple of years ago, but... Dr. Fauci: Yeah, a few years ago. The President: The head never changes. (Laughter.) The attitude never changes. The Press: Could you... could you ask Dr. Fauci?

The President: Yes, please. Press: -- because I know he loves being behind the podium. The President: he does it. (laughs) The press: How to remove teeth; like going to the dentist. I don't want to hit you with everything that's coming, but many people watching television today heard from a researcher named Dr. Jacob Glanville, who came up with a possible antibody therapy that he has given to USAMRIID. Just wanting to know if you know anything about this; what you could tell the people at home who saw it. Dr. Fauci: You know, John, I don't know specifically what this individual is doing, but I can tell you that there is a lot of activity that is focused on a passive transfer of antibodies in the form of convalescent plasma, one.

The number is to obtain immunoglobulin that is precipitated from the plasma and another is the monoclonal antibody. It's based on the same principle of if you have a protective antibody, passive transfer that could provide not only protection, prophylactically, but also treatment. This is an old concept. In fact, immunology was born decades and decades and decades ago with the concept of performing a passive transfer of serum to an individual to protect them from infection. So I wouldn't be surprised if he and other people follow this. It's the right thing to do. La Prensa: Can I follow up on the antibody tests, please, Dr.

Fauci? At what point can we, as a country, expect widespread antibody testing to know exactly what we're dealing with here, as well as other questions like, you know, when can people, who are considered healthy, donate blood, for example? Dr. Fauci: Okay. So when talking about antibody testing, there are a couple of things that need to be done. You want to know if someone has been infected and whether they will ultimately end up protected or not. Antibody testing at this time is not our first priority. What we need to do is test to see if anyone is infected.

Ultimately, it is very important to be able to have an idea of ​​what the penetration of the infection in society was for several reasons. You have a better idea of ​​what the impact has been, but also what the herd immunity would be. So I can foresee, in the future, that when we have the facilities, which we certainly will have (I mean, ultimately, we will be able to get a test that can make this reasonably easy) and do the kind of things that we call the SIRO surveillance study; This is very analogous: Dr. Birx and I talked about this a lot.

And that is: in the past, when she and I were doing the HIV/AIDS issues when we first discovered the virus in 1983 and we had an antibody test in 1985, we found out about it from the SIRO surveillance representative in different populations. that we were at the tip of the iceberg when we saw individuals who were the ones who really became infected. She gave us a very good idea of ​​how many people are infected, how many are well, and how many are getting sick. I anticipate that we will have the same type of information, which will be important information.

But right now, that's not our immediate problem. Press: I know it's not your priority, but can you give us an idea if it will happen this year? The President: Deborah... yes... yes, go ahead. DR. BIRX: Let me continue with that because I think, as I mentioned before, we had a great time. I just want to thank all the epidemiologists and scientists who worked with us over the last four weeks on models. Actually, many came forward and really supported us. Right now we are in talks with a whole series of universities. We have the world's brightest scientists at our universities in state after state.

Some of them public health universities, others basic sciences. All of them have received NIH grants for HIV or other trial developments in the past. I have spoken to many of them in recent days to ask them to develop these simple ELISA tests that could be quickly used in their healthcare facilities. Because immediately, with a... it's easy to do; We've all developed ELISA tests, so a day or two after development, they could test the entire hospital. I think that would be very reassuring for healthcare workers who have been on the front lines. We worry about them every day.

That's why I called on all universities in all states to develop ELISA tests. You can buy the antigens and the controls online and really work to test entire healthcare communities in your states and support them that way. At the same time, we work in sub-Saharan Africa on what we call dried blood stains. So we're looking at: Could that be used in a community as we work on point-of-care testing, where you just put blood on this piece of paper and then it can go to the lab and be tested? That would allow us to immediately look at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

And then, finally, we reached out to the developers of the rapid test: those who developed it for malaria, those who developed it for HIV; It's the exact same concept and process - asking them to quickly develop these tests because I think we owe it to the frontline healthcare providers to not only provide them with RNA testing, but many of them have been on the front lines for four weeks. ; may have been exposed. Now we know that there are asymptomatic people. And I think really being able to tell them - the peace of mind that would come from knowing that you were already infected, that you have antibodies, and that you are safe from reinfection, 99.9 percent of the time.

And I think this would be very reassuring for our frontline healthcare workers. And our universities can do it before Friday. So I'm giving you the challenge to really work on that and do it. That's what we did in the early days. We had ELISA up and running within a few days of having the antigen. And this is what is really possible. So we're not waiting. We are asking for help now. Press: So potentially this could happen soon, even within this month, if people take up that challenge? DR. BIRX: It could happen soon, within this month, if the universities help us.

Absolutely. The Press: Dr. Birx. La Prensa: Mr. President, about Florida. The President: Yes, please. Press: Governor DeSantis says he spoke with you before issuing his stay-at-home order. The President: he did it. He spoke to me this morning. La Prensa: You have some gaps in that to... The President: That, I don't know. He spoke to me this morning. The press: -- for religious events, for example. The President: He knows what to do. Very good judgment. Press: Large religious groups can meet. Not really that... The President: Who can... who can? La Prensa: Religious groups. How churches can meet.

The President: I didn't talk to him about that, but he did talk to me this morning. We've alredy talk about that. Please. Press: But his model has total mitigation, sir. Does that go against your model? Because that is not a total mitigation. The President: I don't know. I'd have to look at what he did. The Press: Let's get back to the healthcare workers on the front lines, and also follow up with Dr. Birx. Hazardous Pay: You've said you wanted this for frontline healthcare workers. I know Secretary Mnuchin has mentioned something about that, possibly in the fourth tier of the stimulus package.

The President: I like it. I like it. Press: But can you do it now? Should we wait for a fourth stimulus? The President: Well, I think it is something that we are discussing in terms of bonuses or bonus payments. It doesn't have to be called "hazardous pay." You can call it... La Prensa: Could it happen now? The President: Hey, look, I see those people entering hospitals that... I know; I talked about one of them, right? But I saw them enter those hospitals, and they entered: men, women, young, middle-aged, not so many older. And I observe... I observed them.

They're almost like... and I think I can eliminate the word "almost." They are like warriors. They are entering. People are applauding. Where there is a building across the street, people shout, they clap, they are... they are like heroes. Press: Murals are going up. The Empire State Building lit up overhead. The President: No, no, I'll tell you, I think it's incredible. Press: What can you tell them? The President: They are like... they are like warriors. They are like soldiers. And we're going to... we're going to do something for them. So if that's an advantage, because, you know, hopefully we'll get through this relatively quickly.

It's going to be cruel for a while, but hopefully we'll get through it. Press: And soon? The President: Today you have many questions. Look to you. Do you know this young woman behind you? Press: I have never seen you before in my life, sir. (laughs) The press: We are practicing social distancing. The President: That's good. It is a good idea. Press: Strengthen our marriage. The President: That's good for a marriage. Good. Press: There are many people who fear getting sick and ending up in the hospital. People who are uninsured and will be crushed by medical bills.

They were considering, last month (it was already last month, in March), reopening the Healthcare.gov exchanges. There has been a determination not to do that. Could you tell us what was the basis for that decision? The President: I'll tell you. Miguel? Press: And what... what alternative do you have? The President: Okay. They took care of that under the

task

force, and maybe, Mike, do you want to say a few words about this, words about that? The Vice President: Well, thank you, Mr. President. And what I can tell you is that the President has made it a priority, since the beginning of our

task

force's work, to ensure that every American knows that they can have coronavirus and that they don't have to worry about the cost.

We are also very inspired, because of the President's commitment to the nation's leading health insurance companies that now, so far, two of America's leading health insurance companies have announced that they are not only willing to waive the co-pays for testing, and now testing is fully covered thanks to the bill the President signed for all Americans. Press: But about people who don't have insurance? The vice president: But also that these two insurance companies have waived co-payments on all coronavirus treatments. And I can assure you that as Congress, the President, and the administration begin to discuss upcoming legislation, we will ensure that Americans have those costs offset and covered.

Our priority right now is to ensure that all Americans take the “30 Days to Slow the Spread” seriously. The best thing we can do for each other, for the health of our families, and for the most vulnerable among us, is to practice those mitigation strategies that the President outlined yesterday for the next 30 days. We are dealing with testing to make sure every American can get the test they need. We are grappling with supplies and making great progress in building personal protective equipment and ensuring ventilators are available, particularly for the hardest hit communities. But the American people can rest assured that as we move forward on this, we will ensure that our healthcare workers are adequately compensated for their extraordinary and courageous work.

And we will ensure that the financial burden of those who end up contracting the coronavirus and facing its most severe symptoms can also address those problems and those costs. Press: Understood, Mr. Vice President. But there will be uninsured people who will get sick before any of these mitigation efforts are implemented. And without opening the health exchanges, where can they find insurance? For people who are not insured by these companies that cover the co-pay cost, where can they go now to get health insurance if they get sick, before they get sick? The Vice President: Well, all over the United States we have Medicaid for Americans.disadvantaged.

And at the president's order, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services has granted unprecedented waivers for states to expand coverage of coronavirus testing and treatment. We've also expanded waivers for Medicare administration to ensure people have access to that coverage. But we are going to continue providing opportunities to the President. Traditional Medicaid systems, particularly for the uninsured in the United States. Press: Could you expand them to cover middle class people? The Vice President: Well, I think what we see health insurance companies doing today, John, is really inspiring. I mean, one of the things... La Prensa: But, again, Mr.

Vice President... The Vice President: One of the things that is characterized... La Prensa: I'm sorry to insist on a point, but that's for the people. who -- The vice president: -- the president's approach here -- The press: That's for people who already have insurance. The Vice President: Well, one of the things that has animated and characterized the President's approach is the way in which he has gotten American businesses to step up and do his part. And as the President has said many times, we are inspired by the spirit of American business. Today I was at the Walmart distribution center in southern Virginia and I saw the way this company, which has literally already hired thousands of people: these workers are coming to work, the truckers are coming to work, the farmers are working in the field.

Grocers committed to the President a month ago that no grocery stores in the United States would close. The food offering is strong. We are putting food on the table of all Americans. But it's because the President turned to these leaders and said, "We need you to step up and do your part." Early in this process, we engaged health insurance executives to waive co-pays for coronavirus testing. And thanks to the commitment (and, frankly, thanks to that patriotic and compassionate spirit that is reflected), we have already seen two of the largest insurance companies in the country announce that they are going to provide full coverage, free, for the treatment of the coronavirus.

I fully expect, I think as does the President, that we will see more of that for people who have insurance. And we will continue to provide flexibility to Medicaid for people who are uninsured. And we will ensure that Medicare has the flexibility to meet this moment for seniors, when we remember that seniors with underlying health conditions are the most vulnerable to serious outcomes from the coronavirus. But we will get through this using the full weight of the federal government and the full force of the American economy. The President: John, I think this: I think it's a very fair question and it's something we're really going to consider because it doesn't seem fair.

If you have it, you have a great advantage. And at a certain income level you do. I think it's one of the best answers I've ever heard, because Mike could talk for five minutes and not even touch your question. The Press: No. The President: Then I said... I said, that's what you call a great professional. But let me tell you, they really are. It's really a fair question and it's something we're looking at. Press: Well, I think... I mean, in terms of whether a question is fair or not, I always strive to ask fair questions... but this is a big concern.

The President: Yes, I know. The press: -- for the people of this country who are in that period without coverage -- The President: We'll see. The press: - where they don't have - they don't have commercial insurance, they don't qualify for Medicaid. The President: Correct. La Prensa: What do they do? The President: They are a certain group. And it's a pretty big group. We are seeing it. Press: I mean, we spent the entire 2000 election talking about the coverage gap, and it's still there. The President: Yes. We are... although I haven't been there yet, you know? The other people have been talking about it.

Press: No, I mean, this was in the year 2000. The President: And they haven't spoken. Press: This was 20 years ago, we were talking about it. The President: But they are thinking about it. They are talking about it. The Press: Gore vs. Bush: It was all about the gap in coverage. The President: I know, but they will also talk about it in the 2020 elections. And no one has come to that. Nobody has talked about anything at all. Press: Can you access it, Mr. President? The President: I think we will, yes. I think we'll get to that. I think we'll get to that.

I don't think the other group will come to that. They haven't even talked about it. And it's a great group of people. La Prensa: So, are you committing that there is something you are going to do? The President: No, I am not committing myself. But it is something that we are going to analyze. La Prensa: -- for the uninsured, for -- The President: I cannot commit myself. I have to get your approval. I have something called "Congress". But it is something that we are going to analyze. And we've been looking at it. La Prensa: But in the...

The President: Go ahead. The Press: You mentioned that in this next congressional bill, in the next phase four, would you like to see something included for the uninsured? The President: Yes there is a phase four, but we are certainly analyzing certain things. We want to help restaurants, leisure. And we want to help, because it's about jobs. It's not about restaurants, it's about jobs; huge amounts of jobs. So we're looking at that. We are analyzing the infrastructure. I mean, think about it: we will have spent $8 trillion. And, you know, a long time ago. We are very late.

But we will have spent $8 trillion in the Middle East and yet our roads are in poor condition; our bridges, our tunnels in poor condition. And soon we will be the talk of the world again. But we want 2 billion. We will have spent in the Middle East and all we have gotten was death and costs. But the only thing we got was death. Millions of people. You have to look at the other side too. Millions and millions of people murdered. Our great soldiers: thousands of dead; so many wounded, wounded. And yet, when we want to go fix a road somewhere, we want to do what we want to do in our country... no, it's time for us to spend money in our country.

That's what we're going to do. It's time we start spending on our roads, our bridges, our schools and all the things we're supposed to spend on. And people are finally getting used to it. And you could look at everything we've done in the Middle East, in so many different places and, by the way, in other countries as well. And I have gone to other countries that are very rich. I said, "Sorry, you'll have to reimburse us for our costs." They don't even want to know what I'm talking about. It takes them 20 minutes to figure it out, because no one has ever asked them to do it.

And they are doing it. They are doing it. And they have no choice. They have to do it. So, it's time we start spending in America. Okay, please. Press: Mr. President, this is a question for the Vice President. On March 9, you said 1 million tests had been delivered and another 4 million would be delivered before the end of the week. That clearly didn't happen. What happened to those projections? What went wrong? The Vice President: Well, I think the test kits were delivered, according to HHS. But the difference is between receiving a test and the ability to quickly produce a result from that test.

And frankly, because of the public-private partnership that the President initiated, over a month ago, with our huge commercial laboratories across the country, our team was informed today that we are now doing over 100,000 tests a day. More than 1.2 million tests have been performed. States have set up drive-thru sites across the country. In fact, states have had so much success with community and drive-up testing that we are working to transition all federal work on drive-thru testing and have states fully manage that process. But... Press: But are you saying that 4 million tests were done by the end of that week?

The Vice President: HHS has been very busy, since the beginning of the year, delivering testing kits across the country. But the difference was, as the president said many times, that we had an antiquated system where a state lab or CDC only had the capacity to process 40 to 60 tests per day. Now, with commercial labs, literally, those labs are processing tens of thousands of tests every day. And so, as we continue to distribute testing kits across the country, now thanks to partnerships with companies like Roche, Quest and LabCorp, the American people are seeing the results of those tests faster than at any other time in the century. past.

And we hope it continues to expand. But the exciting news this weekend that Abbott Laboratories will have to test a 15-minute test will put us in a position, we think, in the future, to get to where Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx want us to be. for many. of states that do not yet have a significant outbreak. There are about 19 states where we don't have a significant outbreak, but we want to do the kind of surveillance testing in those states that will allow us, early on, to identify people with the coronavirus, do what experts call contact tracing, and ensure that, in that state, we don't have... we don't have an outbreak of the coronavirus.

So... The President: And a lot of countries around the world want to know whether or not they can use, especially our new test that we just developed Abbott, which is almost instantaneous, which is going to be fantastic. . And remember this: we inherit...the word is, we inherit bad trials. We really inherited bad tests. These are horrible tests. And it was broken. Everything was broken. And we fix it. And we are doing millions of tests. Sometimes we send a proof and it is not used. In many cases it was not used. But we worked with the states and the testing has been pretty amazing, especially considering the fact that we inherited a very flawed system.

Jeff? Press: Hello, Mr. President. Just to follow up on something you said earlier: Are you considering a temporary ban on all domestic flights? The President: I am analyzing the critical points. I'm looking at where flights to hotspots are going. Some of those... some of those flights I didn't like from the beginning. But closing all flights on all airlines is a very, very, very difficult decision, but we are thinking about hotspots, where you go from one place to another, both hot. And we'll let you know pretty soon. Press: And train travel? The President: Something similar. We have trains coming and going.

And people don't think about trains, but we do a lot of transportation business. It's a very important decision to do that. And we're pretty far along in the process from the standpoint that this is starting, you're going to start to see, I think over the next couple of weeks, you're going to start to see us reach a peak and it starts to go down. Then we will make those decisions. Those are very, very important decisions, from the point of view of the future of our country, in a way, the future of our country. We have to take our country back, we have to start moving again, we have to start working again.

Now they are doing tests on the airlines, very strict tests, to get on and off. They are doing tests on trains: getting on and off. But when you start closing entire transportation systems and then opening them up, it's a very difficult thing to do. Please go ahead. Press: There continues to be a lot of public confusion about the use of masks. What is the way? The President: Reuse. I love the sterilization of the mask. So, Ohio company, you can sterilize a... the N95. You can... you can sterilize that mask up to 20 times. Think about that: up to 20 times.

We are throwing them away and they are very expensive masks. They are kicking them out. And I kept saying, one of the first questions I asked Dr. Fauci was, "Why don't you sterilize and clean the mask?" Because it wasn't... you know, it wasn't exactly my thing when we first found out about this. No one else knew either. And now we have a company and, I guess, several companies (one in Ohio, great) that make equipment that can sterilize a mask up to 20 times, which is fantastic. Well? Press: But what about you or me? What... what's wrong with the public?

Should we wear masks? We have heard many different recommendations. The President: I... I don't think so... look, this is something very important. Many people don't like it. Some people don't like it because they are taking it away from the medical professional. Some people don't like it for other reasons. I don't see where it hurts. And it doesn't have to be a mask; It can be a scarf. Professionals highly recommend a scarf. I don't see where it hurts. I think if, frankly, if people wanted to do it, we wouldn't want to do anything that requires masks. When you do that, you're talking about a huge number of masks.

We don't want to take it away from our medical professionals, but I certainly don't see how that hurts. But what I do see people doing now is wearing scarves. And I think, in some ways, depending on the fabric... I think, in some ways, a scarf is better. It's actually better. Yeahbut we have to do it, from a human point of view. We have no choice. It's like I don't want to do that, but we have to do it. People are dying. Press: So they will let them enter the country? The President: Let's do something. Let's do something.

At a minimum, we will send medical teams on board the ships. We will take the Canadians and hand them over to the Canadian authorities. They will bring them back home. Same with the UK. But we have to help people. They're... they're in big trouble no matter where... no matter where they're from. It turns out they are Americans, largely Americans. But whether they were or not... I mean, they're dying. Then we have to do something. La Prensa: Then they will be treated here... The President: And... and the governor also knows it. The press: -- before being sent?

The President: Well, we will send many of them home. Yes, we will send many of them to their countries, but we will do something and announce it. You'll see what we're doing. But we are also sending medical personnel to the ships so that we can... we have to take care of the people. The press: At the risk of being scolded again. The President: No, they will not scold you. You know it. La Prensa: Mr. President, there is... the IRS requires people who do not normally file income taxes to file a simple tax return in order to receive their $1,200 check.

Is this how it will be or is there something you can do (inaudible)? The President: I had already heard that. Now I do not know. Do you know that answer, Mike? The Vice President: We are investigating it, Mr. President. La Prensa: The IRS issued some guidance. The President: It seems so. Yes, I mean, we will have... La Prensa: It is not in the bill, but yes... The President: We can go back... yes, it is being... it is a process that they are working on. We will contact you as soon as we know. Very well, one more, please.

La Prensa: Mr. President, you spoke today with President Bolsonaro of Brazil. The President: I did. I spoke with him. Of course. Press: -- at least according to his Twitter. The President: It's great. He's a great guy and he's doing a wonderful job. Press: But he still meets with his followers. The President: From Brazil. I spoke to him this morning. Press: he is hugging them. So what is your assessment? The President: And just a very complimentary call. He is working very hard. He has a problem with a virus... he has a big problem. And he... we talked at length about it today.

We received a call this morning. And Brazil is closed, as you know. They weren't going to close it, but they had to. So Brazil is closed. The world is closed. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. The whole world is closed. We go from having the most powerful economy in the world, and other countries that are doing well, to everything being closed. It's very sad, but we're going to move on. And we will be stronger than ever. I really believe it. We will be stronger. We are going to have a big rebound, a very big rebound when this is over.

And I just want to thank the American people. I want to thank these great professionals. And I want to thank the media, because really, for the most part, that media has been very fair. thank you very much to all. Press: Thank you, Mr. President.