President Trump is suspending flights from Europe for the next 30 days because of the virus, a decision likely to ripple throughout the global economy. The president said such travel restrictions would apply to “trade and cargo,” but the White House later clarified that goods from Europe would still be able to enter the country. Via The Hill.
Trump said he will “soon be taking emergency action [to] provide financial relief … targeted for workers who are ill, quarantined, or caring for others due to coronavirus,” without specifying how he would do so.
The president also said he would instruct the Small Business Administration to extend low-interest loans to businesses in coronavirus hot spots to overcome steep declines in activity, and would ask Congress to approve a temporary payroll tax suspension that has fallen flat among lawmakers.
Trump also did not address a several issues that Democrats consider essential to any coronavirus aid plan, including provisions to expand unemployment insurance and ensure that low-income children don’t miss meals due to school closures. The House is set to vote on a bill with those measures and others, including federal paid sick leave, on Thursday in a bid to force the Senate to pass the legislation quickly.
More than 1,000 cases of coronavirus have now hit the U.S.
Earlier, President Trump insisted the U.S. is not suffering through a financial crisis in an Oval Office address to the country about the coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday.
“This is not a financial crisis. This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation,” Trump said.
Dow Jones industrial average futures plunged after Trump’s address, projecting a loss of more than 800 points when markets open on Thursday.
