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At 10:55 A.M. EST, President Donald Trump tweeted that he would be hosting a White House news conference at 3 P.M. In the tweet, he made it clear that the topic at hand would be the coronavirus. Now it seems that the topic will be on more than just the outbreak, but what the government is planning to do to help its people.
According to NBC News, it seems that the White House and president will be declaring this a national emergency, which could bring relief to people worried about what the future holds as the coronavirus begins wreaking havoc on the economy and people’s livelihoods. If the president does in fact declare a national emergency, this would free up to $40 billion in resources for assist people who have already been impacted by the coronavirus.
The conference at the White House is set to take place after a scheduled meeting between the president and major laboratory company executives. That meeting is apparently in regards to the current response to the outbreak and the next steps that need to be taken.
At this point, a spokesperson for the White House has declined to comment on what the president has planned, while Chuck Schumer has said that he is cautiously optimistic about what Trump might say. However, Schumer did indicate that he hoped that the president would not overstep in terms of his authority.
It seems that declaring a national emergency is all part of a more global plan that includes world leaders such as Emmanuel Macron, the French President. This declaration comes just one day after Trump indicated that he was not ready to declare a national emergency.
Written by Kimberley Spinney
Sources:
NBC News – Trump plans to declare national emergency over coronavirus pandemic
Image Credit – Diego Cambiaso’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License