Donald Trump says he’s a ‘wartime president’ as he uses special defense powers to ramp up medical equipment production to tackle ‘unseen enemy’
- President Trump told reporters Wednesday that he considered himself a ‘wartime president’ taking on the ‘unseen enemy’ of the coronavirus
- Trump was asked if he considered the country to be on ‘wartime footing’ to combat the pandemic
- He said he did and explained how he had to make choices to shut down sectors of the economy in order to save lives
- The president has also made use of the country’s military might in dispatching the USNS Comfort to New York City to provide 1,000 additional hospital beds
- With the U.S. government preaching social distancing, large sections of the economy have been impacted including the airlines, hotels and restaurants
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
President Trump said Wednesday that he fashions himself a ‘wartime president’ as he goes into battle against the ‘unseen enemy,’ the coronavirus.
Trump was asked by Fox News Channel’s John Roberts if he considers the country to be on a ‘wartime footing’ to combat the pandemic.
‘I do. I actually do,’ the president answered from behind the podium in the White House briefing room. ‘I’m looking at it that way.’
He also said Wednesday he’d use the powers outlined in the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of medical equipment to treat Americans sickened by the virus.
‘There’s never been an instance like this where no matter what you have, it’s not enough,’ Trump said. ‘If we need to use it, we’ll be using it full speed ahead.’
President Trump told reporters Wednesday that he considered himself a ‘wartime president’ going against an ‘unseen enemy’ – the coronavirus
President Trump continued to use battle-tinged rhetoric throughout the day Wednesday, as he called the coronavirus an ‘invisible enemy’
Just a day before, Trump said he wasn’t ready to put the Defense Production Act – a Korean War-era law – into use.
But on Wednesday, the president leaned fully in to the idea that he was leading Americans into battle.
‘I want all Americans to understand: we are at war with an invisible enemy, but that enemy is no match for the spirit and resolve of the American people,’ Trump tweeted Wednesday afternoon. ‘It cannot overcome the dedication of our doctors, nurses, and scientists — and it cannot beat the LOVE, PATRIOTISM, and DETERMINATION of our citizens. Strong and United, WE WILL PREVAIL!’
Discussing his evolution into being a war president Trump, again, gave himself credit for restricting travel from China, a decision he made in January, telling reporters the situation on the ground now in the United States would have been a lot worse.
‘That really saved a lot of lives,’ he said.
‘I view it as a – in a sense, a wartime president, that’s what we’ve been fighting,’ he continued. ‘It’s a very tough situation here. We have to do things. We have to close parts of an economy that six weeks ago were the best they’ve ever been.’
‘And then one day you have to close it down in order to defeat this enemy,’ Trump said.
With Americans across the nation instructed to practice ‘social distancing’ and told not to engage in non-essential travel, the hospitality industry – including the airlines, cruise ships, hotels, along with bars and restaurants – are being crushed.
President Trump ordered the USNS Comfort to New York City to provide 1,000 additional hospital beds to sick New Yorkers sickened by the coronavirus
‘The American people have been incredible,’ the president added.
Even before Trump made his ‘wartime president’ declaration, he’s been speaking about the coronavirus as if it was a foil.
‘I call it the unseen enemy,’ he also said at Wednesday’s press briefing. ‘It snuck up on us,’ he claimed.
The president has also used the United States’ military might to provide resources to those suffering from the virus.
For example, he deployed the the Navy hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, to New York City to provide additional 1,000 additional beds for sick New Yorkers.
‘It will be in New York City Harbor. This will be, it’s an extraordinary step obviously, it’s literally a floating hospital which will add capacity, and the president said he would dispatch that immediately,’ said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo early Wednesday.