Скачать или смотреть Deep into crisis, Trump demands 'something big' on coronavirus

After months of minimizing a spreading crisis, it was only after a stock market free-fall and two of his closest congressional allies quarantined themselves that President Donald Trump instructed his top advisers to prepare dramatic action.

"I want to do something big," Trump told his economic team on Monday, according to a senior White House official. After weeks of resistance, the President appeared ready to concede the economy -- his economy -- needed help.

White House officials and others close to the President describe a distinct shift in Trump's demeanor and approach to the coronavirus pandemic over the past 48 hours, a stretch that saw markets tumble, the US case count top 1,200 and the World Health Organization denote the crisis a "pandemic."

On Wednesday morning, he began pushing for an Oval Office address, though aides working on the coronavirus response hadn't had one on their radar. Advisers debated the wisdom of doing so, believing it could lend urgency and weight to one of the most precarious moments of Trump's presidency.

The President told reporters during a meeting with bankers he would likely deliver a statement at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, but didn't offer specifics. Later, he tweeted he'd deliver an address from the Oval Office at 9 p.m. ET.



US coronavirus cases top 1,100 as WHO declares a pandemic

Even as aides say Trump appears to be taking the pandemic and its economic ramifications more seriously, he has continued to publicly downplay the health crisis and contradict federal public health officials. His primetime address on Wednesday will be a major test of his willingness to finally meet the seriousness of the moment.

Trump's focus remains on the economic ramifications of the outbreak, which are worsening by the day. Some close to the President still believe he hasn't fully grasped the gravity of the health situation itself and remains in denial over what's unfolding across the nation.

And several people who have urged the President to take a more serious approach -- and stop brushing off sobering warnings from his own health officials -- said his recent unease stems more from negative coverage than a sudden reckoning about the outbreak.

But as the President returned to the White House on Monday afternoon from a weekend spent in Florida, some aides described a new mandate that more needed to be done to contain economic fallout from a crisis he's repeatedly sought to minimize.

"The gravity of the moment was pretty clear," a senior White House official said.

In another sign of movement, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, has become more involved in the last few days. He has joined the President for several meetings on the topic and huddled with other top advisers about the administration's response, a White House official and other sources familiar with the matter said.

One Trump ally said Kushner is becoming more involved because of concerns about how the administration's coronavirus task force -- now headed by Vice President Mike Pence -- is being run. But there is also some quiet eye-rolling among some Trump allies, who point out it was Kushner who urged the President last month to downplay the situation when coronavirus concerns first caused selloffs on Wall Street.

Kushner's new role also comes at a time when his power in the West Wing is at a premium. Outgoing White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has been diminished and the incoming chief of staff, Mark Meadows is in self-quarantine and has yet to set foot inside the White House.

Kushner's decision to take a role in the coronavirus efforts is just the latest example of the President's powerful son-in-law taking his seat at the table on the crisis-of-the-moment. And it is the latest expansion of Kushner's portfolio, which has included everything from Israeli-Palestinian peace, US-Mexico relations, trade negotiations and prison and immigration revisions.

Some White House officials worry Trump's intense focus on the economic fallout of the coronavirus is distracting from efforts to limit the actual spread of the disease. One person close to Trump said he is still willfully disregarding top lines from his briefings about how serious the spread is and how much worse it can get.

On Wednesday, Trump's public meetings focused on the health of the economy, including an afternoon session with the heads of large American banks. It was a similar group of American executives who tried appealing to Trump in January that the emerging virus posed a potential threat to their businesses -- and the American economy.

People familiar with the discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos said the President met their concerns with the equivalent of a shrug, insisting the virus was contained to China and would not pose a threat.

It was a very different conversation on Wednesday, as Trump raised the prospect of new stimulus measures to contain further economic damage in the United States.