WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — President Donald Trump held a news conference Thursday afternoon at the White House, shortly after a Senate Republican coronavirus relief bill failed to pass and amid criticism over what he's told Americans about COVID-19.
Trump tweeted to announce the press briefing less than an hour after the Senate GOP coronavirus aid measure, the fifth such bill, didn't move forward. Senate Democrats scuttled the proposal, saying it shortchanged too many pressing needs as the pandemic continues its assault on the country.
The president has also been facing criticism over downplaying the threat of the pandemic months ago. He's quoted in a book by journalist Bob Woodward saying he understood the virus was deadly but rather did not want to create public panic.
The mostly party-line vote Thursday capped weeks of wrangling over an aid bill all sides say they want but are unable to deliver. The bipartisan spirit that powered earlier relief bills has given way to election-season political combat and name-calling. It now seems likely that hope has ended for coronavirus relief before the November election.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the impasse in Congress over virus aid has prompted White House officials to consider executive actions. Officials hope they could send money to certain groups like the airline industry if economic recovery momentum crashes. However, it's unclear if the executive moves would be legal because funding typically requires congressional approval.
Trump was trying to move past Woodward's book's revelations as he headed for a rally in battleground Michigan Thursday.
In a burst of tweets Thursday morning, Trump defended his comments admitting that he had been warned about the danger of the virus.
“Bob Woodward had my quotes for many months,” Trump wrote. “If he thought they were so bad or dangerous, why didn’t he immediately report them in an effort to save lives? Didn’t he have an obligation to do so? No, because he knew they were good and proper answers. Calm, no panic!”
Woodward has defended his decision to hold off by saying he needed time to make sure Trump’s private comments were true.
Before departing the White House Trump denied he had lied to the nation and highlighted a surge in virus cases in Europe to contend that the United States is faring well. “I really do believe we’re rounding the corner,” he asserted.
Congress' top Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, set the party's theme on the subject: “Trump lied and people died.”
But Trump, answering questions at the White House, insisted “there was no lie” in his often-dismissive public comments about the virus last February and March.
He noted that he had limited travel from China, where the virus apparently originated, “so, obviously, outwardly I said it’s a very serious problem. ... That doesn’t mean I’m going to jump up and down in the air and start saying ‘people are going to die, people are going to die.’”
Meanwhile, Trump has resumed an aggressive campaign schedule, despite growing resistance from local leaders who have expressed alarm at his insistence on holding large-scale rallies during a pandemic.
While the rallies so far have been held in airport hangars open to the air, they have been drawing thousands of supporters despite local restrictions. And the majority of attendees have refused to wear masks, even when mandates are in place.
The Associated Press contributed.