Donald Trump has announced he is suspending all immigration to the US because of the coronavirus crisis, a move to “protect jobs” with 22m people already out of work, his executive order denounced by critics as both an act of partisan opportunism and an attempt to distract from his blundering response to the pandemic.
The executive order was confirmed during the White House's daily press briefing on Tuesday. "We must first take care of the American worker," he said, echoing the "America First" verbiage first toted when the president ran for election in 2016.
Mr Trump revealed some green cards would be suspended for the next 60 days and the executive order was expected to be signed on Wednesday.
“This action is not only an attempt to divert attention away from Trump’s failure to stop the spread of the coronavirus and save lives, but an authoritarian-like move to take advantage of a crisis and advance his anti-immigrant agenda,” responded congressman Joaquin Castro.
Besides speaking about the changes in immigration, the president and his administration responded to reports large businesses, including Harvard University, receiving loans from the Paycheck Protection Programme. The funding was intended for small businesses, not universities like Harvard with a multi-billion dollar endowment.
“Harvard’s going to pay back the money,” Mr Trump said. “They shouldn’t have taken it.”
Questions arose about what businesses would receive PPP loans after the Senate passed another stimulus package, which would provide $310bn additional funding to the PPP. The House was expected to vote on the stimulus package on Thursday after it passed in the Senate.
With the US death toll from Covid-19 at 44,805 – the highest in the world – and the country with over 823,000 confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas are among the states preparing to end lockdown measures and reopen, to the consternation of many.
Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the US and the Donald Trump administration's response to it.
Trump suspends immigration to US to ‘protect jobs’ with 22m out of work
Donald Trump has announced he is suspending all immigration to the US because of the coronavirus crisis, a move to “protect jobs” with 22m people already out of work, his executive order denounced by critics as both an act of partisan opportunism and an attempt to distract from his blundering response to the pandemic.
The president tweeted the news on Monday evening...
...and it's already attacting the ire you'd expect.
Here's Andrew Buncombe's report.
Southern governors move to ease lockdowns despite warnings peak is yet to come
With the US death toll from Covid-19 at 42,300 – the highest in the world – and the country on nearly 787,000 confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas are among the states preparing to end lockdown measures and reopen, to the consternation of many.
Georgia governor Brian Kemp declared that some businesses would be able to open as soon as 24 April. Citing “favourable data and more testing”, he announced that those allowed to open for “minimum basic operations” will include “gyms, fitness centres, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, aestheticians, their respective schools and massage therapists".
Meanwhile, the governor of neighbouring Tennessee, Bill Lee, announced on Monday that the state’s stay-at-home order would not be extended past 30 April and that businesses across most of the state would begin reopening as early as next week. However, the order does not cover counties with the largest cities, including Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga.
And in Texas, which has lately seen protesters demanding to go back to work, state parks are reopening while officials said that later in the week, stores will be allowed to offer curbside service.
The Republican governor of West Virginia Jim Justice said yesterday that he would allow hospitals to begin performing elective procedures if the facilities met an unspecified set of criteria, while the Democratic Colorado governor Jared Polis said he would let his statewide stay-at-home order expire next week as long as strict social distancing and other individual protective measures continued.
Another Democratic-led state, Oregon, indicated it would adopt many points of a three-phase federal road map to reopen the state, while making provisions for sparsely populated counties.
But governors from many other states said they lacked the testing supplies they need and warned they could get hit by a second wave of infections, given how people with no symptoms can still spread the disease.
"Who in this great state actually believes that they care more about jet skiing than saving the lives of the elderly or the vulnerable?" Democratic Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer remarked, referring to restrictions in place in her state. "This action isn't about our individual right to gather. It's about our parents' right to live."
Another Democratic-led state, Oregon, indicated it would adopt many points of a three-phase federal road map to reopen the state, while making provisions for sparsely populated counties.
But governors from many other states said they lacked the testing supplies they need and warned they could get hit by a second wave of infections, given how people with no symptoms can still spread the disease.
"Who in this great state actually believes that they care more about jet skiing than saving the lives of the elderly or the vulnerable?" Democratic Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer remarked, referring to restrictions in place in her state. "This action isn't about our individual right to gather. It's about our parents' right to live."
Phil Murphy, the Democratic governor of New Jersey, one of the worst-hit states, said testing would have to double its present rate before he would ease restrictions.
Here's Andrew Naughtie's report.
President taunts Maryland's GOP governor over testing kits
Back to the president, who gave his now-customary angry White House press conference last night and spent his time pushing conspiracy theories that state governor's demands for ventilators and tests are part of "very dangerous political game" to bring him down.
He had already addressed the theme on Twitter before taking to the podium:
A great lover of props in his political theatre, Trump brandished a thick list of laboratories he said some leaders “did not understand” were available in their states.
He reserved particular anger for Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of the blue state of Maryland, who had accused the president and his team of making false claims about states having ample testing kits in a TV interview on Sunday.
The president otherwise spent his evening defending his record, feuding again with PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor and shrugging off the signifigicance of the unprecedented drop in US oil prices into negative territory as "largely a financial squeeze".
Here's John T Bennett's report.
Back to the president, who gave his now-customary angry White House press conference last night and spent his time pushing conspiracy theories that state governor's demands for ventilators and tests are part of "very dangerous political game" to bring him down.
He had already addressed the theme on Twitter before taking to the podium:
A great lover of props in his political theatre, Trump brandished a thick list of laboratories he said some leaders “did not understand” were available in their states.
He reserved particular anger for Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of the blue state of Maryland, who had accused the president and his team of making false claims about states having ample testing kits in a TV interview on Sunday.
“The governor of Maryland didn’t really understand,” Trump said. “He didn’t really understand what was going on.”
The president otherwise spent his evening defending his record, feuding again with PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor and shrugging off the signifigicance of the unprecedented drop in US oil prices into negative territory as "largely a financial squeeze".
Here's John T Bennett's report.
Maryland obtains 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea
Here's another reason for the president to fume at Larry Hogan.
With the help of his wife, who grew up in Seoul, the Maryland governor took matters into his own hands to source testing kits from South Korea, the federal government be damned.
Lockdown protests continue as Fauci warns they will 'backfire'
As protesters continued to defy coronavirus quarantine restrictions across the country, Facebook has moved to censor groups organising anti-lockdown demonstrations on its platform.
Hundreds converged on Harrisburg, Pennsyylvania, as part of an "Operation Gridlock" event on Monday to demonstrate against a statewide stay-at-home order. Video footage shows crowds waving flags and honking car horns at the state capital building urging officials to lift restrictions they regard as "excessive".
Not all of the events we've seen across the country in recent days have been so well attended though...
...and some of the idiocy on display has been utterly breath-taking (imagine it not even occuring to you to ever actually listen to the lyrics to "Born in the USA" before you sing it at a public protest).
As is so often the case in our troubled times, it's the not unsympathetic Dr Anthony Fauci who deserves to have the final word on all of this.
Here's Justin Vallejo on Harrisburg.
As protesters continued to defy coronavirus quarantine restrictions across the country, Facebook has moved to censor groups organising anti-lockdown demonstrations on its platform.
Hundreds converged on Harrisburg, Pennsyylvania, as part of an "Operation Gridlock" event on Monday to demonstrate against a statewide stay-at-home order. Video footage shows crowds waving flags and honking car horns at the state capital building urging officials to lift restrictions they regard as "excessive".
Not all of the events we've seen across the country in recent days have been so well attended though...
...and some of the idiocy on display has been utterly breath-taking (imagine it not even occuring to you to ever actually listen to the lyrics to "Born in the USA" before you sing it at a public protest).
As is so often the case in our troubled times, it's the not unsympathetic Dr Anthony Fauci who deserves to have the final word on all of this.
Here's Justin Vallejo on Harrisburg.
Trump rages at Morning Joe and resumes one-man crusade against 'Lamestream Media'
Despite being up late last night, the president is awake and already whining about his critics:
He's also already had a stinging response:
As for his claims to ratings greatness...
So what kept President Nero up so late? Worrying about whether the country has enough ventilators and tests to save lives from the coronavirus? Weighing up the need to reopen the country and revive the economy with the very real threat of sparking a dangerous second wave of infections?
Of course not.
He was obsessing over the Russia investigation - retweeting pieces by Fox analyst Greg Jarrett about such ancient controversies as the Steele Dossier and Hilary Clinton's emails.
Incredibly, he also tweeted this to his impeachment lawyer Alan Derschowitz, mere hours after posting his own doctored video of Barack Obama.
Here's Gino Spocchia on all this madness.
Despite being up late last night, the president is awake and already whining about his critics:
He's also already had a stinging response:
As for his claims to ratings greatness...
So what kept President Nero up so late? Worrying about whether the country has enough ventilators and tests to save lives from the coronavirus? Weighing up the need to reopen the country and revive the economy with the very real threat of sparking a dangerous second wave of infections?
Of course not.
He was obsessing over the Russia investigation - retweeting pieces by Fox analyst Greg Jarrett about such ancient controversies as the Steele Dossier and Hilary Clinton's emails.
Incredibly, he also tweeted this to his impeachment lawyer Alan Derschowitz, mere hours after posting his own doctored video of Barack Obama.
Here's Gino Spocchia on all this madness.
WHO warns rush to ease virus restrictions could cause resurgence
America, take note.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions will likely lead to a resurgence of the illness. The warning comes as governments across the world start rolling out plans to get their economies up and running again.
Dr Takeshi Kasai, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said: "This is not the time to be lax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future."
He said governments must remain vigilant to stop the spread of the virus and the lifting of lockdowns and other social distancing measures must be done gradually and strike the right balance between keeping people healthy and allowing economies to function.
The body's director-general had a similar message:
Despite concerns from health officials, some US states have announced aggressive reopening plans, while Boeing and at least one other American heavy-equipment manufacturer resumed production.
Elsewhere around the world, step-by-step reopenings are under way in Europe, where the crisis has begun to ebb in places such as Italy, Spain and Germany.
Australia said it will allow the resumption of non-urgent surgeries from next week as health authorities grow more confident that hospitals there will not be overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients.
The reopenings come as politicians grow weary of soaring unemployment and the prospect of economic depression.
Asian shares followed Wall Street lower on Tuesday after US oil futures plunged below zero because of a worldwide glut as factories, with cars and aeroplanes not being used.
America, take note.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions will likely lead to a resurgence of the illness. The warning comes as governments across the world start rolling out plans to get their economies up and running again.
Dr Takeshi Kasai, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said: "This is not the time to be lax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future."
He said governments must remain vigilant to stop the spread of the virus and the lifting of lockdowns and other social distancing measures must be done gradually and strike the right balance between keeping people healthy and allowing economies to function.
The body's director-general had a similar message:
Despite concerns from health officials, some US states have announced aggressive reopening plans, while Boeing and at least one other American heavy-equipment manufacturer resumed production.
Elsewhere around the world, step-by-step reopenings are under way in Europe, where the crisis has begun to ebb in places such as Italy, Spain and Germany.
Australia said it will allow the resumption of non-urgent surgeries from next week as health authorities grow more confident that hospitals there will not be overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients.
The reopenings come as politicians grow weary of soaring unemployment and the prospect of economic depression.
Asian shares followed Wall Street lower on Tuesday after US oil futures plunged below zero because of a worldwide glut as factories, with cars and aeroplanes not being used.
Talks ongoing over new $450bn coronavirus stimulus bill
Late-stage negotiations on a new $450bn (£366bn) coronavirus aid package dragged past the hoped-for deadline yesterday but the Trump administration and key lawmakers are insisting a deal is within reach.
As talks continued, the contours of the deal appear largely set. Most of the funding, some $300bn (£244bn), would go to boost a small-business payroll loan programme that's out of money. Additional help would be given to hospitals, and billions more would be spent to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies.
The emerging draft measure - originally designed by Republicans as a $250bn (£203bn) stopgap to replenish the payroll subsidies for smaller businesses - has grown into the second-largest of the four coronavirus response bills so far. Democratic demands have caused the measure to balloon, though they likely will be denied the money they want to help struggling state and local governments.
The Senate met for a brief pro forma session on Monday afternoon that could have provided a window to act on the upcoming measure under fast-track procedures requiring unanimous consent to advance legislation, but it wasn't ready in time.
Majority leader Mitch McConnell set up another Senate session for Tuesday in the hope that an agreement will be finished by then.
"It's now been four days since the Paycheck Protection Program ran out of money. Republicans have been trying to secure more funding for this critical program for a week and a half now," McConnell said. "Our Democratic colleagues are still prolonging their discussions with the administration, so the Senate regretfully will not be able to pass more funding for Americans' pay cheques today."
The House has announced it could meet as soon as Wednesday for a vote on the pending package. The chamber is likely to have to call lawmakers back to Washington for a vote, which will present logistical challenges.
With small business owners reeling during a coronavirus outbreak that has shuttered much economic activity, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin - the administration's point man in the talks with Democrats - said he was hopeful of a deal that could pass Congress quickly and get the Small Business Administration programme back up by midweek. But optimism regarding an immediate deal was tempered.
"I heard today from our legislative affairs team that they are hopeful we can get a deal this week," top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Monday on Fox News. "The secretary feels very confident. He said that yesterday that a deal is happening. Much better position than we were, say, a week ago."
Late-stage negotiations on a new $450bn (£366bn) coronavirus aid package dragged past the hoped-for deadline yesterday but the Trump administration and key lawmakers are insisting a deal is within reach.
As talks continued, the contours of the deal appear largely set. Most of the funding, some $300bn (£244bn), would go to boost a small-business payroll loan programme that's out of money. Additional help would be given to hospitals, and billions more would be spent to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies.
The emerging draft measure - originally designed by Republicans as a $250bn (£203bn) stopgap to replenish the payroll subsidies for smaller businesses - has grown into the second-largest of the four coronavirus response bills so far. Democratic demands have caused the measure to balloon, though they likely will be denied the money they want to help struggling state and local governments.
The Senate met for a brief pro forma session on Monday afternoon that could have provided a window to act on the upcoming measure under fast-track procedures requiring unanimous consent to advance legislation, but it wasn't ready in time.
Majority leader Mitch McConnell set up another Senate session for Tuesday in the hope that an agreement will be finished by then.
"It's now been four days since the Paycheck Protection Program ran out of money. Republicans have been trying to secure more funding for this critical program for a week and a half now," McConnell said. "Our Democratic colleagues are still prolonging their discussions with the administration, so the Senate regretfully will not be able to pass more funding for Americans' pay cheques today."
The House has announced it could meet as soon as Wednesday for a vote on the pending package. The chamber is likely to have to call lawmakers back to Washington for a vote, which will present logistical challenges.
With small business owners reeling during a coronavirus outbreak that has shuttered much economic activity, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin - the administration's point man in the talks with Democrats - said he was hopeful of a deal that could pass Congress quickly and get the Small Business Administration programme back up by midweek. But optimism regarding an immediate deal was tempered.
"I heard today from our legislative affairs team that they are hopeful we can get a deal this week," top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Monday on Fox News. "The secretary feels very confident. He said that yesterday that a deal is happening. Much better position than we were, say, a week ago."
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez labelled 'child of privilege' for saying she won't back relief package in current form
The young progressive Democrat continues to be a hate figure to Fox News and the alt-right media and has done nothing to endear herself after signalling she will not support the major federal bailout being agreed to help those hit hard by the coronavirus, arguing it does not go far enough.
Tucker Carlson (wrongly) labelled the former bartender "a child of privilege" in attacking her on his show last night, a truly outstanding piece of hypocrisy.
Here's Griffin Connolly on her objections.
The young progressive Democrat continues to be a hate figure to Fox News and the alt-right media and has done nothing to endear herself after signalling she will not support the major federal bailout being agreed to help those hit hard by the coronavirus, arguing it does not go far enough.
Tucker Carlson (wrongly) labelled the former bartender "a child of privilege" in attacking her on his show last night, a truly outstanding piece of hypocrisy.
Here's Griffin Connolly on her objections.
Kellyanne Conway complains that Michigan ‘lets you smoke grass but not cut it’
Gino Spocchia has the latest on the senior White House adviser, here delivering a textbook example of the witless sloganeering that goads on the Operation Gridlock crowd.
Trevor Noah calls out Trump for ‘insane’ and ‘vile’ guidelines for ending US lockdown
The Daily Show host has added his voice to the condemnation of the president over his efforts to prematurely reopen the country, potentially places thousands of lives at risk.
Ellie Harrison has this one.
'Trump is looking for a civil war. His followers are happy to oblige'
For Indy Voices, Hannah Selinger examines the absurdity of the Operation Gridlock movement.
Trump brags about approval rating but lagging well behind at international level
This was the president earlier boasting about his approval rating within the Republican Party (not citing the survey in question, as usual, but awarding himself a one point bump on his customary 95 per cent).
The GOP is not exactly known for careful introspection these days anyway, let's face it.
Here's how the crisis has been improving the reputations of world leaders in the worst affected countries.
Trump no doubt fancies himself at the Giuseppe Conte end of the scale but he's actually far closer to the Jair Bolsonaro danger zone.
This was the president earlier boasting about his approval rating within the Republican Party (not citing the survey in question, as usual, but awarding himself a one point bump on his customary 95 per cent).
The GOP is not exactly known for careful introspection these days anyway, let's face it.
Here's how the crisis has been improving the reputations of world leaders in the worst affected countries.
Trump no doubt fancies himself at the Giuseppe Conte end of the scale but he's actually far closer to the Jair Bolsonaro danger zone.
(Statista)
Joe Biden breaks his own monthly fundraising record with haul of nearly $50m
The Democratic nominee-in-waiting had one hell of a month, raising three times as much cash as Trump.
A new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll places him eight points ahead of the president too.
Here's more from Andrew Naughtie.
Trump pledges to support embattled US oil and gas sector
The president says Steve Mnuchin and Dan Brouillette will "formulate a plan" to bailout the energy industry after the oil market collapse continued into a second day.
The president says Steve Mnuchin and Dan Brouillette will "formulate a plan" to bailout the energy industry after the oil market collapse continued into a second day.
Female reporters attack Trump over sexism and 'bananas' Twitter attack on Nancy Pelosi
CNN's Dana Bash has been attacking the president in conversation with colleague Wolf Blitzer over his treatment of women at his daily White House press briefings on the coronavirus, following his bullying behaviour towards the likes of Yamiche Alcindor, Kaitlin Collins and Weijia Jiang.
“As a woman who has covered the White House, as a woman who covers politics and policy in Washington, we just have to say that the way he treats the female reporters is different,” Bash said.
Jiang in particular was patronised by Trump on Sunday when she asked about his preparedness for the outbreak in February when he was still holding MAGA rallies.
“She was asking completely legitimate questions,” Bash said. “I think it’s important to call it out that there is a difference in the way that he reacts when he is getting tough questions.”
Meanwhie, MSNBC's Nicole Wallace issued this wry assessment of the president's recent Twitter attack on House speaker Nancy Pelosi:
CNN's Dana Bash has been attacking the president in conversation with colleague Wolf Blitzer over his treatment of women at his daily White House press briefings on the coronavirus, following his bullying behaviour towards the likes of Yamiche Alcindor, Kaitlin Collins and Weijia Jiang.
“As a woman who has covered the White House, as a woman who covers politics and policy in Washington, we just have to say that the way he treats the female reporters is different,” Bash said.
Jiang in particular was patronised by Trump on Sunday when she asked about his preparedness for the outbreak in February when he was still holding MAGA rallies.
“She was asking completely legitimate questions,” Bash said. “I think it’s important to call it out that there is a difference in the way that he reacts when he is getting tough questions.”
Meanwhie, MSNBC's Nicole Wallace issued this wry assessment of the president's recent Twitter attack on House speaker Nancy Pelosi:
Trump's new press secretary provokes outrage by attempting to police how journalists refer to him
Here's Isobel van Hagen for Indy100 on Kayleigh McEnany, who's already been caught out by picking a pointless battle to lose on Twitter.
Here's Isobel van Hagen for Indy100 on Kayleigh McEnany, who's already been caught out by picking a pointless battle to lose on Twitter.
Joe Biden on Michelle Obama as running mate: 'I'd take her in a heartbeat'
Alex Woodward has this on the rumours that the former first lady could join Trump's challenger as would-be veep.
Alex Woodward has this on the rumours that the former first lady could join Trump's challenger as would-be veep.
Trump Golf retweets video of golfer joking vodka can 'kill coronavirus'
"I've got a cure for this," smirks California pro John Daly in the clip shared by the president's business, not entirely helpfully.
Louise Hall has more on this.
