Donald Trump faced a wave of backlash after declaring he had "total authority" over the United States as president, with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying: "He basically declared himself King Trump."
The president made the controversial comments during a White House press briefing on Monday about the coronavirus pandemic, in which he used a misleading video to tout his handling of the nationwide Covid-19 outbreak and asserted that he could essentially override state governors on when to reopen the country.
Multiple people were forced to correct the record after Mr Trump spoke, including a doctor featured in the president's video and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, whose comments were featured out of context.
He appeared to walk back those claims on Tuesday and said he's instead planning to speak with governors before "authorising each state individually" to develop plans to "re-open" states "in a time and manner that is most appropriate". States already have authority to re-open or maintain quarantine efforts without the president's involvement.
"We will hold the governors accountable ... but we're going to be working with them," he said.
The president also announced that the US would suspend financial support for the World Health Organization as Mr Trump appeared to deflect blame for the slow response to the crisis in the US after reports surfaced that he largely ignored warnings from members of his administration for several weeks.
He accused the organisation of "severely mismanaging" the coronavirus response, "covering up" the outbreak in China and "pushing misinformation" from China's government. The announcement came a day after an exasperated president aggressively defended the US response, without answering what the administration did in the entire month of February to prepare.
The president praised the stock market's upswing as a signal that the economy is recovering despite record unemployment with millions of people out of work as he once again expressed his eagerness to "get the economy roaring once again" as he seeks his re-election in the fall.
Barack Obama meanwhile has endorsed Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination in a video message posted to social media, saying the former vice president helped prevent an Ebola outbreak "similar to the one we're seeing now" while condemning the current administration's response to the novel virus.
The former president said: "Republicans in the White House and running the US Senate are not interested in progress. They're interested in power."
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Trump insists he has ‘total authority’ in Covid-19 briefing meltdown
Donald Trump delivered one of his wildest White House briefings yet on the coronavirus on Monday, insisting his “authority is total” when it comes to ending lockdown measures, setting up a fight with state governors who believe the power lies with them.
"When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total. The governors know that," he claimed. "The president of the United States calls the shots."
He then declined to offer specifics about the source of this asserted power, which he continued to insist, despite constitutional limitations, was absolute, a statement that left him sounding somewhere between a tyrannical medieval monarch and Eric Cartman of South Park fame.
Donald Trump delivered one of his wildest White House briefings yet on the coronavirus on Monday, insisting his “authority is total” when it comes to ending lockdown measures, setting up a fight with state governors who believe the power lies with them.
"When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total. The governors know that," he claimed. "The president of the United States calls the shots."
He then declined to offer specifics about the source of this asserted power, which he continued to insist, despite constitutional limitations, was absolute, a statement that left him sounding somewhere between a tyrannical medieval monarch and Eric Cartman of South Park fame.
More on the reaction to Trump's belief in his divine right to rule in a moment.
The rest of his latest marathon press session saw the president continuing to bash the media over its negative coverage of his administration's fatally slow response to the crisis - lashing out repeatedly at PBS reporter Paula White and calling her a "disgrace" - and downplaying the shortage of ventilators for American hospitals, saying demand from state governors had fallen (untrue) and attempting to pin the limited federal stockpile on the preceeding Obama White House.
He would later continue to air his grievances against the Fourth Estate on Twitter by posting clips of Fox hosts Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson doing his dirty work for him by slamming their broadcast rivals.
Here's John T Bennett with the full story.
President ridiculed by CNN for 'propaganda' video lauding his response
Another extraordinary aspect of yesterday's press conference was Trump running a laudatory video for the benefit of the assembled press corps hailing his own efforts to tackle the coronavirus that was quickly dismissed as “propaganda” by CNN, the network winning new admirers for the overtly critical nature of the chyrons running across the bottom of viewers' screens during its coverage.
Other captions read "Trump uses task force briefing to try and retwrite history on coronavirus response" and "Trump melts down in angry response to reports he ignored virus warning".
Bravo that man.
That death toll is now at 23,644, according to Johns Hopkins University, the valuable weeks lost between his first official briefing on 18 January by health secretary Alex Azar and his first public address on 26 February - a period spent in denial and dismissal - costing thousands of American lives, by Dr Anthony Fauci's own admission.
You can read more on Trump's "North Korea-style" video - apparently assembled for him at taxpayers' expense by White House staffers, rather than his 2020 campaign team - from John T below.
Another extraordinary aspect of yesterday's press conference was Trump running a laudatory video for the benefit of the assembled press corps hailing his own efforts to tackle the coronavirus that was quickly dismissed as “propaganda” by CNN, the network winning new admirers for the overtly critical nature of the chyrons running across the bottom of viewers' screens during its coverage.
Other captions read "Trump uses task force briefing to try and retwrite history on coronavirus response" and "Trump melts down in angry response to reports he ignored virus warning".
Bravo that man.
"Everything we did was right," the president insisted in defence of his administration's actions last night, whining that he had been "brutalised" by the press.
"On January 21, not one person has died. I'm supposed to shut down the largest economy in the world?"
"On January 21, not one person has died. I'm supposed to shut down the largest economy in the world?"
That death toll is now at 23,644, according to Johns Hopkins University, the valuable weeks lost between his first official briefing on 18 January by health secretary Alex Azar and his first public address on 26 February - a period spent in denial and dismissal - costing thousands of American lives, by Dr Anthony Fauci's own admission.
You can read more on Trump's "North Korea-style" video - apparently assembled for him at taxpayers' expense by White House staffers, rather than his 2020 campaign team - from John T below.
New York governor reminds Trump he is not a king, forges alliances with neighbouring states
“We have a constitution. We don’t have a king,” Andrew Cuomo reminded Trump after the briefing in response to his jaw-droppingly ignorant invocation of majesterial powers.
He was not the only state governor to make clear they would not tolerate pressure from the federal government to end lockdown measures before they deem it safe at a local level.
New Hampshire's Republican governor Chris Sununu told CNN: "All of these executive orders are state executive orders and so therefore it would be up to the state and the governor to undo a lot of that."
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, commented: "The government doesn't get opened up via Twitter. It gets opened up at the state level."
Meanwhile, Cuomo has been forging alliances between New York and New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island, the six states agreeing to co-ordinate their actions.
The governors of California, Oregon and Washington - Gavin Newsom, Kate Brown and Jay Inslee - announced a similar pact.
While each state is building its own plan, the three West Coast states have agreed to a framework saying they will work together, put their residents' health first and let science guide their decisions.
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, stressed such efforts would take time.
"The house is still on fire. We still have to put the fire out, but we do have to begin putting in the pieces of the puzzle that we know we're going to need... to make sure this doesn't reignite," Murphy said on a call with reporters.
Here's Danielle Zoellner's report.
“We have a constitution. We don’t have a king,” Andrew Cuomo reminded Trump after the briefing in response to his jaw-droppingly ignorant invocation of majesterial powers.
He was not the only state governor to make clear they would not tolerate pressure from the federal government to end lockdown measures before they deem it safe at a local level.
New Hampshire's Republican governor Chris Sununu told CNN: "All of these executive orders are state executive orders and so therefore it would be up to the state and the governor to undo a lot of that."
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, commented: "The government doesn't get opened up via Twitter. It gets opened up at the state level."
"I think we probably have the primary responsibility for opening it up," agreed Pennsylvania's Tom Wolf, adding it is a "false choice" to choose between public health or the economy.
Meanwhile, Cuomo has been forging alliances between New York and New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island, the six states agreeing to co-ordinate their actions.
The governors of California, Oregon and Washington - Gavin Newsom, Kate Brown and Jay Inslee - announced a similar pact.
While each state is building its own plan, the three West Coast states have agreed to a framework saying they will work together, put their residents' health first and let science guide their decisions.
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, stressed such efforts would take time.
"The house is still on fire. We still have to put the fire out, but we do have to begin putting in the pieces of the puzzle that we know we're going to need... to make sure this doesn't reignite," Murphy said on a call with reporters.
Here's Danielle Zoellner's report.
Trump denies he plans to axe Dr Fauci after ill-advised retweet
The president also moved during yesterday's briefing to shoot down the suggestion he was plotting to fire Dr Fauci, his top infectious diseases expert, having retweeted a post from a failed California GOP candidate that included the hashtag "#FireFauci".
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases appeared on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday and conceded that had the Trump administration ordered certain measures sooner, fewer Americans would have died, an admission that will no doubt have infuriated the president.
But Trump refused to admit the retweet had been a mistake yesterday as he rowed back from a decision that promised to be catastrophic, given the physician's widespread popularity.
"I notice everything," the president said in a tense and aggressive fashion when asked about it. "It was someone's opinion.. I think he's a great guy."
But Trump refused to admit the retweet had been a mistake yesterday as he rowed back from a decision that promised to be catastrophic, given the physician's widespread popularity.
"I notice everything," the president said in a tense and aggressive fashion when asked about it. "It was someone's opinion.. I think he's a great guy."
John T Bennett has more on this.
Bernie Sanders backs Joe Biden
Yesterday, the popular democratic socialist formally gave his endorsement to the last man standing in their party's 2020 race. They've already started "policy working groups" to ensure the Vermont senator's die-hard progressive base feel better about backing Biden.
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most passionate and prominent of Bernie disciples, told The New York Times yesterday the process of uniting the party between the former veep would be "uncomfortable for everyone" and that "if Biden is only doing things he's comfortable with, then it's not enough".
Here's Alex Woodward's report.
Yesterday, the popular democratic socialist formally gave his endorsement to the last man standing in their party's 2020 race. They've already started "policy working groups" to ensure the Vermont senator's die-hard progressive base feel better about backing Biden.
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most passionate and prominent of Bernie disciples, told The New York Times yesterday the process of uniting the party between the former veep would be "uncomfortable for everyone" and that "if Biden is only doing things he's comfortable with, then it's not enough".
Here's Alex Woodward's report.
Trump says Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will not be on his economic task force after furious backlash
Back to the president, who denied yesterday that his daughter and son-in-law will sit on a new council to oversee the US's return to normal economic life, despite early reports to the contrary.
Fox News initially said that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner would sit on the “Opening Our Country Council”, a White House-appointed body that will seemingly also feature treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, housing secretary Ben Carson and the director of the US National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, among others.
Apparently that is now no longer the case.
The task force itself will, according to the president, "give us some also good advice but no, we want to be very, very safe. At the same time we've got to get our country open".
Thea Lee - president of the left-leaning Washington think tank Economic Policy Institute, who served on a short-lived manufacturing council that Trump established early in his presidency - had this word of warning for him, calling for objectivity at all costs: "It doesn't work if you bring in the hallelujah chorus."
"You do need a range of opinions and a range of experiences," adds Jay Shambaugh, an economist at George Washington University and director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution. "This is one of those cases where the minority report is really important - you need people who aren't all thinking the same thing."
Arthur Laffer, an economist Trump has praised, meanwhile acknowledges that the US economy was severely damaged but said it was difficult to tell when it should reopen: "There's nothing smart about doing it too early."
Andrew Naughtie has this report on the apparent ousting of the unpopular Kushners.
Back to the president, who denied yesterday that his daughter and son-in-law will sit on a new council to oversee the US's return to normal economic life, despite early reports to the contrary.
Fox News initially said that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner would sit on the “Opening Our Country Council”, a White House-appointed body that will seemingly also feature treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, housing secretary Ben Carson and the director of the US National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, among others.
Apparently that is now no longer the case.
The task force itself will, according to the president, "give us some also good advice but no, we want to be very, very safe. At the same time we've got to get our country open".
Thea Lee - president of the left-leaning Washington think tank Economic Policy Institute, who served on a short-lived manufacturing council that Trump established early in his presidency - had this word of warning for him, calling for objectivity at all costs: "It doesn't work if you bring in the hallelujah chorus."
"You do need a range of opinions and a range of experiences," adds Jay Shambaugh, an economist at George Washington University and director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution. "This is one of those cases where the minority report is really important - you need people who aren't all thinking the same thing."
Arthur Laffer, an economist Trump has praised, meanwhile acknowledges that the US economy was severely damaged but said it was difficult to tell when it should reopen: "There's nothing smart about doing it too early."
Andrew Naughtie has this report on the apparent ousting of the unpopular Kushners.
Conservative groups push White House to reopen economy
The new task force would do well to resist influence of this stripe in weighing up the threat of a worst second wave of the virus with short-term gratification but you'd hardly back them to, would you?
The new task force would do well to resist influence of this stripe in weighing up the threat of a worst second wave of the virus with short-term gratification but you'd hardly back them to, would you?
Steve Mnuchin says 80m Americans to get tax rebates as administration readies $15.5bn coronavirus farm aid
The treasury secretary says he expects that more than 80 million Americans should have tax rebates directly deposited into their bank accounts by Wednesday.
Mnuchin said Social Security beneficiaries don't have to do anything. The money will be directly deposited in their bank account.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will spend up to $15.5bn (£12.4bn) in the initial phase of its plan to bolster the nation's food supply chain against the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.
The plan, which could be announced this week, marks the Trump administration's first big push to ensure the pandemic doesn't trigger consumer food shortages as meat packers shutter, dairy producers dump milk, and farmers struggle to find workers to harvest, plant and deliver crops.
The initial plan will include direct payments to farmers and ranchers, along with other support measures, using a portion of the $23.5bn (£18.8bn) approved by Congress to support agriculture in a coronavirus stimulus bill last month, along with some existing USDA funds.
The USDA will announce the initial plan as early as this week, and is expected to detail later phases of the support programme once more money from the stimulus bill becomes available, potentially in July, they said.
"It's not enough to cover all of agriculture, but we see it as a first step," said Andrew Walmsley, director of Congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, the nation's largest farmer trade group.
"We expect there will be more aid going forward."
Walmsley expected farmers to start receiving cheques within weeks.
The treasury secretary says he expects that more than 80 million Americans should have tax rebates directly deposited into their bank accounts by Wednesday.
Many Americans qualify for tax credits approved as part of legislation designed to boost the economy as the country responds to the coronavirus disaster.
Under the programme, single filers received $1,200 (£958) and joint filers $2,400 (£1,915), though it phases out for higher incomes.
For those who don't get their money by Wednesday, Mnuchin said the IRS will have a website available that would allow people to plug in information and allow for their direct deposit to take place quickly.
Mnuchin said Social Security beneficiaries don't have to do anything. The money will be directly deposited in their bank account.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will spend up to $15.5bn (£12.4bn) in the initial phase of its plan to bolster the nation's food supply chain against the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.
The plan, which could be announced this week, marks the Trump administration's first big push to ensure the pandemic doesn't trigger consumer food shortages as meat packers shutter, dairy producers dump milk, and farmers struggle to find workers to harvest, plant and deliver crops.
The initial plan will include direct payments to farmers and ranchers, along with other support measures, using a portion of the $23.5bn (£18.8bn) approved by Congress to support agriculture in a coronavirus stimulus bill last month, along with some existing USDA funds.
The USDA will announce the initial plan as early as this week, and is expected to detail later phases of the support programme once more money from the stimulus bill becomes available, potentially in July, they said.
"It's not enough to cover all of agriculture, but we see it as a first step," said Andrew Walmsley, director of Congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, the nation's largest farmer trade group.
"We expect there will be more aid going forward."
Walmsley expected farmers to start receiving cheques within weeks.
US alcohol sales jump 22 per cent in during lockdown
Most relatable headline I've seen in weeks.
Most relatable headline I've seen in weeks.
Trump accused of using bizarre coronavirus briefing to focus on himself
Here's a little more on the ludicrous spectacle Trump made of himself at the podium yesterday and the criticism raining down on him for managing to make a global catastrophe that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead all about himself.
Here's a little more on the ludicrous spectacle Trump made of himself at the podium yesterday and the criticism raining down on him for managing to make a global catastrophe that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead all about himself.
'You don't become king because there's a national emergency'
Gino Spocchia has more on Andrew Cuomo's riposte to Trump, the New York governor as admirably plainspoken as he has been throughout this disaster.
Gino Spocchia has more on Andrew Cuomo's riposte to Trump, the New York governor as admirably plainspoken as he has been throughout this disaster.
Michelle Obama backs mail-in voting initiative
The president was last week spending his time defending the decision to allow in-person voting to proceed in the Wisconsin primary, despite the enormous risk of exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus by ignoring social distancing rules, insisting the obviously much safer alternative - postal votes - are "ripe for fraud".
You will not be surprised to hear that the former first lady does not agree with Trump (on this or much else) and has come out to back the nonpartisan When We All Vote initiative, her latest return to the public eye in the wake of Bernie Sanders effectively conceding the Democratic 2020 race to Joe Biden.
We can expect to see much more of the Obamas in the coming months as they take the fight to Trump on their former veep's behalf (albeit largely via webcam from their living room at this point).
The president was last week spending his time defending the decision to allow in-person voting to proceed in the Wisconsin primary, despite the enormous risk of exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus by ignoring social distancing rules, insisting the obviously much safer alternative - postal votes - are "ripe for fraud".
You will not be surprised to hear that the former first lady does not agree with Trump (on this or much else) and has come out to back the nonpartisan When We All Vote initiative, her latest return to the public eye in the wake of Bernie Sanders effectively conceding the Democratic 2020 race to Joe Biden.
We can expect to see much more of the Obamas in the coming months as they take the fight to Trump on their former veep's behalf (albeit largely via webcam from their living room at this point).
Trump's Opening Our Country Council already a ridiculous meme
Before the president's new economic task force has even been formally unveiled, the good folk of Twitter have been expressing their anxities about its grimly-predictable probable line-up:
Before the president's new economic task force has even been formally unveiled, the good folk of Twitter have been expressing their anxities about its grimly-predictable probable line-up:
Anthony Scaramucci: 'Trump would literally like to wall off America from the rest of the world'
The president's short-lived but always good value former communications director has been speaking to Ksenija Pavlovic McAteer about his old boss's unscrupulousness and "America first" agenda and what that means for this crucial election year.
The president's short-lived but always good value former communications director has been speaking to Ksenija Pavlovic McAteer about his old boss's unscrupulousness and "America first" agenda and what that means for this crucial election year.
Republican exile Justin Amash tells Trump to 'Read the Constitution' and trails late presidential run
The Michigan independent congressman, who left the GOP last July for refusing to kneel before General Zod, has said the president is "flat-out wrong" in his assessment of his own powers.
Intriguingly, Amash also hinted yesterday he is "closely" looking into the possibility of a third-party late entry tilt at the presidency, according to The Hill, as uninspired as many of are by the prospect of a Trump vs Biden bout.
Here was his response to an admirer on the issue:
The Michigan independent congressman, who left the GOP last July for refusing to kneel before General Zod, has said the president is "flat-out wrong" in his assessment of his own powers.
Intriguingly, Amash also hinted yesterday he is "closely" looking into the possibility of a third-party late entry tilt at the presidency, according to The Hill, as uninspired as many of are by the prospect of a Trump vs Biden bout.
Here was his response to an admirer on the issue:
Andrew Cuomo: 'I will oppose Trump'
Here's the president's latest absurd pronouncement, delivered in oddly robotic tenor.
"Replenish Account Now!" he demands, like an aggressive arcade machine.
He follows that with this attempt to disparage and bully Andrew Cuomo, which is unlikely to work.
New York's governor has been speaking to MSNBC's Morning Joe and CNN's New Day today and not yielding a single solitary inch to The Man Who Would Be King.
Here's the president's latest absurd pronouncement, delivered in oddly robotic tenor.
"Replenish Account Now!" he demands, like an aggressive arcade machine.
He follows that with this attempt to disparage and bully Andrew Cuomo, which is unlikely to work.
New York's governor has been speaking to MSNBC's Morning Joe and CNN's New Day today and not yielding a single solitary inch to The Man Who Would Be King.
In other Cuomo news, his newscaster brother Chris, still on the air despite his own torrid battle with coronavirus, has been doing some soul-searching in isolation and has decided he's sick of a career spent legitimising and faciltating the "hyper-partisanship" of US politics.
Barack Obama to endorse Joe Biden today - report
Here comes the cavalry.
While we wait for the video to drop, here's Lindsey Graham getting utterly owned to tide you over.
Here comes the cavalry.
While we wait for the video to drop, here's Lindsey Graham getting utterly owned to tide you over.
Bodies piled up and stored in vacant rooms at overwhelmed Detroit hospital
Photographs taken by a worker at Detroit’s Sinai-Grace hospital have revealed an institution overwhelmed with Covid-19 cases struggling to find facilities to store and dispose of bodies.
Photographs taken by a worker at Detroit’s Sinai-Grace hospital have revealed an institution overwhelmed with Covid-19 cases struggling to find facilities to store and dispose of bodies.
In the images, which were released to CNN by an emergency room worker, full bodybags are seen piled up in rooms usually used for storage and medical studies. Others are seen piled up in refrigerated units in the hospital’s parking lot.
The scenes resemble images from hospitals in New York, which is struggling to cope with the number of Covid-19 victims. There, refrigerated trucks have been repurposed as mortuaries, while “unclaimed” bodies are being buried on Hart Island.
Warning friends: some of the pictures included in Andrew Naughtie's vital report below are distressing.
Virginia’s new laws on LGBT+ protections and gun background checks suggest shift in power
The leftward transformation of the state of Virginia since Donald Trump was elected crescendoed over the weekend, with the governor signing into law protections for LGBT+ residents, gun background checks, no jail time for simple marijuana possession and early voting.
The flurry of new measures enacted by Ralph Northam, a Democrat, came five months after members of his party took control of the legislature back from Republicans for the first time in more than 20 years.
Good show.
The leftward transformation of the state of Virginia since Donald Trump was elected crescendoed over the weekend, with the governor signing into law protections for LGBT+ residents, gun background checks, no jail time for simple marijuana possession and early voting.
The flurry of new measures enacted by Ralph Northam, a Democrat, came five months after members of his party took control of the legislature back from Republicans for the first time in more than 20 years.
Good show.
