ALLENTOWN, Pa. _ In his first visit to Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, President Donald Trump emerged Thursday from Air Force One maskless and in a speech about an hour later, pressed Pennsylvania to loosen restrictions in place to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
"We have to get your governor of Pennsylvania to start opening up a little bit," he told a cheering audience at Owens & Minor Inc. in Upper Macungie Township outside of Allentown. "You have areas of Pennsylvania that are barely affected, and they want to keep them closed. You can't do that."
Trump's visit Thursday was part of his broader push to reopen the country and highlight successes after initial stumbles in his administration's response to the public health crisis. He touted the administration's work to ramp up testing, and praised Allentown as the place "where it starts."
"Allentown, your ancestors in this region are the patriots who mined the coal, lowered the rail cars, and poured the steel that built our biggest cities and raised our tallest towers," Trump said, adding: "Pennsylvania workers, once again, you're going to lead the way. With your help, we're going to vanquish the virus."
As coronavirus case counts decline, Trump has criticized Democratic governors, such as Pennsylvania's Tom Wolf, who have taken a more cautious approach to lifting restrictions on businesses and gatherings.
He used the backdrop of the medical equipment distribution center to announce plans to replenish and reconfigure the Strategic National Stockpile, which was under-supplied for the current crisis. The Trump administration has faced criticism for how those limited supplies were distributed, but the president has directed blame at his predecessor, saying the Obama administration did not restock supplies after the H1N1 outbreak in 2009.
The new effort to revamp the stockpile will seek to build up a 90-day supply of critical gear, including masks, medical gowns and ventilators, and expand the pandemic-fighting supplies kept in that stockpile. The administration also is seeking to boost domestic manufacturing to better prepare for future surges in demand, entering into contracts to maintain capacity and to cycle out supplies with a limited shelf life.
"You'll never have to deal with empty shelves," Trump said.
The president was in the Lehigh Valley for about two hours Thursday afternoon, coming to tour the 200,000-square-foot Owens & Minor warehouse, out of which the Virginia-based company sends N95 masks, surgical gowns, gloves and other medical supplies to hospitals across the country, which have a heightened demand for the products because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Owens & Minor employees led the president and other government officials around the plant, where shelves were piled to the top of a high ceiling with boxes of medical and cleaning supplies. The workers explained those products and the system the company uses to distribute them. The group was out of earshot of reporters and loud music in the cavernous building made it difficult to hear the exchange between the president and the workers.
"Most of this equipment is made in the USA," Trump said during the tour. "That's the way we like it."
Hanging at one end of the building was a giant American flag, which provided the backdrop for a stage the president would take to address an audience of several dozen employees in matching neon green and yellow company T-shirts with the words "Empowering our customers to advance healthcare" across the back.
Trump praised the workers at Owens & Minor, saying they play "a critical role" in fighting COVID-19. "And it's a critical role that you fulfilled incredibly well, or I wouldn't be here," Trump says. "I would have found someplace else."
Joining the president on the trip were Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser; Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar; acting Homeland Security Director Chad Wolf; Peter Gaynor, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; Adam Boehler, CEO of United States International Development Finance Corp.; and Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, a logistics adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows also was at the plant, where he and Trump were the only two not wearing masks.
The Owens & Minor distribution center has been open throughout the crisis and until Thursday, has been off-limits to visitors since January, when the company significantly ramped up its mask and gown production, President and CEO Edward Pesicka said in an earnings call last week.
Owens & Minor is part of the White House COVID-19 Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force, which works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide health care customers with critical products during the pandemic.
Pesicka was among the executives who attended a March 29 meeting at the White House regarding ways to keep the pharmaceutical and medical equipment supply chain moving along. At a press briefing later that day, according to remarks posted on the White House's website, he spoke about the high demand for medical equipment.
Despite beefed-up efforts to fulfill orders, "there's still that demand that is much greater than that supply," he said.
Trump's visit to the warehouse drew supporters from across the state, many of whom lined Route 100 hours before Air Force One landed, waving Trump campaign flags and signs as passing motorists honked horns in approval. Across from the airport, a Trump banner flew from an industrial building.
Closer to Owens & Minor, throngs of supporters gathered excitedly in the warm sun, Some held "Women for Trump" signs, and a box truck parked on the shoulder had "Impeach PA leaders" scrawled on the side. Whooping and cheering, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder in spots, many disregarding Wolf's order to wear masks.
"I just want to say thank you for what he's doing and that he's coming out here to support us," said Christa Dimola, of South Whitehall Township. "He's backing us up."
Most of those awaiting the motorcade were supporters like Mary Alice Greto, a laid-off hairdresser, drove an hour from Phoenixville to see Trump wave as he whizzed down Industrial Boulevard, where the warehouse is located.
"I support the president, I don't support the governor," she said. "I believe our constitutional rights are being trampled upon."
One of the few protesters along the roadway was Mindie Riley, of Bethlehem, who held a tombstone-shaped protest sign that read: "Here lies Trump's chances of winning PA in November."
Riley said Trump "has turned public health into an ideology war, and that puts people's lives in danger. I don't like that."
Other protesters gathered a couple miles away at Lower Macungie Middle School, where organizers with Make the Road Action in PA formed a caravan of cars affixed with anti-Trump signs, which by 11:45 am. was headed toward LVIA.
"We're going to the airport to make our feelings known about this president and his lack of leadership for this country," said Patricia Russo, of Center Valley. Wearing a mask and carrying a sign that read, "Trump needs to ask God for a soul," Russo said she thought the protest was important enough to venture out for only her fourth time during the shutdown.
The president's plane landed at Lehigh Valley International Airport at 1:34 p.m. and a few minutes later, Trump emerged with a wave to the awaiting reporters and four of the state's Republican members of Congress. Maskless, he chatted on the tarmac with Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Dan Meuser, Scott Perry, and Fred Keller, who all were wearing masks.
Meuser said that while the president wasn't wearing a mask, those around him were and that Trump kept a safe distance from other people.
Critics of the president blasted his decision to come to the Valley in general, depicting it as a campaign photo op that would create health risks for workers at the facility and others.
"This is just an absolute shame," said state Rep. Pete Schweyer, D-Allentown. "It's a waste of resources, and he's putting more people in danger."
In this election, as it did in the last one, Pennsylvania is expected to play a key role. And Lehigh Valley voters could be critical in determining who wins the state. In 2016, Lehigh County remained Democratic but Northampton County was one of three in Pennsylvania to flip to Republican, boosting Trump to his narrow win here.
Since taking office, Trump has shown his appreciation to the state, visiting it 18 times as of Thursday.
Meuser, who represents the 9th District, said Thursday that the party is focused on regaining the 7th District congressional seat that was lost in 2018 to Democrat Susan Wild upon the retirement of longtime incumbent Republican Charlie Dent.
"We're working on winning this seat," he said, voicing his support for Lisa Scheller, who is running in the Republican primary against Dean Browning.
Neither Scheller nor Browning joined Trump during his visit, though both had campaign signs prominently displayed along the road outside the distribution center.
Meuser said Trump asked him and the three other congressmen at the airport about the state's congressional races and also inquired about the area's political environment and their thoughts on how the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill was being implemented so far.
Many who agree with Trump rallied in Harrisburg last month to reopen the state _ some making their point by standing shoulder-to-shoulder and without masks _ and another rally is expected Friday outside the state Capitol. And elected officials in several Pennsylvania counties, including Schuylkill and Lebanon, have said they won't wait for the governor's permission to reopen local businesses.
Recently, the Lehigh Valley's top infectious disease specialists, Dr. Luther Rhodes at Lehigh Valley Health Network and Dr. Jeffrey Jahre at St. Luke's University Health Network, said they thought some Lehigh Valley businesses could reopen with certain precautions in place.
