Täällä seurataan Trumpin presidenttikautta

[Nahkanuijan nuupauttaja]

Vaikka twiiteistä ei voi tätä päätellä, kyseessä on siis edustajainhuoneen demokraattien lakiehdotus, jonka kongressin rebut on jo kertaalleen pysäyttäneet.

[Nahkanuijan nuupauttaja]

Washington Post ei ole tyytyväinen Trumpin toimintaan.

Trump’s confusing answers on coronavirus testing

Spoiler:

President Trump sought to assure the American people Friday afternoon that the coronavirus testing that his own health officials have described as “a failing” would soon be on-track.

But in doing so, he offered some very confusing signals about how serious the situation is and who should get tested.

Early on, Trump and the officials around him said the lack of testing would soon be addressed. In the course of it, though, he continued his effort to downplay the threat posed by the coronavirus, including by saying he didn’t think that many tests would be needed.

“It’s going very quickly, which will bring additionally 1.4 million tests onboard next week and 5 million within a month,” Trump said, before adding: “I doubt we’ll need anywhere near that.”

Trump also, despite the ramping up in the availability of testing, urged people against getting tested unless they really needed it. And he again suggested that the fast-spreading disease would soon be gone.

“But we don’t want people to take a test if we feel that they shouldn’t be doing it,” Trump said, adding: “We don’t want everybody taking a test. It’s totally unnecessary. And this will pass.”

Later in the news conference, attention turned to Trump’s own potential exposure to the virus. He appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference recently, where one attendee turned out to have the coronavirus. A number of high-ranking Republicans who interacted with the person went into self-quarantine but have not been diagnosed as having covid-19, the disease the virus causes, and Trump appeared with a few of them in the days afterward. Trump was also recently pictured at Mar-a-Lago with an aide to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who tested positive.

Despite these potential exposures, Trump has said he hasn’t been tested. And he downplayed the interaction with the Bolsonaro aide by saying he didn’t even know who it was.

“Well, first of all, I’m not coming back from someplace,” Trump said. “There was somebody that they say has it. I have no idea who he is, but I take pictures and it lasts for literally seconds. I don’t know the gentleman that we’re talking about, have no idea who he is. I haven’t seen the picture. I said there’s a picture of somebody. But I take sometimes hundreds of pictures a day, and that night I was taking hundreds of pictures.”

Top Trump administration health official Anthony S. Fauci said Friday that anybody who comes in contact with someone who has the disease should get tested and should self-quarantine. Trump fits that description and has apparently done neither.

Trump explained the lack of a test by saying he has no symptoms. But even while saying that, he did later say that he would “most likely” be tested. Yet he insisted it wasn’t because of the potential exposure.

“Not for that reason, but because I think I will do it anyway,” Trump said. “We’re working on that. We’re working out a schedule.”

So should people who are exposed be tested, as Fauci said? Or should they first wait for symptoms, which Trump suggests are the deciding factor?

One thing is for sure: Trump has been in contact with many, many people since his potential exposures — and he was even shaking hands with those around him at the news conference Friday. The fact that he hasn’t been tested goes against the advice of his own administration’s health officials, and the fact that he says he’ll be tested despite not having symptoms goes against what he said himself at the start of the news conference.

Trump’s handling of the coronavirus has been uneven, to say the least. And this just added to it.

Trump defiant on testing and handshakes even as third Mar-a-Lago case emerges

Spoiler:

President Trump said Friday that he has not yet been tested for the novel coronavirus, even as three people who were with him at the Mar-a-Lago Club last weekend have now tested positive.

Trump said he would be tested “fairly soon. We’re working on that. We’re working out a schedule.”

In one televised event, Trump seemed to defy two basic practices that the rest of his government has been urging Americans to follow to prevent the spread of the virus. People who were exposed to an infected person are urged to quarantine themselves and seek testing. And everyone — exposed or not — should stop shaking hands.

But at a Friday news conference on efforts to combat the coronavirus, Trump continued to shake hands with other speakers, many of whom are members of the White House Task Force charged with trying to stem the disease. Trump and many of the speakers took part in backslapping and adjusting the shared microphone.

Trump also said he will not self-quarantine, as members of Congress and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have chosen to do after known exposures.

“No. We have no symptoms whatsoever,” Trump said.

In his case, Trump suggested the risk of exposure from a Brazilian official was low, even though the two had posed for a photo together. Trump said he had posed for so many photos, and shaken so many hands, that he did not remember the man.

“I take pictures and it lasts for literally seconds. I don’t know the gentleman that we’re talking about. I have no idea who he is,” Trump said. “I take sometimes hundreds of pictures a day and that night, I was taking hundreds of pictures. So, I just don’t know.”

Trump’s words and behavior seemed to signal that he still may be underestimating the diseases’s threat to the country — and even to his own health. As thousands of schools close, sports leagues suspend games, and American cities retreat into an eerie emptiness in the name of limiting the disease’s spread, the president’s actions seemed out of step.

Public health and medical experts have urged people to stop shaking hands, touching their faces, limit large gatherings and self-isolate if they have come into contact with a confirmed case of the coronavirus because the disease spreads easily. Trump has continued to shake hands even though he has come into close contact with a number of people and, at 73, is in a high-risk age group.

On Friday, the Brazilian Embassy in Washington said that its ambassador, Nestor Forster — who sat at Trump’s table during a dinner Saturday night at Mar-a-Lago — had tested positive for the coronavirus. Forster is the second Brazilian official who visited Mar-a-Lago that night and then was diagnosed with the fast-spreading virus: Fabio Wajngarten, the communications secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive on Wednesday. Wajngarten had posed for a photo with Trump; Forster, the newly diagnosed ambassador, seems to have been in even more prolonged close contact with the president.

On Friday, Republican officials also said a guest of a donor who attended a Sunday luncheon at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club had later tested positive for the virus.

“As you may have had contact with this individual, please contact your medical provider if you or any of your loved ones is ill” or shows symptoms like fever or shortness of breath, donors were told, according to a copy of the warning obtained by The Washington Post.

At the time, Trump did not seem to believe the coronavirus could pose much of a risk to his personal health. According to an account of the Sunday lunch, shared with The Post by one attendee, Trump even joked about getting the virus — referring to a donor in the room who Trump said had shaken hands with him twice. The man was a doctor, Trump said, and his hands were oddly clammy. Trump said that, after they shook, sweat from the man’s hand was left behind on his own.

“If you hear any bad things about the health of our president, there’s the guy,” Trump said, according to the account. “The president’s not looking good? Get that doctor. Find out who the hell that guy was.”

The audience laughed. Republican officials say the attendee who tested positive was in the audience but did not have personal contact with Trump at the lunch, which was attended by about 1,000 people.

The White House declined to comment on Trump’s remarks at the gathering.

The same weekend, Trump met with the visiting Brazilian delegation — posing for a photo with Bolsonaro’s communications secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, who later tested positive for the virus.

On Friday, Bolsonaro said he had tested negative for the virus. But another person who met with the visiting Brazilian delegation — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — also later tested positive, according to a spokesperson for Suarez.

At Mar-a-Lago itself, one of the biggest events of the winter social season — a 700-person lunch titled “Wine, Women and Shoes” — was postponed on Friday, a day before it was supposed to occur.

The brunch’s sponsor, an animal shelter called Big Dog Ranch Rescue, said they were heeding a warning from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to avoid large gatherings.

“The well-being of our incredible supporters, vendors and staff is paramount,” the shelter’s founder, Lauree Simmons, said in a statement. She also cited reports of two people testing positive in surrounding Palm Beach County.

But Mar-a-Lago itself remained open to members. The Trump Organization — which operates hotels, golf clubs and resorts in 11 states — does not appear to have closed any of its properties.

“The safety of our members and guests are of our utmost importance,” the Trump Organization wrote in a statement. “We are monitoring all of our businesses closely and are following the guidelines provided by the CDC.”

Some of the Trump Organization’s customers, however, have begun to cancel upcoming events. A group of Texas bankers had canceled a reception planned for Trump’s hotel in Washington, D.C., and a conference for the auto-repair industry had been postponed at Trump’s Doral resort outside Miami.

At Mar-a-Lago, the club had already lost at least one other event — a private party scheduled for Wednesday — according to an email sent to club members.

But the club told members it was making only minor changes. In a message to members on Thursday, which was obtained by The Post, the club said its seafood buffet had been canceled — replaced with an Italian dinner served “a la carte.”

“Instead of having the buffets, they’ll be plating all dinners,” said Mar-a-Lago member Suzi Goldsmith — a founder of a group of Trump superfans called the Trumpettes USA. “That’s the only change. On Tuesdays we have a prime rib buffet, and on Wednesdays it’s the seafood buffet. But rather than doing the buffets, it will be regular plated dinners.”

Goldsmith said the club had not notified members about the Brazilian visitor’s positive test.

Still, Goldsmith said she felt well-protected and was planning to eat dinner at the club on both Saturday and Sunday.

“They certainly wouldn’t want anything to happen to any of the members or the employees,” Goldsmith said. She is also a patron of Trump International Golf Club in nearby West Palm Beach.

“I’m almost thinking that Trump International and Mar-a-Lago are the safest places to eat right now,” Goldsmith said.

But on Friday, several other people associated with the club said they felt left in the dark about the Brazilian official’s test — wondering if they should be tested themselves, with no guidance from the club.

“Until now, the atmosphere over there has been business as usual, in the same kind of ultra-optimistic front that [Trump’s] been putting out on every level,” said one person familiar with the club, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid alienating Trump’s company officials. “That’s the prevailing atmosphere there. Nobody’s going to ring any bells until he allows that.”

[Nahkanuijan nuupauttaja]

Trump shook hands, patted backs and touched the microphone 31 times while declaring the coronavirus national emergency

Spoiler:

President Trump on Friday touted the work of his administration’s health experts on the novel coronavirus even as he ignored their public health advice.

Trump shook hands, patted backs and touched the microphone at the White House lectern at least 31 times Friday, the sort of behaviors health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised against to prevent the spread of the virus.

Over the past week, Trump has interacted with or been close to at least three people who were infected with the virus or who themselves interacted with virus-infected individuals. Trump earlier this week said he does not plan to get tested for the novel coronavirus, but Friday he said he “most likely” would get tested “fairly soon.

“We’re working out a schedule,” he said.

After inviting Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon to speak, Trump shook his hand while thanking him. Trump then greeted Walgreens President Richard Ashworth by patting him on the back and thanked him by shaking his hand. In total, Trump shook hands four times and patted the backs of officials five times.

And in between it all, Trump touched and adjusted the microphone on the White House lectern at least 22 times, according to a Fix count.

When the last executive had finished speaking, Trump offered him a handshake.

“We’ll practice that,” LHC Group Executive Vice President Bruce Greenstein said, offering Trump an elbow bump instead.

“Okay, I like that. That’s good,” Trump said, before adjusting the microphone yet again.

Trump had photo taken with infected Brazilian official but does not plan to get tested for coronavirus

Spoiler:

A senior Brazilian official who dined and was photographed with President Trump and Vice President Pence last weekend in Florida is infected with the coronavirus, marking the closest known contact between Trump and someone carrying the highly communicable illness that has shuttered many aspects of daily life across the globe and cratered financial markets.

Fabio Wajngarten, communications secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, posed for a photograph with Trump and Pence at a dinner for Bolsonaro at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club in Palm Beach, on Saturday.

Prominent members of the Trump administration and Trump family members also attended either the dinner or a party the same night in honor of former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is dating Donald Trump Jr.

Trump’s contact with Wajngarten is the latest example of a potential coronavirus close call for the president, who says he is following at least some of his administration’s advice about preventing the spread of the disease but also continues to play down the threat of a potentially deadly illness.

“Let’s put it this way: I’m not concerned,” Trump said Thursday as news broke that Wajngarten had fallen ill and tested positive for the virus after returning to Brazil.

Bolsonaro underwent testing and is awaiting results. Trump is not being tested and brushed off the risk Thursday.

“Yeah, I did hear something about that. We had dinner together in Florida in — at Mar-a-Lago, with the entire delegation,” Trump said. “I don’t know if the press aide was there. If he was there, he was there.”

“But we did nothing very unusual. We sat next to each other for a period of time, had a great conversation. He’s doing a terrific job in Brazil,” Trump said, referring to Bolsonaro. “And we’ll find out what happens. I guess they’re being tested right now, right?”

Trump did not seem to remember Wajngarten well, but a photo the aide posted on social media shows him standing shoulder to shoulder with Trump, with Pence on the president’s other side.

The interaction follows several instances in which Trump has spent time with members of Congress and others who had been in contact with an attendee at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February who tested positive for the coronavirus after the conference ended. But word of the infection did not come until after Reps. Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) had spent time with Trump.

Both congressmen opted to self-quarantine until it was clear they were not infected. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) announced Thursday that he is doing the same “as a precautionary measure” after attending the Mar-a-Lago dinner. Like many Americans, Graham will be working from home.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), another dinner guest, announced a self-quarantine Thursday because of attendance at Mar-a-Lago, as did the mayors of Miami and Miami-Dade County.

No such announcements of quarantines or testing came on behalf of anyone at the White House — though Trump advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell, national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien and others close to the president were at Mar-a-Lago that night. Some apparently met the Brazilian staffers, others did not.

Donors who saw Trump in small settings this past weekend in Florida were asked when they last left the country and whether they’d had any flu-like symptoms but were not asked to undergo any additional screening, said people familiar with the arrangements who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue. Trump attended at least four fundraisers over the weekend, some with dozens of attendees.

On Saturday, Trump interacted with a much larger group of people, including many who had not been asked screening questions. After dinner with the visiting Brazilian delegation, Trump went into the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago and stood amid the crowd and gave a toast to Guilfoyle.

He was seen shaking dozens of hands throughout the packed club, attendees said.

One person who was present said there is no way to know whether fellow guests were sick.

“You don’t get a health screening at Mar-a-Lago obviously,” this person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private events at the club.

White House officials have sought to limit foreign leader contact at the White House going forward, according to a senior administration official.

Sitting alongside visiting Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar at the White House on Thursday, Trump acknowledged that he has adjusted his routine a bit.

“Well, we didn’t shake hands today. And we looked at each other. We said, ‘What are we going to do?’ You know, it’s sort of a weird feeling,” Trump said to laughter.

Varadkar said that the two leaders had opted for clasping their own hands together in front of their chests. He demonstrated, with a small tilt of the head.

Trump noted that in other cultures, in places such as India and Japan, people do not routinely shake hands, virus or no virus, and he seemed to approve.

“They were ahead of the curve, okay?” Trump said.

“It’s a very strange feeling,” he said. “You know, I was never a big hand-shaker, as you probably heard. But once you become a politician, shaking hands is very normal.”

Trump has described himself as a germophobe, but since entering politics he has made peace with the rope line and the rally. Trump’s rallies often place thousands of people in close quarters for hours, something the president acknowledged Thursday he is reconsidering because of the virus risk.

But his motivation to continue with public events and to resist getting tested may be rooted in his aversion to any sign of weakness. People close to Trump described him as uninterested in being tested. He has told at least two advisers that if he gets sick, he will get tested.

A former aide said Trump never wanted to be viewed as sick, because he saw it as being weak. So even when Trump would come down with a cough or lose his voice, he would try to keep a strong public face — or staffers would come up with other reasons to move events. The former aide spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe Trump’s behavior.

Sounding somewhat dejected Thursday, Trump said he is unlikely to hold big rallies for a while. He has canceled events this weekend in Nevada and Colorado and said a previously unannounced event in Tampa is unlikely to go forward.

The Secret Service has not advised Trump to stay close to home, he said.

“They have not, but it’s common sense,” Trump said. “You know, a lot of it is — and what I say is: Use common sense, like washing your hands and, you know, certain things. Keep a little bit of distance away.”

But still, no test, according to White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

“Exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps,” she said in a statement Thursday. “Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time.”

She added that under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “there is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine.”

Meanwhile, test results for Bolsonaro, who sat next to Trump at dinner, were expected Friday.

“The medical service of the presidency of the Republic has adopted and is adopting all of the necessary preventive measures to preserve the health of the President of the Republic and the entire presidential committee that accompanied him in the recent official trip to the United States,” the presidential press office said in a statement.

[Mäd Bästärd]

Tällasten epäilysten noustessa on aina hauskaa kuvitella miten historia muistaa Trumpin.
”Yhdysvaltain 45. presidentti ja Covid-19 supertartuttaja.”

[Nahkanuijan nuupauttaja]

Tällasten epäilysten noustessa on aina hauskaa kuvitella miten historia muistaa Trumpin.
”Yhdysvaltain 45. presidentti ja Covid-19 supertartuttaja.”

Tämä vasta vakuuttaakin.

[Nahkanuijan nuupauttaja]

Tuossa vielä kuvana.

[Nahkanuijan nuupauttaja]

[dikäli mikäli]

It's all about the economy, stupid. Hyvin pistää Trump kampoihin niillä keinoilla mitä se osaa. Toinen olisi kriisin hetkellä johtajuuden osoittaminen, mutta sen jättäisin kakkosstrategiaksi.

[badger]

kauan coronan testaaminen kestää? eiks siinä oteta vaan pumpulipuikolla näytteitä? menee minuutti ja sitten ei tarvi ihmetellä onko vai eikö

[kiimainen dinosaur]

kauan coronan testaaminen kestää? eiks siinä oteta vaan pumpulipuikolla näytteitä? menee minuutti ja sitten ei tarvi ihmetellä onko vai eikö

Eikös se ole useamman tunnin viljely tai jotain? Siis siihen kun on tulos?

[Suomalainen tilauspukki]

kauan coronan testaaminen kestää? eiks siinä oteta vaan pumpulipuikolla näytteitä? menee minuutti ja sitten ei tarvi ihmetellä onko vai eikö

Eikös se ole useamman tunnin viljely tai jotain? Siis siihen kun on tulos?

Niin ja näytteitä kai otetaan useampi ja kaivetaan syvältä nenästä/kurkusta, joten ei kovin miellyttävä koe tämä ole.

[torakka/väyrynen]

kauan coronan testaaminen kestää? eiks siinä oteta vaan pumpulipuikolla näytteitä? menee minuutti ja sitten ei tarvi ihmetellä onko vai eikö

Eikös se ole useamman tunnin viljely tai jotain? Siis siihen kun on tulos?

Niin ja näytteitä kai otetaan useampi ja kaivetaan syvältä nenästä/kurkusta, joten ei kovin miellyttävä koe tämä ole.

Pumpulipuikko syvälle nenään ja tuloksia pitää odottaa 7 tuntia. Näin joku testissä ollut kertoi piffolla pari päivää sitten.

[superlemmikki]

Oon kai hölmö, mutta jostain syystä musta tuntuisi perustellulta vaikka pakottaa hallinnon avainhenkilöt testattavaksi. Todella naurettavaa, jos oranssi vauva tai joku mahdollisesti sairastunut mahdollinen supertartuttaja on vaan silleen "mut EN MÄ HALUUUU!UUUU!!!" ja sit on puolet julkishallinnosta kohta viemässä vuodepaikkoja

[kiimainen dinosaur]

Oon kai hölmö, mutta jostain syystä musta tuntuisi perustellulta vaikka pakottaa hallinnon avainhenkilöt testattavaksi. Todella naurettavaa, jos oranssi vauva tai joku mahdollisesti sairastunut mahdollinen supertartuttaja on vaan silleen "mut EN MÄ HALUUUU!UUUU!!!" ja sit on puolet julkishallinnosta kohta viemässä vuodepaikkoja

Eri.

[Jesse Python]

Oon kai hölmö, mutta jostain syystä musta tuntuisi perustellulta vaikka pakottaa hallinnon avainhenkilöt testattavaksi. Todella naurettavaa, jos oranssi vauva tai joku mahdollisesti sairastunut mahdollinen supertartuttaja on vaan silleen "mut EN MÄ HALUUUU!UUUU!!!" ja sit on puolet julkishallinnosta kohta viemässä vuodepaikkoja

Olishan tossa vitun tärkeä symbolinen merkitys että ne menis vapaaehtoisesti testeihin.