Trump made the remark about the re-opening of US states amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contrary to what individual governors may mandate for their states, Trump said,
Well I have the ultimate authority. President of the United States has the authority to do what the President has the authority to do, which is very powerful. The President of the United States calls the shots…
When pressed about how constitutionally, it is not in the purview of the federal government to dictate such matters to states, and whether he had addressed such matters with governors, Trump said,
I haven’t asked them about it. You know why? because I don’t have to.
When asked to elaborate, Trump replied,
When somebody is the President of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way that it’s got to be. It’s total. It’s total…but the authority of the president of the United States having to do with the subject we’re talking about is total…You can look at constitutionally, you can look at federalism…we have the power. Does the federal government have the power? The federal government has absolute power. It has the power.
On the day of the press conference, the United States had over 580,000 cases and 23,000 deaths from COVID-19.
Trump also previously claimed that Article II of the Constitution allows him to “do whatever I want.”
The timeline below includes Trump’s remarks alongside US cases and other major events. COVID-19 case numbers for this post are taken from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/, and there may be a lag between Trump’s statements and the day’s reported numbers.
Dec. 31 – World Health Organization first alerted to the existence of a new respiratory virus in China.
Jan. 5 – WHO publishes first Disease Outbreak News for COVID-19.
Jan. 8 – CDC issues first travel advisory, “alerting clinicians on January 8, 2020, to be on the look-out for patients with respiratory symptoms and a history of travel to Wuhan, China.”
Jan. 9 – Trump holds Ohio rally.
Jan. 12 – China shares genetic sequence of COVID-19.
Jan. 14 – WHO says evidence of human-to-human transmission is inconclusive. Trump holds Wisconsin rally.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China🇨🇳. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG
Jan. 18 – Trump receives a briefing from Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who said the President viewed him as “alarmist.” The briefing was by phone, as Trump was at Mar-a-Lago golfing for the weekend.
Jan. 19 – Trump golfs.
Jan. 21 – First reported case in the United States.
Jan. 22 – 1 case. WHO declares evidence of person to person transmission.
“We have it totally under control. … It’s going to be just fine.”
Jan. 23 – WHO issues global advisory.
WHO’s risk assessment is that the outbreak is a very high risk in China, and a high risk regionally and globally…We know that there is human-to-human transmission in China, but for now it appears limited to family groups and health workers caring for infected patients. At this time, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
Jan. 24 – 2 cases.
China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!
Jan. 30 – 7 cases. First person-to-person transmission confirmed by CDC, indicating COVID-19 had been freely spreading for several days, possibly weeks. Trump holds Iowa rally.
“We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five. And those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for it. So that I can assure you.”
Working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in U.S., all in good recovery.
Jan. 31 – 8 cases. China travel ban issued; US citizens and legal residents are exempt. HHS Secretary Azar declares public health crisis. There are 11,950 confirmed cases worldwide, 156 of which are outside of China spanning 19 nations.
Feb 1. – 8 cases. Trump golfs.
Feb 2. – 11 cases. China travel ban goes into effect.
Well, we pretty much shut it down coming in from China. We have a tremendous relationship with China, which is a very positive thing.
Feb. 5 – 11 cases. Trump’s impeachment trial ends as the Senate votes not to convict.
Feb. 7 – 11 cases. In tapes revealed in September 2020, Trump tells Bob Woodward about the severity of the virus.
It goes through air, Bob. That’s always tougher than the touch. The touch, you don’t have to touch things, right? But the air, you just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus…This is more deadly. This is 5% versus 1%, and less than 1%. So this is deadly stuff.
Feb. 10 – 12 cases. Trump holds New Hampshire rally.
Now, the virus that we’re talking about having to do — you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat — as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. We’re in great shape though.
The virus, they’re working hard. Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.
Feb. 15 – 15 cases. Trump golfs.
Feb. 19 – 15 cases. Trump holds Arizona rally.
Feb. 20 – 15 cases. Trump holds Colorado rally.
Feb. 21 – 35 cases. Trump holds Nevada rally.
Feb. 24 – 53 cases. “CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart,” Trump will halt funding to the World Health Organization within two months.
The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!
Cryin’ Chuck Schumer is complaining, for publicity purposes only, that I should be asking for more money than $2.5 Billion to prepare for Coronavirus. If I asked for more he would say it is too much. He didn’t like my early travel closings. I was right. He is incompetent!
And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.
Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape! @CDCgov…..
“Anti-Trump Network @CNN doing whatever it can to stoke a national Coronavirus panic. The far left Network pretty much ignoring anyone who they interview who doesn’t blame President Trump.” @trish_regan@FoxNews Media refuses to discuss the great job our professionals are doing!
Feb. 28 – 63 cases. Trump holds South Carolina rally.
Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus…they are politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs, you see…this is their new hoax.
35,000 people on average die each year from the flu. Did anyone know that? 35,000, that’s a lot of people. It could go to 100,000, it could be 27,000. They say usually a minimum of 27, goes up to 100,000 people a year die. And so far we have lost nobody to coronavirus in the United States. Nobody. And it doesn’t mean we won’t and we are totally prepared. It doesn’t mean we won’t, but think of it. You hear 35 and 40,000 people and we’ve lost nobody and you wonder the press is in hysteria mode.
It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.
Feb. 29 – 68 cases. First American death.
I’ve gotten to know these professionals. They’re incredible. And everything is under control. I mean, they’re very, very cool. They’ve done it, and they’ve done it well. Everything is really under control.
Mar. 2 – 100 cases, 6 deaths.
We had a great meeting today with a lot of the great companies and they’re going to have vaccines, I think relatively soon.
Mar. 5 – 221 cases, 12 deaths.
Gallup just gave us the highest rating ever for the way we are handling the CoronaVirus situation. The April 2009-10 Swine Flu, where nearly 13,000 people died in the U.S., was poorly handled. Ask MSDNC & lightweight Washington failure @RonaldKlain, who the President was then?
Mar. 6 – 319 cases, 15 deaths. Global cases surpass 100,000. Trump signs $8.3 billion funding bill for research.
Anybody that needs a test, gets a test. They’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.
No, I’m not concerned at all. No, we’ve done a great job with it. … [Holding rallies] doesn’t bother me at all and it doesn’t bother them at all.
It’s an unforeseen problem, what a problem, came out of nowhere, but we’re taking care of it.
Mar. 7 – 435 cases, 19 deaths. Trump golfs.
Mar. 8 – 541 cases, 22 deaths. Trump golfs.
Mar. 9 – 704 cases, 26 deaths.
The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, “The risk is low to the average American.”
So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!
We’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.
Mar. 11 – 1,301 cases, 38 deaths. WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Trump extends travel ban to most of Europe. The bans still do not apply to US citizens and legal residents.
Our team is the best anywhere in the world…and taking early intense action, we have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in Europe.
Mar. 13 – 2,284 cases, 48 deaths. Trump declares a national emergency.
I don’t take responsibility at all…
To this point, and because we have had a very strong border policy, we have had 40 deaths related to CoronaVirus. If we had weak or open borders, that number would be many times higher!
Mar. 14 – 2,931 cases, 58 deaths. First widespread screenings at airports leads to mass confusion and several-hour wait times in crowded terminals.
This is unacceptable. The reactionary, poorly planned travel ban has left thousands of travelers at ORD forced into even greater health risk. @realdonaldtrump and @CBP: no one has time for your incompetence. Fully staff our airport right now, and stop putting Americans in danger. https://t.co/gswIaHwelx
Michael Atkinson, who had served as the intelligence community inspector general since May 2018, was the first to alert Congress last year of an “urgent” whistleblower complaint. The complaint was about Trump’s attempt to solicit foreign aid in the 2020 election by withholding military aid from Ukraine in exchange for dirt on Joe Biden. The complaint was submitted by a CIA official assigned to the White House under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act, making it a lawful disclosure. Atkinson, upon further investigation, found the claim to be credible and urgent, submitting it to the Direct of National Intelligence. In this way, Atkinson served merely to determine if any further investigation was needed, acting as a messenger.
Trump was ultimately impeached for the ensuing findings. He referred to the impeachment as a lynching. He also lied about the Ukranian President having exonerated him. After impeachment, Trump was acquitted by the Senate, which requires 67 votes to convict. The only Senator to break party lines was Republican Mitt Romney. Trump made a teasing remark upon discovering he was in isolation for COVID-19.
Trump directly stated that his firing of Atkinson’s firing amid the COVID-19 pandemic was reprisal for the “fake report.”
President Trump on Michael Atkinson: "I thought he did a terrible job. Absolutely terrible. He took a whistleblower report, which turned out to be a fake report…it was about my conversation with the president of Ukraine. He took a fake report and he brought it to Congress." pic.twitter.com/nctqgPNQ7T
Roger Stone is a longtime Republican strategist who has served as campaign adviser for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump. He pushed several conspiracy theories during the campaign, including birtherism and the murder of Seth Rich by Democratic operatives. He was arrested during the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which Trump referred to as an “attempted coup.”
Stone was investigated for his connections to Wikileaks, which disseminated emails from Hillary Clinton that had been hacked by Russian intelligence. Trump famously called on Russia to hack Clinton’s emails.
On November 15, 2019, Stone was convicted of one count of obstruction, one count of witness tampering, and five counts of false statements regarding his testimony to Congress. On February 20, 2020, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
During the trial, Stone’s threats to Wikileaks intermediary Randy Credico were unearthed: “you are a rat. A stoolie. You backstab your friends…I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die.” Stone’s rocky trial also included a a gag order from the court, which he violated by posting a photo of the judge with a crosshairs in the corner on his Instagram. He later claimed he thought that the crosshairs were a Celtic symbol.
Stone is known for his unorthodox style of dress and back tattoo of Richard Nixon’s face, as well as his self-avowedly dirty political strategies. He paid an operative to infiltrate Democrat George McGovern’s presidential campaign, which was revealed during the Watergate hearings. No stranger to the dissemination of conspiracy theories, he penned a 2013 book in which he suggested that LBJ was responsible for John F. Kennedy’s assassination. He is also the subject of the 2017 Netflix documentary, Get me Roger Stone.
Roger Stone at Trump’s inauguration. stoneonstyle/TwitterRoger Stone’s back tattoo alongside Alex Jones. ellefs0n/Twitter
Over the course of Stone’s trial, Trump took to Twitter in Stone’s defense multiple times, including upon his conviction and his sentencing.
“I will never testify against Trump.” This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about “President Trump.” Nice to know that some people still have “guts!”
So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years to come. Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Shifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all of the others, including even Mueller himself? Didn’t they lie?….
This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv
Even though prosecutors recommended nine years of prison time, the Justice Department intervened with their own recommendation of a drastically shorter sentencing. Four federal prosecutors withdrew from the case in protest. Stone was ultimately sentenced to 40 months in prison.
On the day of the sentencing, Trump spoke at length in Stone’s defense, attacking his detractors as liars and leakers.
Trump said afterward that there were no casualties. Within a month, the Department of Defense reported that a total of 109 service members suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Trump downplayed the injuries, saying, describing them as “headaches.”
In Trump’s complete remarks, he discounted the severity of TBIs based on comparison to other injuries:
“I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say, and I can report, it’s not very serious. Not very serious. They told me about it numerous days later, you’ll have to ask the Department of Defense. No, I don’t consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries that I’ve seen. I’ve seen what Iran has done with their roadside bombs to our troops. I’ve seen people with no legs and with no arms. I’ve seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area, that war, in fact many cases, put those bombs, put there by Soleimani, who’s no longer with us. I consider them to be really bad injuries. No, I do not consider that to be bad injuries, no.”
Traumatic brain injuries are forms of brain damage resulting from sudden blows to the head. They have become an increasingly common form of injury among service members since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in part due to the prevalence of IEDs. Its symptoms can range from mild to having a permanent and devastating effect. There have been over 400,000 confirmed cases among US service members since 2000.
Center for Disease Control – Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Trump made the remark during a press conference about the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the 10 million unemployment claims across the preceding two weeks, Trump claimed that the economic side of the crisis was “artificial” because of forced business closures.
Trump’s message to the 6 million people who filed unemployments claims in the last week is that “it’s an artificial closing. It’s not like we have a massive recession or worse. It’s artificial because we turned it off … we will probably do more.” pic.twitter.com/FGVi6xIvbq
As the United States surpassed over 200,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 5,000 deaths, Trump declined to reopen the federal health care exchange at Healthcare.gov for a special enrollment period.
While free testing for COVID-19 has been authorized, there are no provisions or support for Americans without healthcare that require further treatment.
As of 2018, over 28,000,000 Americans were uninsured.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is responsible for saving provisions for pre-existing conditions. However, there is an ongoing lawsuit by Republican states to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which instituted the provisions.
Mini Mike Bloomberg is spending a lot of money on False Advertising. I was the person who saved Pre-Existing Conditions in your Healthcare, you have it now, while at the same time winning the fight to rid you of the expensive, unfair and very unpopular Individual Mandate…..
On February 26, 2020, Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence as leader of the federal government’s task force on COVID-19. At the time, the United States reported a total of 58 cases. One month later, the US reported a total of over 100,000.
Pence drew criticism when he toured the Mayo Clinic on April 28 without a mask, noticeably being the only one present without one. By then, the US reported over 1 million total cases.
Pence, former governor of Indiana, has a controversial past regarding his record on public health and science:
Smoking
In 2000, Pence claimed in an op-ed about smoking,
Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill.
The CDC considers smoking the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
Amid an AIDS outbreak in his state, after a 2015 meeting with officials from the Indiana State Department of Health and the CDC, Pence said he would “go home and pray on it.” A few days later, Pence allowed for the opening of an HIV testing clinic and a non-state funded needle exchange program. However, on the same day, he signed a bill into law that increased criminal punishment for possession of syringes without a prescription, even if unused. Within two years, 217 AIDS cases had been attributed to the outbreak. Critics claimed that Pence’s long-held attempts to close down Planned Parenthood, a leading HIV testing resource in the state, helped lead to the outbreak in the first place.
As a result of the outbreak, former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said that Austin, Indiana had a higher incidence of HIV than “any country in sub-Saharan Africa,” and “more people infected with HIV through injection drug use than in all of New York City last year.”
In a 2002 interview with Wolf Blitzer, Pence claimed about condoms and their ability to prevent the spread of disease,
I just simply believe the only truly safe sex, Wolf, as the president believes, is no sex…The problem is it was too modern of an answer, Wolf. It was — it truly was a modern, liberal answer to a problem that parents like me are facing all over America, and frankly, all over the world.
Pence’s website in which he published his views on smoking also espoused support for conversation therapy. In writing about the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, Pence’s site stated,
Congress should support the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.
While Pence has also called being gay a “choice” and “learned behavior,” there is no known evidence of his otherwise specifically voicing support for conversion therapy.
Climate Change
Pence has repeatedly deflected questions on his beliefs regarding climate change.
Pence has long criticized evolution, espousing a flawed understanding of what constitutes a scientific theory. In 2002, he gave a speech to the House of Representatives, where he demanded that evolution be taught alongside religious alternatives:
Charles Darwin did offer a theory on the origin of species, which we’ve come to know as evolution. Charles Darwin never thought of evolution as anything other than a theory. He hoped that some day it would be proven by the fossil record, but did not live to see that, nor have we. …let us demand that educators around America teach evolution not as fact, but as theory.
He has also avoided directly answering the question of whether he believes in evolution in later interviews.
Trump golfed January 18, January 19, February 1, February 15, March 7, and March 8 amid the COVID19 pandemic. He also held 11 rallies between January and March.
By the end of the March 8 weekend Trump spent golfing, there were over 500 reported cases in the United States. That Monday, he accused the media and Democrats of working to “inflame” the situation via tweet.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump finalized changes to Obama-era automobile emission rules. Whereas automakers were to increase fuel economy by an average of 5% per year through 2026, it was changed to 1.5%. The Trump administration noted that the change would be the equivalent of 2 billion additional barrels of oil consumed and nearly a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
My Administration is helping U.S. auto workers by replacing the failed Obama Emissions Rule. Impossible to satisfy its Green New Deal Standard; Lots of unnecessary and expensive penalties to car buyers!
