WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump confronted one of the most perilous days of his presidency Monday by first erupting in a barrage of commentary that failed to calm the cratering financial markets, struggling to inspire confidence that his administration could stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. But by the time the sun set in Washington, Trump sounded momentarily chastened by the turbulence and previewed a raft of emergency measures to shore up the economy. “We have a very strong economy,” the president told reporters, “but this blindsided the world.”
Responding to days of mounting pressure from Wall Street executives and congressional allies, Trump said he plans to visit the Capitol on Tuesday to advocate for a payroll tax cut and other proposals to provide relief for hourly workers and others affected by the fallout.
Trump, who for weeks has resisted such steps, described the policies at a White House news conference as “very dramatic,” before ceding the lectern to Vice President Mike Pence and top public health experts to deliver a coronavirus update. Trump’s overall handling of the converging crises – while spreading misinformation and blaming others – has unsettled many of his Republican allies on Capitol Hill and even inside the White House, where some aides acknowledged that the president is compounding problems with his grievances and conspiratorial mind-set. President Donald Trump steps from the podium to allow Vice President Mike Pence to speak in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March, 9, 2020, about the coronavirus outbreak.
The coronavirus and market meltdown present Trump with a challenge unlike any he has faced as president, and one for which he has no ready solution. At a moment when anxious citizens are turning to the government for facts and assurance, Trump is playing down risks and immersing himself in feuds with Democrats, the media and other perceived enemies.
During a meeting with the nation’s governors Monday in the White House Situation Room, Pence and his team tried to assuage their concerns and explain how states could seek emergency federal funds or provide guidelines on school closures and quarantines, which they anticipate only the hardest-hit communities might need. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, expressed dismay after leaving the Pence meeting, saying Trump’s statements “sometimes conflict with the information we’re getting from the rest of the administration.” Inside the White House, some officials privately acknowledged Monday that Trump has exacerbated the problem with his series of mistruths and false statements, as well as his callous comments – such as saying he hoped infected cruise passengers would stay aboard the Grand Princess at sea because he didn’t want domestic coronavirus case numbers to rise. Markets plummeted Monday amid global alarm over the coronavirus and a showdown over oil prices, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling more than 2,000 points, or roughly 7.8%. It was the biggest drop for stocks since the beginning of the 2008 recession, and trading was so volatile that the New York Stock Exchange tripped the “circuit breaker” to temporarily halt trading in a bid to encourage stability.
Trump had resisted taking dramatic action, aides said, because he was fearful of causing alarm among the public or further rattling investors. But he changed course Monday after aides presented him with options they thought could help deal with the economic problems caused by the outbreak.
Trump told reporters that he will ask Congress to cut payroll taxes, provide relief to hourly workers and provide assistance to the airline, hotel and cruise industries, which are suffering because many Americans are canceling travel plans. “We’re taking care of the American public and we will be taking care of the American public,” Trump said.
Members of Trump’s coronavirus task force have also discussed declaring a national emergency, which would involve invoking the 1988 Stafford Act to enable the Federal Emergency Management Agency to take disaster-level action, officials said, but those discussions remain preliminary.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow will meet with Senate Republicans at their lunch Tuesday, according to two people briefed on the plans. In addition, the White House has invited top Wall Street executives to meet this week. Trump has been reluctant “to shut down an industry” or “tell anyone they can’t go anywhere,” said a senior administration official. On Sunday, however, the State Department and the Centers for Disease Control offered guidance urging Americans – especially older adults with underlying health conditions – to defer cruise travel.
The day before, during a meeting with cruise executives, Pence issued a far sterner warning in private, according to someone familiar with the conversation. Pence told cruise executives that if they do not develop by Tuesday a clear plan to prevent another coronavirus outbreak from happening again on a ship, Trump is prepared to take much stronger actions than he has so far.
Publicly, Trump has accused the media of hyping coronavirus to damage his political standing. Privately, he brooded throughout the weekend about news stories that detailed the ways his administration squandered precious weeks and bungled its handling of the crisis, with much of the blame falling on the president.
“He sees the stories as everyone just being out to get him,” said one administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the president’s mind-set.
Trump is proud about the initial restriction he imposed on travelers from China and has repeatedly complained that he does not get enough credit, to the point of mentioning it in nearly every meeting, several senior Republicans said.
Trump has spent much of the past four days tending to campaign benefactors and preoccupied with his own political future. He has used those settings to complain about what he considers to be coronavirus hysteria in the media and overreaction by financial markets.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Trump said at one of the events, according to people who heard the comments.
People who interacted with Trump over the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, or the nearby Trump International Golf Club, said the president was in gleeful spirits. He stopped by to toast Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of his son Donald Trump Jr., at her 51st birthday party.