President Donald Trump has announced that he will address the nation on Wednesday at 9 p.m. from the Oval Office. But will he declare an emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, in order to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) involved?
President Trump has told Americans to “be calm” because coronavirus “will go away,” so he’s hesitant to declare an emergency; instead, he and the COVID-19 Task Force are waiting on Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s opinion before making that decision, a report from Politico claimed:
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is pushing for the designation but Vice President Mike Pence, who Trump tapped to lead the administration’s coronavirus response, doesn’t want Trump to act until Congress passes a stimulus package, according to two of the people.There’s no deadline for a decision, but one of the people familiar with the talks said the task force will not give Trump its final verdict until Jared Kushner, the president’s senior adviser and son-in-law, finishes his research and comes to a conclusion himself.
Needless to say, this detail did not inspire confidence in what’s going on behind the scenes at the White House. People are freaking out.
[Image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images]