Hit the world. I see theyve canceled their big soccer games, their championship games and a lot of other games, theyve canceled a lot over in europe and all over the world. So this is a big world problem. Weve taken some bold steps. We took the original boldest step of all when we closed very early with china. That helped us save thousands of lives. And we went very early with europe and i think that will likewise be very good and hopefully we can get it back together very quickly in terms reestablishing with china, thats on track to something happened fairly quickly. Because theyve made a lot of progress over the last three or four weeks. Certainly with europe we think we can go, hopefully, very quickly. They have hot spots that are really bad. But theyll get them germany i guess has some problems now. France has some pretty big problems and italy, of course, is probably recordsetting in terms of what theyve gone through. Italys having a revery having a very hard time. We think well reestablish very quickly once this ends and its just a question of time. I think it will go pretty quickly. Stay away from people and wash your hands and do all of the things that were supposed to be doing a little bit anyway. But it will go very quickly. I know we were just talking that irelands closed their schools and maybe id ask the Prime Minister to say a little bit about what youre doing in ireland, having to do with what were going through. Prime minister varadkar thank you for having us here today in the runup to st. Patricks day. Just another opportunity, i think, to show how close ireland and america are and how good our relationship is politically and economically and everything else. St. Patricks day has become i think a symbol of how close ireland and america are and how were going to continue to stay close into the future. The big concern in ireland and europe at the moment is covid19. And weve acted just as youve acted decisively in the past couple of days. We have restrictions on travel, for example, to italy for a few days already. But as of tomorrow, our schools will close. Were banning all indoor gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 500. This is based on the Public Health advice from our c. D. C. That we need to do this for a couple of weeks to make sure the virus doesnt spread. And were particularly trying to protect older people and people with chronic diseases. So we have about 30 or 40 cases so far. One death. We have a real concern that could rise and thats why were taking the action that were taking. But as you know, its a virus thats gone pandemic. Its all over the world. No borders, knows no nationalities. I think we all need to Work Together in the world on this and america in particular, youre the richest country in the world. Youve got great scientists, great companies, great universities and we need them working on treatments, working on tests and working on a vaccine. Because thats what will get us on top of this. President trump were making great progress there, i will say. Prime minister varadkar i met with the Vice President this morning who is heading up the task for you. He gave me a lot of confidence that youre on top of this and investing in this. Reporter can you confirm if ireland will be included in your european travel ban . President trump they know and i think it was made very clear last night who is and who isnt. Well be discussing that. Well be discussing some other moves that were going to be making and i think its going to work out very well for everybody. But its a world problem and you do need separation in some cases. You have some areas that are very heavily infected and you have some areas that arent. But we do need separation for a little period of time in some cases. Prime minister varadkar the president has excluded ireland from the travel ban. One thing we have in ireland is american Border Security in ireland. Went through myself yesterday and they were asking the right questions. Whether people had been to china, things like that. Thats whats different President Trump one of the reasons u. K. Basically has been its got the border, very strong borders. Theyre doing a very good job. They dont have very much infection at this point and hopefully theyll keep it that way. Reporter mr. President , there are many european leaders who are upset that they werent consulted about the travel ban. Can you explain your rationale for not consulting with them first before announcing . President trump we get along very well with the european leaders. But we had to make a decision and i didnt want to take time, it takes a long time to make the individual calls. We are calling and we have spoken to om of them prior to some of them prior to, some some of the majors prior to. When they raise taxes on us, they dont consult us. I think thats probably one and the same. Theyve done things, the European Union, as you know, has done some very big tax raises over the years, not so much with me because i wont put up with it but they havent consulted us. In the case of the European Union ive consulted with many people. Can you talk about the Overall Economic impact . President trump itll be a bigger impact but its a human impact which is more important than the financial, when you lose thousands of additional lives. As an example if i didnt close, very, very early, we closed very early with china, i took a lot of heat, including from you people they called me everything from a racist to everything else, it was terrible. The same people then they say he closed too fast. Most of them said why did he close with china . That turned out to be a great move. What we did with europe, this was the time. China, a lot of it came from, when you think of what happened to europe because it was very fast and very furious and what happened is a lot of people went from china into europe and europe suffered tremendously. You see whats going on. I wanted that to stop as it pertains to the United States. Reporter can you talk about the impact of campaign rallies. President trump we had some big rallies, we canceled one we were thinking about doing in las vegas, as you know. One in reno, nevada. We had one we had about three of them in nevada, actually. And we had four or five of them we were thinking about. We have a big one in tampa all sold out. Over 100,000 requests for tickets. But i think well probably not do it because people would say its better to not do. We need a little separation until such time as this gos away. Its going to go away. Its going to go away. I was watching scott this morning. And he was saying within two months. But you know in the meantime, we want to lose as few people as possible. So important. And what is the number as of this morning . Is it 32 . You can tell me, is it 32 deaths . Think of it, the United States because of what i did and what the administration did with china, we have 32 deaths at this point. Other countries that are smaller countries have more deaths. 32 is a lot, 32 is too many, but when you look at the kind of numbers youre seeing come out of other countries its amazing when you think of it. Thats it. Reporter are you going to invoke the stafford act today, declaring President Trump we have things i can do. We have very strong Emergency Powers under the stafford act and we are i havent memorize i have it memorized practically as to the pow for the that act. If i need to do something, ill do it. I have a right to do a lot of things people dont even know about. Reporter will you do that today . President trump i dont want to say but at some point, maybe some of the more minor things at this point. Were in great shape, compared to other places, we are in really good shape. Were going to keep it that way. Thats why i did the ban with respect to europe. Reporter are there emergency actions you can take . President trump i have a lot of emergency actions i can take. Reporter what are you looking at to help American Workers . President trump were looking at a lot of things including paid leave. Were looking at many things. Also making sure theyre going to get their salaries. We have other workers, people who work for tips and nobody thinks about them. Were including them in a lot of our schedules. Were also making sure that the companies which are Good Companies say solvent, have the money necessary to keep functioning, so we have a lot of things that were working on with the Financial Markets and its going to work out fine. You have to remember the stock market as an example is still much higher than when i got here. Its taken a big hit. But its all going to bounce back, its going to bounce back very big at the right time. Reporter when will you decide . President trump were deciding right now. Were dealing also prior to even the stafford act, were dealing with the democrats in congress, well see what can be done. I happen to think a payroll tax cut would be a very good idea, very distributed to really, distributed very evenly among middle class and other workers. Many workers. It would be a great thing. I happen to think it would be a great thing even beyond this. Ok. So were looking at the payroll tax cut. And that wont come immediately because its a stronger measure. But we are looking to do that and i think at the right Time Congress will probably go along with it. It really is the most sensible thing. We had the biggest bankers in the world here yesterday getting their opinions. They all thought payroll tax cut would be a great thing. It would evenly and quickly distribute a lot of money. Reporter do you intort the house bill . President trump no, because there are things in there that have nothing to do with what were talking about. Not a way for them to get some of the goodies they havent been able to get they are last 25 years. Reporter [inaudible] President Trump always, always. Just like your Prime Minister. Always. There will be welcome, loved. We have millions, what is the number would you say . Changes every year, gets bigger. Prime minister varadkar about 35 million. President trump got to be one of our biggest. We love the irish. Reporter do you support getting access to the e3 visa . President trump well be talking about that today. Very important. Going to be a very important art of our conversation today. Reporter what about the operation with countries like ireland . President trump i think theres a lack of security if they use huawei, theres a real problem with intelligence and intelligence security. And well see what happens. Well be discussing that point lso. Reporter cant an american still bring back coronavirus . President trump sure but we have them heavily tested. If an american is coming back or anyone is coming back, we are testing, we have a testing system where people coming in have to be tested. If theyre positive if theyre able to get through because if theyre, frankly if theyre not were not putting them on planes, if theyre fit shows positive. But if they are, if they do come here they have to its going to be a pretty strong enforcement of quarantine. The key is, you have to have separation. We have to have separation. Or this thing takes longer to go away. But the real, really important and i think you could say this for your country, i think we can say it for a lot of country, all countries, hopefully, it gos away. Its going away. We want it to go away with very, very few deaths. People have, you know, we call it cases. How many cases do you have . Well relative to other countries we have very few cases. Relative to certain of the major countries that really have a bigger problem than us. Weve offered, interestingly, i think we have the greatest doctors in the world. Weve offered iran assistance, iran is having a tremendous problem. And we have offered iran assistance if theyd like it. We will help them. Wed be glad to help them. Reporter the pentagon has returned, iraqi soldiers killed in iraq, do they expect a response . President trump id rather not see, but we will see. I cant say. I was working on that last night also. They sent a lot of rockets now. Hasnt been fully determined it was iran, as you know, it was a rebel group. But most likely looked like it could be backed by iran. And well sea what the response s. Reporter would you like to see the Prime Minister return to the white house next year . President trump hes a friend, i always want him return. We started off both new to the job and yes, i would always like to see him. I know they have other people that i know and get along with well, if we get along with a country, but this is a very special guy. Prime minister varadkar wed like to see you back in ireland again. President trump well get there. Reporter if the president is do you want the president reelected in november . Prime minister varadkar thats up to the American People but the president , any american president is welcome in ireland. Reporter may have the coronavirus, are you aware of that . President trump i did hear something about that we had dinner together in florida at maralago with the entire delegation. I dont know the press say he was there. I dont know. We did nothing very unusual. We sat next to eh other far period of time. Had a great conversation. Hes doing a terrific job in brazil. And well find out what happens. I guess theyre being tested right now. Reporter [inaudible] President Trump im not concerned. Reporter we heard from an Emergency Room Physician in houston who was showing symptoms of something, tested negative for the flu, physician wanted to test the person for coronavirus, this doctor called it stupid trying to get through to Public Health agencies in texas, trying to get permission for this person to be tested. Is there something you can do as the president to help . President trump i was watching. They have a million tests out now. Theyll have, over the next few days theyll have four million tesses out. Frankly the testing has been going very smooth. If you go to the right agency, if you go to the right area you get the test. Now with that being said, as you know, millions are being produced. This is a brand new thing that just happened but millions are being produced. If you go back and look at the swine flu and what happened with the swine flu, youll see how many people died and how actually nothing was den done for such a long period of time as people were dying all over the place. Were doing it the opposite. Were very much ahead of everything. Reporter this person did contact the direct authorities, they were closed for the day, they were on hold for an hour. President trump youre talking about one case. Ive heard also it goes very well. I watched scott today who was with us and i respect him a lot, i like him and respect him, he was talking about how we have so many different in some cases there in california where we have too many and then in other cases, distribution could be a little better for certain areas. But weve done a good job on testing. It was interesting. You might ask scott about it actually. Reporter youre in the going to speaker pelosis annual lunch . President trump i have other things to do, im very busy. Reporter restrictions for 30 case on europe, is it possible youll need to extend it President Trump sure its possible. Its possible i could also say we could do it early, we could end it early. But i thought it was an important thing to do because of whats happening over there. Reporter what you said, does that mean thats it, no more in the future . President trump i think the democrats wont be having rally bus nobody showed up to their rallies anyway so what difference does it make . My rallies are very big. Theyre very big rallies. And well be making a decision at the appropriate time. I mean, the next one is scheduled for the 25th and thats in tampa but well have to see whether or not we do it. Im not going to do it if i think its going to be negative at all, if people are, if we havent made that turn yet. Well make the turn. The question is when. And the question is how many people will die. And i dont want people dying. Thats what im all about. I made a very tough decision last night an a very tough decision a long time ago with respect to china. I dont want people dying. Thats why i made these decisions. Whether it affects the stock market or not, very important, but its not important compared to life and death. So i had to make that decision. And frankly, the people that are professionals praised the decision. And its something i had to do. I think youll see the end result is good because of it. But itll take a period of time. On the rallies, well make that decision. But at this moment, we dont have i was going to las vegas. I was going out to nevada, as i said. I was going to colorado. Where we have cory gardner running, hes doing a great job, hes done a fantastic job. But we postponed that. I think were going to have cory coming in here. Maybe on friday. Were going to do our event from the white house. But we have a lot of things were moving around because of whats happening. And because i want to be here. This is the nerve center, i want to be right here. I dont want to be flying around in airplanes all over the place. I want to be right here. Reporter youre not avoiding small things like. This President Trump no, im not. People said, dealing with people that maybe you dont want to deal with them. Im like, youre right about that reporter did secret Service Counsel you not straying far from the white house . President trump they have not but its common sense. A is common sense. Wash your hands. Keep distance away. Thats why the sporting events are tough. You have people sitting in small seats right next to each other. Its a little bit tough. What happened with the nba is pretty incredible. But you look over and in europe and you see their big soccer matches were canceled. Its amazing when you think of what happened and how fast this spread to the world. It was one country, then it was four countries. Then it was nine. Im reading this list every week. Then it was 13. Then it was 22. And now i guess its over 100 countries. So its an amazing thing how fast this one spread. This is a very fast spreader. Reporter any more thoughts about the olympics . President trump no, i just wish the Prime Minister, hes a great friend of min, Prime Minister abe, i wish him luck. They did such a perfect job. The venues are incredible. He was proudly showing me pictures of what theyd done the last time i was with him. Just before this came up. And i said what a job. And they built it very well. Built it on budget, even under budget. And theyre beautiful facilities. Very possible that for the olympics, maybe, i just cant see having no people there. In other words not allowing people. Maybe and this is just my idea, maybe they postpone it for a year. Maybe they do that if thats possible. Maybe they thats not possible. I go its never happened with the olympics. I think there was interruption for wars. Right . It was canceled or interruption. But i would say maybe they postpone it for a year. Its a shame because really i used to be in the real estate business as you probably heard they built some i built beautiful buildings. They built some really beautiful buildings. Reporter would you make the recommendations to your friend Prime Minister abe . President trump no, theyre very smart. But i like that better than having empty buildings. If you cancel it, do it a year later, thats a better alternative to doing it with in crowd. We didnt check in today, we shake hands today, we looked at each other, sort of a weird feeling. We said at the same time. I just got back from india. I didnt shake any hands there. It was very easy because they go like this and japan a goes like this, they were ahead of the curve. No, we looked at each other and we also had a lot of press staring at us. Are we supposed to shake hands . When his grandpa of very smart representatives came in who i know, likewise we didnt. Its a strange feeling. I was never a big handshaker as youve probably heard but once you become a politician, shaking hands is very normal. And its a very strange feeling when people that you know and like, they walk up and say hi nd theyre just like this. We were saved a little it. Prime minister varadkar almost feels impersonal, feels like youre being rude, but we cant afford to think like that for the next few weeks. Reporter you talked about the trickle through effect of everything were seeing. Canceling the nba season. We alter the entire President Trump it has. The only thing worse would be you lose thousands and thousands of people, more than you would have lost if you did it the way we are doing it. I it certainly has an impact. We are very much working with the states. Because you know the states are a smaller form of government. They can control individual arenas and individual things better. And its different for different areas. Some areas have no problem whatsoever in our country and others do. So were working with the governors of the various states. I think its working very well. I think the relationship has been very good with california and some others, that in articular have been hit. Reporter it looks like youll be facing joe biden in the president ial runoff are you happy . President trump i hope they make their decision soon. Everybody thought it was bernie, i said, elizabeth warren, if she waited that three or four day, she would have won almost every one of those, maine, massachusetts, texas. You take a look at the states that were very close and many of her, i would say most of her, i would almost say all ofs her but many of her votes would have gone to him. So had she left prior to super tuesday, just a few days, he would have right now been declared virtually the winner, it would have been over. Now we have joe, im happy to run against joe. Dont forget one of the reasons i ran for president is because of joe. And the job they did. So its one of the reasons. In a way its you know, its maybe the way it should be. But it looks to me like it would be biden would win. Reporter are you warred worried reporter travel restrictions to the United States such as to Washington State . President trump we havent discussed that. Is it possible yes, if somebody gets out of control or somebody gets too hot you see what theyre doing in new rorblee, its not enforced. Not very strong. But people know theyre being watched. New rorblee, thats a hot spot. Rochelle, thats a hot spot. Reporter reporter you spoke to the saw saddi crown prince, what did you tell him about the oil market . President trump i asked him whats going on. Theyre having a dispute with russia. This drove oil prices down. One thing i can tell you, oil prices are at a point now that i wouldnt have dreamed about because the gasoline prices are going to be coming way down. Theyll be coming way down. So with gas lean prices coming down, thats like a tax cut. Frankly, thats like a big tax cut, not a little tax cut, for the consumer. So theres something about that that i like. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you very much. Back live to capitol hill, the house has been in recess, waiting for them to return off the floor, work continues on a coronavirus aid package. Congresswoman gwen moore tweets this. House expected to take action soon on its second robust coronavirus package to help state and local governments, businesses and individuals impacted by the coronavirus. Ill keep working with government partners at the federal, state and local levels to keep wisconsinites safe and healthy. From doug lamborn of colorado, tweeting, some coronavirus information, he says use these practical and important tips if the White House Coronavirus task force to keep your home safe. From josh of the Washington Post who tweets this. President trump quote wont be tested after having contact with a member of brazils delegation at maralago this weekend that has reportedly tested positive for coronavirus, per spokeswoman stephanie grisham. She says contact was limited though the brazilian official was in a picture with President Trump. Up next in the wake of the coronavirus, a senate panel looked thealt effect the outbreak is having on the Small Business supply chain. They talked specifically about the drug supply chain reliance on china