And gentlemen, the president of the United States, accompanied by governor lee of tennessee. Mr. Trump thank you very much. Please. This afternoon, i will sign a proclamation declaring the month of may to be Older Americans month. I dont know if i am in that category. I have a feeling im. But i feel good. And our country is making a lot of progress, not like some will tell you, they are making a lot of progress. Are here to discuss the unprecedented steps we are taking to protect seniors from the virus. I will also announce vital new actions to safeguard Nursing Homes and most vulnerable citizens as we gradually seek to reopen our country. To see whatxciting is happening. , roberty alex azar wilkie, great job. ,ema administrator pete gaynor and chief of the National Guard thanks also to tennessee governor bill lee, my friend. Thank you very much, bill, great job youre doing. Great being with you. We tragically have seen, the virus poses the greatest risk to Older Americans. Weether, as one nation, mourn for every precious life that has been lost, and there have been many. We are so saddened by it. Through our aggressive actions and the devotion of our doctors and nurses, we have held our hardhitrate far below other countries such as spain, italy, the united kingdom, and sweden. We are way below other countries. We are deploying every resource in our power to protect seniors age andicans of every background. Early on, we implement a lifesaving travel restrictions and awarded millions of dollars for the development of therapies and vaccines, and that is moving along rapidly. We moved at a speed that people are absolutely stunned to see. We accelerated treatments, including one showing promising preliminary results. That was the big story yesterday, announced by gilead. Early march, my administration advised in Nursing Homes to suspend all medically unnecessary visits to help low the spread and to protect our seniors. Homes,lly in our nursing they are having a hard time. We took action in Nursing Homes all across america. We acted swiftly to secure veterans, health care facilities, and deployed hundreds of v. A. Staff to help out in Nursing Homes nationwide. And we are being helped greatly by the passage of all things we have done, especially choice, so that people can go see their doctor when they have to, especially seniors. We have provided nearly 1 supply in grants to meals and other services that make it impossible for older people to just do what they want to do. We are helping them to live. Ndependently we have dramatically expanded access to telehealth, a very big deal. The number of medicare patients hasng telehealth increased from roughly 11,000 a week to 650,000 people a week. Thats from 11,000 a week to 650,000. Thats almost an impossible number two believe, but its really something. You get used to it, and a lot of be staying with us long after this horrible scorch is gone. Medicare also provided labs for. T home testing nobody who has needed a ventilator has been without a ventilator. Its an incredible achievement. We now have thousands and thousands of ventilators, and other countries are asking us to help. Some are allies, and some are not necessarily allies. We are helping other countries with ventilators. We have millions and millions of masks. In. Ions of masks coming the federal government is also funding over 35,000 members of the National Guard to help states deliver critical supplies and to help with disinfecting and testing. I would like to ask the general to come up and say a few words about the work of the National Guard has been doing. Its really fantastic. Thank you, mr. President. Today, over 83,000 men and women in the National Guard are engaged at home and abroad, and 45,000 of those are engaged directly in covid19 response. From running test sites around the country to screening passengers at airports, to helping manufacture ppe, to a myriad of other tasks, the National Guard is bare. We know the virus does not treat everyone equally, and our Senior Citizens are at increased risk. We are being used to sanitize longterm care facilities and Nursing Homes, giving older citizens peace of mind that their environments are safe. The georgia National Guard has set aside over 700 Nursing Homes. Manyhas been replicated places around the nation and continues to grow. Banks. Nally, food in normal times, they are staffed by volunteers. Volunteering puts those americans at increased risk, so the National Guard is helping stay clear of that risk. We are helping staff food banks across the nation where the need for Food Assistance is increasing as the virus continues to persist. The National Guard is a big part of the United States army and air force, and we are proud of that, but the role we play here at home, in the homeland, under the command of the governors in our states is distinctly and uniquely National Guard business and we are proud of that. Mr. President , thank you. Thank you for the support you give our military, National Guard, and all of the men and women who serve. They are proud to serve our nation. Mr. Trump four stars, thats a lot of stars. Very impressive. You deserve them. Say youo mentioned the word governor. Weve had a lot of Great Success in our relationship with governors. We have dealt with governors very well. Have got to know each other, understand each other, like each other. In many cases that has worked out well. We have the governor from new jersey, wonderful man. A lot of progress being made there. John bel edwards, ron desantis, tremendous progress, three very exceptional men. They are doing a really good job, as you know. In. We have others coming one or two a day. We help them very quickly. It has been very good. Administration is doing Everything Possible to support the state led management of Nursing Homes. Here today is a governor i happen to like a lot. Job in ane a fantastic state they like me where they like me, tennessee. Please come up, governor bill lee. Governor lee thank you very much. And thank you to your team. You are guiding america through a tremendous crisis, and america is grateful for that. We are grateful for the partnership between the federal government and states like ours as we work to make our contribution to fighting covid19. We can do so because of the work you are doing and the way you are supporting the work we are doing. In april, two percent of people in tennessee were tested. We have tested over 170 5000 today. As we look to may, we are building on strengthening that commitment to the elderly, the most vulnerable of our citizens, especially those in Nursing Homes. Hardture describes being. Ressed but not crushed thats where we are in tennessee. I think that is where we are in the nation. Tennessee, we are committed to testing every resident and staff in our longterm care facilities. It will be a great undertaking, but it honors the value of these lives in those facilities, lives that have protected our country in the hardest of times, the greatest generation, and those legacy, ourloving neighbors, our grandparents, our friends. It is time for us to protect them. We should do so by pursuing social distancing in every way that we can with them. I havent hugged my elderly mom in eight weeks. But we are doing right by these citizens and you are doing right to make certain they that we do our personal part to make sure they are safe. Atle valuing our freedoms the same time. While we are hardpressed, we are not crushed, and we are grateful for your leadership and for this teams leadership, particularly your commitment to the most vulnerable in our nation. Together, we will get through this. Thank you very much. Mr. Trump thank you very much, bill. Great governor, by the way. As we take steps to safely reopen our country, we must remain vigilant in sheltering the most vulnerable americans. To that end, today, i have several announcements. In addition to all of the supplies we have already distributed, fema will send supplemental shipments and i have to tell you, what a job you have done. , at the last call, so many of the governors said i want to thank him. I was calling him easter morning. Calling him all the time. You can call them on sundays. All the time. They really appreciate it. You are doing a fantastic job. Pete, fema. Fema will send supplemental shipments of personal protective equipment to all 15,000 400 medicaid and medicare certified Nursing Homes in america, right, pete . Providing states with 81 million from the cares act to increase their inspections of Nursing Homes at this critical time. We have to do that. Thats a spot. Thats a spot we have to take care of. I guess you could call it a little bit of a weak spot because things are happening at the Nursing Homes that we are not happy about. Have themant to happen, so we will be taking care of it very carefully and methodically. New cases will be reported directly to cdc and testing data will be posted online where everyone gets to see it. This will require Nursing Homes to report cases to residents and their family members. Finally, to ensure that our Nursing Homes are prepared for any future outbreaks, we are announcing the Coronavirus Commission for safety and quality in Nursing Homes. This commission will be composed of leading industry experts, doctors, scientists, residents, patient advocates, family members, prevention and control specialists, and state and local authorities. Its a big deal. The commission will convene in may and issue recommendations for further steps we can take to protect our nations seniors. My administration will never waver in its relentless commitment to americas seniors. We owe them a sacred and unbreakable obligation and we will fulfill that obligation with every resource and power we have. We are working very hard with our seniors and we are working very hard with our Nursing Homes, and great progress is being made and will be made. That i can promise you. Are is also why we protecting medicare and social security. We will protect your social security. We will protect your medicare. We will protect you as american citizens. That goes beyond citizens. Cherished seniors and rich every aspect of our national life. These great citizens have dedicated their lives to our families and our communities and our countries. Our country could not be anything near where it is without our incredible seniors. We will show them the same love and loyalty they have shown us and they have shown our nation every day of our lives. No effort will be spared to give our seniors the care, support, devotion, and love that they have earned and that they deserve. In a few moments, i will sign a proclamation designed its very special. We have divine designed a very special plan thats going to designate older american month. This is Older Americans month. First, i would like to ask a secretary a czar, secretary wilkie, administrator sec. Alex azar, secretary wilkie, and our administrators to come on up and say a few words. Alex, why dont you start. Mr. Azar thank you, mr. President , for your leadership, and for the work you have done to protect Older Americans. As the president described, during this pandemic, we have taken every possible effort to keep Older Americans healthy and safe. In addition to our Public Health and health care efforts, President Trump has made historic investments in programs that support Older Americans and help them live independently. Month, hhs has disbursed more than 1 billion in grants to aging and disability networks, state and local agencies, like the council on aging, that provides services for seniors living in the community. Increaseore than a 40 in the critical support we provide to these organizations. Services include delivered meals like my grandmother used to get from meals on wheels, elk with trips to the Grocery Store help with trips to the Grocery Store and to doctors. We put out grants specifically for meals, including meals on wheels. We have been pleased to see communities get creative with these funds. Some states are assuring that not only are meals getting to seniors, but to local restaurants whose businesses are struggling. We recognize that Older Americans may be facing Mental Health challenges and feeling isolated. Floridas aging network is combating social isolation by providing electronic tablets to nursing home residents to help them communicate with loved ones. We are working to protect the rights of Older Americans. Our office of civil rights has been taking action to ensure that Health Care Providers do not discriminate on the basis of disability or age in the allocation of medical care. We have had two states remove such policies from their triaging guidelines as a result of our office of civil rights work. We have worked closely with states to make sure they can test especially vulnerable populations, like those living in Nursing Homes, and those who care for them. This will continue to empower them throughout the pandemic as we reopen the country and keep americas seniors as healthy and independent as possible. Thank you all for what you do. Mr. President , thank you, and thank you for everything you have done to transform the department of veteran affairs. , the men of the american regiment raised the flag on mounts or bocce. No event better revoked raised the flag on a mountain. No event better revoked the men who put on the uniform for world war ii. A few years after iwo jima, the men of the United States army defended the perimeter and the marines fought throughout the reservoir. Veterans of those terrible times are still with us today. Crisis, in this President Trump gave very explicit orders to do Everything Possible to protect the lives of those precious americans. Veteranstment of affairs has more than 134 Nursing Homes, but more than half of those fought in wars in battles with names like the bulge. Of the 78,000 residents and our Nursing Homes, we have tested all of them for coronavirus. Staff. Tested all of our the infection rate is low. Homes do not report any positive cases. Noted,as the president we had to make tough decisions early on. After residents had gone through so much on the battlefield, we had to tell them that at this stage of their lives, we were depriving them of the sustenance of their families and friends because we had to protect their lives. Because of the president s directions to me, we have been able to contain the virus in our Nursing Homes, and now, we are taking the lessons we learned from the v. A. Across the country to protect patients across america. We are the federal efforts experts. We are helping 38 states and territories handled the surge of patients dealing with this surge with our great partners at fema, americas elderly is central to all of our efforts. Early on, Governor Charlie Baker and phil murphy moved to protect their veterans, and they asked us for help. Massachusetts and new jersey, we were helping alabama, florida, and tennessee. In nonveteran nursing home patients and state veterans nursing home patients into our v. A. Facilities. Elderly americans wherever we find them. Mr. President , you should be very proud of the v. A. You have helped build. Leftands of employees have into harms way, leaders like jim ,cinerney and martina prada brian little in boston, rima nelson in detroit. Fernando rivera in new orleans. All of them have put service before self to protect the most vulnerable and deserving. The folks who made america strong. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. President , and thank you for your commitment to the nations seniors and to the medicare program. You have been very clear with me since day one that you wanted to protect and strengthen the medicare program, and under your are at a 13premiums year low and in the part d program, it is a seven year low. But today, i want to focus on Nursing Homes. In the scheme of lifes decisions, placing a loved one in a nursing home has to be one of the most difficult. You can to know that stay connected with that loved one and that they will be safe and have the best quality of life. That is why the decision to restrict visitations to Nursing Homes was heartbreaking. Our thoughts and prayers are with families and patients during this uncertain time. Thetragic reality is coronavirus seems almost tailormade to put Major Pressure on Nursing Homes. In countries across the world, they have struggled with their nursing home population. Actionsidents early around Nursing Homes has saved countless lives, and even before the coronavirus, we have been working on a strategy to improve quality in Nursing Homes. It focused on quality, oversight, enforcement, and transparency for patients and their families so they understand exactly what is going on in Nursing Homes about the conditions there and reducing regulatory burdens so that nursing home providers can focus on providing care to their patients instead of paperwork. Overhauled the entire survey system and implemented a tool across the nation to ensure beingnspect errors were consistent and objective, and that has resulted in an increase in number of fines. We have updated websites so that patients and families had the latest information on the quality in the nursing home, and making it very clear when Nursing Homes have had nothing and cases of abuse and neglect. Those improvements made it possible when the coronavirus hit for us to take rapid action on several fronts. An unprecedented transparency effort that requires Nursing Homes to inform patients and families when there to reportreak, and that information directly to the cdc. That will be important to our efforts around surveillance as we reopen the country. We increased reimbursement for labs so that they could be more testing. Thats going to be critical to our monitoring and surveillance efforts. In february, we issued a series of nine guidance documents specific to coronavirus and controlling infections in Nursing Homes. ,ust for some perspective sometimes this guidance can take months or a year, but the team worked days, nights, and weekends to make sure we got this information in the hands of our Nursing Homes to do everything we could to protect vulnerable seniors. We also host weekly calls with Nursing Homes to help them implement guidance. Federal action is just one part of the piece. States ultimately license Nursing Homes, and that is why we have been working with states to investigate outbreaks and inspect Nursing Homes. Our guidance has called on state and local leaders to support Nursing Homes in their efforts to control the coronavirus outbreak. I commend governor lee and governors across the nation who have implemented our guidance, whether it is cleaning their facilities, testing and creating new covid facilities that help othere patients and keep patients safe. This has been critical to keeping nursing home residents safe. I am pleased to announce we are putting out new grants to support state and local efforts. The president has been an advocate of this. He has asked for increase funding for Nursing Homes every year in his budget, but this is the first Year Congress has provided this, and it could not come at a more critical time as we work with our state partners to ensure safety and our Nursing Homes. But the president has directed us to do more, so as part of our opening up america effort, we are going to oversee the Coronavirus Commission for safety and quality in Nursing Homes. It will comprehensively assess the response, identify best practices, and identify recommendations for how we go forward to protect nursing home residents and make sure we are providing the best quality of life. In closing, i want to speak directly to nursing home residents, caretakers, and their families. Our pain, and we are doing everything we can to support you. To the Health Care Workers on the front line providing care and comfort to nursing home residents, we thank you. And thank you, mr. President , for your consistent leadership and unwavering support. We are doing everything we can to lower the price of insulin for our seniors and we will have some great announcement coming up very soon. Thank you, mr. President , administrator, and members of the task force. Let me focus on logistics in our efforts to deliver care packages to those at highest risk and greatest need. Thanks to the leadership of the president and the tremendous support of the task force, fema will deliver care packages ppe toing four items of more than 15,000 medicare and medicaid certified Nursing Homes nationwide through the district of columbia, the commonwealth of where to rico, and guam. Of puerto rico, and guam. Or all provide a package kit containing a seven day supply of eye protection, masks, gowns, and gloves to 15 plus Nursing Homes. Each kit is individualized for each nursing home based on the level of staffing and the seven days of our supply calculations. Over the cost of the next 60 days, course of the next 60 days, we will be providing two shipments of sevenday supplies, totaling 14 days of supply supplies by the beginning of juvenile of july. They will focus on new york city, new jersey, boston, chicago, and washington, d. C. The second shipment is in early june. The goal is to have all supplies delivered no later than july 4. Assisting us is a Small Business in maryland that specializes in equipment support, focusing on solutions for the department of defense. They will help us distribute 6008000 piece 608 thousand pieces of eye protection, six point 9 million surgical masks, 6. 4 million gallons, 31 million pairs of gloves, and finally, i would like to extend my gratitude to the president for his leadership on this project as well as to the Coronavirus Task force. Together, we have met critical demand for ppe turned a critical demand into reality. You all trunk thank very much. I think thats fine. [indiscernible] [laughter] [camera shuttering] thank you very much. If you would like to have questions on this, we might venture into different territorials. Think you. Thank you. Said juste president a short time ago that he believes general Michael Flynn may have spoken when he talked to him and did not include his meeting with the russian ambassador. Do you believe that general flynn may have misled the Vice President intentionally . Trump he was under an enormous, artificial pressure. What they did to him was shocking. What they tried to do to destroy them that hurt this presidency was there has never been anything like it. An absolute disgrace. I think you understand very well. What happened to general flynn should never happen to a citizen of this country. Reporter you said that Michael Flynn would come back even bigger and better. Are you going to pardon him and are you considering bringing him back . Pres. Trump it looks like Michael Flynn would be exonerated. Im not the judge, but i have a different power. Exoneratedhas everything and ive never seen anything like it. You wouldnt want this happening to you. It is just disgraceful. I guess we will get to that someday or maybe not. When you bring him back into your administration would you bring him back into your administration . Pres. Trump i would certainly consider it. I think he is a fine man. I think he has got a great family. His son was around a lot and he loves his son, as people generally do. They did Everything Possible to destroy him and he is still breathing very strongly. They hurt him very badly. Very unfair. Reporter in what capacity would you bring him back . Pres. Trump this is the first time i have been asked of the question. I think you will be exonerated one way or the other and he would certainly be cable of coming back. One of your top advisers yesterday said the government sponsor has been a te rate Success Story your soninlaw yesterday said the governments response has Great Success story. Is that the right tone . Pres. Trump he is not talking about the other things i speak about him and that is death. It is horrible what the world has gone through. It could have been contained at the original location and contained relatively easily. China is very sophisticated and could have contained. Contained it. They chose not to and the world has suffered greatly. But what i talk about a lot is that i dont think anybody has done the job that we have done. The press just wont talk about the facts. Problem wastilator caused by the fact that we werent left ventilators by a Previous Administration. The cupboards were bare. Not onlye they are they now full, but we have thousands of them being delivered. Said thators have people, you, were screaming ventilators. Tests thanen more every other country combined. A friend of pine, south koreas president moon, called me and said what a job you have done. What a you have done on testing. A job you have done on testing. We have solved every problem quickly. We are helping other countries where people are dying. We have ventilators into nobody else does to this extent. It is a great tribute. Dr. Deborah birx has been fantastic. We talk about things we have done in a short time. All you heard about was ventilators. Its a hard thing. We energized factories that were building cars and other things and now we are building thousands it we. It has been very spectacular. I dont think anybody has done a better job with testing, with ventilators, with all of the things we have done. Numbers perh total Million People are really very strong. We are very proud of the job we have done. We have little to work with because the Previous Administration left us with little. Pint opined why the need for more manpower . [indiscernible] and itrump i need it sign it and we do have executive orders have helped us a lot here which have helped us a lot here. I have used the act very powerfully. Often times, i just had to talk about it. Want ory siding when we need additional manpower or whatever it is. Things. Done i dont think anybody else has been able to do what we have done. I am very proud of the country and the way they have stepped up. Things are opening. Governor lee is doing a great job in opening up tennessee. He said to me to words that i think about, safe and rapid. Quickly andit safely in tennessee is a great story. We have other governors who are doing a really great job. Governor murphy and cuomo have a tougher situation because it is really a hotbed. Its a very dense area. New jersey is the single most dense area in the country. Who would think that . But the governor has done a terrific job. Is speaking to me all the time and whenever we can help him, we do. Thank you. Do you feel any closer . Pres. Trump things are being discovered that we never thought possible. Advent is a great Scientific Company that came up with a machine. Who, peopleden, come in and get tested in five minutes and feel very good. Tests thatipment and nobody ever thought was even possible and his being used commonly now. I looked at the numbers and we are over 6 million tests. Its incredible. It would be great if the media could portray it the way it is. We have done some unbelievable work. It really has been successful. Rates,look at mortality its a very sad thing to be talking about. Whoever thought you would be talking about such a thing . Today, we have to talk about that. Our country has stepped up our generals have stepped up. By the way, the admiral has done a fantastic job, as you know. We are very proud of everybody. This whole room has been very amazing. It china isu said doing everything you can to make sure you dont get reelected. What specifically are they doing . Pres. Trump china doesnt want to see me reelected and the reason is we are getting many billions of dollars a month from china. China never gave us anything, not . 10. Whether it was biden in charge , and in, it was a joke all fairness to biden and obama, this went on long before they came in office. Went through many administrations until i came along and we signed a trade deal. It now becomes secondary to what took place with the virus situation. It is just not acceptable. Think that them withholding information about the virus is related to trying to undermine your reelection . Pres. Trump i dont want to cast any dispersions, just that china would like to see sleepy joe biden. They would take this country for a ride. Reporter mr. President . Numbers unemployment coming out today, have you given any thoughts to possibly extending the 600 extra dollars of unemployment . That will run out in july. Pres. Trump they are looking at it and taking a strong look and will be reporting to you shortly. This is what it is. View the Third Quarter as a transition quarter. I think you will have a strong transition and then the Fourth Quarter will be successful. Next year, we will have a phenomenal year economically. Reporter you keep referring to china, do you hold president xi jinping responsible for this . Pres. Trump i dont want to say that, but it certainly could have been stopped. I wish they had stopped it, and so does the whole world. Reporter there are many businesses that are concerned want to bess owners able to get their employees back because they make more money staying home then they would if they came back to work. Caused some governors to suggest they might strip those people of Unemployment Insurance if they refused to go back to work. Is that something you would support . Pres. Trump we have brought up a lot of things. Point,s a democratic some people are being treated unfairly and didnt get into the formulas the way i thought. When you think about it, basically, we are being generous shortterm with people who have tensile he lost their jobs. Have intentionally potentially lost their jobs and are getting more money than they would have. A lot of people are saying the job is more important. The employer will not forget that. Reporter followup regarding joe biden. Your campaign and surrogates are going after him pretty hard. With regard to tara reade . Pres. Trump i dont know anything about it. I think you should respond. It could be false accusations, i know all about false accusations. I have been falsely charged numerous times and there is such a thing. If you look at brett kavanaugh, there is an outstanding man. He was falsely charged. What happened with him was an absolute disgrace to our country. I guess three of the four women have now admitted that. And the fourth . Give me a break. Take a look. 36 years. This is a fine man. I saw a man suffering so unfairly. Talking about brett kavanaugh. I can only say that i think he should respond. Reporter another question on biden . Reporter a moment ago, you said china could have chosen to stop the spread of the virus. Pres. Trump they could have done it. One of two things happened. Either they didnt or couldnt do it from a competence standpoint, or they let it spread. I would say it probably got out of control. Come theyse, how stopped all of the plane and traffic from going in but not the traffic from coming into the United States and all over europe . Look at what happened. Lucky thaty is very i put the ban on china. China and ban on in that was an early date. Then we put the ban on in europe. Would hadt do that, a problem like you wouldnt believe. Then you take a look at what happened to italy, and its been very, very tough. On holding them accountable, is that somebody you want to do now . I think we will get a powerful definition of exactly what happened. We are working on it strongly and it will be powerful. But they could have stopped it. They are a brilliant nation. Scientifically or otherwise. They could have kept it, they could have stopped it, but they didnt. What was that all about, jim . Reporter a followup. You have praised china in the past. What has changed . Effortsted about their at transparency. What has changed between then and now . Pres. Trump the following. We did a trade deal and everybody was very happy. Nobody has ever been tough on china like i was tough on china. I got elected because of borders howmilitary but i would say china and other countries are ripping us off. So recently, we signed a trade deal . Deal. They are buying millions of our products and it has been a great deal. But then, we noticed a virus. Its not acceptable what happened. It came out of china and it is not acceptable. What we are doing is finding out how it came out. You have heard three or four different concepts as to have how it came out. Andhould have the answer that will determine how i feel about china. But i was very rough with china. Example, then Previous Administration led china rip off this country. I took that and made it into a great deal for our country. But all of a sudden, we heard there is a virus coming in. Dealsn have good trade and its a great deal. We are taking in billions and billions of dollars of money in different forms. Its tremendous. Some of that i have given to the farmers, because they were targeted by china. We are going to be giving approximately 19 billion. Something happened. Misleading or not. Ill be able to give you that answer some point. At some point. A month and a half ago, we had the strongest economy in the history of the world, and all of a sudden i have to close the country. Had tremendous deaths and sorrow. So have most of the countries of the world. Think of that. You tell me, its probably low. They have suffered tremendously. Its something that is going to have to be dealt with. On the issue of loss, Vice President biden said we should lower the white house flag. Are you going to do that, and are you thinking about leading the nation in a moment of mourning . Pres. Trump i could do that. In fact, its something i will be talking about later at various meetings and we will bring that up. I think lowering the flags would be appropriate. Reporter what do you think about leading the country in a moment of mourning . Pres. Trump i dont think anybody could feel worse than i do about all of the death and destruction that is so needless. Nobody. But i also have to make sure that we handle the situation well. Nobody is thinking about it more nobody has spent more time late in the evening, thinking about what has happened to this country. , we have toame time get our country open again and we are doing that. Stepbystep, we are opening up our country. That next year and here, andyond maybe even beyond, we can be as good as better. Agorter he said a moment you said a moment ago he will soon have information on where this virus originated. The director of National Intelligence put out a statement saying it was probably not manmade. Pres. Trump he would know that. So we will see. You would have to tell me who specifically made the statement. Reporter it was put out under the office. Pres. Trump i would have to see the statement. Reporter the question i had was, have you seen anything . Pres. Trump we are looking at where it came from, how it happened, separately and scientifically. Anything have you seen at this point that gives you a high degree of constitutes confidence that the Wuhan Institute of virology was the origin of this virus . The worldp i think Health Organization ashamed of themselves should be ashamed of themselves because they are like the Public Relations agency for china. China only pays 38 million a year. Whether it is a lot or more, it doesnt matter. They should be making excuses when people make horrible mistakes that are causing thousands of people around the world to die. I think the world Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves. Suggestedhave you to districtsid with sanctuary cities . Pres. Trump i have a right to do that. But sanctuary cities are a dangerous thing for law enforcement. Want to for our citizens we want sanctuary for our citizens. Crimes of the ultimate evils. We dont want them to have sanctuary in our country, we want strong borders. I have been saying this for a long time and i think people are agreeing with me. The democrats want open borders where people just come in. Youre talking about people coming in with not only the disease we are talking about so much lately, but others. They want to have open borders and people to pour into our country from who knows where. We arent doing that. We have a very strong border, and every day it gets stronger. We are building miles per day of very powerful wall. Its so important for our country and very few are arguing with it. Reporter you described this fight against the virus as a war. How do you define victory . Pres. Trump i define victory when it is gone and we open successfully. Victoryever be a total because too many people have died. All over the world, people have died in our country and every country. Look at whats going on with , so incredibly harmed and injured by this. So many people are dying. Something where you say this was an experience, this was a bad experience. Have the virusto gone and a vibrant economy. We dont want people sitting six feet apart. Back, i wantuntry them to go out and see football sports games and not worry about getting sick in violently ill. You compare the deaths in sweden to the deaths in denmark, finland, and norway. You hate to say it, but the deaths are substantially higher in sweden because they have used it as an example. Brazil is very high if you look at what has gone on graphically. Very straight up. Mine, a great man, the president of brazil. When they say hurt in sweden, the bars you cant go to, certain areas you cant go to. A lot of people are saying, the Prime Minister doesnt have to say stay in. They arent leaving. Wasts not quite what reported but the number of deaths are tremendous in sweden compared to countries where they did strong lockdowns. We were discussing before that was a very big difference. Go herd asdnt you understand it. But they are being very smart. They are not going out. Are some . , i guess. Reporter i missed in the interruption are you suggesting you may have some evidence that this was not a naturally occurring virus . Pres. Trump we are going to see where it is and where it comes from. You have theories from the lab, the bats, the bat couldnt have been here or there. There are a lot of theories. But we have people looking at it very, very strongly. Scientific people, intelligence others. Nd we are going to put it together and have a very good answer eventually. May tell us. What tells us this originated from the Wuhan Institute of around . Pres. Trump im not allowed to tell you that of virology. Pres. Trump im not allowed to tell you that. Recommendwould you china to be given punishment for the virus. Pres. Trump i could do a number of things, like tariffs, so i dont have to do that. It is approximately a trillion in ars, we could do that more forthright manner. That game is tough. We want to protect the sanctity and importance of the dollar. We have a very strong dollar. That is why we are borrowing at zero interest. With all of the stimulus that we are taught about, it sounds good. Around zero. Good question. You want to say, we owe you a certain amount of money and we will keep it, but when you play that game, you harmed the sanctity of the currency but we could do it in other ways with tariffs were beyond without having to play that game or beyond without having to play that game. Reporter Speaker Pelosi said she envisions up to 1 trillion needed to help support states and localities. Pres. Trump democrats have come to us and they would like to do a phase for. Four. They want to help the states and help bailouts. They happen to be democratic states. California, new york, illinois. The republican states are in strong shape. Is that much or is it talent . Or is it just a different mentality . But the republicanrun states are in strong shape. When i spoke, i spoke with ron desantis. And texas area doing incredibly. The states are doing unbelievably. They dont know about the word bailout. We had a call from the governor of south dakota south dakota. They have a constitutional amendment. They have a totally balanced budget. They just have a sales tax, thats the only tax they have. So think of that. Republican states are doing very well. Maybe democrats should have brought this up earlier. They did, and i said specifically to look at it later on. But they would like to do something. I can understand infrastructure. Think of it. We have spent 8 trillion in the middle east and we are not fixing our roads. How stupid is that . We are not fixing our tunnels, our bridges, our hospitals. Its crazy. But they want to do things and the republicans are in a much better position. I dont want to use the word negotiating position, but we are. Our negotiating position is different because they want to bailout very states. Illinois is in big trouble. Pritzker understands that. Illinois is in big trouble. And thenr to do that have states that are powerful and strong like idaho . Look at all of these incredible states look at what is going on. Nd how successful they are i think we want to take a little pause. That, we will have to get something for it. Up,rter quickly, to follow it sounds like you are potentially open to the call that states should apply for bankruptcy. That outmp he threw as an idea. Ive spoken to him about it. We will see what happens we will take a pause and see what seed that happens what happens. I was with phil murphy from new jersey and we talked about it. New jersey is a wonderful state, a wonderful place, but it has got a lot of difficulty in terms of economics and debt. In a different position than some other states we could mention. Vice president pence did not wear a mask when he visited the mayo clinic earlier this week. Arizonatraveling to will you wear a mask arizona. Will you wear a mask . Pres. Trump i will have to see the climate. Heres a place we feel comfortable. Everybody is spread out and its a big room. I would have to look at the climate and i have no problem wearing a mask. Im supposed to wear speech. To give a speech. My supposed to speak in a mask am i supposed to speak in a mask . I would have no problem wearing a mask. We have millions of masks now. We have masks coming in. It was very hard to get masks we are making millions of masks. The chairman of the Federal Reserve has said economic recovery is going to be long and slow. You have said its going to bounce back quickly. What do you know that he doesnt . Pres. Trump i can only tell you that i see it. I think it will be a transitional quarter that will be very good in the next year will be fantastic. I have not seen the statement, but i think we will have a great year, knowing that we left behind a year of tremendous death it was just a terrible thing. Years,go back over 100 1917, that was terrible. On your account millions died. We havent seen it in over 100 years. Understanding that it was terrible. I mean, look at the stock market. Is that even possible, considering what we have gone through . Many of these people are brilliant and they look if they see a great future. The dollar is very strong. When we go out and do stay vilas packages we are oversubscribed at zero. Think of it. Getting your money back at zero is pretty incredible. Timeuro is having a hard and it is much smaller. The dollar is at a andrful position is king the dollar is at a powerful position. Other currencies are in big trouble whereas the dollar is very strong. If we do want to go out to stimulus, we are borrowing at zero and the dollar is strong. Reporter back to the possibility that this virus came out of the lab in china, would you insist on china allowing u. S. Investigators into the lab . Pres. Trump so far china has been seeming trying to be find out. But you will its a terrible thing that happened. Mistake ory made a it started as a mistake or they made another one. Saying, i dont understand how people werent allowed into china but the rest of the world. Thats a hard question for them to answer. You got an update on kim jongun and whether he is alive or dead . Pres. Trump i just cant talk about it right now. I hope everything is going to be fine, but i do understand the situation very well. When you talked about china early on, were you complementary of china because of the trade deal . Pres. Trump this was before the virus. Of course i would become from entry. I was complementary because of the negotiation but then every once in a while it would break on. Im not like john kerry. I left the table a lot. Deal, ande made a during the deal, i was complement tree and very uncomplimentary but we ended up making a deal before the virus came. Later on, the deal was superseded by a virus that should not have happened. I want to thank you all very much. We will see you all some other time. Thank you, mr. President. The president s, from public affairs. It presents biographies of every president , organized by their ranking from noted historians from best to worst and features perspectives of on the lives of our nations executives and leadership styles visit our website to learn more about each president and historian feature. Order your copy today. Cspan has coverage of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic and its all available on demand on cspan. Org coronavirus. Watch white house briefings, updates from governors. Tract spread through out the world with interactive maps. Watch ondemand, anytime, unfiltered, on cspan. Org coronavirus. Earlier today, nancy pelosi held a News Conference on the coronavirus pandemic. She and the chair of the select subcommittee spoke about the next aid pac