Resident of the United States. [applause] President Trump thank you very much. Thank you very much. Its very hot today. Please sit down. It is going to be a very hot one. We apologize to everybody who is going to suffer through it. But you know what, its better than bad weather. And its great to be in the rose garden. I want to especially thank this group for joining us as we announce a historic groundbreaking initiative in our ongoing effort to rapidly develop and manufacture a coronavirus vaccine. Were joined by secretary steven mnuchin, secretary mark esper, secretary alex caesar, secretary of the joint chiefs f staff, general mark milly. F. D. A. Director dr. Steven hahn, dr. Francis collins, dr. Fauci, dr. Birx. Were joined by a very terrific group of professionals. Tomorrow will mark 30 days since we release the white house guidelines for a safe and phased opening of america. Thats what were doing. Its the opening of america. Going to have an amazing year next year. Were going to have a great transition into the Fourth Quarter. As of this morning, almost every state has taken steps to begin reopening and the American People are doing an extraordinary job of continuing to take precautions while at the same time wanting to start and they will be starting to rezoom their american resume their american way of life. Well be reigniting our economic engines. Were going to be taking care of our most vulnerable which are our Senior Citizens and some others. Were going to be working very, very hard on our Senior Citizens and our numbering homes and various communities to support those that are struggling in this very difficult time. Others dont have the same kind of struggle. For example today, secretary purdue together with ivanka trump launched the farmers and Families Food Box Program which will provide 3 billion to help Small Farmers and it will be helping farmers, ranchers. But it will be bringing food to some of the food lines and some of the food kitchens that youve been seeing on tell vugs. And i said, why arent we doing that . We have all of this tremendous food produced by our farmers and our ranchers. And were going to be buying 3 billion worth of that food. Great for everybody. Our farmers, our ranchers and everybody who needs great food. A key feature is the largest and most ambitious testing system in the world by far. Americas now conducting close to 350,000 tests per day an unthinkable number just a short while ago. More than anybody in the world by far suggesting many states now have excess testing apacity to monitor for new outbreaks, florida. Many other states have so much testing. The testers are waiting for people to show up. Its great. Another essential pillar of our strategy to keep america open is the development of effective treatments and vaccines as quickly as possible. I want to see if we can do that very quickly. Were looking to when i say quickly, were looking to get it by the end of the year, maybe before. Were doing tremendously well. From the earliest days of the pandemic, we have marshalled the genius of american scientists and researchers from all across government and the private sector from academia, from everywhere to vanquish the virus and tremendous strides have been made. I can tell you. It get to see it every day. Tremendous strides have been made every day. Scientists at the n. I. H. Have developed the first vaccine candidate on january 11th, think of that, within hours of the viruss genetic code being posted online. So january 11th, most people never even heard what was going on january 11th. And we were out there trying to develop a vaccine, not even knowing what we were up against. Then my administration cut through every piece of red tape to achieve the fastest ever by far launch of a vaccine trial for this new virus. This very vicious virus. And i want to thank all of the doctors and scientists and researchers involved because theyve never moved like this or never even close. The n. I. H. And the h. H. S. Have also been working constantly with private industry to evaluate more than 100 potential treatments. The food and Drug Administration has amoved more therapies. 130 and another 150 are in the planning. And another potential awaits. I think were going to have very interesting things to report in the not too distant future. And thank you very much to dr. Hahn. Through our funding bills my administration is providing roughly 10 billion to support a medical Research Effort without parallel. I especially want to thank senator steve danes of montana for his incredible work. Hes worked so hard to secure additional funding for vaccine development. Hes been right at the forefront. Today, i want to update you on the next stage of this momentous medical initiative. Its called operation warp speed. That means big and it means fast. A massive, scientific, and industrial and logistical endeavor unlike anything our country has seen since the manhattan project, you really could say that nobody has seen anything what were doing whether its ventilators or testing, nobody has seen anything like were doing now within our country since the second world war. Incredible. Its objective is to finish developing and then to manufacture and distribute a proven coronavirus vaccine. Wed love to see if we could do it prior to the end of the year. I think were going to have some very good results coming out very quickly. In addition, it will continue accelerating the development of diagnostics and breakthrough therapies. The Great National project will bring together the best of american industry and innovation, the full resource of the United States government and the excellence and precision of the United States military. We have the military totally involved. Were also working very strongly with other countries who are also have some great, great scientists, doctors, and were all working very closely together. And theyre viewing us as the leader. And we are the relationship with other countries on solving this problem has been incredible. Operation warp speed has brought all of the experts from places like the n. I. H. , c. D. C. , f. D. A. And many other agencies. This Historic Partnership will now bring together the full resources of the department of health and Human Services with the department of defense and we know what that means. That means the full power and strength of military, the military. And that really talking about the logistics. We get it when we get it. That means the logistics getting it out so that everybody can take it. And today, were proud to announce the addition of two of the most highly respected skilled professionals in our country wordwide respected. Operation warp speeds chief ientists will be dr. Mosab slowi who helped create 14 new vaccines thats a lot of our new vaccines in 10 years during his time in the proy private sector, one of the most respected men in the world in the production and really the formulation of vaccines. Joining the doctor is chief operating officer will be general gus perna, a fourstar general currently overseas, 190,000 Service Members, civilians and contractors as commander of the u. S. Army, material command. That means logistics. That means get it out. Weve got to get it out there. So general, thank you very much. And dr. Thank you very much. Its great doctor, thank you very much. Highly respected people. These two outstanding individual will provide more details following mu remarks. In preparation of this Initiative Experts delout the government have been collaborating to evaluate roughly 100 vaccine candidates from all over the world. They have identified 14 that they believe are the most promising. And theyre working narrow that list still further. So we started out with over 100. Were down to 14. And we have some really interesting choices to be made. Doing very well. Through operation warp speed, the federal government is providing unprecedented support and resources to safely expedite the trials, moving on at record, record, record speed. While we finalize the final phases of the final trial of operation warp speed will be simultaneously operating the manufacturing process. In other words, were getting ready so that when we get the good word that we have the vaccine, we have the formula. We have what we need, were ready to go. As opposed to taking years to gear up. Were gearing up. Its risky. Its expensive, but well be saving massive amounts of time. Well be saving years, if we do this properly. And thats what were doing. Were gearing up on the assumption that well have in the near future relatively near future a vaccine. Typically pharmaceutical companies wait to manufacture a vaccine until it has received all of the Regulatory Approval necessary. And this can delay vaccines availability to the public as much as a year and even more than that. However, our task is so urgent that under operation warp speed the federal government will invest in manufacturing all of the top vaccine candidates before theyre approved. So were knowing exactly what were doing before theyre approved. That means they better come up with a good vaccine because were ready to deliver it. This will eliminate any unnecessary delay and enable us to provide americans with a proven vaccine the day our Scientists Say were ready, we got it. And as we work to bring critical medical production back to america, these vaccines will manufacture were going and focused on manufacturing theyre all going to be here in the u. S. A. Now, were working with other people outside. And thats fine, too. We want to get to the solution. We know exactly where the other countries are. And well be very happy if theyre able to do it. Well help them with delivery. Well help them in every way we can. We have no ego when it comes to this. No ego whatsoever. Operation warp speed is also making the necessary preparations to distribute these lifesaving treatments at scale. So were talk about massive numbers so that millions of americans will quickly have access to them. This includes ramping up production of supplies needed for distribution. And i have to say, were also very, very much involved in other things other than the vaccine. If you take a look at what were doing beyond vaccines, its going o be to be very interesting and we may talk about that in a little while. But this production includes ramping of the supplies needed such as cold chain storage, glass vials, needles and more. Well have everything on hand ready to go. When a vaccine is ready, the u. S. Government will deploy every train, truck and soldier to help distribute it to the American People as quickly as possible. Americas blessed to have the most brilliant, talented doctors and researchers anywhere in the world. We have the mightiest military by far in the world. Our military is completely rebuilt. Much of the equipment that is been delivered. Some of it is on the way. All made right here in the u. S. A. We took over very, very empty cupboards, medically. We had empty cupboards in a military shape. We now have the Strongest Military the United States has ever had by far and the best equipment. And you hear that outside, that beautiful sound, those are truckers that are with us all the way. Theyre protests in favor of President Trump as opposed to against. There are hundreds of trucks. Thats the sign of love, not the sign of your typical protest. So i want to thank our great truckers. They like me. And i like them. Were working on something together. But we have the mightiest and theyll be helping us with this by the way speaking of truckers. We have the mightiest military in the long history of human kind. We have the best an most devoted workers able to walk the face of the everett and now were combining these strengths for the most aggressive vaccine projects project. Theres never been a vaccine project anywhere close to this. Its very important. Vaccine or no vaccine, were back. And were starting the process. And in many cases they dont have vaccines and a virus and a flu comes, and you fight through it. We Vice President seen anything like this in 100 and some odd years, 1917. But you fight through it. And people sometimes, i guess, we dont know exactly yet, but it looks like they become immune, at least for a short while and maybe for life. But you fight through it. But what wed like to do if we can is the vaccine. I think were going to be successful in doing it hopefully by the end of the year. Just as generations of americans before us faced down the most difficult trials, set their sithes on the highest summit and overcame the biggest obstacles. Ng will meet the america with meet the moment and specifically this moment in time. With the unyielding spirit of the American People, our nation will come stronger and greater than ever. Were going to have a tremendous year next year. Were going to have a really good Fourth Quarter. Were going to have a very good and productive transition quarter where steve is there and im sure our secretary of the treasury i think you feel the same way, steve. And thank you for your good work. Really good work. And its not finished yet, is it . I want to thank steve mnuchin, everybody. Now, id like to ask dr. Slowi and general parna to come up and say a few words followed by cretary azar and secretary eper. Thank you very much. Were doing something weve never done before. Its going to result in a tremendous end. I think were going to come up with a solution to a problem like this country probably has never seen before. But its an honor to be your president. Were doing a great job. These people are doing an incredible job. The people right here, i want to thank you all. Total professionals. Great men. Great women. Thank you all very much. Please. Thank you, mr. President. Good afternoon, everyone. Its a great honor and privilege for me to have the opportunity to serve our ountry and the world in this remarkable endeavor, extraordinary endeavor helping them and supporting them do it. The operation warp speed objections are very clear, the president has described them. And i believe they are very credible. I also believe they are extremely challenging. However, i am really confident as our team across the many governmental agencies that are involved in this effort, the n. I. H. , the c. D. C. , the f. D. A. , esper and of course, with the support of the army and our parenter ins in the private sector, well be able and well do the utmost to deliver these objectives. In fact, mr. President , i have very recently seen early data from a Clinical Trial with a coronavirus vaccine. And this data made me feel even more confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020. And we will do the best we can, the best we can to do that. Thank you. We will of course, also focus on progressing and accelerating development of medicines for those who unfortunately already caught the virus as well as optimize the the diagnostic test. This will be our focus 24 7 over the next many months. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, mr. President. Thank you. Thank you for this great honor for allowing me to be a part of this team. Im very excited to be part of this team. It will be historic as we execute the mission thats been given to us. I also feel very confident that the team will be able to provide the results as directed. It is going to be herculean task. But the combination of the two Main Partners between health and Human Services and the department of defense their combined strengths, partnered with the other teammates will insure our success. One of the great advantages that we have as a military is our ability to do logistical and sustainment operations afar. Were just going to apply those capabilities to this mission. This mission is about defeating the enemy. We will defeat the enemy. Why . Because winning matters. And im excited to be a part of this team. And mr. President , thank you. President trump thank you very much. I appreciate it. [applause] well, thank you, mr. President for your leadershiper of this historic effort. Your vision of operation warp peed setting a vaccine by 2021 will be one of the great humanitarian accomplishments in history. Today youre announcing the team that could get it done. Dr. Slowi is the most successful vaccine developer, responsible for some of the major recent breakthroughs in vaccines. General parna, overseas the largest logistic and supply operations, the one that keeps the army running. Three highly accomplished career h. H. S. Scientists will oversea operation warp speed. R. Peter marks for vaccines. Dr. Bruce trongburg for diagnostics. This is truly a dream team. We started work on each of these areas in january. And congress has provided nearly 10 billion explicitly for this kind of research and development effort. Operation warp speed will integrate efforts that are coordinating vaccine therapeutic and countermeasure n. I. H. Nt including and rad initiatives. This week, they announced new contracts to manufacture undreds of millions of needles and syringes. The president s evident will ensure that we get vaccines faster but that we get large donation of the products so theyre affordable to the American People. Thank you, mr. President and thank you to all the american scientists an inventors at h. H. S. At dodd and elsewhere who are hard at work. I want to express my personal appreciation to secretary esper and the department of defense because this partnership is whats going to make this truly a historic endeavor. Thank you. [applause] well, thank you, mr. President for your leadership of this bold and historic initiative. The department of defense is very excited and committed to work with our partners in h. H. S. And the private sector. Winning matters and we will deliver by tend of this year, a vaccine at scale to treat the American People and our partners abroad. You know, the department of defense has been in this fight since day one. Going back to jan. We stayed ahead of the curve every step of the way. Today on americas streets across the nation over 607,000 Service Members from all branches of the service are still out there whether its doctors and nurses and hospitals, whether its National Guard on the streets of america or the core of engineers continue to build our capacities in americas hospital. We are there and we will be there, mr. President. And we look forward to this next phase against fight against the coronavirus. We are all then in. And now. We will bear the full weight of the department of defense all of our first class world class researchers and scientists our abilities to manage logistics at scale and our great distribution nal capabilities. We will deliver. We will win this fight. And mr. President thank you again for all that youve done. We will get the job done. President trump i know you will. I know you will. Any questions, please . Mr. President , you said no vaccine vaccine or no vaccine youre what did you mean by that . President trump we think were going to have a vaccine in the pretty near future. And we will be a big step ahead. And if we dont, were going to be like so many other cases where you had a problem come in. It will go away at some point. It will go away. It may flair up and it may not flare up. But if it does flare up were going to put out the fire. And well put it out quickly and efficiently. You have a question . We heard that the vaccine typically will take 12 to 18 months to develop. What makes you think this will work . President trump they started in early january. And theyve been working on it i know so many and private companies have been working on it. The governments been working on it. So weve got the time because we put a very and theyve literally been working 24 hours a day. So weve got weve got the time. And we hope to be able to do something by the end of the year or shortly there after. But again, you know, its not solely vaccine based. Other things have never had a vaccine and they go away. So i dont want people to think this is all dependent on vaccine. But a vaccine will be a tremendous thing. And i will tell you therapeutically or therapeutics whats going on there is equally as impressive. We have some things happening, you know, we have the ren disvir from gilead. We have other things that are very good. I think that a lot is happening therapeutically. I can say that its relatively speaking equal to whats going on with vaccines, but i think its doing very well, very well. So therapeutics are a big factor. Yeah, please. Is there a global competition to develop this vaccine like if france develops it first, will they share it with us . Yeah, and we have that very well worked out. Whoever gets it will be very proud to give it and develop it. Theyve developed it. And well see what happens. Weve got countrys that are allies that are we have some countries frankly that are not allies where were working very closely together. So were working together with many different countries. Gandy, we have no ego. We have no ego. Whoever gets it we think its great. Were going to work with them. Theyre going to work with us. Like wites, if we get it, were going to do work with them. Its a very good question, actually. Mr. President , what do you say to the Business Owners and others who are questioning the guidance that the c. D. C. Put out last night . There was a concern its not prescriptive enough. What can they do . The media will never be dissatisfied. If we gave you less that would be no good. I thought it was very good. And i heard a lot of good things. Go ahead, green. You have any problems you have any concerns about the test given some of the numbers no, avid is a very quick test. It could always be very rapidly doublechecked if youre testing positive or negative, it could always be checked. Its very portable, very quick. What happens to china . Will the u. S. Still have access to that vaccine . I would say the answer to that would be yes. I would say the answer would be yes. Go ahead, please. Do you mean a fully approved vaccine for everyone . Youre going to have to remove it. You mean a fully approved vaccine for the entire general public personally approved vaccine for emergency use . Oh, sorry. Let me repeat that now that im closer to the mic. Do you mean a fully approved vaccine for everyone or a partially approved vaccine for emergency use . President trump were looking for a full vaccine for everyone that wants to get it. Not everyone is going to want to get it. But were looking at a full vaccine is that a correct statement . Yeah, well so the sans yes, were looking for a fully used vaccine. But well have emergency use authorization as appropriate. We use all of our regulatory tools bring vaccine available for the entire American Population by january. Ok. And then mr. President , can you clarify why are some of you wearing a mask and why are some of you not wearing a mask . President trump weve all been tested and were quite a distance away. I gave them the option, they could wear it or not. You can blame it on me, i gave them the option. Go ahead, please. Will it be available to the rest of the world at an affordable rate . The last thing anybody is looking for is profit in terms of what were doing. Every company they want to get it out. Weve had that. Weve had a great experience on remdesivir. People are looking to come up with the answer. Theyre not looking in you know, typically they go how much am i going to make . Theres ban great spirit on this. They want to go get the bottom of it. And i think theyll be able to do that. The indianamericans are appreciating your help in fighting the vaccine of coronavirus. So india has been so great. As you know, your Prime Minister has been a very good friend of mine. I just got back a short while ago from india recently. Were working with india as well. We have a tremendous indian population in the United States. And many of the people that youre talking about are working on the vaccine, too. Great scientists and researchers. Were working very close to india, correct. And say hello to your Prime Minister. Yeah, please, go ahead. Thank you, mr. President. What steps is your administration taking to insure that the community and the states that are hardest hit will have first access to the vaccine . Have discussions been had . I think weve done a good job with that. Certain areas have been hit very hard. New york, new jersey, etc. , etc. You know, working very closely with the governors. Weve worked closely with the governors. Weve made a lot of people look good with what weve done on ventilators and testing. Were working with the governors. We sent a big transit package to new jersey. I spoke to the governor of new jersey who is a terrific person by the way i i have to tell you. I told him a lot of money is coming your way for the transit. I spoke to the governor of new york, governor cuomo. Were sending them a lot of transportation money. So its important. But weve had a very Good Relationship working with all of the states regardless all of the states. And if we do get fortunate enough and i think were skilled enough but fortunate enough to have a vaccine, it will get out fairly and quickly. Do you foresee that states that are hardest states will have first dibs like new york and new jersey . I think it makes sense, perhaps perhaps it does. I would say probably. But theyre all going to get welldistributed. You know, if you remember when we started we had no ventilators. We had to make them. And we became a very major manufacture of ventilators. Now, were helping countries all over the world with ventilators. Were sending them to many countries all over the world. When we started, we didnt have ventilators. I inherited nothing. I inherited practically nothing from the previous administration, unfortunately. Yeah. Go ahead. Mr. President , its been three months since you signed the china trade deal. Between what happened with the coronavirus and thing a cultural purchases are you considering reimposing another deal with china . I dweent to talk about it dont want to talk about it. The ink was barely dry. So its not like were thrilled. Go ahead. Please. Could i ask one more. Im wondering if youre standing by the nomination of michael pack to lead the voice of america after news that hes the attorney general i dont know what happened. I know voice of america is run in a terrible manner. Theyre not the voice of america. Theyre the opposite of the voice of america. And we have a man who is very good. I dont know hes in the nominating process. But ill have to check that out. Yeah. Please. Thank you, mr. President. If Public Confidence is the main thing of getting people back to work and back to school and so on, is this even possible without a vaccine . How would it be possible without a vaccine, Public Confidence . President trump well, i think a very big factor is that very few people are you know, we read about all of the very sad, very tragic. Ive lost friends. Many of us have lost friends. We read about that and we see that. And thats what the news covers. But a very, very its a very small percentage. Its a very, very small percentage. I say it all the time. Its a tiny percentage. The vast majority many people dont even know they have. They have it or they have sniffles or a very minor sign and they recover not only recover they probably have imimmunity, whether longterm or shortterm. But they have probably immunity. People have to understand that. Thats why i think the schools should be back in the fall. I think that lots of things should happen. I dont think that you should have 70yearold teachers back yet. They should wait until everything is gone. I dont think you should have a professor thats 65 and has diabetes or has a bad heart, back necessarily or somebody thats older than that. But we want to see our schools back. We want to see our country start to work again. We created the greatest economy in the history of the world. And were going to do it again. And youre going to see that next year and its going to start youll start to see it in the Fourth Quarter maybe before that. Are you at all concerned with children or teachers bringing it home to their families . President trump im concerned about everything. And im also concerned about our country. Our country has to get back. You know what youre talking is when you are doing what we did with the shutdown that causes death also. It causes massive depression. It cause drugs, suicide. It causes a lot of problems. No, our country has to get back to work again. You see that reading everything thats happening. Our people want to get back. They want to get back. Yeah. Do you have a plan to prevent the spread . We do. We do. We have a great plan to prevent the spread. But that doesnt mean were going to close our country for five years. Not going to happen. Go ahead. The current death toll is about 86,000. At current its about 86,000. Do you think thats accurate or higher than that . Or lower than that. I dont know. I dont know. Those are the numbers that are being reported. I assume theyre correct. Unlike other countries, i mean, you have some countries that are very obviously ridiculous. But our numbers are accurate numbers. We dont do anything with the numbers one way or the other. Whatever it is, thats what we do. We take the numbers as reported. Ok . Do you have any indication that they could be lower than that . Oh, i dont know. I dont know. I would be very happy if they were lower. I would like to see numbers lower. I would like to see no deaths. This should have never happened. This came from china. It should have been stopped in china before it got out to the world. We have 186 thats been updated this morning. 186 countries are affected. And each country thats affected is the same thing. Russia now is badly affected. France is badly affect. You look affected. You look at what each country and you can say affected or you can say infected. Either way you want to put it. But you look at these countries. Look at italy and you look at spain and you look at all of these great countries in many cases, how theyve how theyve had to fight through this. Its a tertial thing that happened. It could have been stopped at the source. It should have been stopped right at the source, but it wasnt. Thank you all very much. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] cspan has unfiltered coverage of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. With white house briefings, updates from governors and congress and our daily callin Program Washington journal hearing your thoughts about the coronavirus vie sys. And if you missed any of our live coverage watch any time on demand at span. Org coronavirus. Cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up saturday morning, well look at how the coronavirus is affecting students, School Districts and universities with the American Enterprise institute ice fed ick kess on how k through 12 schools can prepare to return in the fall. Then president Lilian Garcia on the future of u. S. Education amid the coronavirus. And the unions recent polling on issues surrounding distanced learned. Also devin diop, c. E. O. Of the American Health association looks at what colleges and universities can do to reopen while keeping staff and students safe. And terry hartle senior Vice President of private and public afathers for the American Council on education on the effect coronavirus is having on coronavirus