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Trump’s Coronavirus Speech Fails to Unify or Reassure a Nation on Edge The President as Bystander: Trump Struggles to Unify a Nation on Edge
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — If President Trump’s goals in his prime-time address to the nation were to reassure Americans and unify the country in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, it seems safe to say that he achieved neither as of Thursday morning. WASHINGTON — As he confronts the most serious crisis of his tenure, President Trump has been assertive in closing borders to many outsiders, one of his favorite policies. But within the United States, as the coronavirus spreads from one community to another, he has been more follower than leader.
The stock markets collapsed another 7 percent in early trading, indicating that investors were hardly assuaged by the president’s 30-day suspension of most foreign travelers coming from Europe or his policy proposals to boost the economy. And his call to “stop the partisanship” ended as soon as he woke up and began issuing partisan attacks on Democrats. While he presents himself as the nation’s commanding figure, Mr. Trump has essentially become a bystander as school superintendents, sports commissioners, college presidents, governors and business owners across the country take it upon themselves to shut down much of American life without clear guidance from the president.
The president’s speech represented a high-stakes gamble at a time of spreading infections and widening fear, with schools, universities, businesses, places of worship and even sports leagues closing their doors and millions of Americans facing economic and social disruption. The decision to address the nation from the Oval Office conveyed a seriousness about the outbreak that the president’s comments until now had not. For weeks, he resisted telling Americans to cancel or stay away from large gatherings, reluctant even on Thursday to call off his own campaign rallies even as he grudgingly acknowledged he would probably have to. Instead, it fell to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s most famous scientist, to say publicly what the president would not, leading the nation’s basketball, hockey, soccer and baseball leagues in just 24 hours to suspend play and call off tournaments.
But Mr. Trump appeared uncomfortable in the setting, reading the words from the teleprompter in a wooden manner that made no emotional connection to a television audience of millions scared about an virus they cannot see and uncertain about a society that is rapidly transforming around them. Even with the text on the screen in front of him, the president managed to mischaracterize his own policies in a way that required his administration to correct him afterward. Mayors and county executives, hospital executives and factory owners received no further direction from the president as he talked about the virus in the Oval Office on Thursday than they did during his prime-time address to the nation the night before. Beyond travel limits and wash-your-hands reminders, Mr. Trump has left it to others to set the course in combating the pandemic and has indicated he was in no rush to take further action.
His speech referred to the pandemic as a “foreign virus” that “will not have a chance against us” as if it were a hostile enemy nation to be defeated on the battlefield. But while he read the words about unity, he made no effort to reach out to the opposition to forge a common front. While he announced a partial travel ban on visitors from Europe and talked about measures to prop up the economy, he did not discuss the troubles with the availability of testing kits or express understanding of the changes in everyday life affecting so many Americans. “If I need to do something, I’ll do it,” the president told reporters on Thursday. “I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about.” But he again emphasized that the crisis was not as bad as many imagine. “Compared to other places, we are in really good shape,” he said, “and we want to keep it that way.”
“Real leadership in this crisis is going to have to come from governors, from public health officials, and from institutional leaders,” Rod Dreher wrote on The American Conservative’s website. “We saw tonight that even when Trump is trying to be on his best behavior, he just doesn’t have much of a clue about the nature of the crisis, or how it can best be fought.” By contrast, Leo Varadkar, the visiting prime minister of Ireland sitting next to him, said that as of Friday, his country was closing all schools and banning indoor gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 500 — the kind of measures that some American states and cities are taking on their own rather than wait for the president.
Others were more willing to give some benefit of the doubt. Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, which had just harshly criticized the president’s “failures of leadership” in handling the outbreak, saw some progress in the speech even as he expressed concern that it would not last. Mr. Trump had no hesitance to kibbitz from the side before he became president, assailing President Barack Obama for not doing enough to stop Ebola, for instance. But his own White House has separated into camps of those who think the administration needs to be doing more and those who share — and reinforce — Mr. Trump’s own view that the news media is overreacting to and creating a panic around the coronavirus.
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After feeling besieged by enemies for three years, Mr. Trump and some of his advisers view so many issues through the lens of political warfare — assuming that criticism is all about point scoring — that it has become hard to see what is real and what is not, according to people around the president. Even when others with Mr. Trump’s best interests at heart disagree, they find it hard to penetrate what they see as the bubble around him.
Thomas P. Bossert, a former homeland security adviser to Mr. Trump, has tried repeatedly in recent days to be patched through to the president or Vice President Mike Pence to warn them just how dire the coronavirus pandemic really is, only to be blocked by White House officials, according to two people familiar with the events. It left him to try to get the president’s — and the public’s — attention through newspaper op-ed articles, television appearances and Twitter messages like the one that panned Mr. Trump’s Europe travel ban as “poor use of time & energy.”
Mr. Bossert, who has publicly warned that as many as 500,000 Americans may ultimately die of the coronavirus, denied on Thursday that he had tried to see Mr. Trump and been unable to, but would not elaborate on his contacts with the White House.
Among the advisers who share the president’s more jaundiced view is his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who considers the problem more about public psychology than a health reality, according to people who have spoken with him. Mr. Kushner has gotten more involved in the response in recent days, according to three White House advisers.
Marc Short, Mr. Pence’s chief of staff, approached Mr. Kushner on Monday about integrating the White House teams working on the issue, as the vice president’s communications shop is overrun with media requests. After that, Mr. Kushner seized more of a role, spending Wednesday with Mr. Trump, the officials said.
One administration official said on Thursday that Mr. Kushner, his wife, Ivanka Trump, and Hope Hicks, a presidential adviser who has just returned to the White House, favored Mr. Trump giving Wednesday night’s prime-time address to calm the waters amid rampaging uncertainty and fear.
Ms. Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, in particular favored the address, according to three administration officials. But the subject quickly became contentious internally, according to several administration officials. Drafts were written and rewritten, with Mr. Kushner seen as in charge as the president’s chief speechwriter, Stephen Miller, wrote, and the communications office of the West Wing left out of the discussions.
By early evening, only two hours before the camera was to go on, it was still not entirely clear what Mr. Trump was going to say. In a meeting in the Cabinet Room, a number of top officials told the president the speech was a good idea, with a notable exception being the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, who said that Mr. Trump ought to wait at least a day or two so as to provide officials with more information.
When the camera turned on, the president appeared uncomfortable, reading words from the teleprompter in a stiff manner that made no emotional connection to a television audience of millions scared about a virus they cannot see and uncertain about a society rapidly transforming around them. Even with the text on the screen, the president mischaracterized his own policies in a way that required his administration to correct him afterward.
He referred to the pandemic as a “foreign virus” that “will not have a chance against us” as if it were a hostile nation to be defeated on the battlefield. But while he talked about measures to prop up the economy, he did not discuss the troubles with the availability of testing kits or express understanding of the changes in everyday life affecting so many Americans.
By Thursday morning, it was clear that the speech had not assuaged the financial markets, which plummeted another 10 percent, the worst single day since Black Monday in 1987. Together with the losses of recent weeks, the markets have now erased about 85 percent of the gains of the entire Trump presidency, gains that were the foundation of his argument for re-election.
“Real leadership in this crisis is going to have to come from governors, from public health officials and from institutional leaders,” Rod Dreher wrote on The American Conservative’s website. “We saw tonight that even when Trump is trying to be on his best behavior, he just doesn’t have much of a clue about the nature of the crisis, or how it can best be fought.”
Others were more willing to give him some benefit of the doubt. Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, which had just harshly criticized the president’s “failures of leadership” in handling the outbreak, saw some progress in the speech even as he expressed concern that it would not last.
“The speech represents a marked, welcome improvement in the president’s rhetoric,” he wrote, “but that won’t matter if he goes out and undercuts it tomorrow, and the ultimate verdict on his response will be rendered based on the results.”“The speech represents a marked, welcome improvement in the president’s rhetoric,” he wrote, “but that won’t matter if he goes out and undercuts it tomorrow, and the ultimate verdict on his response will be rendered based on the results.”
The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial page likewise called the speech “a step toward more realism” but added that Mr. Trump was not forthcoming enough about the scope of the problem. “Above all, leadership in a crisis means telling the public the truth, lest people begin to tune him out or, worse, make him a figure of mockery,” the editorial said. The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial page likewise called the speech “a step toward more realism” but added that Mr. Trump was not forthcoming enough about the scope of the problem.
The White House rejected the criticism, insisting that the president’s speech had been well received and effective in making clear to Americans that he understands the situation and is determined to react strongly to guard their well being. Republicans close to the White House privately laid blame at the feet of Mr. Kushner. A person close to Mr. Kushner described that as unfair, saying that he was merely helping out and that it becomes easier to blame him when things are difficult. And in any case, a partial travel ban on Europe was a bold move that may have been bound to rattle the markets rather than calm them no matter what.
“The reaction has been very favorable across the country,” Vice President Mike Pence said on Fox News. “I mean, the American people have seen, once again, that President Trump has no higher priority than the health and safety of the people of this country.” The White House insisted that the president’s actions have had the support of health officials, and that local communities should make decisions based on their own conditions. Aides said the speech demonstrated to Americans that Mr. Trump understands the situation and is determined to react strongly to guard their well-being.
Mr. Pence was given the assignment of calibrating the president’s message the morning after with a string of television appearances. On NBC’s “Today” show, he acknowledged “that we know there will be thousands more cases of coronavirus in this country,” just days after Mr. Trump promised that it “will go away,” and the vice president acknowledged that it was wrong to dismiss the outbreak as hype. “The reaction has been very favorable across the country,” Mr. Pence said Thursday on Fox News.
“Obviously there’s been some irresponsible rhetoric, but the American people should know that President Trump has no higher priority than the health and safety and well-being of the people of this country,” he said, without identifying who was responsible for the irresponsible rhetoric. Speaking on NBC’s “Today” show, Mr. Pence agreed it was wrong to dismiss the outbreak as hype. “Obviously there’s been some irresponsible rhetoric, but the American people should know that President Trump has no higher priority than the health and safety and well-being of the people of this country,” he said, without identifying who was responsible for the irresponsible rhetoric.
Mr. Trump’s call for a suspension of partisanship lasted just nine hours, at least some of which he was presumably asleep. While some of Mr. Trump’s allies and advisers have urged him to stop fighting and assert more national leadership, the president made clear that it does not suit him. As for Mr. Trump’s call on Washington in his speech to “stop the partisanship,” that lasted just nine hours, at least some of which he was presumably asleep. By dawn on Thursday, he had already tweeted or retweeted attacks on Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The first of the president’s partisan jabs came before dawn on Thursday morning and had nothing to do with the coronavirus or anything that had happened in the last few days. Instead, he reached back to revive a controversy from a week ago when Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, harshly assailed two conservative Supreme Court justices over abortion rights. Peter Baker reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York.
Mr. Trump retweeted a March 4 message from Jonathan Turley, a law professor who opposed impeachment, condemning Mr. Schumer: “Schumer’s threat to the Court that ‘you will pay the price’ is a direct attack on the integrity of our courts. I criticized Trump for his reckless comments about the courts. Where is the chorus of condemnation of Schumer? Schumer sounded more like a stalker than a statesman.”
At 6:15 a.m., Mr. Trump went after Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, complaining about her resistance to his proposal to cut payroll taxes to juice the economy as it reels from fears of the coronavirus but making no mention of the fact that Republican lawmakers have been cool to the idea as well.
“Nancy Pelosi all of a sudden doesn’t like the payroll tax cut, but when Obama proposed it she thought it was a brilliant thing that all of the working families would benefit from because if you get a paycheck, you’re going to take home more money,” he wrote on Twitter, attributing the words to Brian Kilmeade, one of the hosts of “Fox & Friends.”
In his prime-time address to the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, Mr. Trump sounded a different note. “We are all in this together,” he said at the time. “We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship, and unify together as one nation and one family.”
Mr. Trump has spent much of the past couple weeks fighting a partisan battle over his handling of the coronavirus. Democrats have sharply criticized him for making false or misleading statements about the outbreak, not taking it seriously enough, failing to act sooner and undercutting the government’s global health apparatus.
After Wednesday night’s speech, the Department of Homeland Security and White House were forced to clarify two important points: A ban on travelers from Europe would not apply to American citizens or legal permanent residents and it would not impact goods exported to the United States.
Democrats were not the only ones to fault the president or the administration. Thomas P. Bossert, Mr. Trump’s former homeland security adviser, praised the president’s Oval Office address but said on Twitter that “there’s little value to European travel restrictions. Poor use of time & energy.”
Rather than rise above it or reach out to Democrats to provide a unified front, he has in recent weeks aggressively accused them of “politicizing the coronavirus” and “trying to gain political favor by saying a lot of untruths.” At a raucous campaign rally, he called the Democratic criticism “their new hoax,” and was later forced to clarify that he meant only the criticism and was not calling the virus itself a hoax. He later misleadingly blamed President Barack Obama for the slow spread of the test kits, citing a rule that turned out not to be a rule.
When Mr. Trump announced earlier this week that he would meet with congressional leaders to discuss an economic response to the effects of the virus, he meant only Republican leaders. Just last weekend, as the virus spread, the president announced he would skip the annual bipartisan St. Patrick’s Day lunch on Capitol Hill because of his disdain for Ms. Pelosi.
The crossfire indicated how raw the feelings still are following the impeachment battle that ended just last month. Ms. Pelosi lead the House drive to impeach Mr. Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress along party lines, and Mr. Schumer was among the most vocal advocates of removing him from office in a Senate trial that nonetheless ended in a near party-line acquittal.
Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer released a joint statement after Mr. Trump’s speech on Wednesday night calling on Republicans to support a bill that included free coronavirus testing, paid emergency leave for workers, a boost in unemployment insurance and other measures.
“We have a public health crisis in this country,” they said, “and the best way to help keep the American people safe and ensure their economic security is for the president to focus on fighting the spread of the coronavirus itself. Alarmingly, the president did not say how the administration will address the lack of coronavirus testing kits throughout the United States.”