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During a White House press conference on Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump addressed the grim projections by the National Restaurant Association that, in addition to the 3 percent of restaurants already shuttered, 11 percent of restaurants nationwide anticipate that theyll close permanently in the next 30 days due to the economic impact of novel coronavirus. His answer, characteristically bullish, was that restaurants will open and thrive again...but maybe not under the current ownership.

Citing the data from the National Restaurant Association survey, McClatchy reporter Michel Wilner asked, What do you say to a restaurant owner who is looking at his sheets and thinks he has to close within the next 30 days?

The president responded with a tangent boasting his knowledge of the restaurant industry, saying, I know the business very well, I understand the restaurant business, its a very delicate business, its a business that is not easy. I always say in the restaurant business you can serve 30 great meals to a person or a family and they love it. One bad meal, No. 31, they never come back again. Its a very tough business. But theyre great people that run restaurants.

Circling back to the original question, Trump continued, Ive heard 3 percent could be lost, and you could go as high as 10 or 11 percent, but theyll all come back in one form of another. Might be a different restaurant. But its gonna be a great business for a lot of people. Were making it easy for people look, what were doing in terms of loans, what were doing in terms of salaries, theyll all come back. It may not be the same restaurant, it may not be the same ownership, but theyll all be back. (Emphasis ours.)

That the concept of restaurants would continue to exist after the pandemic was never really a question. The concern, rather, is that people will lose their jobs and businesses, and with that, the incomes that they circulate back into the economy. As Eaters Hillary Dixler Canavan wrote, surviving restaurants will reopen their doors to a new world of challenges, not least of which is facing a dining public likely either coming out of or in the midst of a global recession. Which doesnt bode well for these imagined new restaurants or their new ownership, either.

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Trump: Restaurants Will Survive, But It May Not Be the Same Ownership - Eater

Trump news live: Latest updates as China offers to help US tackle coronavirus | The Independent LiveUpdated Friday 27 March 2020 20:24

Donald Trump has ranted at General Motors over a delay in its production of ventilators to tackle the coronavirusoutbreak and raged at Kentucky Republican congressman Thomas Massie after he indicated he would move to delay FridaysHouse of Representativesvote on approving a $2.2trn (1.85trn) economic stimulus package.

Trump himself dismisseddemands fromgovernors for more ventilators in hospitals only last night, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity in a phone interview the equipment is unnecessary and that states shouldnt be relying on the federal government.

With the US now the global epicentre of the virus having contracted 85,000 cases and seen over 1,200 deaths, the president has received an offer of help from hisChinesecounterpartXi Jinpingas task force co-ordinator Dr Deborah Birx is accused of making fundamental scientific errors as part of the administrations rush to reopen the economy.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

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Trump declines to invite Democratic leadership to Oval Office signing

The president is not inviting Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi to the Oval Office signing of the CARE Act, CNN has reported.

Trump orders GM to make ventilators

The president has officially announced he is implementing the Defence Production Act-

Trump touts military vessel helping hospitals amid coronavirus pandemic

The president has retweeted the following video as the USNS Mercy was set to begin assisting patients who have not contracted Covid-19 but require medical work during the surge of coronavirus patients -

President says he will sign the CARE Act at 4pm

Donald Trump has posted a tweet teasing an apparent signing ceremony of the Coronavirus Aid Relief & Economic Securities bill in the Oval Office -

Donald Trump Jr shares racist meme depicting father as 'Kung Flu Kid'

New York and Los Angeles to remain closed through May

The Independent's Graig Graziosi has this report:

The mayors of New York City and Los Angeles have issued grim predictions about the coming weeks as their cities face rising numbers of residents infected with the coronavirus.

New York Mayor Mike De Blasio appeared onGood Morning America on Friday morning, suggesting the city would be shut down until the end of May and nearly half of its denizens will become infected withcoronavirus.

I think we need to be ready for that, Mr De Blasio said. Unfortunately we think its going to go through April and in to May. Its just a blunt reality.

He went on to say that more than half the people in this city will ultimately be infected.

New York governor slams Trump tweet about stockpiling

Governor Andrew Cuomo called the president's tweet 'incorrect and grossly uninformed' in an interview with CNN, adding: "It's ignorant."

Grieving parent Kevin Moran is in dispute with the state's governor, John Bel Edwards, over the precise cause of his son's death.

Gino Spocchia has this report.

The war-torn Middle Eastern state faces a crippling coronavirus outbreak of its own, of course.

Nice to see a spirit of bipartisan brotherhood blossoming in DC during this blighted spring.

As New York City struggles to cope with the surging number of Covid-19 cases, a doctor has released footage of the dire conditions inside her Queens hospital raising the alarm about the scale of the epidemic and the shortage of critical equipment needed to save lives.

Dr Colleen Smith works at Elmhurst Hospital, which this week saw 13 coronavirus-related deaths in a single day. The hospital has begun transferring out non-Covid patients to other hospitals in order to clear space for the sheer number of people arriving needing urgent treatment.

In the film, which she released to The New York Times, Dr Smith walks through a packed ICU unit, saying all the patients that you see, they all have Covid. It feels like its too little too late. We knew it was coming.

Today is kind of getting worse and worse. We had to get a refrigerated truck to store the bodies of patients who are dying. We are right now scrambling to try and get a few additional ventilators, or even CPAP machines. If we got CPAP machines, we could free up ventilators for patients who need them.

My my my, he's clearly feeling the pressure:

I wonder how long it took him to come up with that bright little witticism?

Aaand we're back to New York withholding ventilators.

New Orleans mayor says Trump made her think it was safe to go ahead with coronavirus-hit Mardi Gras

Leaders on the ground, we rely on the facts to make decisions for the people that we serve,she said, adding:In hindsight, if we were given clear direction, we would not have had Mardi Gras, and I would have been the leader to cancel it.

The president is seething at General Motors now for apparently letting him down on the delivery of a batch of ventilators he was telling Sean Hannity only last night the country's hospitals don't actuallyneed.

GM apparently no longer owns that facility and he himself cancelled an earlier deal for the devices from the company on cost grounds!

Here's Clark Mindock to clean up this hot mess.

Alabama Medal of Honour recipient Bennie Adkins, 86, has been hospitalised with coronavirus, his foundation announced on Thursday evening.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit home, the Bennie Adkins Foundation said onFacebook. Bennie has been hospitalised and is critically ill with Covid-19 respiratory failure. We ask for your thoughts and prayers.

Adkins, a retired command sergeant major, received his medal from Barack Obamain September 2014 in tribute to his service during the Vietnam War.

He was first drafted into the Army in 1956 and went on to serve with the Special Forces for 13 years,complete three tours in Vietnam.

You can read a moreextensive account of his illustrious career over at Army Times.

Get well soon sir.

As the US overtook China and Italy to become the worst hit country in the world by coronavirus, the president's eldest sonwas busy posting racist memes on social media because what else is new?

You can see it via the tweet below, if you feel you must:

Don Jr also badly undermined his old man's attempt to reset relations with China last night in a separate but equally dumb and unwelcome tweet:

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Friday reports that 51 per cent of Americans take a favourable view of the president's response to the coronavirus disaster.

Evidentally more people need to watch this:

The big man is pleased though and has been crowing abour it on Twitter just now:

Uh oh. I do not like where this conversation is going...

Here's Andrew Feinberg with the word from Capitol Hill.

Its worse than 9/11, its worse than Pearl Harbor," one official told him."[Trump] had the information and he ignored it because he saw the measures they were recommending at the time [when] Singapore and South Korea got the virus and he didnt want to do that because it was going to hurt the economy. But by waiting he hurt the economy more and made more people from this disease.

As we touched on earlier, GOP congressman Thomas Massie has said he is considering voting against the stimulus package in the House today on idealogical grounds.

Trump does not like that, and uses his first tweets of the day to label him "a third rate Grandstander", repeating a new favourite insult also served up to AOC yesterday.

Oh look, there's more.

Here's Oliver O'Connell with a full report on Massie.

No hype, just the advice and analysis you need

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Trump news live: President succumbs to pressure to invoke emergency powers ahead of White House coronavirus update - The Independent

This may be the scariest news conference about the coronavirus to date, because Donald Trump has all but said he is going to do what he can to break the mandatory quarantines and get people back to work, and he says it will happen "quickly."

His statement flies in the face of people who have devoted their lives to infectious diseases -- like Dr. Anthony Fauci -- who has said the virus and not people [politicians] set the timeline.

Trump said later in his news conference when he first learned of the disease, he thought the death toll would be way higher than it is. Yay?

And, there's this ... he said when people go back to work, they can still practice as much social distancing as possible. This suggests at times, we all have to come in close contact ... which is probably true and almost certainly dangerous.

Read more:
Donald Trump Says We Have to Get Back to Work ... Quick - TMZ

An NPR station in Seattle said that it no longer will carry live coverage of President Donald Trumps coronavirus briefings because of concerns that they feature unchecked misleading or false information.

KUOW is monitoring White House briefings for the latest news on the coronavirus and we will continue to share all news relevant to Washington State with our listeners, the station tweeted. However, we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time.

Most recently, Trump has called for lifting of social distancing guidelines in the near future, perhaps by Easter, even though public health professionals are still grappling with the spread of the virus. He also has made false claims about the availability of tests, the timeline for finding a vaccine and the potential benefits of a treatment that includes the ingredient chloroquine. While there is some promising study of its potential use, it has not it has not been approved for treatment. NBC News reported on one Arizona man who died after ingesting chloroquine phosphate, and his wife said that they learned about its use after watching a briefing. The chloroquine they used was part of a product use to clean fish tanks, not for medical purposes.

The news networks have been covering the briefings live, but CNN and MSNBC cut away from them on Monday, as the event stretched beyond an hour.

Related StoryCoronavirus In L.A. County: Beaches, Piers, Trails & Bike Paths Closed; Five More Deaths In 24 Hours - Update

Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere criticized the channels for the decision asdisgraceful, but an MSNBC spokesperson said that after airing the press conference for over an hour we cut away because the information no longer appeared to be valuable to the important ongoing discussion around public health. A spokeswoman for CNN said, If the White House wants to ask for time on the network, they should make an official request. Otherwise we will make our own editorial decisions.

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Seattle NPR Station Says It Will No Longer Carry Donald Trumps Coronavirus Briefings Live Because Of Misinformation - Deadline

For all the talk earlier this week about how the President may have turned a corner, tonally, when it comes to coronavirus, he made clear -- in the space of a single answer to a reporter's question at the coronavirus task force press briefing on Friday -- that he is, as ever, the same guy he has always been.

Alexander: I'm sorry, but Dr. (Anthony) Fauci said there is no magic drug for coronavirus right now, which you would agree --

Trump: Well, I think we only disagree a little bit.

Alexander: Is it possible --? Sorry.

Trump: I disagree. Uh. Maybe, and maybe not. Maybe there is, maybe there isn't, we have to see. We're gonna know. We're gonna know.

Alexander: Is it possible -- is it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving Americans a false sense of hope and misrepresenting...

Trump: No, I don't think so...

Alexander: ... the preparedness right now?

Trump: No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I think that -- I think it's got a --

Alexander: ... and the not-yet-approved drug?

Trump: Such a lovely question.

Look, it may work and it may not work and I agree with the doctor, what he said. It may work, it may not work.

I feel good about it. That's all it is, just a feeling. I -- you know, I'm a smart guy, I feel good about it and we're going to see. You're going to see soon enough.

And we have certainly some very big samples of people. If you look at the people, you have a lot of people that are in big trouble.

And this is not a drug that obviously -- I think I can speak for a lot of -- from a lot of experience because it's been out there for over 20 years. So it's not a drug that you have a huge amount of danger with. It's not like a brand new drug that's been just created that may have an unbelievable, monumental effect like kill you.

We're going to know very soon and, I can tell you, the FDA is working very hard to get it out. Right now, in terms of malaria, if you want it, you could have a prescription. You get a prescription, and by the way -- and it's very effective. It works.

I have a feeling you may -- and -- and I'm not being overly optimistic or pessimistic. I sure as hell think we ought to give it a try. I mean, there's been some interesting things happen and some good -- very good things.

Let's see what happens. We have nothing to lose. You know the expression? What the hell do you have to lose, OK?

Alexander: So, what do you say Americans who are scared, I guess? Nearly 200 dead and 14,000 who are sick and millions as you witness who are scared right now, what do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?

Trump: I say that you are a terrible reporter, that's what I say. I think it's a very nasty question. I think it's a very bad signal that you are putting out to the American people. They're looking for answers and they're looking for hope. And you're doing sensationalism and the same with NBC and Concast -- I don't call it Comcast I call it Concast. Let me just, who do you work, let me just say something.

That's really bad reporting. And you ought to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. Let's see if it works. It might and it might not. I happen to feel good about it, but who knows? I've been right a lot.

Instead, Alexander was asking what the President of the United States, the leader of the country, would tell people who are terrified about the virus, its impact on their jobs and how it is changing our way of life. It's a VERY fair question -- especially considering that residents of New York and California are all being told to stay in their homes as of Friday morning. People are scared. They want reassurance. They want to know that their government and their leaders are doing everything they can to solve this problem.

Which is why all Trump had to say was something like: I know this is an anxious time for millions of Americans. I just want you to know that we have the brightest minds working day and night to help solve the many challenges coronavirus poses to our way of life. This is a difficult time but we have weathered difficult times as a country before and come out on the other side the stronger and more united.

Or, if that's too much, Trump could have simple said what Mike Pence did when the vice president circled back to the question: "I would say, do not be afraid, be vigilant."

Short and sweet! Reassuring without being untrue. Leader-ly.

Trump decided to go in the exact opposite direction. He attacked Alexander as a "terrible reporter" who asked "a very nasty question." (Neither of those things are true.) Then he went into a riff on how he calls Comcast "Concast" (get it?!?!) -- NBC is owned by Comcast -- and finished up saying he has "been right a lot" on, uh, something.

OK.

Originally posted here:
Here's Donald Trump's angry response when asked what he would tell scared Americans - CNN