Published 11:30 IST, February 27th 2020
Donald Trump ready to boost funds for coronavirus if offered by Democrats
US President Donald Trump has vowed to “spend whatever's appropriate” to boost the country's response to deadly coronavirus if offered by the Democrats.
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United States President Donald Trump has vowed on February 27 to “spend whatever's appropriate” to boost the country's response towards deadly coronavirus. The Trump administration has requested $2.5 billion funding to develop treatments, vaccines and the national stockpile of essential equipment, but the US President has said in a press conference that he was happy to spend more if it was on offer by the Democrats and said that he is “going to do whatever they want”.
"We were asking for 2.5 billion, and we think that's a lot, but the Democrats and I guess, Senator Schumer wants us to have much more than that. And normally in life I say we'll take it," he said. "We're going to spend whatever's appropriate, going to do whatever they want," he added.
LIVE: President @realDonaldTrump holds a news conference https://t.co/ge5q2nmhCn
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 26, 2020
Be 'germophobe' like me: Trump
Trump advised people to be a 'germophobe' like him in order to stay protected from the deadly coronavirus. In a press briefing on February 27, Trump along with his administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stated that frequent hand-washing is one of the habits which is needed to protect people against the easily spread and potentially fatal COVID-19. According to international reports, having clean hands has long been a quirk of the real estate billionaire turned President of the United States.
“I do it a lot anyway as you probably heard,” he told a press conference in the White House, triggering laughter.“Wash your hands, stay clean. You don’t have to necessarily grab every handrail unless you have to,” Trump said. “When somebody sneezes, I try to bail out.”
While Trump has applauded his administration in controlling the spread of the deadly virus, House of Representatives Speaker, Nancy Pelosi called it an “opaque and chaotic” response. While the Democrats call for a “well-coordinated” response to the outbreak which according to the World Health Organisation has spread to 33 countries, Trump also recounted a recent close encounter with someone who was sick and how he dealt with it.
"I had a man came up to me a week ago. I hadn't seen him in a long time. I said, 'how you doing?' He said 'fine, fine'..."He hugs me. I said 'are you well?' He said 'no, I have the worst fever and the worst flu.' And he's hugging and kissing me," Trump recalled while acting out the encounter for journalists. "So I said 'excuse me.' I went and started washing my hands."
11:30 IST, February 27th 2020