Donald Trump promised Monday "far-reaching" measures to support the economy in the face of the consequences of the coronavirus, after giving the impression of underestimating the epidemic to the point of having personally been in contact with elected today in quarantine. Five members of Congress, including at least two Republicans who have been close to the President for the past few days, were in voluntary isolation on Monday after being exposed to the virus, but without showing symptoms. One traveled on board Donald Trump's Air Force One presidential plane on Monday, the other accompanied him on an official visit on Friday.
Despite these close contacts, the Republican president did not want to indicate if he had undergone a test to detect if he was carrying the virus, during a press conference at the White House of the team coordinating the American response to the epidemic. After Donald Trump left without a word for the question, Vice President Mike Pence said he "sincerely" did not know if the President of the United States had been tested, but said that he himself had not been tested.
"A possible cut in salary taxes"
The world has been "taken aback" by the coronavirus, Donald Trump had previously said, announcing that he wanted to see measures adopted soon in Congress to ease the American economy. He notably mentioned "a possible cut in wage taxes" which must be discussed Tuesday between members of his administration and Congress officials. Donald Trump will then give a press conference to detail these "major" and "far-reaching" measures, he said.
At the same press conference, the American secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin wanted to be reassuring: "The United States has the most robust economy in the world". The US Congress already approved an emergency plan of $ 8.3 billion on March 5 to finance the fight against the coronavirus.
Partly responsible for the plunge of the major financial centers on Monday, the global coronavirus crisis is already having serious consequences for the global economy.