President Donald Trump plans to declare a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, according to administration officials who spoke to NBC News.
The declaration would free up financial resources to assist Americans affected by the outbreak.
The president has scheduled a 3 p.m. ET press conference Friday at the White House.
The conference is set to occur shortly after Trump is scheduled to meet at the White House with major laboratory company executives about the response to the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020
A White House spokesman declined to comment when asked about the plan.
Trump’s emergency designation is expected to fall under the Stafford Act, a law which allows for two different types of presidential declarations.
The first is an emergency, which is what Trump is expected to declare.
The second designation is a major disaster, which gives emergency management even more access to resources. Either way, both of the designations place FEMA in charge of what happens.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that he, Trump and the rest of leaders of the Group of 7 economic giant nations have “agreed to organize an extraordinary Leaders Summit by videoconference on Monday on Covid-19,” as coronavirus is more formally known.
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