White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow announced during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that the Trump administration intends to sign the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history to combat the fallout from the coronavirus, which originated in China.
“This package will be the single largest main street assistance program in the history of the United States,” Kudlow said. “The single largest main street assistance program in the history of the United States.”
&#8220;This legislation is urgently needed to bolster the economy, provide cash injections and liquidity and stabilize financial markets to get us through a difficult period, a difficult and challenging period in the economy facing us right now but also to position us for what I think can be an economic rebound later this year,&#8221; Kudlow continued. &#8220;Phase two delivered the sick leave for individuals, hourly workers, families and so forth. Phase three, a significant package for small businesses, loan guarantees will be included. We’re going to take out expenses and lost revenues.&#8221;
&#8220;A strong work force requires a strong business,&#8221; Kudlow continued. &#8220;You can’t have a job without a business to work for. And the hope here is that the companies that are operating very at the beginning of the year when the economy was in good shape, we will help them and their employees get through this tough period so they will come out the other side, say later this spring or summer, and will continue their operations. That’s the key point.&#8221;
&#8220;The total package here comes to roughly $6 trillion: $2 trillion direct assistance, roughly $4 trillion in federal reserve lending power,&#8221; Kudlow added. &#8220;Again, it will be the largest main street financial package in the history of the United States.&#8221;
Kudlow said that the stimulus provides &#8220;liquidity and cash for families, small business, individuals, [and the] unemployed to keep this thing going.&#8221;
WATCH:
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White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow announces that the <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realdonaldtrump</a> administration will pass the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus that came from China. <a href="https://t.co/CU86NCrwwl">pic.twitter.com/CU86NCrwwl</a>
&mdash; (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1242589272256872448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Fox News editor Gregg Re noted that Trump struck a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fauci-returns-to-coronavirus-briefing-as-trump-sees-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel">magnanimous</a> tone during the press conference on Congress&#8217;s work to get a stimulus bill put together.
&#8220;I also want to thank Congress, because whether or not we&#8217;re happy that they haven&#8217;t quite gotten there yet, they have been working long hours,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I&#8217;m talking Republicans and Democrats, all of them, the House, the Senate. I want to thank Congress because they are really trying to get there, and I think they will.&#8221;
The announcement came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ruined a deal on Sunday that both sides were apparently close to agreeing on.
“The fate of a sweeping government rescue package to prop up an economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic was in limbo on Sunday after Democrats blocked action in the Senate,” The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/world/coronavirus-updates-world-usa.html?action=click&amp;module=Spotlight&amp;pgtype=Homepage#link-42bc69ff">reported</a> over the weekend. “The 47-47 vote was a stunning setback for a package that was emerging as the largest economic stimulus measure in modern American history – now expected to cost $1.8 trillion or more.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mcconnell-explodes-on-pelosi-for-ruining-stimulus-bill-that-protected-economy-families">said</a> that it was Pelosi who was responsible for ruining the deal.
“Now I changed my vote which gives me the opportunity to move to reconsider at a later time. That’s all I can do in the face of this obstruction. Look, I can understand obstruction when you’re trying to achieve something,” McConnell continued. “This obstruction achieves nothing. Nothing whatsoever other than prevent us from getting into a position where there are literally 30 more hours that they could use to continue to dicker. So at a time when the country is crying out for bipartisanship and cooperation — and we saw that over the last 48 hours when regular members of Senate, not in the leadership office, not in the speaker’s office for goodness sakes, she’s the Speaker of the House, not the speaker of the Senate. We don’t have one. We were doing just fine until that intervention.”

Members Of The Coronavirus Task Force Hold Press Briefing

BREAKING: Trump Admin Announces Largest Stimulus Proposal In U.S. History

Coronavirus

stimulus

Trump Administration

The Trump administration on Tuesday instructed anyone who has recently left New York to self-quarantine for 14 days because of the extreme number of coronavirus cases confirmed in New York City.
Dr. Deborah Birx said during a press conference, “56% of all the cases in the United States are coming out of that metro area and 60% of all the new cases are coming out of the metro New York area.&#8221;
&#8220;To everyone who has left New York over the last few days, because of the rate of the number of cases, you may have been exposed before you left New York,&#8221; Birx continued. &#8220;Everybody who was in New York should be self-quarantining for the next 14 days.”
WATCH:
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Dr. Deborah Birx on NYC/coronavirus: “56% of all the cases in the U.S. are coming out of that metro area… to everyone who has left NY over the last few days&#8230; you may have been exposed before you left … everybody who was in NY should be self-quarantining for the next 14 days” <a href="https://t.co/LzXT68mf5Q">pic.twitter.com/LzXT68mf5Q</a>
&mdash; Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1242577070338654208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Vice President Mike Pence also reiterated the point several minutes later during the press conference.
&#8220;As several have mentioned, we&#8217;re particularly focused on New York,&#8221; Pence said. &#8220;The reality is the New York metro area was 60% of the new cases in the country. The infection rates are roughly 1 in 1,000 in the New York City metro area.&#8221;
&#8220;It is the reason why today, the White House Coronavirus Task Force is calling on any American first and foremost in [New York City] to take the guidelines that we issued and avoid non-essential travel,&#8221; Pence continued. &#8220;But for anyone in the New York metropolitan area who has traveled, our task force is encouraging you to monitor your temperature, be sensitive to symptoms, and we are asking anyone who has traveled out of the New York City metropolitan area to anywhere else in the country to self-isolate for 14 days.&#8221;
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-apex-andrew-cuomo.html?action=click&amp;module=Spotlight&amp;pgtype=Homepage">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The White House warning came as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo offered a grim forecast for the outbreak in New York, saying that it would flood the state’s strained hospitals with as many as 140,000 stricken patients in the next few weeks.
Mr. Cuomo said that in New York City, new cases appeared to be doubling every three days. The crisis has already claimed the lives of more than 200 people statewide, and 131 in the city.
Despite the city’s efforts to slow the spread of the virus, Mr. Cuomo said the number of infections could reach its peak by mid-April, far outrunning earlier projections.</blockquote>
“We haven’t flattened the curve and the curve is actually increasing,” New York Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought. That is a bad combination of facts.”
Cuomo lashed out at the administration for only sending 400 ventilators when the state needs over 30,000.
“You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators? What are we going to do with 400 ventilators when we need 30,000?” Cuomo said. “I don’t, for the life of me, understand the reluctance to use the federal Defense Production Act.&#8221;
During an interview on Fox News, Trump responded to Cuomo&#8217;s statement, saying, “I’m not blaming him or anything else, but he shouldn’t be talking about us. He’s supposed to be buying his own ventilators.”
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

US-HEALTH-VIRUS-BRIEFING

Trump Admin Instructs People Who Have Recently Visited NYC To Self-Quarantine

New York

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a lead voice of the Coronavirus Task Force, explained in an interview with Science on Sunday that while we are rightly taking decisive action to attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, we must not impose overly drastic measures that will result in &#8220;unintended consequences,&#8221; including other health issues.
&#8220;If you knock down the economy completely and disrupt infrastructure, you may be causing health issues, unintended consequences, for people who need to be able to get to places and can&#8217;t,&#8221; Fauci cautioned. &#8220;[I]f you lock down everything now, you&#8217;re going to crash the whole society,&#8221; he warned.
The comment came during an interview that devoted multiple questions that pitted Fauci against President Trump. Despite the interview&#8217;s overtly contentious title, &#8220;<a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/i-m-going-keep-pushing-anthony-fauci-tries-make-white-house-listen-facts-pandemic">‘I’m going to keep pushing.’ Anthony Fauci tries to make the White House listen to facts of the pandemic</a>,&#8221; Fauci largely defended the administration&#8217;s response, and framed it in terms of a massively consequential balancing act and series of compromises.
Asked about the state by state approach to &#8220;shelter in place&#8221; orders, rather than a federal mandate to all states, Fauci defended the administration&#8217;s response, warning that such orders cause a massive disruption in people&#8217;s lives and the U.S. economy, and thus create other potentially dangerous consequences.
&#8220;I&#8217;m curious about some things that aren&#8217;t happening on a national scale,&#8221; the interviewer asked. &#8220;One is, why are shelter in place orders happening state by state? Why are we doing this sequentially? Is that a mistake?&#8221;
&#8220;No, I don&#8217;t think we could say it&#8217;s a mistake or not a mistake,&#8221; Fauci responded. &#8220;There is a discussion and a delicate balance about what’s the overall impact of shutting everything down completely for an indefinite period of time. So there&#8217;s a compromise. If you knock down the economy completely and disrupt infrastructure, you may be causing health issues, unintended consequences, for people who need to be able to get to places and can&#8217;t. You do the best you can.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve emphasized very emphatically at every press conference that everybody in the country, at a minimum, should be following the fundamental guidelines,&#8221; Fauci stressed. &#8220;Elderly, stay out of society in self-isolation. Don&#8217;t go to work if you don&#8217;t have to. Yada, yada, yada. No bars, no restaurants, no nothing. Only essential services.&#8221;
&#8220;When you get a place like New York or Washington or California, you have got to ratchet it up,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;But it is felt—and it isn&#8217;t me only speaking, it’s a bunch of people who make the decisions—that if you lock down everything now, you&#8217;re going to crash the whole society. So, you do what you can do, as best as you can. Do as much physical separation as you can and ratchet it up at the places you know are at highest risk.&#8221;
As Fauci referenced, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/21/coronavirus-lockdown-orders-shelter-place-stay-home-state-list/2891193001/">several states</a>, including California and New York, have issued &#8220;shelter in place&#8221; orders, mandating the shutdown of all &#8220;non-essential&#8221; businesses and government agencies, a move that has severely disrupted the economy and threatens to put millions out of work. The drastic measures in California and New York have been deemed necessary by the state governments due to the high-risk nature of the densely populated states.
Asked &#8220;what went wrong&#8221; with the federal response to the pandemic, which the interviewer characterized has having &#8220;failed,&#8221; Fauci, said, &#8220;I think we&#8217;ll have to wait until it is over and we look back before we can answer that. It&#8217;s almost like the fog of war. After the war is over, you then look back and say, ‘Wow, this plan, as great as it was, didn&#8217;t quite work once they started throwing hand grenades at us.’ It really is similar to that. Obviously, testing [for the new coronavirus] is one clear issue that needs to be relooked at. Why were we not able to mobilize on a broader scale? But I don&#8217;t think we can do that right now. I think it&#8217;s premature. We really need to look forward.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coronavirus-victim-52-said-good-bye-to-family-prepared-to-die-says-hydroxychloroquine-saved-his-life">Coronavirus Victim, 52, Said Good-Bye To Family, Prepared to Die; Says Hydroxychloroquine Saved His Life</a>
This article has been expanded to include more details of Fauci&#8217;s response.

Anthony Fauci

Dr. Fauci: ‘If You Lock Down Everything Now, You’re Going To Crash The Whole Society’

Donald Trump

Federal officials are moving to strictly limit travel across the U.S.-Mexico border as the coronavirus pandemic spreads while keeping trade between the two nations flowing.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is talking with Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard to enact &#8220;travel restrictions that balance protecting our citizens from further transmission of [COVID-19].&#8221;
&#8220;Together, we can reduce public health risks and prioritize essential cross-border commerce and trade,&#8221; Pompeo wrote on Twitter.
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mexico?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mexico</a> Foreign Secretary <a href="https://twitter.com/m_ebrard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@m_ebrard</a> and I have been working closely on travel restrictions that balance protecting our citizens from further transmission of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a>. Together, we can reduce public health risks and prioritize essential cross-border commerce and trade.
&mdash; Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1240792677534351361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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President Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. and Canada agreed to close their border for all nonessential travel, underscoring on Twitter that “trade will not be affected.&#8221;
“We’re looking at both our northern and our southern border,” acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters at the White House. “We want to make sure that cargo continues, trade continues, heath care workers continue to be able to traverse that border. But tourism, some recreational activities and other things needs to stop during this crisis.&#8221;
&#8220;U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials briefed business leaders Thursday on plans to prohibit non-essential travel with Mexico, similar to a measure announced earlier this week on the Canadian border, said Paola Avila, chair of the Border Trade Alliance, a business group,&#8221; the <a href="https://apnews.com/9c99d9ead1d95482f07ad7be445d29cf">Associated Press</a> reported.
<blockquote>The measure would effectively close the U.S. to all tourist and recreational visits along the Mexican border, said Avila, who participated in a conference call with CBP officials.
U.S. officials provided a long list of “essential” workers that would be unaffected going to and from their jobs, including farmworkers, restaurant and grocery store employees and bus drivers, said Avila. Mexico was preparing similar restrictions on visitors from the United States.</blockquote>
Under a Trump administration plan, asylum-seekers and other migrants at the northern and southern borders will be turned away, The New York Times reported.
The <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8132929/Cars-flood-Mexico-border-amid-possible-travel-restrictions.html">Daily Mail</a> reported that &#8220;hundreds of cars lined up to cross into the United States at the Mexico-US on Thursday after officials announced the possibility of restrictions on travel in a bid to curb the coronavirus.&#8221;
&#8220;Bumper-to-bumper traffic was seen at the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego, California,&#8221; the outlet reports. &#8220;Tijuana&#8217;s mayor Arturo González Cruz has urged residents in recent says to restrict their visits to the United States to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Mexico has reported its first death from coronavirus, a 41-year-old diabetic Mexican man whose symptoms began last week, the health ministry said late on Wednesday. No other details were immediately available.&#8221;
Mexico has a remarkably low number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 — just 164, with only one death. In the U.S., there are 14,250 cases and more than 200 deaths.
Some in Mexico have taunted Trump.
“There are more coronavirus patients in the USA than in Mexico. I will assume that the wall is to protect Mexicans!” one woman wrote in Spanish on Twitter.
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Hay más pacientes de coronavirus en USA que en México. Asumiré que el muro es para proteger a los mexicanos!
&mdash; malvarad (@malvarad00) <a href="https://twitter.com/malvarad00/status/1237516653132255233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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“As there are more cases of coronavirus in the USA than in @mexico Mexicans should build the wall and pay for it @realDonaldTrump,” wrote another.
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Como hay más casos de coronavirus en USA que en <a href="https://twitter.com/mexico?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mexico</a> los mexicanos deberían construir el muro y que lo pague <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>
&mdash; GerardoGRamos 💪 (@GerardoGRamos) <a href="https://twitter.com/GerardoGRamos/status/1237996563089285120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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“At this rate the wall is done by Mexico due to the number of positive cases of coronavirus in the USA,” another tweeted.
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A este ritmo el muro lo hace Mexico por la cantidad de casos positivos de coronavirus en Usa
&mdash; Quino (@joako_92) <a href="https://twitter.com/joako_92/status/1237925308579360768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Migrant Caravan Crosses Into Mexico

Trump Admin Moves To Severely Restrict Traffic Across U.S.-Mexico Border

Mexico

On Thursday, the Trump administration’s Coronavirus Task Force Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx appeared on “CBS This Morning” to answer questions about the ongoing crisis, as well as potential timelines for mitigation and treatment.
Referencing President Trump’s assertion that “we will win, and we will win very quickly,” co-host Gayle King first asked Dr. Birx: “What is the White House definition of quickly?”
Birx replied that the White House is “looking very closely at the data” from multiple nations such as China and South Korea, and is “encouraged by the recent reports from China of no new cases.”
Birx added that the administration is closely watching as China opens up following the nation’s mass quarantines to see “if that impacts the spread of the virus.”
Co-host Tony Dokoupil then asked about timelines. “Right now, we’re in this two-weeks-to-slow-the-spread period, but there are other reports coming from the administration about a possible 18-month fight. How long should Americans be prepared to take precautions to fight this pandemic?”
“With respiratory diseases, they have a peak, and often fall off during the summer months,” Birx responded. “If this works like every other respiratory disease that comes to us in the winter.”
Birx then stated that the administration is examining the possibility that the illness might re-emerge in the fall. “That’s why the president’s been working non-stop both on therapeutics that could be available in the summer and fall, and vaccines that could be available &#8230; It’s a today vision, a tomorrow vision, but also a 90-day vision, a fall vision, and a fall 2021 vision to make sure that we’re following everything.”
Regarding when the peak may arrive, Birx noted that they are looking at the peaks that have occurred in other countries.
“Now, in every other country where the peak came and the cases declined, it was because every single person in that country followed the guidelines that our president has put out,” Birx said. “These guidelines are extraordinarily important. It’s about social distancing; it’s about washing your hands; it’s about ensuring that you’re protecting yourself and protecting others.”
In an apparent dig at the spring-breakers in Florida who seem to be disregarding guidelines, Birx added: “It’s not about partying on beaches during spring break.”
Birx concluded by talking about the need for more data. She also offered a word of caution regarding the sudden increase in case numbers that could be seen shortly.
“So, to every American out there who’s watching the new cases, these are new cases coming from the backlog for samples that were collected four, five, and six days ago,” Birx said. “And as those get run, our number of new cases will dramatically increase because they’re not daily cases, they’re cases that are from the last few days.”
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The coronavirus, which originated in China’s Hubei province, has infected over 242,000 people worldwide, and led to more than 9,800 deaths, <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6">according to data</a> from Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) Global Cases map. Nearly 85,000 people who had coronavirus have recovered.
In the United States, there have been more than 13,000 confirmed cases of the illness, and 176 deaths as of publication.
Italy, which is viewed as a hotspot for the virus in Europe, has had over 41,000 confirmed cases, and approximately 3,400 deaths. More than 4,400 have recovered, according to the CSSE Global Cases data.

Dr. Deborah Birx

WATCH: Coronavirus Task Force’s Dr. Birx Talks Timelines, Data, And Case Numbers

While the U.S. stock market has been bludgeoned by panic over the coronavirus pandemic, losing all of the gains made during Trump&#8217;s presidency, the U.S. has one thing going for it: the dollar is making gains unseen for nearly three decades.
&#8220;The dollar extended its gains on Thursday, putting it on its biggest rising run since 1992 against its peers, as demand for funding stayed high despite the recent burst of liquidity injection operations undertaken by central banks around the world,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/forex-markets-european-central-bank-coronavirus-in-focus.html">CNBC</a> reports. &#8220;Against its rivals, the dollar firmed 0.75% to 101.92, its highest level since March 2017. It has gained more than 7% in the past nine trading sessions. On an eight-day rolling basis, it is on its biggest rise since September 1992.&#8221;
The dollar&#8217;s strong performance, AxiCorp Global Chief Markets Strategist Stephen Innes notes, comes at the expense of the global markets. &#8220;The strong US dollar is slamming global capital markets like a sledgehammer today,&#8221; Innes wrote, as reported by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/18/investing/stock-futures-wednesday-coronavirus/index.html">CNN Business</a>.
What&#8217;s fueling the dollar&#8217;s success? Credit Agriocole currency strategist Manuel Oliveri says it&#8217;s the failure of central banks to act aggressively enough. &#8220;Central banks are stepping up their liquidity actions but it is not enough to make sure the dollar scarcity disappear and as a result the dollar continues to be the favoured currency across the board,” said Oliveri, as reported by CNBC.
Meanwhile, the British pound and the Australian and New Zealand dollars are all nearing decades-long lows. &#8220;Sterling teetered near its lowest point since at least 1985 against the greenback, while the Australian dollar tumbled to a 17-year low and the New Zealand dollar was at its weakest in 11 years as investors dumped riskier assets,&#8221; CNBC notes.
The British pound has fallen to roughly $1.15, &#8220;trading at its lowest levels against the dollar since the 1980s,&#8221; CNN Business notes. Multiple sources told the network that the U.K. is now considering a &#8220;partial lockdown&#8221; in London to stem the spread of coronavirus, causing even more panic among traders.
The euro is also struggling despite the European Central Bank announcing an over $800 billion emergency relief measure.
In response to the crippling impact of the pandemic, the Trump administration is working with congressional leaders to pass a $1 trillion emergency stimulus package, which might include sending two $1,000 checks to many Americans, as reported by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/18/trump-coronavirus-economic-plan/">The Washington Post</a> Wednesday.
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&#8220;The administration’s $1 trillion proposed rescue plan, which forms the basis for fast-moving negotiations on Capitol Hill, includes sending two large checks to many Americans and devoting $300 billion toward helping small businesses avoid mass layoffs. Priorities laid out in a two-page Treasury Department document also include $50 billion to help rescue the airline industry and $150 billion to prop up other sectors, which could include hotels,&#8221; the Post reports.
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&#8220;All told, between several legislative packages advanced on Capitol Hill and other actions the government has taken, the White House is pushing an economic plan that is &#8216;over $2 trillion and counting&#8217; to try and arrest the coronavirus’s economic wrecking ball, a senior administration officials said,&#8221; the Post reports.
On Wednesday, President Trump tweeted out encouragement to the American people, promising that &#8220;money will soon be coming&#8221; to those hit hard by the crisis.
&#8220;For the people that are now out of work because of the important and necessary containment policies, for instance the shutting down of hotels, bars and restaurants, money will soon be coming to you,&#8221; the president tweeted. &#8220;The onslaught of the Chinese Virus is not your fault! Will be stronger than ever!&#8221;
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For the people that are now out of work because of the important and necessary containment policies, for instance the shutting down of hotels, bars and restaurants, money will soon be coming to you. The onslaught of the Chinese Virus is not your fault! Will be stronger than ever!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1240226752447873027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-york-stock-exchange-to-close-trading-floor-over-coronavirus">New York Stock Exchange To Close Trading Floor Over Coronavirus</a>
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100 Dollar Bills

The U.S. Dollar Surges Amid Coronavirus Crisis

Economy

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper revealed to the press Tuesday that the Pentagon has initiated the process of activating two Navy hospital ships — one on the West Coast and one on the East Coast — to help with the federal coronavirus response.
&#8220;We’ve already given orders to the Navy… to lean forward in terms of getting them ready to deploy,&#8221; Sec. Esper told reporters Tuesday, as reported by <a href="https://news.usni.org/2020/03/17/pentagon-preparing-navy-hospital-ships-mercy-comfort-for-coronavirus-response">U.S. Naval Institute News</a>.
The two hospital ships that have begun activation are USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) and USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), which are homeported at Naval Station San Diego, CA, and Naval Station Norfolk, VA, respectively, and both have a 1,000 bed-capacity.
Activating the hospital ships, Sec. Esper explained, will help &#8220;take the pressure off of civilian hospitals when it comes to trauma cases, to open up civilian hospital rooms for infectious diseases.&#8221;
&#8220;The ships will now begin the several days-long process of bringing aboard medical staff and equipment ahead of deploying along the East and West coasts, a defense official confirmed to USNI News on Tuesday afternoon,&#8221; the outlet reported. To fully mobilize personnel takes a week or more, officials say.
&#8220;The big challenge isn’t the availability of these inventories, it’s the medical professionals,&#8221; Esper explained. &#8220;All of those doctors and nurses either come from our medical treatment facilities or they come from the reserves, which means civilians.&#8221;
&#8220;What I don’t want to do is take reservists from a hospital where they are needed, just to put them on a ship, to take them somewhere else where they are needed,&#8221; the Defense Secretary added. &#8220;We’ve got to be very conscious of that.&#8221;
&#8220;Two sources told USNI News that the idea was for the ships to provide relief for coastal hospital systems, with the ships taking on non-COVID-19 cases and allowing the hospitals to focus on the most critical patients suffering from the virus,&#8221; USNI News explains. &#8220;The Pentagon also has extensive equipment for erecting field hospitals in addition to the hospital ships, but those facilities are optimized for trauma cases, with several beds close together, and not for infectious patients.&#8221;
“In some ways we want to be the last resort,” Esper said.
As reported by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-military/white-house-preparing-to-call-on-military-to-boost-coronavirus-medical-response-idUSKBN2143DP">Reuters</a>, the White House said earlier Tuesday that it has been in talks with the Pentagon about the Army Corps of Engineers helping to set up field hospitals as part of the mitigation plan.
&#8220;The Army Corps of Engineers is ready, willing and able, we have to give them the go ahead if we find that it&#8217;s going to be necessary, we think that we can have quite a few units up very rapidly,&#8221; Trump said Tuesday.
Sec. Esper confirmed that he was willing to deploy the Army Corps of Engineers to set up field hospitals, but noted that doing so would require the military to go through a laborious contracting process that could slow things down. Contracting at the state or local level, he suggested, would be more efficient.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vice-president-pence-when-coronavirus-outbreak-over-economy-will-come-roaring-back">Vice President Pence: When Coronavirus Outbreak Over ‘Economy Will Come Roaring Back’</a>

USNS Mercy

U.S. Navy Activates Hospital Ships For Coronavirus Response

Pentagon

U.S. Navy

According to Reuters, President Trump is attempting to lure a German company working to develop a vaccine for coronavirus to move to the United States but has been met with resistance by German politicians. But the Trump administration says the news agency has some of its key facts wrong.
&#8220;Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-usa/germany-tries-to-stop-us-from-luring-away-firm-seeking-coronavirus-vaccine-idUSKBN2120IV">Reuters</a> reported Sunday.
&#8220;German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac,&#8221; the news agency explains. &#8220;Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.&#8221;
Reuters cites a report by German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, which provided a quote from an unidentified German government source stating that Trump was attempting to obtain the firm&#8217;s research &#8220;only for the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe,&#8221; a German Health Ministry spokeswoman told the paper. &#8220;In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac.&#8221;
The Trump administration, however, has pushed back against the initial reports on the president&#8217;s actions involving CureVac.
&#8220;Not true,&#8221; U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell tweeted Sunday in response to Reuters&#8217; report. &#8220;The Welt story was wrong. But Business Insider, Reuters and others went with it anyway despite not having their own sources. Now everyone is back peddling.&#8221;
&#8220;This story is wildly overplayed,&#8221; an unnamed U.S. official told Reuters. &#8220;We will continue to talk to any company that claims to be able to help. And any solution found would be shared with the world.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Not true. The Welt story was wrong. But Business Insider, Reuters and others went with it anyway despite not having their own sources. Now everyone is back peddling. <a href="https://t.co/88UohluwTj">https://t.co/88UohluwTj</a>
&mdash; Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/1239248345329274881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Reuters appears to be standing by its story, though it makes a point of putting the onus of the key claim about Trump trying to get &#8220;exclusive&#8221; access to the research on Welt am Sonntag.
In a press conference Sunday, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Germany&#8217;s coronavirus crisis committee would be addressing CureVac in a meeting Monday, Reuters reports.
CureVac has responded to the reports, issuing a statement Sunday rejecting the &#8220;current rumors of an acquisition.&#8221; The commitment of the company, said Deitmar Hopp, CureVac&#8217;s primary investor, is to help people all over the world, &#8220;not just regionally.&#8221;
To contain the spread of the virus in the states, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fauci-favors-national-shutdown-you-dont-want-to-be-complacent">explained</a> Sunday, that the Trump administration is recommending &#8220;stringent mitigation and containment,&#8221; but not a &#8220;complete lockdown.&#8221;
&#8220;We feel that with rather stringent mitigation and containment, without necessarily complete lockdown, we would be able to prevent ourselves from getting to where, unfortunately, Italy is now&#8230;,&#8221; said Fauci. &#8220;With regard to domestic travel bans, we always talk about it, consider everything. But I can tell you that has not been seriously considered, doing travel bans in the country. … I don’t see that right now or in the immediate future.&#8221;
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cdc-issues-new-advisory-on-gatherings-events">CDC Issues New Advisory Further Limiting Gatherings, Events</a>

President Trump

‘Not True’: Trump Admin Responds To Reports On Trump And German Coronavirus Vaccine Firm

Germany

The White House on Saturday began taking the temperature of people &#8220;in close contact&#8221; with President Trump or Vice President Pence, including reporters who are attending a briefing on the coronavirus.
“Out of an abundance of caution, temperature checks are now being performed on any individuals who are in close contact with the President and Vice President,&#8221; Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
&#8220;Around 11:30 am a man in a suit with a no contact thermometer came through the White House press briefing room and workspaces, taking the temperature of reporters in the building,&#8221; said a &#8220;pool report&#8221; — notes from a reporter to other members of the press corps.
&#8220;Judd Deere told reporters that the man was part of the White House physician&#8217;s office. His name was not immediately available.&#8221;
A Fox News anchor also read part of a TC pool report, saying a reporter was turned away for having a high temperature.
&#8220;A member of the press was turned away from the briefing because his temperature was too high. Several photographers and reporters, your pooler included, saw him turned away outside the briefing room doors. The same man from the physician&#8217;s office was taking his temperature. The member of the press wouldn&#8217;t share his name or outlet. He was led away by a wrangler and the man from the physician&#8217;s office.&#8221;
Later, a White House aide clarified. “According to the White House Medical Unit, the temperature was taken three times over a 15 minute period — all three registered above the @CDCgov 100.4 guidelines,” White House press secretary Katie Miller <a href="https://twitter.com/VPPressSec/status/1238863434000797696">tweeted</a> Saturday.
The new, stricter protocols came after White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said in a memo released late Friday that Trump will not be tested for coronavirus, nor will he self-quarantine.
Questions arose after Trump and other White House staffers had interactions with at least three infected people from a Brazilian official delegation last weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, and the president said he would &#8220;most likely&#8221; get tested.
But Dr. Conley said there&#8217;s no need for a test or a quarantine.
“The President’s exposure to the first individual was extremely limited (photograph, handshake), and though he spent more time in closer proximity to the second case, all interactions occurred before any symptom onset,” the doctor wrote in a note released by the White House.
“These interactions would be categorized as LOW risk for transmission per CDC guidelines, and as such, there is no indication for home quarantine at this time,” Dr. Conley added. &#8220;Additionally, given the President himself remains without symptoms, testing for COVID-19 is not currently indicated. I will closely monitor and care for the President, and will update you as more information becomes available.&#8221;
In a White House press conference on Friday, Trump was asked by CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang if he was being “selfish” by not being tested.
The president said people &#8220;should listen to their doctors. They shouldn&#8217;t be jumping to get the test unless it&#8217;s necessary, but I think they have to listen to their doctors.&#8221;
The reporter followed, saying: &#8220;But doctors are saying you might have it even if you don&#8217;t show symptoms. Are you being selfish by not getting tested?&#8221;
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t say I was not going to be tested,&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;Are you going to be?&#8221; Jiang asked.
&#8220;Most likely. Not for that reason but I think I will anyway, fairly soon, we&#8217;re working out a schedule,&#8221; the president replied.
Earlier Friday, news broke that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus. Bolsonaro visited Mar-a-Lago last weekend and met with Trump and his administration and family, and also had dinner together. He later tweeted out that his second test came back negative.

Cropped Hand Holding Thermometer Against White Background

White House Says It Will Conduct Temperature Checks On Those Close To Trump, Pence — Reporter Turned Away

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Friday evening that she had reached a deal with the Trump administration over a coronavirus bill that would provide federal relief measures to communities around the country.
According to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/politics/coronavirus-relief-congress/index.html">CNN</a>, Pelosi made the reveal to colleagues in a letter Friday evening, after spending the afternoon discussing potential options with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
&#8220;We are proud to have reached an agreement with the Administration to resolve outstanding challenges, and now will soon pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,&#8221; announced Pelosi.
On Fox Business, Lou Dobbs signaled that Mnuchin was still meeting with the president to discuss the bill, and Mnuchin was not yet ready to announce that a deal had been reached. However, Mnuchin later appeared on the program to affirm that a deal had, in fact, been reached.
 “We have an agreement that reflects what the president talked about in his speech the other night,” said Mnuchin. “He’s very focused on making sure that we can deal with the coronavirus, that people that have to be home quarantine, that hard-working Americans don’t lose their compensation because they have to be home.”
According to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-announces-deal-with-white-house-on-coronavirus-bill">Fox News</a>, the legislation includes paid sick leave, enhancements to existing unemployment insurance, an increase in funding for government food-initiatives, more federal funding to Medicaid, and undisclosed coronavirus testing measures.
“This legislation is about testing, testing, testing,” said Pelosi, reports the news agency. “To stop the spread of the virus, we have secured free coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test, including the uninsured. We cannot fight coronavirus effectively unless everyone in our country who needs to be tested can get their test free of charge.”
A source within the Trump administration has reportedly acknowledged that the president will support the measure, reports the news agency. However, the president has not yet publicly acknowledged the deal.
According to Fox News, the bill had been held up after House Democrats tried to insert unrelated measures into the legislation. In an interview with <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/sasse-rips-pelosi-for-trying-to-smuggle-hyde-amendment-loophole-into-coronavirus-package/">National Review</a>, Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) unloaded on Pelosi for allegedly trying to work around an abortion funding law.
“While schools are closing and hospitals are gearing up, Speaker Pelosi is waging unnecessary culture wars. Speaker Pelosi should be fighting the coronavirus pandemic, not politicizing emergency funding by fighting against the bipartisan Hyde Amendment,” Sasse told the news agency. “We need to be ramping up our diagnostic testing, not waging culture wars at the behest of Planned Parenthood. Good grief.”
In a press conference Friday afternoon, President Trump stated that House Democrats were not “giving enough” for a deal to be reached, reports CNN.
&#8220;Well, we just don&#8217;t think they&#8217;re giving enough. We don&#8217;t think the Democrats are giving enough,&#8221; announced Trump. 
&#8220;We&#8217;re negotiating. We thought we had something, but all of a sudden they didn&#8217;t agree to certain things that they agreed to. We could have something, but we don&#8217;t think they&#8217;re giving enough. They&#8217;re not doing what&#8217;s right for the country,” said the president, reports the news agency.
As The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-unleashes-full-power-of-u-s-government-to-fight-coronavirus">Daily Wire</a> previously reported, President Trump declared a national emergency Friday afternoon, releasing $50 billion in aid for states and municipalities affected by the coronavirus.
“To unleash the full power of the federal government under this effort, I’m officially declaring a national emergency,” said Trump. “The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very important and a large amount of money for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.”
“In furtherance of the order, I’m urging every state to set up emergency operations centers effective immediately,” said Trump. “I’m also asking every hospital in this country to activate its emergency preparedness plan so they can meet the needs of Americans everywhere. The hospitals are very engaged.”

Speaker Pelosi Addresses The Media In Weekly Press Conference

Nancy Pelosi Says White House On Board With Coronavirus Deal; Mnuchin Affirms

Nancy Pelosi

Steve Mnuchin

American travelers in Europe are scrambling to get back to the U.S. after President Trump announced a 30-day travel ban from European countries in an attempt to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
&#8220;Bleary-eyed and stressed, travellers scrambled at European airports to board flights to the United States on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping travel restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus,&#8221; <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20200312095943-wmvg5">Reuters</a> reported out of Madrid on Thursday.
The mad dash to get back to the states, the news agency explains, follows Trump&#8217;s announcement on new travel restrictions Wednesday that &#8220;disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of people and hit airlines already reeling from the coronavirus outbreak.&#8221;
&#8220;The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hotspots,&#8221; Trump said in a televised address Wednesday night. &#8220;As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe.&#8221;
&#8220;After consulting with our top government health professionals, I have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and wellbeing of all Americans,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight.&#8221;
&#8220;These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;There will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings, and these prohibitions [exemptions] will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval. These restrictions will also not apply to the United Kingdom.&#8221;
As Reuters details, the ban applies to 26 European countries and excludes Britain and Ireland. And, as Trump noted, American citizens who have undergone appropriate screenings will be allowed to travel back to the U.S.
The announcement prompted chaos, as American travelers in Europe told Reuters. &#8220;It caused a mass panic,&#8221; said a U.S. student who was scrambling to book a flight from Madrid back to the U.S.  rather than heading to France as she&#8217;d planned. &#8220;We are lucky to be able to leave Europe,&#8221; a Miami resident, who was one of several who had just booked flights back, told Reuters.
&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be a big mess,&#8221; a Delta crew member told the news agency. &#8220;We were not expecting something like that. We don&#8217;t have all the details to know what it means for us and for the company.&#8221;
Another American bound for the U.S. expressed frustration about the lack of clarity about Trump&#8217;s initial statement on the ban from Europe, which appeared to suggest that trade was going to be shut down as well. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t clear what Trump meant,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was a poorly planned, poorly worded statement.&#8221;
Trump quickly clarified the point in a tweet following his televised statement Wednesday. &#8220;Hoping to get the payroll tax cut approved by both Republicans and Democrats,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237924658185469954">wrote</a>, &#8220;and please remember, very important for all countries [and] businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people not goods.&#8221;
On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security released a <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/03/11/homeland-security-acting-secretary-chad-f-wolf-s-statement-presidential-proclamation">statement</a> providing details about the European travel restrictions and specifying that the restrictions do not apply to &#8220;legal permanent residents, (generally) immediate family members of U.S. citizens, and other individuals who are identified in the proclamation&#8221;:
<blockquote>Today President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation, which suspends the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries at any point during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the United States. These countries, known as the Schengen Area, include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. This does not apply to legal permanent residents, (generally) immediate family members of U.S. citizens, and other individuals who are identified in the proclamation.</blockquote>
In his address, Trump also announced actions his administration is taking to provide <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unprecedented-trump-details-emergency-financial-actions-payroll-tax-cuts-financial-aid-loans">economic relief</a> for the country.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-disneyland-shuts-down-because-of-coronavirus">Disneyland Shuts Down Because of Coronavirus</a>

Airport Coronavirus

‘Mass Panic’: Europe Travelers Scramble To Get Back To U.S. After Trump Announcement

Europe

Stock market trading was temporarily halted Thursday morning after U.S. equities fell 7%, triggering the automatic circuit breaker.
&#8220;U.S. stocks hit critical circuit breaker levels on Thursday minutes after the opening bell for the second time this week as global markets plunged amid investor fears about the coronavirus global pandemic,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/stock-futures-hit-a-limit-down-trading-halt-for-a-second-time-this-week-heres-what-that-means.html">CNBC</a> reported Thursday morning. &#8220;Just as they did on Monday, the S&amp;P 500 hit exchanges’ 7% threshold decline in morning trading, halting trade during regular market hours for 15 minutes to ensure order in the marketplace.&#8221;
In addition to U.S. equities, futures likewise fell 7% and were halted, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-11/asia-stocks-set-for-losses-dow-enters-bear-market-markets-wrap">Bloomberg News</a> notes, while European stocks &#8220;tumbled more than 8%.&#8221;
&#8220;Trading resumed at 9:50 a.m. ET, with both the S&amp;P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average extending losses immediately after the restart,&#8221; CNBC reports. &#8220;The S&amp;P 500 was last seen down 8% and the Dow was down 9%.&#8221;
Thursday&#8217;s decline in stocks, Bloomberg&#8217;s analysts say, appears to largely be inspired by investors wanting more aggressive responses by the U.S. and Europe than their governments have thus far taken.
&#8220;President Donald Trump’s travel ban and tepid fiscal measures sparked the latest leg down in risk assets, while the European Central Bank failed to stem the rout after it left rates unchanged, though it temporarily increased its QE program and took steps to boost liquidity,&#8221; Bloomberg&#8217;s Sam Potter and Jeremy Herron write.
On Wednesday night, President Trump announced a series of &#8220;unprecedented&#8221; measures to address the growing crisis, including a 30-day restriction on travel from Europe to the U.S.
&#8220;To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days,&#8221; Trump said in a televised address. &#8220;The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight.  These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. There will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings, and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval.  Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing.  These restrictions will also not apply to the United Kingdom.&#8221;
The president also announced <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unprecedented-trump-details-emergency-financial-actions-payroll-tax-cuts-financial-aid-loans">emergency financial measures</a> his administration is taking, including ordering the Small Business Administration (SBA) to &#8220;provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the coronavirus,&#8221; ordering the Treasury Department &#8220;to defer tax payments, without interest or penalties, for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted,&#8221; and calling on Congress &#8220;to provide Americans with immediate payroll tax relief.&#8221;
As Bloomberg details, the response from the stock market to the actions of the U.S. and Europe thus far has been more losses, with the S&amp;P 500 &#8220;headed for a bear market, with losses from its February closing record to 25%&#8221; and the Dow Jones Industrial Average sinking &#8220;deeper into bear territory after its record bull run ended Wednesday.&#8221;
In his address Wednesday, Trump assured Americans that our economy was robust enough to weather the pandemic. “Our banks and financial institutions are fully capitalized and incredibly strong. Our unemployment is at a historic low. This vast economic prosperity gives us flexibility, reserves, and resources to handle any threat that comes our way,&#8221; the president said. &#8220;This is not a financial crisis, this is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.&#8221;
</div>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unprecedented-trump-details-emergency-financial-actions-payroll-tax-cuts-financial-aid-loans">‘Unprecedented’: Trump Details Emergency Financial Actions: Payroll Tax Cuts, Financial Aid, Loans</a>
This article has been expanded to include more information.

Stock Exchange

Trading Halted On Wall Street After Dow Plummets

Stock Market

A whistleblower who was forced to resign after he brought attention to waste, fraud, and abuse at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is getting a second chance to prove his case.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whistleblower-who-reported-government-waste-fraud-and-abuse-gets-none-of-the-protections-the-anti-trump-whistleblower-received">reported</a>, whistleblower Mark Moyar spent months reporting several instances of waste, fraud, and abuse at USAID but was forced to resign after the USAID inspector general (IG) – appointed by President Barack Obama in 2015 – allegedly denied his due process rights after he was accused of disclosing classified information in a book he wrote two years earlier. Moyar contends the allegations are “spurious and unsubstantiated” and are retaliation for his whistleblower complaints.
My former colleague Susan Crabtree previously <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/17/a_tale_of_two_whistleblowers_one_protected_one_not_142183.html">reported</a> on Moyar’s case, noting a letter the whistleblower sent to congress asking for urgent assistance. Moyar said that if congress waits to help him – and Trump loses re-election – he will have no chance to get his career back. Moyar alleged in his letter that he has been unable to find full-time employment due to the “abrupt termination” from USAID and that USAID officials told the White House Office of Presidential Personnel that Moyar could not hold a security clearance. Moyar’s clearance was suspended and USAID threatened to revoke it, Crabtree previously reported.
“The USAID administrator has the authority to reverse wrongful decisions and to seek investigative assistance from outside the agency, which is clearly necessary in light of the bias demonstrated by USAID [Office of Inspector General] and [the USAID Security Office],” Moyar wrote in his letter.
“If this precedent is allowed to stand, then in the future the Deep State can remove any political appointee by simply having their friends in one agency send an unsubstantiated allegation of security clearance infraction to another agency,” he added.
As Crabtree explained, Moyar should have received due process rights while defending himself from the allegations.
Crabtree now <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/03/10/igs_in_trumps_crosshairs_watching_the_watchdogs__142617.html">reports</a> that the IG who previously denied Moyar his due process rights, Anna Calvaresi Barr, would re-open Moyar’s case and is expected to finalize a report on the re-opened probe soon, possibly this week. Moyar’s attorney, Kel McClanahan, the executive director of public-interest law firm National Security Counselors, told Crabtree the IG had completed its investigation and simply needed to finalize the report.
“We are happy they chose to reopen this, and we believe [the way Moyar was treated] was a grave error,” McClanahan said. “We’re optimistic that this new, more thorough Report of Investigation will vindicate everything he said.”
More from Crabtree:
<blockquote>Several current and former USAID employees spoke to RCP on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. They described [USAID’s Office of Civilian-military Cooperation] CMC as toxic and dysfunctional before Moyar arrived. Many staffers who were part of an internal clique only showed up for a few hours a day, if at all, while others were often on questionable travel. In addition, personnel decisions were regularly made without the usually required higher USAID authorization, the sources said.
Before Moyar was tapped to lead the CMC it had some of the lowest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey scores in all of USAID, a public sign of the office’s weak morale. After Moyar’s forced resignation, these same sources said that the CMC returned to a state of dysfunction, with at least three officials on their way out and their jobs advertised on USAjobs.gov, an online clearinghouse for open federal government positions.</blockquote>

Whistleblower

Government Agency Reopens Case Against Trump-Sympathetic Whistleblower

Federal Government

As the markets have plummeted over global fears surrounding the fallout from the new coronavirus, political pundits have taken up the call: Find some meaning in the coronavirus outbreak and response. And where there is a demand for speculative opinion, there&#8217;s never a shortage of supply.
Thus we&#8217;ve seen the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, be blamed on President Donald Trump. We&#8217;ve seen government-managed response, which has varied widely in terms of success by country, touted as a final rebuttal of libertarian precepts. We&#8217;ve seen the coronavirus&#8217; economic impact cited as a rationale for breaking global supply chains and pursuing industrial autarky instead.
None of these takeaways are particularly compelling. The Trump administration&#8217;s response has been about as strong as prior federal attempts to deal with public epidemics, ranging from SARS to swine flu. While Trump himself hasn&#8217;t exactly projected a sense of calming administrative competence, those around him, ranging from Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, are fully capable of performing as needed.
Libertarianism does not suggest that collective action ought to be out of bounds in the case of public emergencies with serious externalities — few libertarians oppose police departments or proper environmental regulations, for example — and the record of government competence has been, at best, rather mixed.
The solution to vulnerable supply chains running through authoritarian countries is, first, for Western countries to consider security threats when formulating trade policy, and second, for companies to harden their supply chains by diversifying those chains even further.
So, what are the real lessons to be learned from the coronavirus?
First, we should favor governments that are transparent in their distribution of information. China has been celebrated for its extraordinary crackdown on public life, which has brought transmissions down dramatically. But if it were not for China&#8217;s propagandistic efforts to quash news about the coronavirus in the first place, the epidemic probably would not have become a pandemic.
Second, we must stop humoring anti-scientific rumormongering about issues like vaccines. The curbing of the coronavirus will be reliant on the development of a vaccine, and Americans should understand that vaccines work, and that misinformation about vaccinations should generally be rejected.
Third, we should remember that crises exacerbate underlying issues; they rarely create them. Economic volatility in the aftermath of the coronavirus has merely exposed the underlying weaknesses of the Chinese and European economies; those systemic problems won&#8217;t be solved through Band-Aid solutions. The public health issues with homelessness will likely be exposed dramatically in the United States; they won&#8217;t go away when the coronavirus ends. The coronavirus should underscore the necessity for action in the absence of crisis.
Finally, we should remember that charity and local community support matter. Large-scale government response will never be as efficient or as personal as local response. Care for our neighbors. Care for our families. Implement personal behavior that lowers risk. And then wait for more information. Perhaps that&#8217;s the best lesson from all of this: Jumping to conclusions based on lack of information is a serious mistake.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/three-reasons-coronavirus-fears-are-overblown">Three Reasons Coronavirus Fears Are Overblown</a>
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Four Lessons The Coronavirus Should Teach Us

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In a pair of statements Friday, the Trump administration and Afghanistan&#8217;s Taliban announced their agreement to sign a peace deal on Feb. 29 conditioned on a week-long reduction in violence across the country.
The deal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Friday, will result in &#8220;a significant and nationwide reduction in violence across Afghanistan.&#8221; In a statement released Friday, the Taliban said that both parties will work to &#8220;create a suitable security situation&#8221; in advance of the deal and &#8220;make arrangements for the release of prisoners.&#8221;
Pompeo announced the deal on social media Friday morning. &#8220;After decades of conflict, we have come to an understanding with the Taliban on a significant reduction in violence across Afghanistan,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is an important step on a long road to peace, and I call on all Afghans to seize this opportunity.&#8221; 

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After decades of conflict, we have come to an understanding with the Taliban on a significant reduction in violence across <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Afghanistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Afghanistan</a>. This is an important step on a long road to peace, and I call on all Afghans to seize this opportunity.
&mdash; Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1230807986857226245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The violence reduction, the decisive condition of the possible peace deal, is set to begin early Saturday — just after midnight, according to Afghanistan&#8217;s National Security Council and a senior State Department official,&#8221; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/violence-reduction-in-afghanistan-set-to-begin-after-midnight-saturday/2020/02/21/c3df0fb2-547d-11ea-80ce-37a8d4266c09_story.html">The Washington Post</a> reports.
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&#8220;U.S. negotiators in Doha have come to an understanding with the Taliban on a significant and nationwide reduction in violence across Afghanistan,&#8221; Pompeo said in a statement reported by the Post. &#8220;Upon a successful implementation of this understanding, signing of the U.S.-Taliban agreement is expected to move forward. We are preparing for the signing to take place on February 29.&#8221;
The Post reports that the Taliban confirmed the deal in a statement released to the media Friday, stating that &#8220;both parties will now create a suitable security situation in advance of agreement signing date, extend invitations to senior representatives of numerous countries and organizations to participate in the signing ceremony, make arrangements for the release of prisoners&#8221; and prepare for inter-Afghan negotiations.
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&#8220;The week-long reduction in violence will require the Taliban, the United States and Afghan government-aligned forces to largely cease all planned offensive operations nationwide,&#8221; the Post reports. &#8220;The period is not being called a cease-fire, and U.S. forces will continue to carry out counterterrorism operations against groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
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In a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-taliban-agreement-on-reduction-in-violence-could-be-announced-by-weekend/2020/02/12/d5612a6a-4db4-11ea-b721-9f4cdc90bc1c_story.html">report</a> on the potential &#8220;reduction in violence&#8221; deal earlier this week, the Post quoted White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien, who told the Atlantic Council Tuesday that he did not believe that a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan was &#8220;imminent.&#8221;
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&#8220;Some good news could be forthcoming. There will have to be reduction in violence and meaningful inter-Afghan talks,&#8221; said O&#8217;Brien. Asked if troops would be pulled out of the country, he said, &#8220;I don’t think there’s any imminent withdrawal from Afghanistan.&#8221;
When the Post reached out to the U.S. Military about the announcement of the deal Friday, a spokesperson said they have nothing yet to report.
President Trump has long sought to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, but the peace talks were undermined in September when a Taliban attack resulted in the death of a U.S. soldier, prompting Trump to declare the talks &#8220;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-pronounces-taliban-agreement-dead-and-peace-talks-over/2019/09/09/d302135a-d33f-11e9-9610-fb56c5522e1c_story.html">dead</a>&#8221; for the time being. Despite the temporary pause in talks, Pompeo expressed hope that a deal could still be reached.
The Pentagon stressed at the time that U.S. military is committed to maintaining the &#8220;appropriate level&#8221; of presence in the region to carry out its counterterrorism operation. “The number of troops that we will have will always be the appropriate level that we need to provide security there,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-pronounces-taliban-agreement-dead-and-peace-talks-over/2019/09/09/d302135a-d33f-11e9-9610-fb56c5522e1c_story.html">said</a> spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. “We’re going to focus on the counterterrorism mission, and we’re going to focus on the reason we got into Afghanistan in the first place, and that is to prevent terrorist operations or individuals from using Afghanistan as a base from which to operate against the homeland.”
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Donald Trump Mike Pompeo

Trump Admin, Taliban Announce Peace Deal: ‘Significant’ Reduction In Violence, Release of Prisoners

Afghanistan

Mike Pompeo

Taliban

The Trump administration secured a key victory yesterday at the hostile United Nations, as Holocaust-denying, kleptocratic, jihad-subsidizing Palestinian Authority (PA) chieftain Mahmoud Abbas failed to rally sufficient support to merely force a U.N. Security Council vote on a Palestinian draft resolution that would have rejected the Trump administration&#8217;s recently unveiled <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-deal-of-the-century-for-israel-palestinians-a-realistic-plan-with-arab-states-backing-it">&#8220;deal of the century&#8221; peace plan</a>.
The Security Council vote assuredly would have been vetoed by the United States, a permanent member, but the failure to even successfully garner support to stage a symbolic vote represents a monumental embarrassment for Abbas, the PA successor to unrepentant terrorist Yasser Arafat — himself a mentee of <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-official-record-what-the-mufti-said-to-hitler/">Hitler ally Haj Amin al-Husseini</a>, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem. The diplomatic effort to stymie the symbolic vote, halting it dead in its tracks, thus also represents a clear win for the Trump administration&#8217;s United Nations diplomatic team. The United Nations, of course, is a body <a href="https://unwatch.org/2019-un-general-assembly-resolutions-singling-out-israel-texts-votes-analysis/">infamously hostile to the Jewish state</a> and infamously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-palestinian-frauds-unrwa-called-out-lying-josh-hammer">mollycoddling of the Palestinian-Arab cause</a>.
Abbas is speaking today at a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council. He had initially hoped to stage a Security Council vote on the &#8220;deal of the century&#8221; to follow his speech.
&#8220;This is a significant setback for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,&#8221; Barak Ravid <a href="https://www.axios.com/palestinian-mahmoud-abbas-security-council-vote-81c12553-d692-4a77-a122-10dd7cc141ff.html">opined</a> yesterday for Axios. &#8220;The postponement follows efforts from Jared Kushner and other administration officials over the last few days to dilute the text of the resolution and prevent a vote.&#8221;
&#8220;U.S., Israeli, and Palestinian officials say the text had to be softened because several Security Council members wanted to avoid a confrontation with the U.S.,&#8221; Ravid continued. &#8220;Several sentences that referred directly to the Trump plan were removed.&#8221;
According to Ravid, PA officials still hope to bring the condemnatory resolution up for a Security Council vote later this week.
&#8220;There was immediate speculation that the delay was a backhanded way of pulling the resolution because it lacked the requisite support of nine members for passage,&#8221; The Jerusalem Post <a href="https://www.jpost.com/International/US-suggests-amendments-for-UNSC-resolution-on-Trump-peace-plan-617115">reported</a>. &#8220;Otherwise, it would have been considered that the resolution had failed. The delay comes amid U.S. pressure to soften the language of the resolution towards the U.S. and Israel. A U.S. source with direct knowledge of the negotiations between the members of the Security Council told the Post earlier on Monday that if the resolution would get a vote, a number of countries are expected to abstain.&#8221;
&#8220;The softening of the language comes after U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner’s briefing with [Security Council] members last Thursday,&#8221; the Post continued. &#8220;Kushner was accompanied by Trump&#8217;s assistant and special envoy for international negotiations Avi Berkowitz, and U.S. envoy Brian Hook. The source added that &#8216;there are numerous countries who are considering abstaining&#8217; if the wording is not changed.&#8221;
The U.S. has historically often used its permanent seat the Security Council to veto anti-Israel measures — a trend <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/choosing-not-to-veto-obama-lets-anti-settlement-resolution-pass-at-un-security-council/">notably bucked in December 2016 by the outgoing anti-Israel Obama administration</a>, with respect to U.N. Security Council Resolution 2234.
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RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-pairagraph-trumps-israel-palestinian-peace-plan-is-fair-and-just-part-1">Hammer At ‘Pairagraph’: Trump’s Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan Is Fair And Just (Part 1)</a>
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-pairagraph-trumps-israel-palestinian-peace-plan-is-fair-and-just-part-2">Hammer At ‘Pairagraph’: Trump’s Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan Is Fair And Just (Part 2)</a>

United Nations Building

Abbas Embarrassed: Trump Admin Secures Key Victory At Hostile United Nations

Benjamin Netanyahu

Foreign Policy

Israel

Jared Kushner

Mahmoud Abbas

Middle East

Palestinians

United Nations

Daily Wire Editor-at-Large Josh Hammer, who frequently opines on issues pertaining to Israel, Zionism, and anti-Semitism, has agreed to take part in a <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/8c47026d6af148588f3ad8f4c1c2935d">debate</a> about the Trump administration’s new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan at the new website <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/">Pairagraph</a>, which <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/about">describes itself</a> as “a platform for written dialogue between pairs of notable individuals” and “an online meeting place for the world’s most prominent figures across government, industry, academia, religion, and the arts.”
Hammer was previously scheduled to <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/b155455f1bf04a71a596bf1b8cb0cf13">debate</a> Palestinian-Arab activist <a style="font-style: italic;" href="https://twitter.com/Issaamro">Issa Amro</a>, but Amro <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/b155455f1bf04a71a596bf1b8cb0cf13/2">refused to respond</a> to Hammer after his <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/b155455f1bf04a71a596bf1b8cb0cf13/1">initial response</a>. Pairagraph then secured Omar Baddar as a new debate opponent, and Baddar <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/8c47026d6af148588f3ad8f4c1c2935d/2">responded</a> to Hammer on Sunday. The Pairagraph debate format consists of dueling 500-word entries. 
Here is Hammer&#8217;s <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/8c47026d6af148588f3ad8f4c1c2935d/3">rebuttal to Baddar</a>.
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An old lawyer maxim goes: &#8220;If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither on your side, pound the table.&#8221;
Omar Baddar is pounding the table. He has doused a field of straw men in gasoline and applied an industrial-grade blowtorch.
Baddar embraces countless obfuscations and outright lies. There was no &#8220;ethnic cleansing&#8221; in 1948 — only the fateful Arab rejection of November 1947. Blame for the 1967 war lies squarely with Gamal Abdel Nasser, who repeatedly vowed to exterminate Israel and militarized the Sinai in defiance of the 1956 demilitarization. U.N. S.C.R. 242 has never been internalized by the Palestinian Authority, but Israel has frequently offered a generous Palestinian state (e.g., 2000 and 2008) hewing closely to 1948&#8217;s harrowing &#8220;Auschwitz borders.&#8221; Israel did not instigate the civilizational jihad that was Arafat&#8217;s Second Intifada; rather, the mentee of Hitler ally Haj Amin al-Husseini planned it while rejecting the peace offered at Camp David in July 2000. (“[Arafat] did not negotiate in good faith; indeed, he did not negotiate at all,&#8221; President Clinton said.)
Baddar and his ilk nonsensically shout &#8220;apartheid,&#8221; but if the Palestinian-Arabs wanted peace, they would have negotiated one of the sundry times Israel has offered statehood. Instead, the PA has become the laughingstock of the Arab world. The vile 1967 Khartoum Resolution is now the very distant past; following Trump&#8217;s peace plan unveiling, Saudi Arabia said it &#8220;appreciate[d] the efforts of President Trump’s administration to develop a comprehensive peace plan.&#8221; The UAE&#8217;s foreign affairs minister approvingly tweeted a Bret Stephens column decrying Palestinian rejectionism.
Historically, separatist movements are rarely successful. Those separatist movements — Tibetans, Kurds, etc. — that might be offered a state by the &#8220;international community&#8221; would gladly accept. That the PA, which names parks after suicide bombers and directly subsidizes murderous jihad via &#8220;pay to slay,&#8221; rejects such offers gives the game away. The PA&#8217;s ultimate goal is not peace, but to kill all the Jews. &#8220;From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free,&#8221; a rally cry frequently associated with terror-sympathizing hate groups, is nothing short of a call to genocide.
The Arab world, sobered by Iran, finally sees the Palestinian ruse. It wants to finally resolve this issue. Accordingly, the Trump peace plan is emphatically reasonable. That the plan&#8217;s bare-bones preconditions to full Palestinian statehood — cease indoctrinating Palestinian-Arab children in Jew-hatred, oust Hamas, etc. — are viewed as non-starters in Ramallah says all one needs to know about the moral midgets of the PA.
There is zero — zero — compelling U.S. national security interest in carving out a PLO/PA jihadist state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The PA is fortunate that it has enough addlebrained leftists to carry its flag and keep viable the &#8220;two-state&#8221; solution paradigm. Israel has yet again stretched out its hand, but the PA is again poised to throw its own people under the bus.
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RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-pairagraph-trumps-israel-palestinian-peace-plan-is-fair-and-just-part-1">Hammer At ‘Pairagraph’: Trump’s Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan Is Fair And Just (Part 1)</a>

Israel : Illustration

Hammer At ‘Pairagraph’: Trump’s Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan Is Fair And Just (Part 2)

Hamas

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

Students for Justice in Palestine

The Trump administration reportedly removed Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman&#8217;s brother, National Security Council attorney Yevgeny Vindman, on Friday from the White House, which came as the administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-alexander-vindman-fired-escorted-from-white-house-brother-goes-with-him-report-says">also fired Alexander Vindma</a>n.
Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs wrote: &#8220;Alex Vindman’s twin brother Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, an ethics lawyer for the NSC, was also dismissed from his job today, sources tell me.&#8221;
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NEWS: Alex Vindman’s twin brother Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, an ethics lawyer for the NSC, was also dismissed from his job today, sources tell me.
&mdash; Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) <a href="https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1225901065394171907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Vindman&#8217;s attorney David Pressman, &#8220;indicated that the Iraq War veteran&#8217;s twin brother Yevgeny, who serves as a senior lawyer on the NSC, was also removed from his post and exited the White House alongside his brother,&#8221; Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/07/donald-trump-pressure-impeachment-witness-alexander-vindman-111997">reported</a>. &#8220;Yevgeny Vindman was not a witness in the impeachment process. His lawyer didn&#8217;t respond to a request for comment.&#8221;
CNN had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-alexander-vindman-fired-escorted-from-white-house-brother-goes-with-him-report-says">reported</a> earlier in the afternoon that Alexander Vindman was escorted out of the White House after he was fired and that his brother also left with him but that it was not clear at the time whether he had been fired.
PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor noted: &#8220;Where are the Vindman brothers heading? Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Vindman is going to Office of General Counsel at Army at the Pentagon. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman is going to work at the Pentagon until he heads to war college on July 1.&#8221;
&#8220;A reminder: Both Vindman brothers are in the Army were on detail to the White House,&#8221; Alcindor added. &#8220;They have been reassigned out of the White House but they aren’t losing their jobs completely.&#8221;
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A reminder: Both Vindman brothers are in the Army were on detail to the White House. They have been reassigned out of the White House but they aren’t losing their jobs completely.
&mdash; Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) <a href="https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1225915098063163395?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) supported the Trump administration&#8217;s decision, <a href="https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1225764572981846017">writing</a> on Twitter on Friday morning: &#8220;I’d fire him. I listened to his testimony in the SCIF. He’s a leaker, not a whistleblower. Vindman was upset that @realDonaldTrump didn’t follow the script Vindman prepared for the phone call. Current Commander in Chief doesn’t take orders from a Lt. Col.!&#8221;
Reaction to the firing of the two brothers largely depended on whether those who were commentating were supporters or opponents of the president.
Former White House adviser Andrew Surabian wrote on Twitter: &#8220;The extent to which the media and their approved talking heads sincerely believe that an unelected national security bureaucracy should be deciding policy &amp; running the country over the elected President is truly disturbing. Before Trump, I didn&#8217;t realize how bad it really was.&#8221;
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The extent to which the media and their approved talking heads sincerely believe that an unelected national security bureaucracy should be deciding policy &amp; running the country over the elected President is truly disturbing. 
Before Trump, I didn&#39;t realize how bad it really was. <a href="https://t.co/Z9tnn7BBTE">https://t.co/Z9tnn7BBTE</a>
&mdash; Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) <a href="https://twitter.com/Surabees/status/1225889805252296705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Former White House adviser Cliff Sims wrote: &#8220;There are NSC aides who faithfully serve numerous presidents, working diligently to execute for their Commander in Chief. But there are also NatSec bureaucrats who view themselves as the REAL power, outlasting presidents, undermining &amp; executing their own agenda. DRAIN THE SWAMP.&#8221;
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There are NSC aides who faithfully serve numerous presidents, working diligently to execute for their Commander in Chief. But there are also NatSec bureaucrats who view themselves as the REAL power, outlasting presidents, undermining &amp; executing their own agenda. DRAIN THE SWAMP.
&mdash; Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cliff_Sims/status/1225911223675490305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Donald Trump Jr. added: &#8220;On the bright side, he may still be able to take the defense minister position in the Ukraine that he was offered a few times.&#8221;
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On the bright side, he may still be able to take the defense minister position in the Ukraine that he was offered a few times. <a href="https://t.co/xcFxaziD8r">https://t.co/xcFxaziD8r</a>
&mdash; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1225912031930462208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Trump Jr.&#8217;s remarks came in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vindman-testifies-ukraine-repeatedly-asked-him-to-work-for-their-government">response</a> to Alexander Vindman&#8217;s testimony during House Democrats&#8217; impeachment investigation when he said under oath that Ukraine had repeatedly offered him a top military position in their government.
Here is the exchange:
<blockquote>GOP Counsel Steve Castor: You went to Ukraine for the inauguration.
Vindman: Correct.
Castor: At any point in that trip, did [Ukrainian Defense Council Oleksandr] Danylyuk offer you a position of defense minister with the Ukrainian government?
Vindman: He did.
Castor: How many times did he do that?
Vindman: I believe it was three times.</blockquote>
While Vindman said that it would have been a ‘great honor’ to serve in the position” he turned down the offer “every single time,” adding that “upon returning, I notified my chain of command and the appropriate counterintelligence folks about this offer.”
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

Impeachment Hearing

Trump Administration Removes Alexander Vindman’s Brother, Yevgeny Vindman

Alexander Vindman

National Security

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman was fired from his job on the National Security Council on Friday and was escorted from the White House and his brother reportedly left with him, although it was not clear whether he was also fired.
&#8220;Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council, was pushed out of his role Friday months earlier than expected, according to a statement from his attorney,&#8221; CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/07/politics/alex-vindman-donald-trump-impeachment/index.html">reported</a>. &#8220;Vindman was not slated to leave until July, but had been telling colleagues in recent weeks he would likely leave soon. It was not his decision to leave, however, according to one person familiar with the situation.&#8221;
&#8220;We do have one remaining question which is about the future of [Alexander Vindman&#8217;s] brother, Eugene, who is an attorney for the National Security Council who we are told also walked out with Vindman today but it&#8217;s unclear if he received the same message about his services no longer being needed,&#8221; CNN&#8217;s Kaitlan Collins said on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;The Lead&#8221; with Jake Tapper.
Collins added: &#8220;I’m told Vindman walked out with his brother, who is an attorney for the NSC. It’s unclear if he was also fired but that was the expectation.&#8221;
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I’m told Vindman walked out with his brother, who is an attorney for the NSC. It’s unclear if he was also fired but that was the expectation.
&mdash; Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) <a href="https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1225886222121390083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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During Vindman&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/excerpts-from-alexander-vindmans-testimony-to-congress-raises-questions-about-credibility">testimony</a> it was revealed that he did not know basic facts about U.S. aid to the country and, when the subject came up at his job, he apparently was not interested in wanting to know more about Hunter Biden joining the corrupt Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
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Top Ukraine guy at NSC apparently thought Obama administration had provided Javelins to Ukraine. <a href="https://t.co/Gd1830At3K">pic.twitter.com/Gd1830At3K</a>
&mdash; Byron York (@ByronYork) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/1193255269918216197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Corrupt Ukrainian company owned by corrupt Ukrainian oligarch hires vice president&#39;s son and top Ukraine guy on NSC doesn&#39;t want to know about it. From Vindman deposition: <a href="https://t.co/yy3QLX0dqd">pic.twitter.com/yy3QLX0dqd</a>
&mdash; Byron York (@ByronYork) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/1193533402273787905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/timothy-morrison-alexander-vindmans-boss-reveals-problems-they-had-with-vindman">The Daily Wire previously reported</a> that during the impeachment hearings, Senior National Security Council official Timothy Morrison, who was the former boss of Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, testified that Vindman’s bosses had numerous concerns and problems with him.
GOP counsel Steve Castor asked, “You had indicated in your deposition that when you took over the [Ukraine] portfolio for Dr. Hill July 15 that you were alerted to potential issues in Colonel Vindman’s judgement?”
“Yes,” Morrison responded.
“Did she relay anything specifically to you why she thought that?” Castor asked.
Morrison responded that the concern apparently came from multiple officials and was an overall general concern about his judgment.
“Did any other NSC personnel raise concerns with you about Colonel Vindman?” Castor asked.
“Yes,” Morrison responded.
“Morrison later confirmed that multiple other officials were concerned that Vindman was potentially leaking sensitive information to the media,” The Daily Wire reported. “Morrison also confirmed that Vindman did not keep him in the loop about all the things that he was doing in the job and that Vindman went behind his back and did not inform him about the concerns that he had about President Donald Trump’s July 25 phone call with the president of Ukraine.”
“If he had concerns about something about the content of the call, that’s something that I expected that I would have been notified of,” Morrison said. “I also think as a matter of practice, since we both went to the lawyers, we didn’t both need to.”
“At any point subsequently, did [Vindman] become frustrated that he felt cut out of some of the Ukraine portfolio?” Castor asked.
“Yes,” Morrison responded, adding that Vindman was upset that he was not invited on a trip to Ukraine.
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Top official Tim Morrison said Alexander Vindman&#39;s bosses had a lot of concerns about him:
-Judgement -Potential leaker -Did not keep his bosses in the loop on what he was doing -Went around his bosses&#39; backs -Was mad he was cut out of working on Ukraine <a href="https://t.co/Z9qgSVs9dt">pic.twitter.com/Z9qgSVs9dt</a>
&mdash; Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1196925677481521153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
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US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT

Alexander Vindman Fired, Escorted From White House, Brother Goes With Him, Report Says

White House

Daily Wire Editor-at-Large Josh Hammer, who frequently opines on issues pertaining to Israel, Zionism, and anti-Semitism, has agreed to take part in a <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/b155455f1bf04a71a596bf1b8cb0cf13">debate</a> about the Trump administration&#8217;s new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan at the new website <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.pairagraph.com">Pairagraph</a>, which <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/about">describes itself</a> as &#8220;a platform for written dialogue between pairs of notable individuals&#8221; and &#8220;an online meeting place for the world’s most prominent figures across government, industry, academia, religion, and the arts.&#8221;
Here is Hammer&#8217;s <a href="http://www.pairagraph.com/dialogue/b155455f1bf04a71a596bf1b8cb0cf13">opening salvo in his debate</a> against Palestinian-Arab activist <a href="https://twitter.com/Issaamro">Issa Amro</a>. The Pairagraph debate format consists of dueling 500-word entries.
In the entire history of human civilization, there has never, ever been an independent Arab state situated between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Never.
At the same time, there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the historical Land of Israel — including the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria, which &#8220;international community&#8221; ignoramuses nonsensically call the &#8220;West Bank&#8221; — for thousands of years.
The modern 20th/21st-century history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not difficult to grasp. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, San Remo Resolution of 1920, Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant, and the Peel Commission all laid the pre-World War II positive law foundation for what we all already knew from Genesis: The Jews are entitled to our land. In November 1947, the U.N. Partition Plan for Palestine proposed a pro-Arab partition that would have given the Jews a tiny, unworkable state. The Jews accepted; the Arabs rejected and instead launched a genocidal war to kill the Jews. The Arabs lost. The Arabs tried in 1967 and lost again. They tried in 1973 and lost yet again. The unrepentant terrorist Yasser Arafat and his Holocaust-denying kleptocratic Palestinian Authority successor, the brutish Mahmoud Abbas, have similarly never been nearly as interested in negotiating peace as they have been in killing Jews and inciting bloody jihad. In a sign of good will, even after Arafat&#8217;s Second Intifada murdered over 1,000 Jews and grievously maimed many thousand more, Israel in 2005 unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip — forcibly uprooting its own citizens en route. Jihadist outfit Hamas took over and turned the Strip into an Iran-subsidized terrorist enclave.
Again, the history is not difficult to understand. As Dennis Prager has said, if the Israelis were to lay down their guns, Israel would be destroyed tomorrow. But if the Palestinian-Arabs were to lay down their guns, there would be peace tomorrow.
All the Palestinian-Arabs have to do is accept Israel as a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders, pursuant to U.N. Security Resolution 242, and there will be immediate peace. But they have not done so because the sprawling Arab world, with devastating rapacity, has never abided a Jewish state that is smaller than the state of New Jersey.
The Trump administration soberly recognizes that under properly construed international law, Israel has (by far) the best legal claim to all of Judea and Samaria. Jordan illegally occupied the territory after the failed 1948 Arab war of aggression, after all, and Israel won it back only in the defensive war of 1967. Israel has always been willing to make political concessions of the land for peace, as no less conservative a prime minister as Benjamin Netanyahu&#8217;s acceptance of the Trump peace plan demonstrates.
The Trump plan deals with the reality on the ground — the reality of inveterate Palestinian-Arab intransigence, rejectionism, and glorification of jihad. The U.S. cannot be &#8220;neutral&#8221; as between stalwart moral/strategic ally Israel and a thuggish Palestinian Authority. Good for Trump for recognizing that.

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