Donald Trump uses a White House briefing to lie about his mismanagement of the Coronavirus crisis, in which US deaths rise by 150% in 72 hours — and the White House’s top infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, says 100,000 Americans could perish.

Unsettled by criticism of the Federal Government’s failure to coordinate the supply of vital medical equipment — and by praise of State governors who have tried to fill the void — Trump was asked about his statement on Thursday, in an interview with his friend Sean Hannity on Fox, that hospitals did not need tens of thousands of life-saving ventilators.

A lot of equipment is being asked for that I don’t think they will need….Some of these governors, you know, they take, take, take, and then they complain. You build them a hospital, and then they’re always complaining.

When Yamiche Alcindor of the Public Broadcasting Service quoted his words back to him, Trump interrupted to prevent her from asking a question:

I didn’t say that. I didn’t say that. C’mon, c’mon.

Why don’t you people act a little more positive? It’s always trying to “get you, get you”. And you know what? That’s why nobody trusts the media anymore….

Be nice. Don’t be threatening. Be nice.

When Alcindor was finally able to put her question about the critical shortage of ventilators, Trump said, “I’m not going to answer that.”

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond picked up on Trump’s anger with some governors who have been praised for their handling of the crisis, reading back Trump’s statement — “I want them to be appreciative” — that he had ordered Vice President Mike Pence not to call Washington’s Jay Inslee and Gretchen Whitmer.

Trump lied, “But I didn’t say that.”

Trump v. Governors

The exchanges highlighted the gap between State officials, the Trump Administration, and Trump as US deaths rose from just over 1,000 on Thursday to 2,046 on Saturday to almost 2,500 yesterday.

Trump’s complaint on Thursday that governors are “always complaining” about equipment was prompted by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s estimate that the the state — the epicenter of the US epidemic — needs 30,000 ventilators to cope with the influx of seriously-ill patients.

On Wednesday night, the White House had broken off negotiations with General Motors and Ventec Life Systems over ventilator production, reportedly balking at a $1 billion price tag.

On Friday, Trump tried to cover himself by belatedly invoking the Defense Production Act to command GM — which said it was proceeding with the refit of a Michigan plant to make the ventilators — to manufacture the units.

But Cuomo spoke yesterday of the scale of the challenge, with at least 965 dead in New York State and at least 8,503 in hospital, including at least 282 in intensive care.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards each said medical supplies will be exhausted this week. A trauma physician at Florida’s largest hospital warned, “We are slowly descending into chaos.”

But Trump, confusing ventilators with generators, took another swipe at Cuomo: he falsely claimed that New York officials had not distributed ventilators from warehouses: “Maybe they didn’t need them so badly.”

Trump Backs Away Over Social Distancing as Fauci Warns 100,000 Could Die

Trump retreated on last week’s claim that social distancing guidelines, instituted by the Administration on March 16, could be lifted by Easter, April 12.

Concerned about a sharp decline in the stock market and the effect on his re-election effort, Trump defied his medical experts. He tweeted, “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF”, and proclaimed that the US would be “opened up and raring to go”.

But on Sunday, Trump extended the social distancing guidelines to April 30. They included school closures; avoidance of groups of more than 10 people; and a halt to non-essential travel and visits to bars, restaurants, and food courts.

He looked on as Dr Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus effort, gently explained how officials pulled Trump back from his declaration.

We’ve reviewed 12 different models….[We brought] that data and that evidence to the President to consider for extending, which is not a simple situation when you ask people to stay home for another 30 days.

They have to know that we’ve really built this on scientific evidence and the potential to save really hundreds of thousands of American lives.

Trump’s retreat was juxtaposed with Fauci’s estimate, made in Sunday TV interviews and repeated at the White House briefing that 1 million Americans may contract the virus and 100,000 could die.

He told reporters, “The number I gave out is, you know, based on modeling….What we’re trying to do is not to let that happen.”

Following his tactic to “push back” discreetly on Trump’s false and damaging statements, the doctor said the extension of social distancing to April 30 is a “wise and prudent decision”.