Trump accused of playing down coronavirus threat to protect hotel interests

As Donald Trump continues to downplay the threat of coronavirus in spite of repeated warnings from health officials in the US and across the globe, critics have raised concerns that the American president may be trying to quell hysteria to help with his own hotel businesses.

The accusation has come from observers of governmental ethics, who have expressed concern frequently in the past that Mr Trump has refused to formally step back from his vast business dealings since moving into the White House.

So, as the number of coronavirus cases across the globe have topped 115,000 — including high-profile cases in which entire cruise ships have been quarantined — some have wondered if Mr Trump may be looking out for the travel industry, and thus himself, rather than the public health.

“Nothing says ‘kleptocracy’ like a hotelier POTUS seeking a bailout for the hotel industry — nothing, that is, except golfing at his own resort all weekend instead of fighting the pandemic that triggered the bailout (as his spouse uses tax money to build herself a tennis pavilion),” wrote Walter Shaub, the former director of the US Office of Government Ethics, referring to reported talks at the White House for tax deferrals or other methods to help hotel chains and airlines that might struggle.

It isn’t clear if the White House will ultimately propose tax relief for the hardest hit industries, though such a proposal would fall in line with what other countries have done to help blunt the impact of the virus on industry.

On Friday, Larry Kudlow confirmed to reporters that the US is considering “timely and targeted” federal interventions to help businesses, industries and workers who are most vulnerable to the economic impacts of the virus outbreak.

And Mr Trump has also indicated that he will remain focused on the economic impacts of the virus, and curbing those shortfalls as much as possible.

“You know, a lot of people are staying here and they’re going to be doing their business here,” Mr Trump said on Friday. “They’re going to be travelling here. And they’ll be going to resorts here.”

Which includes Mr Trump’s own businesses, including the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that he visited over the weekend to golf.

“If there is any public health shutdown of restaurants, conventions and meetings, that will impact his property and his finances,” said Kathleen Clark, an ethics lawyer at Washington University School of Law in St Louis and frequent critic of the president. “I think a reasonable person can conclude that he is motivated by personal interests.”