Trump news: President will not take coronavirus test despite dining with infected official as New York City declares state of emergency

Trump 'urged Steve Mnuchin to pressure Federal Reserve over coronavirus'

The president tried to get his Treasury secretary to push Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell to do more to boost the economy and stem the stock market's decline, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

The president's latest attempt to get the US central bank to do his bidding came during what The Post described as an "explosive tirade" at a Monday meeting in the Oval Office, citing three unnamed White House officials and one unnamed senior Republican.

US stocks have led a global decline over the past week and half as the coronavirus spread from China to the rest of the world in what the World Health Organization on Wednesday termed a pandemic. Investors are increasingly worried that measures taken to stop the spread, including the unprecedented lockdown of millions of people in China and Italy, could help drive the world into recession.

The Fed slashed rates last Tuesday to help the economy and bolster household and business confidence, and is expected to do so again next week at its regularly scheduled policy-setting meeting.

As markets have dropped, Trump has told several people close to him that he would like to remove Powell from office, The Post report said. It is unclear if the president has the legal authority to do so, and Powell has said he will serve his full four-year term, which ends in 2022.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell for keeping interest rates too high, even as the Fed last year cut rates three times, blaming the Fed's policy for holding back economic growth. Last June, Trump said he had the "right to fire" Powell, and in August Trump said he would not try to stop Powell if he offered to resign.

The Fed guards its political independence closely, and officials consider its ability to set rates without fear of reprisal or influence from the administration or Congress as key to its credibility and effectiveness.

Here's how the markets reacted to the president's drastic travel ban.

Congress acts to rein-in Trump on military action against Iran

Defying a veto threat, Congress has approved a bipartisan measure to limit President Donald Trump's authority to launch military operations against Iran.

The House gave final legislative approval to the measure Wednesday, 227-186, sending it to Trump. The president has promised to veto the war powers resolution, warning that if his "hands were tied, Iran would have a field day."

The resolution, sponsored by Virginia Democratic senator Tim Kaine, declares that Trump must win approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. Kaine and other supporters say the measure is not about Trump or even the presidency, but instead is an important reassertion of congressional power to declare war.

Six Republicans joined 220 Democrats and independent Justin Amash of Michigan to support the measure. Six Democrats and 180 Republicans opposed it. In the Senate last month, eight Republicans backed the resolution.

The resolution "sends a clear message that the American people don't want war with Iran and that Congress has not authorized war with Iran," said New York Democrat Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

While tensions with Iran have abated since a US drone strike that killed Iran's top general in early January, the resolution clarifying Congress' power to declare war is still important, Engel said.

"Congress doesn't have to wait until the president alone decides to use military force again," Engel told House members during floor debate Wednesday. "It's our responsibility to do something, because we know the tensions could flare up again at a moment's notice. Iran has not been deterred as the administration promised."

Texas congressman Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, called the war powers measure "divisive and irresponsible" and based on a false premise.

"It orders the president to terminate hostilities against Iran. The problem is, for the other side, we are not engaged in hostilities in Iran," McCaul said. If the US military launches strikes in Iran, "I believe that the president would need to come before this body to ask for a new authorization" for the use of force, McCaul said. "But that is not what we are facing."

The House vote marked a rare exertion of authority from Congress, which also moved to impose restrictions on US involvement with the Saudi-led war in Yemen last year after US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a gruesome murder at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Turkey. Trump promptly vetoed that measure.

The Democratic-controlled House passed a separate, nonbinding resolution on Iran in January, a few weeks before the Senate approved Kaine's resolution. Two-thirds votes in the House and the GOP-run Senate would be needed to override an expected Trump veto.

Kaine hailed the House vote.

"For years, Congress has abdicated its responsibility on matters of war, but now a bipartisan majority in both the Senate and House has made clear that we shouldn't be engaged in hostilities with Iran without a vote of Congress," he said in a statement.

The legislation "doesn't prevent the president from defending the United States against imminent attack," but instead "demands that the decision of whether or not we go on offense and send our troops into harm's way should only be made after serious deliberation and a vote of Congress," Kaine added. "If President Trump is serious about his promise to stop endless wars, he will sign this resolution into law."

In a statement of administration policy, the White House said the resolution should be rejected "because it attempts to hinder the president's ability to protect" US diplomats, forces, allies and partners, including Israel, from the continued threat posed by Iran and its proxies, including militia groups and foreign fighters in Syria.

"Iran has a long history of attacking United States and coalition forces both directly and through its proxies," the White House said, adding the congressional resolution could hinder Trump's ability to protect US forces and interests in the region.

"This joint resolution is untimely and misguided. Its adoption by Congress could undermine the ability of the United States to protect American citizens whom Iran continues to seek to harm," the White House said.

Tehran responded to the US attack on its top general, Qassem Soleimani, by launching missiles at two military bases in Iraq that house American troops. The attack caused traumatic brain injuries in more than 100 US soldiers, the Pentagon said.

Democrats and Republicans alike criticised a briefing by the Trump administration shortly after the drone strike, saying US officials offered vague information about a possible attack being planned by Iran but no substantial details.

Kaine has long pushed for action reasserting congressional power over military conflict. At the request of Republican senators, he removed initial language that targeted Trump in favor of a generalised statement declaring Congress has sole power to declare war. The resolution also directs Trump to terminate use of military force against Iran or any part of its government without approval from Congress and commends Trump for killing Soleimani, who was long designated a terrorist by the US.

"No one lamented the loss of Mr Soleimani. No one," said House majority leader Steny Hoyer. "That's not what this bill is about."

The resolution "is about our Constitution, the authority of this body to declare or not declare war," Hoyer added. "It ought to be the representatives of the people that take them to war, not a president - any president, Democrat or Republican. This is about our responsibility."

AP

‘Trump is gonna get us all killed’: Former presidential speechwriters deliver damning assessment of coronavirus address

Chris Baynes has more on the reaction against the president's address last night.

Trump's coronavirus travel ban conveniently excludes the only countries where he owns resorts

Oh how perfect.

Here's Louis Staples to get outraged on your behalf for Indy100.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, the 'Trump of the Tropics', is being tested for coronavirus

The plot thickens...

Trump has been bashing out retweets from the CDC, its administrator Seema Verma and his own health secretary Alex Azar this morning but the good folk of Harvard are not impressed.

The Independent's Oliver O'Connell has more on the coronavirus' latest impact on the stock market:

US stocks continued to fall on Thursday morning after President Donald Trump's Wednesday night Oval Office speech aimed at calming markets.

On opening, all three major Wall Street indices, The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq all plunged, triggering the automatic 'circuit breakers' that halt trading.

Trading stopped for 15 minutes to establish order in the market, and resumed at 9.50am.

Markets continued to fall with the Dow down almost 9 per cent by 10am.

'Circuit breakers' kick in when the market drops by specified percentages against the prior day's S&P 500 closing price. There are three levels. 

Does Donald Trump know his own coronavirus strategy?

Officials quickly corrected Donald Trump’s seemingly unfounded claims in an Oval Office address about the coronavirus and steps his administration had allegedly taken to secure treatment with no co-payments for Americans who contract the illness. 

At first, it sounded like the White House administration achieved a major victory in its efforts to combat the spread of the global pandemic, as the president discussed a meeting he held with executives from several major health insurance companies.

“Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of health insurance industry,” he said, “who have agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments, and to prevent surprise medical billing."

If accurate, the announcement would mean Americans don’t have to worry about facing out-of-pocket expenses when seeking treatment for coronavirus, which is far more expensive than the initial testing required to confirm a patient has contracted the mysterious new illness. 

But shortly after the speech, a spokesperson for one of the leading trade associations for private health insurers in the US fact-checked the president while denying fees would be waived for treatment. 

My latest:

Breaking News: Senior Brazil official tests positive for coronavirus, reports say

The senior official from Brazil who was reportedly exposed to coronavirus before visiting Mar-a-Lago has tested positive for the mysterious illness. 

This is a breaking news story. More to come...

Will Donald Trump be exposed to the coronavirus?

The Independent's Clark Mindock once again raises the question of what might happen if the president were to test positive for the coronavirus after reports indicated the Brazilian president's press secretary tested positive for the mysterious illness.

The Independent's Danielle Zoellner has more on the press secretary for Brazil's president who tested positive for coronavirus after meeting with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago:

A Brazilian senior official who was with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago has since tested positive for the coronavirus, reports say. 

Fabio Wajngarten, the press secretary for Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive for Covid-19.