Now the world's number one country in the number of officially reported coronavirus cases (over 100,000), the United States recorded a new dark record on Friday, with 345 people killed in just 24 hours.
This day was also marked by the great maneuvers of President Trump in the face of the coronavirus crisis. After days of breathless negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, the billionaire on Friday promulgated a historic recovery plan to try to avoid a plunge in the US economy into a lasting recession.
A historic plan, and probably not the last
Mobilizing 2,200 billion dollars, this device is the most massive ever adopted in the United States. The plan includes sending a check for $ 1,200 to many Americans, nearly $ 400 billion in assistance to small businesses, and $ 500 billion in assistance to large companies, which will be monitored by a controller general.
It also allocates some $ 100 billion to hospitals, and $ 30 billion to fund research into Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. An envelope of 25 billion is also intended for airlines, which will benefit from more than 25 billion dollars in loans and loan guarantees.
It is the third time in less than a month that the US Congress has adopted exponentially increasing measures to fight the pandemic. And a fourth is on the horizon, said Nancy Pelosi. "We know this cannot be our last step," she said on Friday. "We need to do more for our medical staff" and local governments.
Korean War law bends General Motors
In this context, Donald Trump also distinguished himself by imposing a showdown on the multinational General Motors. The president invoked a Korean War law to force the American group to produce artificial respirators.
"GM was wasting time," Trump said in a brief statement expressing his exasperation at the manufacturer with whom he said negotiations were dragging on. This exceptional measure is based on the Defense Production Act which allows the federal government to mobilize the private industrial sector for the security needs of the country.
Donald Trump's impatient tweets contrasted with his statements on Thursday evening on Fox News where he downplayed the need for artificial respirators. "I don't think there is a need for 40,000 or 30,000 respirators," he said.