Trump focuses on social media regulation as US coronavirus death toll passes milestone – live
Trump offered his condolences to the loved ones of Americans who have died from coronavirus, a day after the US death toll from the virus surpassed 100,000.
“We have just reached a very sad milestone with the coronavirus pandemic deaths reaching 100,000,” Trump wrote on Twitter this morning.
“To all of the families & friends of those who have passed, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy & love for everything that these great people stood for & represent. God be with you!”
Trump did not initially weigh in on the country reaching the grim milestone yesterday, instead tweeting this morning about special counsel Robert Mueller, Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer and his expected executive order directed at social media companies.
Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden, released a video last night mourning the loss of 100,000 Americans. “For all of you who are hurting so badly, I’m so sorry for your loss,” Biden said. “This nation grieves with you. Take some solace from the fact we all grieve with you.”
Joe Biden addresses US as its coronavirus death toll passes 100,000 – video
This is Joan Greve, taking over for Joanna Walters.
The White House is reportedly not planning to release economic projections this summer, as the coronavirus pandemic causes widespread unemployment and revenue losses.
The White House is supposed to unveil a federal budget proposal every February and then typically provides a ‘mid-session review’ in July or August with updated projections on economic trends such as unemployment, inflation and economic growth.
Budget experts said they were not aware of any previous White House opting against providing forecasts in this ‘mid-session review’ document in any other year since at least the 1970s. …
The document would be slated for publication just a few months before the November elections.
Even if Trump declines to release the economic projections before the November presidential election, he will still be confronted with the fact that tens of millions of Americans have had to file for unemloyment since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
The number of Americans who have lost their jobs in the past 10 weeks soared to more than 40 million as the number of unemployment claims continued to rise with 2.1 million people filing for unemployment last week.
The staggering job losses mark a grim milestone in the economic crisis that has gripped the US since the coronavirus triggered widespread shutdowns and stay-at-home orders in an effort to halt the spread of the deadly pandemic.
The latest figures from the Department of Labor show that the rate of new unemployment claims has continued to fall over the last few weeks, down from its peak in early April, when 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment in a single week.
Earlier this month, the department reported that more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs in April, bringing the unemployment rate to 14.7%, up from 4.4% in March.
While the growth of unemployment claims has slowed, millions more have continued to file for unemployment each week, bringing the total number of unemployed to a disastrous rate not seen since the Great Depression.
Good Morning, US live blog readers, there’s a busy day ahead in coronavirus and politics news, so please stay tuned for all the developments in the US.
Here’s where things are this hour:
Donald Trump has not yet spoken out about the US reaching yesterday the grim milestone of 100,000 Covid-19 deaths across the nation. And in many states the incidence of new cases is still rising, especially in the south and midwest.
Washington DC, plans to begin tentative reopening for business tomorrow, although the mayor of America’s capital has warned there will likely be more cases of coronavirus.
We are awaiting a possible executive order from the president today that attempts an aggressive regulatory move against social media platforms, after Trump erupted in outrage when Twitter included some fact-checks, for the first time, in two of his tweets related to voting, earlier this week.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will hold a briefing at 2pm ET.
