20200501 白宮記者會部分摘選

Q    The markets are down super substantially today after the President yesterday suggested in the East Room that he might use tariffs to punish China over the coronavirus.  Is there any serious consideration being given to putting new tariffs on China, or was the President just spit balling yesterday?

MS. MCENANY:  Look, I won’t get ahead of any announcements from the President, but I will echo the President’s displeasure with China.  It’s no secret that China mishandled this situation.

Just a few examples for you: They did not share the genetic sequence until a professor in Shanghai did so on his own.  The very next day, China shut down his lab for, quote, “rectification.”  They slow-walked information on human-to-human transmission alongside the World Health Organization and didn’t let U.S. investigators in at a very important time.

So we take displeasure with China’s actions, but I certainly won’t get ahead of the President with those announcements.

Q    Is the President seriously considering forcing China to pay some sort of compensation reparations — whatever word you want to put on it?

MS. MCENANY:  Again, when it comes to retaliatory measures, I will not get ahead of the President on that.

Q    Thank you, Kayleigh, and welcome to the podium, as well.

MS. MCENANY:  Thank you.

Q    The President said yesterday that he has a high degree of confidence that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, and yet his own intelligence agencies say they’re still investigating.  So does the President have information?  And has he drawn a conclusion that the intelligence community has not yet?

MS. MCENANY:  Look, the President’s statement is consistent with the other intelligence assessments.  While we continue to have very limited and dubious data from China, current assessments indicated that President Trump’s statement is consistent with what some analysts believe is the epicenter of where the virus began.

And I would note that intelligence statement you’re referring to really made two points: One, that this virus originated in China.  Two, that it began through contact with infected animals or was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.  So I consider that consistent with what the President said: that he’s seen intelligence suggesting it could be in the Wuhan laboratory.

Q    But he seemed to lean into the idea that this started in a laboratory, whereas the statement that we saw from the DNI said we’re still investigating those two options that you just laid out.  Is the President in any way creating mixed messages by not saying, “We’re still investigating”?

MS. MCENANY:  No, you know, let me remind everyone intelligence is just an estimate, essentially, and it’s up to policymakers to decide what to do with that intelligence.  This — in this case, the policymaker is the President of the United States, and he’ll make that decision at the right time.

Steve.

Q    Is the President any close to deciding what to do about China?  Has he received any recommendations on the consequences?  Is he anywhere near a decision?

MS. MCENANY:  Look, again, I won’t get ahead of the President’s decision or the timing of that decision, but he takes this very seriously because the decisions of China that I referenced — slow-walking some of that information — put American lives at risk.  And rest assured this President has one priority, and that is the safety and the wellbeing of American lives.

Q    Thanks so much, Kayleigh.  Welcome.  Since it’s been more than 100 days since a press secretary stood up there, I wanted to get a better sense of what your plan is.  Are you planning to do these in a daily basis at this point?  And also, will you pledge never to lie to us from that podium?

MS. MCENANY:  I will never lie to you.  You have my word on that.

As to the timing of the briefings, we do plan to do them.  I will announce timing of that forthcoming, but we do plan to continue these.

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Q    Thanks, Kayleigh.  Just following up on Kristen’s question: China is blocking the World Health Organization from coming in and investigating how this started.  Shouldn’t external investigators be allowed into Wuhan to determine, one, how the pandemic started, and two, maybe a way that we can expedite finding a cure for this thing?

MS. MCENANY:  Look, you know, there’s no secret that China stopped U.S. investigators from coming in.  It was of paramount importance that we got into China in an expedited fashion, and that didn’t happen.

With respect to the World Health Organization, they have some questions of their own to answer.  The United States, as the President has emphasized, provides about $400 million to $500 million per year to the WHO, compared to China at roughly $40 million a year.  But yet, the WHO appears to have a very clear China bias.

I mean, you look at this timeline and it’s really damning for the WHO, when you consider the fact that, on December 31st, you had Taiwanese officials warning about human-to-human transmission.  The WHO did not make that public.

On January 9th, the WHO repeated China’s claim that the virus, quote, “does not transmit readily between people.”  That was quite apparently false.

On January 14th, the WHO again repeated China’s talking points about no human-to-human transmission.  They praised China’s leadership on the 22nd of January.

On the 23rd, they said — and this is incredible — “The pandemic didn’t represent a public health emergency of international concern.”

And even on February 29th, you had the WHO saying that when the coronavirus was spreading around the world, they — they chose to put — excuse me, political correctness first by opposing lifesaving travel restrictions: the travel restrictions this President put in place; the travel restrictions that Dr. Fauci praised as saving lives.

And you have the World Health Organization opposing a measure that saved American lives.  That’s unacceptable, especially at a time when the U.S. was providing 400 to 500 million dollars.

John.

Q    Kayleigh, this time last week the President was saying that he was not happy with Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp for beginning the reopening process, and the way that he was, at the time that he was.  A week later, there have been some peaks and valleys in new cases in Georgia, but overall the trend line is down.  Do you know what the President is thinking about the Georgia reopening as of today?

MS. MCENANY:  Look, the President — the President is resolute in saying that the states take the lead here.  It’s the — the lead — the decision of governors to decide what is best for their state.

That being said, you know, I’ve — I talk to the experts, I talk to Dr. Birx, I talk to Dr. Fauci, and they say, rightfully so, this President has always sided on the side of data, which is why he encourages all states to follow the data-driven guidelines to reopening.  All states, from Georgia on down the line, should follow those guidelines, but ultimately it is the decision of the states.

And one note I would make about the President: In times of national emergency, we seem to have had a trend in this country where presidents aggregate power at the federal level, but this President has devolved power.  He has invested in a principle that I cherish, and I know many others do, which is federalism.  And I think that was the right decision.