White House Floats Sending Checks To Out-Of-Work Americans ‘Immediately’

March 17, 2020
President Donald Trump, joined by members of the Coronavirus Task Force, speaks about the coronavirus in the press briefing room at the White House on March 16, 2020. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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March 17, 2020

The White House held another coronavirus task force news briefing on the outbreak this morning, during which the administration encouraged Americans to file their taxes on time, but announced the government would allow interest-free payment deferments for those who owe money to the IRS.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also announced the administration was “looking” at putting in place some form of means-tested cash assistance to Americans out of work because of the outbreak.

“We are looking at sending checks to Americans immediately,” he said. “And what we heard from hardworking Americans, many companies are now shut down whether bars or restaurants, Americans need cash now and the President wants to get cash now. I mean now or in the next two weeks.”

In the 90 minute press conference, President Trump also threw cold water on his feud with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), the vice president urged construction companies to donate their respiratory masks to medical professionals and White House health expert Deborah Birx suggested some of the initial COVID-19 tests used around the world were faulty, “resulting in false positives and potentially false negatives.”

Continue scrolling to read our coverage of the press briefing in real time.

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The White House held another coronavirus task force news briefing on the outbreak this morning, during which the administration encouraged Americans to file their taxes on time, but announced the government would allow interest-free payment deferments for those who owe money to the IRS.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also announced the administration was “looking” at putting in place some form of means-tested cash assistance to Americans out of work because of the outbreak.

“We are looking at sending checks to Americans immediately,” he said. “And what we heard from hardworking Americans, many companies are now shut down whether bars or restaurants, Americans need cash now and the President wants to get cash now. I mean now or in the next two weeks.”

In the 90 minute press conference, President Trump also threw cold water on his feud with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), the vice president urged construction companies to donate their respiratory masks to medical professionals and White House health expert Deborah Birx suggested some of the initial COVID-19 tests used around the world were faulty, “resulting in false positives and potentially false negatives.”

Continue scrolling to read our coverage of the press briefing in real time.

Notable Replies

  1. I wish that the WH briefings would NOT include Trump. This is all grift with him, and we are wasting valuable time.

  2. I wish everyone at these briefings would huddle even closer to IMPOTUS, to show they’re not afraid.

  3. How many hundreds or thousands of points do we expect to see the market drop during today’s remarks?

  4. If my Apple stock goes below $0, does that mean that they then own shares of me?

  5. Maybe he won’t be at this briefing. Surely someone told him that every time he opens his mouth the markets plummet. Nah, he needs to be the center of attention even as people are dying because of his own incompetence.

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