Donald Trump said Wednesday that he doesn’t agree with his Treasury secretary that unemployment rates could reach levels as high as 20 per cent.
‘No, well I don’t agree with that. No, I don’t agree,’ he insisted during a White House press briefing on coronavirus Wednesday afternoon.
‘That’s an absolute, total, worst case scenario,’ he continued. ‘But no, we don’t look at that at all. We’re nowhere near it.’
In February, the unemployment rate was at 3.5 per cent and the highest in recorded U.S. history was during the Great Depression in the 1930s when rates reached nearly 25 per cent.
The president’s comments asserting those levels are highly unlikely came after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin floated the number during a meeting with GOP lawmakers on Tuesday.
Donald Trump said Wednesday during a White House briefing that he unemployment numbers reaching as high as 20 per cent would be ‘worst case scenario’
His comments are a departure from his Treasury Secretary, who said during a meeting with lawmakers Tuesday, according to reports, that unemployment rates could severely skyrocket in light of the coronavirus crisis
Steven Mnuchin met with Republican senators at the Capitol on Tuesday, where he made the assertion – but his office pushed back, claiming ‘he never implied this would be the case’
Trump promised in a tweet Wednesday morning that ‘money will soon be coming’ to relieve those who are unable to work due to the coronavirus crisis.
‘For the people that are now out of work because of the important and necessary containment policies, for instance the shutting down of hotels, bars and restaurants, money will soon be coming to you,’ he vowed in a tweet Wednesday morning.
‘The onslaught of the Chinese Virus is not your fault! Will be stronger than ever!’ he continued, again calling coronavirus the ‘Chinese Virus.’
He also promised in another tweet: ‘I will totally protect your Medicare & Social Security!’
Mnuchin warned Republican senators during the meeting at the Capitol Tuesday that the unemployment rate in American could reach 20 per cent.
The head of the Treasury Department made the trek to the Hill Tuesday afternoon where he posed risks the economy could face if a coronavirus economic stimulus package is not passed fast, a person familiar with the closed-door meeting told Reuters.
But Mnuchin’s office pushed back on this claim.
‘During the meeting with Senate Republicans today, Secretary Mnuchin used several mathematical examples for illustrative purposes, but he never implied this would be the case,’ Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crowley said in a statement.
Donald Trump vowed Wednesday that the federal government would be providing money and economic relief to those affected by the coronavirus outbreak. ‘Money will soon be coming to you,’ he tweeted
Trump previewed at a White House briefing Tuesday that he wants to send cash directly to Americans in the wake of the coronavirus crisis
He also promised to protect Medicare and Social Security in the financially turbulent time
Mnuchin revealed at the briefing that Americans could receive checks larger than $1,000 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak – but he did not provide any further details other than claiming there would be an income cut-off
Despite the recent record-low unemployment, thousands of Americans are already out of work as nonessential establishments in several states have shut down – including restaurants, bars and clothing retailers.
On Tuesday, San Francisco implemented a lockdown where all 7 million people in the Bay area were told to ‘shelter in place’ at their homes for the next three weeks.
The markets have spiraled since the coronavirus outbreak rocked the nation earlier this month – and an administration official claiming unemployment could reach new lows would likely rock investors even more.
Unemployment rates have reached record lows under the Trump administration, which the president often touts when boasting of his economic achievements since taking office in 2017.
Rates of joblessness hit a peak in October 2009 when the unemployment rate hit 10.2 per cent following the 2008 financial crisis.
Some states are already reporting astounding numbers.
On Monday, 15,000 people in New Jersey applied for unemployment benefits and in Connecticut, nearly 8,000 applications arrived over the weekend.
Unemployment claims in Ohio went from 6,500 last week to 45,000 this week.
Rhode Island officials also reported on Tuesday that a week-long rise in claims from the coronavirus outbreak brought their application number from 10 on March 11 to 6,282 on March 16.
Several states have already seen major spikes in unemployment. Here people wait in a massive line for help with unemployment benefits in Las Vegas, Nevada
Several non-essential businesses in states across the country have also been forced to shutter their doors – leaving them without income and putting all their employees out of a job
The Trump administration is proposing a phase three stimulus package – before phase two has even made it through the Senate – that would allocate at least another $850 billion in economic relief.
Phase one included more than $8 billion in emergency funding and phase two proposes another $10 billion going toward relieving individuals who have to take off work or are unable to go to their jobs due to contracting coronavirus or quarantining.
The nearly $1 trillion stimulus package would include sending cash directly to Americans within two weeks, would monetarily backup airlines and the hospitality industry and would likely include a big chunk of cash going toward Trump’s desire payroll tax cut.
Trump previewed during a coronavirus press briefing at the White House Tuesday that he wants to send more than $1,000 to Americans suffering economically from the coronavirus outbreak.
‘We’re going big,’ Trump said of his administration’s stimulus plans.
‘We’re looking to send checks to Americans immediately,’ Mnuchin explained in the briefing, adding that a payroll tax holiday would get money to Americans – but it would be over the next six to eight months.
So far there are more than 6,500 cases of coronavirus in the U.S. and 114 Americans have died after contracting it
‘Americans needs cash now and the president wants to give cash now,’ Mnuchin continued during Tuesday’s briefing.
‘And I mean now – in the next two weeks,’ he added before leaving the briefing early to attend his meeting with GOP senators.
Trump said he would be present during Wednesday’s coronavirus White House briefing, claiming he would give an update on news from the Food and Drug Administration
Details of how the administration planned to provide direct cash to Americans was not announced at the press conference – and he did not discuss who would be eligible.
The only detail he gave was that it could top $1,000 and that there would be some income cut-offs.
‘You don’t need to send people who make a million dollars a year checks,’ he chuckled.
Markets saw their worst week since the 1980s last week, dropping a few thousand points – with just a few moments of reprieve as hopes of a bipartisan economic stimulus package monopolized investors’ interest.
As of Wednesday morning, the U.S. has more than 6,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 115 people died after contracting the fast-spreading respiratory disease.
Trump has begun calling coronavirus the ‘Chinese Virus,’ because he says he wants to make it clear where it originated.
He also previewed that he would be participating in the now-daily coronavirus press briefing on Wednesday.
‘I will be having a news conference today to discuss very important news from the FDA concerning the Chinese Virus!’ the president tweeted Wednesday morning.
Critics claim referring to the disease a ‘Chinese virus’ creates a stigma and some even claim it is a racist phrase.
Trump disagrees, claiming the real stigma is Chinese officials claiming the virus was first brought to Wuhan by members of the U.S. military participating in the World Military Games there in October 2019.