After US President Trump presented his exit strategy plan, the first states are loosening their corona requirements. The anger of the President strikes those who follow their own line. US farmers get an aid package.
US President Donald Trump has fueled protests against corona exit restrictions in several US states. “Liberate Minnesota,” “Liberate Michigan!” and “Freed Virginia” he wrote in full capitals on Twitter on Friday, expressing his support for the demonstrators in these democratically governed states.
The day before, when he presented a three-step plan back to normal, he had emphasized that he wanted the governors to decide when to restart the economy. But numerous conservative Trump supporters, opponents of vaccinations and right-wing factions have been protesting for days against what they consider to be too rigid restrictions and the state’s interference in the private sector.
Feud with New York governor Cuomo
Trump also sharply attacked New York governor Andrew Cuomo during his Twitter tirade. He should spend more time doing and less complaining, the president wrote. The three-tier roadmap provides that exit restrictions can be relaxed in places where the virus is under control. For this, however, sufficient testing must also be carried out there.
Trump dismissed Cuomo and other governors’ request that the government help them improve test capacities. “States need to step up their tests.” Some states announced the first easing on Friday. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis gave the municipalities the green light to reopen beaches and parks where they can safely do so. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott allowed stores to sell their goods for pickup next week. Operations that can be planned are also to be carried out there again and state conservation parks are to be opened again.
Trump expects between 60,000 and 65,000 corona deaths
According to Trump, the US government is now expecting between 60,000 and 65,000 deaths as a result of the coronavirus pandemic in the USA. The number is far below previous forecasts of at least 100,000 deaths in the United States. Every single dead man is one too many, the President emphasized. “I hope that we will hopefully stay well below the 100,000.” He added: “At the moment we are probably moving to around 60,000, maybe 65,000.”
Trump wrote on Twitter that he assumes that China’s corona death toll, which has been revised upwards, is still far too low. In fact, the numbers are “significantly higher and significantly higher than that of the United States”. The corrected information is “not even close” to reality. Trump mistakenly spoke of doubling the numbers that the Chinese authorities would have made.
The authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan had previously corrected the number of corona deaths in the city by 50 percent, justifying this by checking the available data. According to this, 3869 people died in Wuhan alone, 1290 more than previously stated. It was 4,632 across China. More than 34,500 people have died in the United States.
$ 19 billion for America’s farmers and ranches
Trump also announced that he would support farmers in the corona crisis with a $ 19 billion aid program. The pandemic would have caused farmers to suffer “unprecedented losses”. Farmers are among Trump’s main electoral group, who plans to be re-elected in November.
Minister of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said that $ 3 billion of the aid program should be used to buy milk and crops from farmers and donate them to community charities to help those in need. The rest goes directly to the farmers and rancher. Sales of the US agar industry declined sharply due to the corona crisis, because schools are closed with their canteens and restaurants and more people eat at home.
