Grants, low-interest loans and other government support might seem like manna for businesses under financial strain. But some chief executives and corporate boards might balk at the offer of billions of dollars in aid to help them ride out the coronavirus pandemic and keep the economy from sliding into a deep recession. Already, some corporate […]
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WASHINGTON — When oil prices crashed in early March after a dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia, President Trump put a positive spin on the news. “Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!” he wrote on Twitter as markets tumbled. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said that falling gasoline prices amounted to “the greatest tax […]
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Reporting on the White House’s herky-jerky coronavirus response, Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman has a quotation from Jared Kushner that should make all Americans, and particularly all New Yorkers, dizzy with terror. According to Sherman, when New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, said that the state would need 30,000 ventilators at the apex of the coronavirus outbreak, […]
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Over a normal two-week period we’d expect around half a million U.S. workers to file claims for unemployment insurance. Over the past two weeks we’ve seen almost 10 million filings. We’re facing an incredible economic catastrophe. The question is whether we’re ready to deal with this catastrophe. Alas, early indications are that we may be […]
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WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi, moving aggressively to scrutinize the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, said Thursday that she would seek to create a special bipartisan committee to oversee all aspects of the government’s response, including how it distributes more than $2 trillion in emergency aid. The announcement, which drew immediate objections from […]
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WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. has been warning the White House since at least early February that China has vastly understated its coronavirus infections and that its count could not be relied upon as the United States compiles predictive models to fight the virus, according to current and former intelligence officials. The intelligence briefings in recent […]
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The most important new policy the government can implement to contain the spread of Covid-19 is to immediately recommend that everyone wear masks or face-coverings in public — #masksforall. Health officials have already encouraged people to wear masks if they are showing symptoms of the disease. Particularly since 25 to 50 percent of people with […]
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Last month, residents of Kiryas Joel, a New York village of 35,000 Hasidic Jews roughly an hour’s drive from Manhattan, began hearing about a promising treatment for the coronavirus that had been rippling through their community. The source was Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, 46, a mild-mannered family doctor with offices near the village. Since early March, […]
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Joseph R. Biden Jr. has spoken with former President Barack Obama about the process of selecting a running mate. His allies remain enthusiastic about Mr. Biden’s promise of a female vice-presidential candidate, despite growing Democratic fixation on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York as he commands loyal audiences for his daily briefings on the […]
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Since the coronavirus upended our lives, there’s a number that has been haunting me: 70 percent. That’s what experts believe could be the proportion of Americans ultimately infected with the virus. It was also, in the autumn of 2004, the estimated casualty rate of killed or wounded for my platoon as we prepared for the […]
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I’ll never forget sitting alone in my unfurnished one-room apartment in July 1984. Fresh out of college, my fear of four more years of a Reagan presidency was mollified by the inspiration I felt seeing Geraldine Ferraro accept the nomination for vice president at the Democratic convention. “If she can do it, so can I,” […]
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Listen and subscribe to our podcast from your mobile device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | RadioPublic | Stitcher This week on “The Argument,” how is the coronavirus — and President Trump’s response to it — hitting blue states and red states differently? Michelle Goldberg argues that Trump’s efforts to secure flattery from […]
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WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, who has become a regular at President Trump’s coronavirus briefings, will receive enhanced personal security after receiving threats following his repeated pleas for Americans to help slow the spread of the deadly pandemic, officials said on Wednesday. Dr. Fauci has been the […]
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WASHINGTON — President Trump warned Iran on Wednesday against using its proxy forces to attack American troops, vowing to retaliate by going “up the food chain,” a hint that the American military was considering a more direct strike on Iranian forces. But senior Democrats cautioned Mr. Trump against attacking Iran without consulting Congress, a step […]
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The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee this week criticized closing schools in his home state, California, as “way overkill” — even as President Trump came to a reckoning over the number of people who could die during the coronavirus pandemic. The lawmaker, Representative Devin G. Nunes, played down the gravity of the outbreak […]
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WASHINGTON — When Georgia’s governor picked Kelly Loeffler, a little-known Atlanta businesswoman, to fill the state’s vacant Senate seat late last year, her vast personal wealth and ability to fund her own campaign were top selling points for Republicans. Ms. Loeffler, whose husband runs the New York Stock Exchange, pledged to put $20 million of […]
Read MoreWhile President Trump has assured states that thousands of ventilators remain at the ready, thousands more are in storage, unmaintained, broken or otherwise unusable.
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Let’s try to look on the bright side of coronavirus politics. OK, that sounds ridiculous. Let’s look on a less neurosis-inducing side. I know, still not easy. Sure, Donald Trump has been a terrible leader. But drop the bar a little. Unlike the king of Thailand, he hasn’t moved to a luxury Alpine hotel with […]
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WASHINGTON — Taking their cue from President Trump, Republicans at every level of the party are pushing ahead with plans to put on their national convention this summer and provide Mr. Trump the kind of gauzy coronation he seeks. Democrats, by contrast, are mired in uncertainty. Access to their convention arena in Milwaukee is contingent […]
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WASHINGTON — One of the hallmarks of the United States military is its ability to project power around the world, often under the banner of slogans intended to strike fear in its adversaries. “Ready to fight tonight” for U.S. troops in South Korea; “America’s 911” for the Marine Corps expeditionary units at sea; the list […]
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To the Editor: Re “Grim Toll Projected, Even With Distancing” (front page, April 1): President Trump initially downplayed Covid-19, saying everything was “under control.” On Tuesday, he held a news conference at which the American people were informed that 100,000 people, if not more than double that, may die from the virus. The president has […]
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As Iran struggles with a devastating coronavirus outbreak, a broken economy and a severe shortage of medical equipment, it says that American trade sanctions are taking Iranian lives and has called for the United States to lift them on humanitarian grounds. Iran’s plea is gaining traction around the globe, winning support from allies like Russia […]
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WASHINGTON — Taking their cue from President Trump, Republicans at every level of the party are pushing ahead with plans to put on their national convention this summer and provide Mr. Trump the kind of gauzy coronation he seeks. Democrats, by contrast, are mired in uncertainty. Access to their convention arena in Milwaukee is contingent […]
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