President Trump bans travel from Europe, potential to limit domestic
Mar 12, 2020, 3:36 PM
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days, beginning Friday. This decision was made by the Trump administration in hopes to combat a viral pandemic and limit the spread of coronavirus in the United States.
Trump made the announcement in an Oval Office address to the nation, blaming the European Union for not acting quickly enough to address the “foreign virus” and saying U.S. clusters were “seeded” by European travelers.
The next day, President Trump hinted to reporters that he is considering limiting domestic travel to parts of the United States where the ongoing coronavirus outbreak is “too hot.”
Asked about whether that might include states like Washington or California, the President said the following to a New York Times reporter in the Oval Office: “Is it a possibility? Yes, if somebody gets a little bit out of control, if an area gets too hot.”
At a press conference Thursday afternoon held by Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, a KIRO 7 reporter asked about the potential domestic travel ban and if it would affect Washington.
“On occasion, the President says some things that don’t come to pass and never were going to come to pass, and I hope that’s one of them,” Inslee said. “We’ve had no discussions with the White House on this. I’ve talked to the Vice President four or five times now and that has not come up in any discussion. So, at the moment, it sounds like a random comment by the President rather than a thoughtful consideration.”
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Inslee said Vice President Mike Pence has been helpful, and that he will be speaking with Pence in the next day or two and does not expect this ban to come up in the conversation. However, Inslee does hope that the federal government will issue an emergency declaration, which would help with unemployment benefits, including assistance for school employees.
