Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Restaurant Owners Offer Reality Check To Trump As President Touts Progress Made Toward Reopening
The Associated Press: Trump Points To Good News As Restaurant Owners Tell Of Fears
Restaurant owners gave President Donald Trump a sobering accounting of the widespread damage the coronavirus pandemic has dealt their industry and asked him to adjust a loan program for small businesses to address their concerns. The president put a hopeful spin on the situation, saying encouraging news on vaccines and treatment efforts could “negate” the bad news. The president was in good spirits as he met Monday with the restaurant executives at the White House, noting that financial markets were up as states continued to loosen economic restrictions on businesses and following Moderna Inc.’s announcement of encouraging news in early work on vaccine development. (Superville and Freking, 5/19)
The Washington Post: Independent And Chain Restaurants Press Trump On Relief Efforts At White House Meeting
Ten chefs and executives, representing chains as large as Burger King and restaurants as rarefied as Per Se in New York City, brought their economic concerns to the meeting as the president and many governors continue to push for reopening businesses, including the nation’s estimated 650,000 restaurants. All the hospitality industry representatives were male, and mostly white, though the Independent Restaurant Coalition initially requested that North Carolina chef-restaurateur Katie Button represent the group. IRC co-founder Tom Colicchio, the man behind Crafted Hospitality, says someone at the White House rejected her. He didn’t know who. (Carman, 5/18)
The Washington Post: As White House Pushes Firms To Reopen, New Report Says Much Of Bailout Stimulus Money Remains Unspent
In tweets and during a meeting with restaurant executives at the White House, Trump tried to create a new sense of urgency about jump-starting the economy, which has suffered huge losses the past several months during the coronavirus pandemic. He told restaurant executives at a White House meeting that he was open to giving businesses more flexibility in how they use taxpayer funds so they could delay rehiring workers as quickly as originally required. (Werner, 5/18)
In other news on Trump —
Los Angeles Times: Trump Lashes Out With Distractions And Disinformation
President Trump has accelerated his attacks on government watchdogs, judges, reporters and other independent voices as he runs for reelection, escalating his spread of disinformation about perceived enemies and his administration’s record during the COVID-19 crisis. Trump fired yet another inspector general, raged against a government whistleblower and repeatedly retweeted video of a local TV reporter being harassed in New York — all since Friday. (Megerian, Bierman and Stokols, 5/18)
The Washington Post Fact Checker: Trump’s Flimsy Attack On Vaccine Official Warning About Hydroxychloroquine
Trump sniped at “60 Minutes” for airing an extended interview with Rick Bright, a U.S. vaccine official who alleges that the president’s political appointees pressured him to make an untested drug widely available and shuffled him to a new job when he resisted. But the president left out the crux of Bright’s allegation. In a detailed whistleblower complaint, Bright says that he was sounding the alarm about hydroxychloroquine early, that he was “directed” to sign an emergency application for the drug’s use in hospitals despite his reservations, and that he did it as a compromise with Trump appointees who were pushing to release the drug even more widely. (Rizzo, 5/19)
