Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Without Any Social Distancing Plans, Trump Announces Rallies In States That Are Seeing Uptick In Cases
The New York Times: Trump 2020 Campaign Will Return With Rally In Tulsa
President Trump will return to the campaign trail on June 19 with a rally in Tulsa, Okla., for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak forced most of the country into quarantine three months ago, a campaign official said Wednesday, as polls show former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. establishing a significant national lead over Mr. Trump and the president’s approval ratings plummeting. Oklahoma, a deep-red state Mr. Trump won four years ago by 36 percentage points, began lifting restrictions on businesses on April 24 and moved into Phase 3 of its reopening on June 1, allowing summer camps to open and workplaces to return with full staffing levels. (Karni, 6/10)
The Hill: Trump To Hold First Post-Coronavirus Rally In Oklahoma
“We’re going to start our rallies back up now. We’ve had a tremendous run at rallies. I don’t think there has been an empty seat since we came down on the escalator,” Trump told reporters Wednesday, referencing the launch of his 2016 presidential campaign. (Chalfant, 6/10)
CNN: Pence Deletes Tweet Showing Trump Campaign Staff Not Wearing Face Masks Or Social Distancing
Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday evening tweeted, and then deleted, a photo showing a large group of President Donald Trump's reelection campaign staff not wearing face masks or social distancing, two recommendations of the coronavirus task force that Pence leads. "Stopped by to see the great men and women of the Trump-Pence Team today!" the tweet read. "Thank you for all of the hard work, keep it up!" (LeBlanc, 6/11)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Considers Ways To Address Police Abuse
President Trump and his advisers are weighing a possible executive order or other policy actions to address abuses by police, responding to widespread public anger following the killing of George Floyd in police custody last month. Advisers to the president have been conferring with Republican lawmakers about legislation and are considering an executive order, a presidential directive that doesn’t go through Congress and could be reversed later. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Wednesday that Mr. Trump has been “working on proposals to address the issues that the protesters raised across the country,” adding that the “body of work I’m told is reaching its final edits and we hope to produce it for you in the coming days.” (Lucey and Duehren, 6/10)
NPR: Trump To Address 'Disparities' At Dallas Event
President Trump on Thursday will meet with pastors, law enforcement officials and small business owners at a church in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday and is expected to discuss plans for a national "holistic revitalization and recovery," a White House official said. In his latest response to protests over police brutality, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Trump is expected to discuss ways to address "historic economic, health and justice disparities in American communities" at the event, the official said. (Wise, 6/11)
And in other news on the Trump administration —
Stat: Trump's Decision To Leave WHO Came With Bluster, But No Action So Far
Nearly two weeks have passed since President Trump announced he was withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization. To date, none of the levers that would need to be pulled to follow through on that decision has been pulled. The Trump administration has not formally notified the WHO that it is withdrawing, a spokesman for the agency told STAT. The administration has also not paid outstanding financial obligations to the WHO, a step that would be required before the United States could pull out under a joint resolution signed by Congress. (Branswell, 6/11)
Reuters: WHO Hopes To Work With U.S. On Ebola Despite Trump Criticism
The World Health Organization hopes to work “side by side” with the United States to contain an outbreak of Ebola in Congo, its chief said on Wednesday, despite their differences over the new coronavirus. President Donald Trump said last month he was ending the U.S. relationship with the WHO over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had met U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar last week. (Farge and Koltrowitz, 6/10)
