United States President Donald Trump initially reacted mildly to the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to minimize public panic. Vice President Mike Pence, who chaired the White House Coronavirus Task Force, urged Trump to deliver a more serious public statement about the pandemic. Eventually a speech was drafted for Trump with the assistance of Stephen Miller, his chief speechwriter, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law. To make time for the delivery of the address, Trump cancelled a scheduled private dinner at Pence's residence and Pence cancelled a press conference with the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
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President Trump announced that most travel from Europe to the United States would be suspended for a period of 30 days. The speech lasted about 10 minutes.
Initial confusion and technical difficulties
Multiple typos within the speech led to temporary widespread confusion. Many Americans in Europe, thinking that they would be abruptly cut off from travelling to the United States, purchased airline tickets for significant sums of money. Trump later released a statement on Twitter saying, "...Very important for all countries & businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people not goods."
Reception
Reception to the speech was generally negative. The American Conservative writer Daniel Larison described the speech as going over "like a lead balloon." Trump received substantial criticism over his choice of wording in the speech, which seemed to imply a total ban on trade with Europe was being implemented, as well as making the speech without first consulting with EU leaders. Trump's speech did not have a positive effect on the stock market, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures trading 600 points lower as he was concluding his speech, though this was partly influenced by other factors. Trump also drew criticism for perceived racist and nativist themes present within his speech. Several commentators and analysts, albeit almost exclusively those strongly affiliated with the right-wing, viewed the speech in a more positive manner. Generally, those with more positive viewpoints of Trump's speech focused on the themes of victory included within it.
