London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

Coronavirus: Donald Trump to propose economic measures to help people and companies affected by outbreak

Payroll tax cut and help for beleaguered travel industry are among the steps to be offered. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the administration can deal with the situation and predicts the ‘economy will be in very good shape a year from now’

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was set to propose emergency economic measures including a payroll tax cut to help Americans deal with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak as infections surge.

At a White House press conference, Trump said he would announce the proposed measures on Tuesday after a meeting with Senate leaders. The policies will be “very, very dramatic”, he said at a briefing of the administration’s Covid-19 task force led by Vice-President Mike Pence.

Trump said the measures would also address concerns among hourly wage earners, who may not be paid if they self-quarantine because they feel ill. “We will be working with … small companies, large companies, a lot of companies, so they don’t get penalised for something that's not their fault,” Trump said. “It's not their fault, it’s not our country's fault.”

He also said he hoped to provide assistance to the airline and cruise ship industry and hotels, sectors that have been hit hard by the outbreak.

Trump did not take questions and left the briefing room as journalists shouted out questions on whether he had been tested for the virus. Two US lawmakers he came in contact with in recent days earlier on Monday said they were self-quarantining after being exposed to an infected person at a conservative conference late last month.

The president also did not address Monday’s stock market rout.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, speaking after Trump left the news conference, acknowledged the steep losses but said that the administration had ample tools to deal with the situation and that the “economy will be in very good shape a year from now”.

“This is not like the financial crisis, where we don't know the end in sight. This is about providing proper tools and liquidity to get through the next few months,” Mnuchin said.

He said the administration’s primary focus for now were on parts of the economy that are likely to be impacted by the outbreak, “especially workers that need to be at home, hardworking people who are at home, under quarantine or taking care of their family.”

“We'll be working on a programme to address that,” he said.

US markets suffered losses not seen since 2008. The S&P 500 fell more than 7 per cent after declining some 12 per cent in recent weeks. The Dow Industrial Average fell by 7.79 per cent or 2,013 points – the biggest single-day point drop ever. Oil prices were also plummeting after major producers Saudi Arabia and Russia appeared to hunker down for a price war to win market share from each other.

In trade soon after the opening bell on Monday, US stocks fell so sharply that the losses triggered a 15-minute circuit breaker for the first time in 23 years.

Soon after that, Trump wrote on Twitter: “Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!”

The collapse of equity markets in the US follows a similar sea of red in Japan and the rest of Asia on Monday.

Concerns that the coronavirus will have a significant impact on consumer demand is a key driver for the bearish market sentiment, analysts said. The World Health Organisation said on Monday that there was a “real risk” of a full blown global pandemic, while leading US health official Nancy Messonnier said in a separate briefing that “many people” in the United States would likely be exposed to the virus over the next two years.

Trump administration officials previously floated a payroll tax cut in mid-February, when the US remained relatively unaffected by the Covid-19 contagion. In a February 14 interview with Fox Business Network, the National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said “we’d love to have a 10% middle-class tax cut, and we would love to strengthen and make permanent some of the other tax cuts”.

Changes to tax policies may prove to be an uphill task for the administration as it would require the approval of the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. In his remarks, Trump said his meetings on Tuesday would involve House Republicans as well as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He did not mention meetings with Democrats.

There have been 423 confirmed infections in the US, according to data published by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at noon on Monday. The actual number is higher – more than 600 – as the agency’s data does not include cases confirmed by states on Monday.

Nineteen people have died, the CDC said.

The number of infections worldwide stands at more than 110,000, with 3,871 fatalities.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×