President Trump praised Andrew Cuomo for doing a “really great job” on the coronavirus Tuesday — just a day after slamming the governor on Twitter.
The president told reporters at the White House he had a “great talk” with Cuomo Tuesday morning and that they are working together on COVID-19, including to set up new hospitals requested by Cuomo.
“We’re both doing a really great job and we’re coordinating things,” Trump said. He added that a “hotspot” of virus transmission in New York is “not the fault of anybody.”
New York now has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US. As of Tuesday morning, there were nearly 1,400. Washington state is second with fewer than 1,000 cases.
The tone was a dramatic contrast from Monday’s social media sniping, with Trump writing “Cuomo of New York has to ‘do more’,” and the governor hitting back: “Happy to do your job, too. Just give me control of the Army Corps of Engineers and I’ll take it from there.”
Trump said he and Cuomo are working to determine when it would be necessary for the feds to step in to boost hospital capacity.
“By speaking with Gov. Cuomo and other governors, we’re going to know the points,” Trump said. “New York has got a big problem. The State of Washington has a big problem. California has some big problems. Everyone’s doing a good job, but we’re going to know what it will be.”
On hotspots, Trump said: “We’re going to be in there. We’re already making preparation for it.”
