Donald Trump reveals he excluded UK from his coronavirus travel ban because it’s ‘doing a good job’ fighting the infection due to its ‘strong borders’ – despite Britain having one of the highest infection rates in Europe
Donald Trump said he exempted the UK and Ireland from his Europe-wide coronavirus travel ban because they are ‘doing a good job’ fighting the disease.
Trump said his decision was largely based on the strength of the UK’s borders, since it is outside the EU’s borderless Schengen Area.
And after being criticised by European leaders for failing to consult them before announcing the hastily-planned ban, Trump said there was no time because he had to act quickly.
Speaking during an Oval Office meeting with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varakar, he said: ‘It [the UK] has got very strong borders and they are doing a very good job.
‘They don’t have very much infection at this point and hopefully they will keep it that way.’
Mr Trump said he hoped the pandemic would ‘work out well for everyone’, but added there was reason to briefly restrict some movement between parts of the world.
‘It is a world problem and we do need separation in terms of you have some areas that are very heavily infected and you have some areas that are not.
‘We do need separation for a little period of time.’
Trump said it was possible the United States would need to extend the curbs of travel from Europe beyond the current 30 days but could also could shorten the restrictions, which have angered European leaders.
The Republican president also said says he did not support a coronavirus economic relief bill the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on Thursday because it includes unrelated issues.
He said be believed the stock market, which entered bear market territory this week, would bounce back from recent falls.
Trump added that he was not yet ready to invoke emergency disaster powers over the outbreak.
The president said he did not shake hands with Varadkar at their meeting because of the coronavirus