The president claimed that anyone who wanted to board a flight to the United States must first test negative for the virus, although there is no such policy. And he said a rally that he had been planning in Tampa, Fla., Was “all sold out,” even though the idea of scheduling it was scrapped before it was ever announced.
Trump himself may have been exposed to the virus after coming into contact with a Brazilian official who tested positive just days after participating in meetings with him in Florida. But White House officials said Mr. Trump would not be tested for the virus.
Cabinet officials have been waiting for the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management to send out official guidance addressing changes to telework policies, when to impose mandatory telecommuting, whether to reconsider hosting meetings and gatherings, and whether to cancel travel – guidance that would allow them to change their own policies . The lack of a clear, consistent response in the United States has only fueled the market sell-off, and this week the messiness extended to even the safest bonds, putting financial functioning at risk and prompting the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to take significant steps on Thursday to show markets that it has their backs. The New York Fed increased the size of its repurchase operations – basically short-term loans to banks – by $ 1.5 trillion through Friday, added to its weekly repurchase offerings, and shifted its Treasury purchases so that they extend across durations instead of focusing on shorter- term bills.
The package was meant to calm Treasury markets, where conditions had deteriorated in recent days, in part by making sure that as banks take bonds onto their balance sheets, they can have access to the funding they need to cover those positions. That the Fed is now buying across a range of maturities could help relieve pressures across the market.
But investors, along with the public, appeared inconsolable and desperate for Congress to unleash aid that could help either stop the spread of the virus or at least buffet an economic hit that is threatening to tip the United States into recession.
“Until there are details on the steps that leadership intends to pursue to remedy the economic effects of the viral outbreak, equity markets will be vulnerable, ”said Carl Tannenbaum, the chief economist at Northern Trust.
Progress toward a compromise between Democrats and the Trump administration was a remarkable turnaround after a day of doubts – on Wall Street and in Washington – about whether a deal would be possible. House Democrats had initially scheduled a Thursday vote on their own package, signaling that they were ready to push it through even over Republican objections, and Senate Republicans who denounced the plan faced the prospect of leaving Washington having taken no action to address the widening crisis.
Mnuchin, in a frantic attempt to keep talks on track, spoke by phone eight times with Ms. Pelosi, negotiating changes to the House legislation so that it could have a chance of winning the support of Mr. Trump and Senate Republicans.
The negotiations hit snags as Republicans balked at the sweeping proposal to provide paid sick leave, something Senate Republicans had already blocked when Democrats sought earlier in the week to bring up a separate bill.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, started the day criticizing Ms. Pelosi’s plan as an “ideological wish list” and indicating that the Senate had no intention of moving ahead with it. But as negotiations proceeded, he faced mounting complaints from Republican senators – including those facing challenging re-election races – who opposed the House Democrats’ plan but were reluctant to leave Washington without voting on something to address the crisis. “A haphazard bill thrown together overnight?” Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, told reporters on Thursday. “We need to be thorough about it.” “The Senate has no business leaving, ”Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, said in a speech on the floor. “We shouldn’t leave town until we pass the House package to help workers and support our communities, and President Trump needs to sign it. We need to do our jobs. ” Senators did leave Washington on Thursday. afternoon, but they planned to return on Monday, even as the coronavirus took its toll on the Capitol, prompting more lawmakers to quarantine themselves and close their offices. (During senators ‘final vote before their departure, a page could be seen wiping down members’ desks and chairs with disinfectant.)
In the absence of a detailed economic rescue plan from the White House, Ms. Pelosi pressed forward this week with a package of her own that leading Republicans panned as ineffective, overreaching and too costly. But on Thursday night, it appeared as if many of the measures Democrats proposed had been accepted by the Trump administration.
Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a research note on Thursday that it was “up to Congress to fire the fiscal bazooka, the bigger and quicker the better.”
But in an interview, Mr. Shepherdson warned that even a large stimulus package might not stop the fall in markets, and that the worst may still lie ahead.
“What stops the fear is evidence that the rate of increase of infections is slowing – believable evidence,” he said. “Everywhere you would look for reassurance, for leadership, for policy action, for reliable information – all are absent.”
Reporting was contributed by Katie Benner, Nicholas Fandos, Alan Rappeport and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington; Matt Phillips, Melena Ryzik and Ben Sisario from New York; and Brooks Barnes and Andrew Knoll from Los Angeles.
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Stocks plunged on Thursday, suffering their biggest one- day drop since 1987, and even normally staid bond markets could not escape volatility.
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