President Trump, finally, takes a serious call on coronavirus when he offered Americans something they have rarely seen from him in his latest and most somber press conference yet on the coronavirus pandemic on Monday.

He dispensed unimpeachable information based on facts. He called for national unity and seemed like he meant to help forge it. And he ditched his normal habit of hyping the best possible outcome to a situation with improbable superlatives — instead communicating the gravity of a fast-worsening crisis.

“It’s bad. It’s bad,” Trump said as he unveiled a 15-day plan to try to flatten the curve of coronavirus infections to alleviate a feared surge of sick patients that could overwhelm the health system.

“Each and every one of us has a critical role to play in stopping the spread and transmission of the virus,” Trump said, summoning national resolve as he plunges deeper into a crisis that will now define his term and possibly his reelection hopes.