POLITICO Playbook PM: Trump sees himself as a ‘wartime president’ Presented by

President Donald Trump announced he would invoke the Defense Production Act, which is aimed at urging the private sector to produce more emergency supplies. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

SIREN: THE DOW has erased all of the gains of the TRUMP presidency.

NEWS FROM THE W.H. BRIEFING … NEW TRUMP TONE, CONT’D: “To this day, nobody’s seen anything like what they were able to do during World War II. And now it’s our time. We must sacrifice together, because we are all in this together, and we’ll come through together.”

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP said he considers himself a “wartime president.” (Reminder: He already was.)

-- TRUMP announced he would invoke the Defense Production Act, which is aimed at urging the private sector to produce more emergency supplies. More from Yahoo’s Jon Ward

-- HUD is suspending all foreclosures and evictions through the end of April.

-- THE USNS Comfort and Mercy, both 1,000-bed hospital ships, will soon be deployed to New York and somewhere on the West Coast. More from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo

-- VP MIKE PENCE said HHS will allow medical professionals to cross state lines to practice in hospitals that need them.

-- DEBORAH BIRX said the administration is “concerned” about reports out of France and Italy about some younger adults falling seriously ill in ICUs.

-- THE VA has canceled all elective surgeries, and CMS is recommending that all hospitals limit non-essential and elective procedures.

-- TRUMP said he’ll hold another news conference, with news from the FDA about testing capacity, later today or early Thursday. The president also said the FDA is “looking at” self-swab testing “down the line.”

-- TRUMP said the administration will be closing the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers and others crossing unauthorized “very soon. Probably today.”

THE PRESIDENT explained why he’s calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus”: “It comes from China.” He repeatedly denied that the term was racist.

NEW … WAPO: “White House instructs federal agencies to pare down to ‘mission-critical’ services to contain coronavirus spread,” by Lisa Rein and Eric Yoder

HOT DOC … THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT’S Phase Three proposal. Remember: Congress is writing this with the administration, but here’s WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

-- CHECKS FROM THE GOVERNMENT would “be issued beginning” April 6 and May 18, and they would be “fixed and tiered based on income level and family size.” “Each round of payments would be identical in amount.” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has been pushing on the family end and said he thinks this is the “right approach”

-- SMALL BUSINESS INTERRUPTION LOANS: “To provide continuity of employment through business interruptions, this provision would authorize the creation of a small business interruption loan program and appropriate $300 billion for the program. The U.S. government would provide a 100% guarantee on any qualifying small business interruption loan.” This is for businesses with fewer than 500 employees, and would be for 100% of six weeks of payroll, capped at $1,540 per week per employee.

THERE ARE A LOT OF QUESTIONS at the moment about section 1(b) here, which calls for $150 billion for lending or loans guarantees for “distressed sectors” of the economy. Who decides what is distressed, and what isn’t? WaPo on the proposal … More from Marianne LeVine and Andrew Desiderio

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SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL, on the Senate floor: MCCONNELL said the Phase Three bill would mean “an historic injection of liquidity and access to credit” for small businesses … This is the plan for Senate votes: “I would encourage our colleagues to come in and vote and depart the chamber so we don’t have gaggles of conversations here on the floor. That’s particularly important for our staff here and the front of the chamber. So I would encourage everyone, take full advantage of a full 30-minute roll call vote. Come in and vote and leave.”

MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER, on the Senate floor, just before 11 a.m.: “The process that Leader McConnell has outlined for phase three legislation is too cumbersome, too partisan and will take far too long, given the urgency and need for cooperation. Secretary Mnuchin says he wants legislation passed by the end of the week. The McConnell process will not get us there. Phase Three legislation should be the product of a five-corners negotiation: House and Senate leaders, majority and minority, plus the White House.”

-- FWIW: MCCONNELL ALLIES say he’s sticking with the process he’s outlined: build consensus among Republicans, then move to negotiate with SCHUMER.

-- @marianne_levine: “Cornyn says Senate likely to stay in until early next week to deal with phase three.”

THE BIG ASKS:

-- THE U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS wants “$250 BILLION in flexible, emergency fiscal assistance be allocated directly to cities by formula as quickly as possible. This will empower the nation’s mayors to immediately take the bold actions necessary to protect the American public from both the pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout.” The mayors’ letter

-- THE NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION is asking for $145 billion for a restaurant and food service industry recovery fund, $35 billion for community development block grants and $100 billion in federally backed business interruption insurance. The group also listed $45 billion in federal and conventional loans and $130 million in disaster unemployment assistance among its top priorities. The letter

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THE TIMELINE: WHEN CONSIDERING when Phase Three -- the near-$1 trillion coronavirus bill -- might become law, think back to the Patriot Act and bank bailouts as examples of the pace of large-scale lawmaking.

-- THE PATRIOT ACT was signed into law on Oct. 26, 2001 -- more than one month after the Sept. 11 attacks. (They did get an AUMF within a week or so.)

-- THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION released a draft proposal of its bank bailout on Sept. 20, 2008. It became law 13 days later, on Oct. 3, 2008.

GOV’T CHECK THOUGHT BUBBLE: How many people actually cash checks -- especially in the middle of a pandemic? Sure, many people bank online. But many don’t. Will the checks include any guidance about how to go to the bank and protect individuals from contracting coronavirus on the ATM touchpads? Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN said this morning on CNBC that the IRS has direct deposit info for a lot of people.

Good Wednesday afternoon.

WRITING ON THE WALL -- “Sanders will ‘assess his campaign’ after recent losses, campaign manager says,” by Quint Forgey: “‘The next primary contest is at least three weeks away. Sen. Sanders is going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign,’ Faiz Shakir said in a statement. ...

“Another potential indicator of the Vermont senator’s presidential campaign is its advertising activity. Sanders launched digital fundraising ads on Facebook Tuesday, and they have all been pulled. He also has no active ads up on Facebook today, according to Advertising Analytics.” POLITICO

THE LATEST POSTPONEMENT -- “Alabama Senate runoff postponed until July,” by James Arkin: “Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Wednesday the state is delaying primary runoff elections that were scheduled for later this month until July 14 because of concerns about coronavirus, delaying the GOP Senate runoff between former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville for more than three months.”

NORTHERN EXPOSURE -- “Canada, U.S. plan to close border to non-essential travel,” by Maura Forrest in Ottawa

THE EQUIPMENT DEFICIT -- “Hospitals Facing Coronavirus Are Running Out of Masks, Other Key Equipment,” by WSJ’s Melanie Evans and Khadeeja Safdar: “Doctors, nurses and other hospital staff rely on respirator masks, gloves and other protective equipment to keep them safe as they serve on the front lines of infectious-disease care. But hospitals have used up supplies at dizzying rates as the coronavirus epidemic spreads, hospital officials say. …

“Adding to the demand, the officials say, are testing delays that force hospitals to hold patients awaiting results. Doctors and nurses must wear protective gear while caring for those patients even if the tests eventually find they aren’t infected.” WSJ

REALITY CHECK -- “Surgeon general: 15 days of social distancing ‘likely not going to be enough’ to halt coronavirus,” by Quint Forgey

BEYOND THE BELTWAY … DESERET NEWS’ PAT REAVY: “5.7 earthquake hits near Magna, shakes entire Wasatch Front”: “USGS reported more than a dozen aftershocks over the next 30 minutes ranging from 2.5 to 3.9 magnitude. A 4.4 aftershock was reported about 8:02 a.m. among a series of smaller aftershocks. Twenty aftershocks were felt over the first hour, and 26 after the first two hours.

“There were no immediate reports of injuries, but news of buildings being cracked or damaged in downtown Salt Lake City and Magna were being discovered as people arrived at work. The Salt Lake City International Airport was shut down, according to spokeswoman Nancy Volmer.” Deseret News

THE LATEST VIRUS NUMBERS -- AP: “World virus infections pass 200,000, Europe’s borders jammed”

-- BLOOMBERG: “99% of Those Who Died From Virus Had Other Illness, Italy Says,” by Tommaso Ebhardt, Chiara Remondini and Marco Bertacche: “More than 99% of Italy’s coronavirus fatalities were people who suffered from previous medical conditions, according to a study by the country’s national health authority.

“After deaths from the virus reached more than 2,500, with a 150% increase in the past week, health authorities have been combing through data to provide clues to help combat the spread of the disease. … The new study could provide insight into why Italy’s death rate, at about 8% of total infected people, is higher than in other countries.” Bloomberg

-- BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN: “Documents show undisclosed coronavirus cases at DHS”: “Nearly 500 Department of Homeland Security employees are quarantined because of the novel coronavirus, and at least 13 are confirmed or presumed COVID-19 positive.”

CORONAVIRUS ECONOMIC IMPACT … WBNS: “Honda to temporarily halt production at all auto plants”

-- “Pandemic Erodes Gig Economy Work,” by NYT’s Kate Conger, Adam Satariano and Mike Isaac in San Francisco: “While gig economy companies like Uber and DoorDash have promoted themselves as providing flexible work that can be lifelines to workers during economic downturns, interviews with 20 ride-hailing drivers and food delivery couriers in Europe and the United States over the past week showed that the services have been anything but that. Instead, as the fallout from the virus spreads, gig workers’ earnings have plummeted and many have become disgruntled about the lack of health care.” NYT

VALLEY TALK -- NANCY SCOLA: “Big Tech faces a ‘Big Brother’ trap on coronavirus”: “As the federal government shifts into an all-hands-on-deck fight to battle coronavirus, President Trump and his White House have increasingly called on tech companies to lend a hand. … For the tech giants, this plea represents a huge opportunity to get back in the public’s good graces, as an industry whose image has taken a beating is being asked, even urged, to step up in a moment of national emergency.

“But they also have a problem: Arguably the single most powerful tool at their disposal, their growing troves of data on every American user, is exactly the thing their customers have grown worried about. They’re fighting the perception that they’re Big Brother — which, in a pandemic, [is] exactly why they’re useful.” POLITICO

PRISON BREAK -- “Get out of jail? Inmates fearful of virus argue for release,” by AP’s Jim Mustian and Joshua Goodman: “Coronavirus has become a ‘get out of jail’ card for hundreds of low-level inmates across the country, and even hard-timers are seeking their freedom with the argument that it’s not a matter of if but when the deadly illness sweeps through tightly packed populations behind bars.

“Among those pleading for compassionate release or home detention are the former head of the Cali drug cartel, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff and dozens of inmates at New York City’s Rikers Island, part of a jail system that lost an employee to the virus this week.” AP

THE LEFT BEHIND -- “They Clean the Buildings Workers Are Fleeing. But Who’s Protecting Them?” by NYT’s John Eligon and Nellie Bowles in San Francisco: “Although millions of Californians have been ordered to shelter in place, janitors are still being asked to go into offices to battle the invisible germs that threaten public health, even as those germs, and the new, powerful cleaning solutions they are being asked to use, may endanger their own health. They often operate without specialized protective gear. And the increasing demand for their services is adding new stress and risks.

“Janitors wonder why they are left in the dark when companies go to great lengths to ensure that the tech, finance and other workers occupying the buildings they clean are aware of the most remote possibility of coming into contact with the virus. It shows, they say, how disparities play out in a public health crisis — how their lives sometimes seem to be valued less than those of people with resources and power.” NYT

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DEPT. OF REGIME CHANGE? -- “U.S. uses encrypted app to connect with Iranians as coronavirus sweeps their country,” by CNN’s Kylie Atwood: “The State Department is using social media to encourage Iranians to share information with the Trump administration -- both on an encrypted tip line and through an online survey -- about the coronavirus pandemic that is devastating the country. …

“[T]he goal is to collect information from Iranians, find ways to share that information when it is determined to be accurate and leverage the coronavirus in an effort to fortify a relationship with the Iranian people … The State Department wants to make what they are hearing public, because they do not trust the Iranian regime's version of what is happening in their country.” CNN

TRUMP VS. CHINA -- “China Rebukes the U.S. After Saying It Will Expel American Journalists,” by NYT’s Alexandra Stevenson and Austin Ramzy in Hong Kong: “China took a combative stance on Wednesday, accusing the United States of starting a diplomatic war that led it to expel almost all American journalists from three newspapers.

“In articles and commentaries from China’s propaganda organs as well as remarks by a top spokeswoman, Beijing indicated it would not back down, accusing the United States of starting the dispute. The state media commentary also focused sharply on reporting by the three outlets, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, which the government has often accused of being unfair.” NYT

TRANSITION -- The White House announced it will nominate Chris Miller to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center in the Office of the DNI. He is currently deputy assistant secretary of Defense for special operations and combating terrorism.

BONUS BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Kiki Kalkstein, director of advocacy and engagement at the Global Health Council. What she’s been reading: “I just read an article in Science Magazine about the worry about the spread of COVID-19 in Africa. As attention has turned to the outbreak in the U.S., it reiterated to me what many of us in global health have been thinking about -- that we must also stay focused on how the epidemic grows in low- and middle-income countries where U.S. global health programs operate.” Playbook Q&A

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