President Trump, back in Washington after a two-day visit to India, announced on Twitter that he and members of his administration will hold a news conference Wednesday evening to address concerns about the global coronavirus outbreak.

“I will be having a News Conference at the White House, on this subject, today at 6:00 P.M. CDC representatives, and others, will be there. Thank you!,” the president posted.

Earlier, Trump praised his administration’s handling of the virus and said “meetings and calls” have been scheduled to deal with the escalating crisis.

“Just landed. India was great, trip very successful. Heading to the White House. Meetings and calls scheduled today,” the president wrote in a posting shortly after Air Force One touched down at Joint Base Andrews. “@CDCgov, @SecAzar and all doing a great job with respect to Coronavirus! Briefing this afternoon.”

He referred to the Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention.

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, who works for the CDC on combating respiratory diseases, issued a dire warning Tuesday about the worldwide spread of the virus.

“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen — and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” Azar told reporters during a briefing.

The World Health Organization has warned countries to “prepare for a potential pandemic” because of the virus’ rapid spread since it originated in China late last year.

Since then, it has infected more than 80,000 people around the world and killed more than 2,700. The United States has 57 recorded cases.

The virus has also caused global financial markets to tumble, with the Dow losing nearly 2,000 points in two days.

The Trump administration has asked Congress for $2.5 billion to prepare for an outbreak even as Republican and Democratic members of Congress questioned the White House’s readiness.

GOP Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, asked Azar if $2.5 billion was sufficient.

“If you low-ball something like this, you’ll pay for it later,” Shelby said, adding that as the coronavirus continues spreading, “It could be an existential threat to a lot of people in this country.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) was visibly frustrated as he grilled acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf about details pertaining to the virus.

He asked how many people in the US could become infected, what the mortality rate was and whether the administration had enough respirators and masks.

After Wolf flubbed many of the answers, Kennedy shot back: “Yes, sir, but you’re head of Homeland Security and your job is to keep us safe. Don’t you think you ought to check on that?”

Late Tuesday, Trump touted the administration’s response and blamed Democrats for using the virus as an issue to criticize the White House.

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“The Democrats talking point is that we are doing badly. If the virus disappeared tomorrow, they would say we did a really poor, and even incompetent, job,” the president said. “Not fair, but it is what it is. So far, by the way, we have not had one death. Let’s keep it that way!”