President Donald Trump has announced that he will address the nation on Wednesday at 9 p.m. from the Oval Office. But will he declare an emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, in order to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) involved?

President Trump has told Americans to “be calm” because coronavirus “will go away,” so he’s hesitant to declare an emergency; instead, he and the COVID-19 Task Force are waiting on Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s opinion before making that decision, a report from Politico claimed:

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is pushing for the designation but Vice President Mike Pence, who Trump tapped to lead the administration’s coronavirus response, doesn’t want Trump to act until Congress passes a stimulus package, according to two of the people. There’s no deadline for a decision, but one of the people familiar with the talks said the task force will not give Trump its final verdict until Jared Kushner, the president’s senior adviser and son-in-law, finishes his research and comes to a conclusion himself.

Needless to say, this detail did not inspire confidence in what’s going on behind the scenes at the White House. People are freaking out.

Holy shit: Trump is holding off on an emergency declaration until Jared Kushner has done his homework. https://t.co/78ukL1fIPe pic.twitter.com/gPopM6Tz5p — Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) March 11, 2020

Sooooo…our fate rests in the hands of the guy whose dad had to buy his admission to Harvard? https://t.co/ED40dj29UJ — Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) March 11, 2020

Looks like our fate depends on Jared Kushner so y'all better get your affairs in order.https://t.co/jDokfTN7ve — Kaz Weida (@kazweida) March 11, 2020

We don't know what qualifies Jared Kushner to work in the White House, much less decide on an emergency declaration in the midst of a pandemic https://t.co/zl4EfhgN1Z — Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) March 11, 2020

January: “I've been studying this now for three years," Kushner said of the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict. "I've read 25 books on it, I've spoken to every leader in the region, I've spoken to everyone who's been involved in this." https://t.co/WfAjA8RoO2 — Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) March 11, 2020

noted medical expert jared kushner https://t.co/DN1fRC1IUZ — darth™ (@darth) March 11, 2020

When I worked at a newspaper owned by Kushner, one year they were somehow incapable of sending me my W-2, but ok. https://t.co/Xcnu2kFQ0v — Jillian Jorgensen (@Jill_Jorgensen) March 11, 2020

Jared Kushner is not an epidemiologist. Yet, here we are with him in the mix. We’re governed by a cabal of dunces and partisan sycophants. — Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) March 11, 2020

https://twitter.com/Nate_McMurray/status/1237857594967871489?s=20

Kushner. They’re waiting on KUSHNER to declare. KUSHNER!!! https://t.co/tBPgQlEFcd — Dr. Samantha Montano (@SamLMontano) March 11, 2020

[Image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images]

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