18:50

Well, that was a brief briefing. Donald Trump made opening remarks and handed over to Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drugs Administration, and Mike Pence, but then fled without taking questions.



The obvious conclusion is he is still smarting from Thursday night’s effort, when he wondered aloud if injecting disinfectant into patients might be a good idea and was duly hammered by doctors, politicians and even disinfectant makers.



White House coronavirus task force briefings are often two-hour prime time marathons but on Friday Trump turned on his heel as reporters shouted questions in vain. Perhaps it was a fit of pique, or perhaps revenge is a dish best served cold. He may also have reached a tipping point with advisers warning that the briefings are now hurting him more than they help.



Right on cue, minutes later, the Axios website reported that Trump plans to “pare back” his coronavirus press conferences, according to four of its sources. Next week, it said, “he may stop appearing daily and make shorter appearances when he does”.



One other thought. What Trump might have delivered on Friday night was a sombre, landmark speech recognising that more than 50,000 of his countrymen have now been lost to the coronavirus. He did not.