WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he’s ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ship mobile hospital centers to the hard-hit states of Washington, California and New York amid the coronavirus pandemic. For New York, that would mean another 1,000 hospital beds.
Trump is also revealing for the first time the number of respirators and other personal protective equipment sent to the hard-hit states by the federal government. It comes as state and local leaders have appealed on the federal government to provide far more, and as Trump has held off on using his full authorities under the Defense Production Act to marshal the private sector’s capabilities.
The president says it’s up to states to try to get the materials first. He says: "We're sort of a backup for states."
Trump says he’s also communicating with governors in those three states in calling up their national guard, keeping it under local control but providing federal funding.
