President Trump will declare a national emergency to hasten the government’s ability to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
The president had tweeted earlier in the day that he would hold a news conference at 3 p.m. in which he would address “CoronaVirus!”
The declaration — which, according to Bloomberg will invoke the Stafford Act to allow for more federal aid to be sent to states — comes as Trump has faced intense criticism for the government’s sluggish response to address the pandemic.
This story is developing and will be updated.