Trump Signs $8B Coronavirus Funding Bill, Cancels Trip to CDC

March 06, 2020 / 6:22 am

caption: President Trump holds up the $8 billion coronavirus emergency funding bill after signing it at the White House as Health Secretary Alex Azar looks on.

Updated at 9:45 a.m. ET

President Trump on Friday signed into law an $8 billion emergency funding package for the coronavirus response at the White House.

Trump had originally planned to sign the bill while visiting the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the White House suddenly canceled the planned visit, saying on Friday that Trump "does not want to interfere" with the CDC's work.

Trump had a different explanation for why the trip was canceled, saying that the White House had learned on Thursday that the CDC had a staffer who had symptoms of the coronavirus, and was tested for it.

"They had one person who was potentially infected," Trump told reporters. "It turned out negative, so we'll see if we can do it," he said of the visit.

Trump signed the bill before he left for a trip to survey tornado damage in Tennessee. Later, he will attend political events in Palm Beach, Fla. He said he still hoped to work in a stop in Atlanta, but it was not immediately clear whether that was possible.

"We're going to try to go," he said. "I may be going, we're going to see if we can turn it around."