Amid a day of political back and forth on face masks, mail-in voting, and emergency federal relief funding, President Donald Trump now says Michigan is going to receive federal assistance amid the recent dam floods.
"We've sent FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers and they can do things that frankly nobody else can do," Trump told reporters at a Ford factory where coronavirus pandemic ventilators are being manufactured now.
"They are very good at repairing dams that have been busted or blown up, for whatever reason, bad things happen, but Americans are praying for central Michigan and we're going to take care of your problem."
Trump said he spoke with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday morning and signed an emergency declaration.
"We're going to help you out very quickly," Trump added.
Gov. Whitmer, a Democratic rival and frequent Trump critic, had called it "scary" Trump threatened to withhold federal relief funds from Michigan. She added she was not invited to the Ford factory visit by the president.
Trump also said he might support another fiscal stimulus bill to help prop up the economy during the coronavirus outbreak, though he did not provide any details on what he would like to see in such legislation.
"I think we will. I think we're going to be helping people out," he said.
"There could be one more nice shot."
Trump expects there to be another coronavirus relief bill, but he vowed it would not look like the House Democrats' $3 trillion version.
When pressed on what Trump would like to be in it, Trump said he knows, but that it would not be appropriate to reveal his preferences at the Ford factory and would do so at a future time.
"Built Ford tough, a great expression, maybe I'll steal that," Trump said. "Built Trump tough."
Trump did say he wore a mask, showing it to the media while walking through the factory, but added he did not want to give the media the "pleasure" of seeing him in it.
"I was given a choice," he said. "And I had one on in an area where they preferred it, so I put it on. And it was very nice. Look, very nice. But they said they're not necessary."
"I look better in a mask," Trump joked.
Trump also called on the American economy to reopen even if there is a second wave of the global coronavirus pandemic.
"People say that's a very distinct possibility," he said. "It's standard. And we're going to put out the fires. We're not going to close the country. We're going to put out the fires."
Trump added about the reopenings across the U.S., "Americans who need and want to return to work should not be vilified."
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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