Washington — President Trump will hold a news conference at the White House on Sunday, the eve of the Republican National Convention. Mr. Trump teased the event on Twitter, saying he will be holding an “important” news conference, where he will deliver “very good news.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Saturday the event concerns a “major therapeutic breakthrough” on the coronavirus, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn will be in attendance.
How to Watch President Trump’s News Conference today
What: President Trump holds a news conference
Date: Sunday, August 23
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
Location: The White House, Washington, D.C.
Online stream: Live on CBSN — in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device
While it’s unclear what, specifically, Mr. Trump will be announcing, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who previously led the agency under the Trump administration, predicted on “Face the Nation” that it will involve an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma.
While Mr. Trump has been a vocal supporter of convalescent plasma as a treatment for the coronavirus, the National Institutes of Health last week warned the FDA against approving an emergency use authorization, prompting criticism from the president.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump suggested the “deep state” at the FDA is deliberately slow-walking trials for a coronavirus vaccine and therapeutics, with the goal of damaging his reelection prospects.
“The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd,” he tweeted.
Gottlieb, however, said the trial the authorization is based on was not “very rigorously done.”