WASHINGTON (WWJ/AP) - President Donald Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for Michigan, providing additional money to help the state address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The declaration announced by the White House on Saturday follows a back-and-forth between Trump and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has criticized the Trump administration for its slow response to the pandemic, saying “we cannot weather this alone.”
After Whitmer earlier in the week criticized the federal government's response to the pandemic, the president responded by attacking Whitmer on Twitter.
Declaring in his latest tweet targeting the Michigan governor: "I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic. Yet your Governor, Gretchen 'Half' Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude!"
The U.S. surgeon general said Friday that Detroit, a national “hot spot” for cases of the new coronavirus, will worsen next week. More than 3,600 people in Michigan were confirmed to have COVID-19 Friday.
At least 92 have died, most from the three counties in the Detroit area, according to state officials.
Of paramount concern, Whitmer says, is a shortage of personal protection equipment, or PPE, for healthcare workers.
“I want them to be appreciative,” Trump said Friday after the White House announced that he would be using the powers granted to him under the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to try to compel auto giant General Motors to produce ventilators.