Written by Beckett Glass (News Writer)
Since early-mid march when the majority of states had begun locking-down to protect their citizens, President Trump held press conferences on the White House grounds. These conferences were meant to give information to the press for dissemination to the public, but, occasionally, they take a different turn. Tensions with Russia are also on the rise due to a Russian violation of the international treaties.
Throughout the past few months, President Trump has been giving press briefings on federal action on COVID-19. Trump has been known for his combativeness towards the press, and these press briefings have shown this in full force, with Trump hurling insults and lines of questioning at reporters. In a press briefing on Thursday, May 21 a reporter asked Trump if he was going to attend the (SpaceX) rocket launch and Trump responded by saying “I’d like to put you on the rocket, get rid of you for a while.” This is just one example of his combativeness towards the press. Another example is when a reporter broached a question in May about how Trump is treating the pandemic as global competition and Trump responded by saying “Maybe that’s a question you should ask china. Don’t ask me; ask China that question, okay?” The way Trump acts on the world stage allows for international leaders to see what the president thinks of the agreements he enters into or stands beside, it can ignite tensions or put them to rest.
Tensions between the U.S and the Russian Federation are on the rise because of the U.S withdrawal from the open skies treaty. The open skies treaty was designed to allow all signatories to fly unarmed aerial observation flights over participatory countries for aerial imaging of military activities of concern to them and to build international confidence. The U.S withdrew from the treaty because of several Russian violations. A press release from the Department of State cites Russian forces denying access in a six-mile corridor around its border, a denial of an observation flight over a military exercise, and an illegal flight restriction over Kaliningrad which is a site of a military buildup in Russia. Russian officials also suggested that the region has short-range nuclear-tipped missiles aimed towards NATO (Referring to NATO member states). It is important to manage things domestically and abroad, the federal government should tread lightly considering historical relations with Russia. Domestically Congress is taking more action to try and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on people and small businesses.
The Federal response consists of several components, most recently an additional three trillion dollar aid bill that has passed the house but is still in the Senate as of May, 26. Titled the HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) Act it is similar to the CARES act which was signed into law on March 27, 2020. The HEROES act is designed to improve upon and to replenish funding to the programs introduced in the CARES act such as the paycheck protection program which was designed to help employers give a paycheck to their employees. The bill is designed to do many things but some of the most important elements are: Modifying the Paycheck protection program, Requiring employers to have infectious disease plans, and Providing additional payments of up to $1200 per individual.
The Claw 