WASHINGTON – President Trump on Monday ordered an end to the ban on travelers from Europe and Brazil aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus to the United States, a move quickly by aides of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. , who said that Mr. Biden will uphold the ban when he takes office on Wednesday.
In a proclamation issued late Monday, Mr. Trump said the travel restrictions, which apply to non-citizens trying to come to the United States after spending time in those areas, are no longer necessary on January 26, the date the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states: will require all passengers from abroad to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding a flight.
Mr. Trump wrote that Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, recommended ending travel restrictions from most parts of Europe and Brazil, while maintaining restrictions on Iran and China, which Trump said were not not. cooperative.
“I agree with the Secretary that this action is the best way to protect Americans from Covid-19 while safely resuming the journey,” the president said in the proclamation.
But Jennifer Psaki, the incoming press secretary of the White House for Mr. Biden, said the new government will not allow Trump’s prescriptions to take effect.
“With the worsening pandemic and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to lift restrictions on international travel,” Me. Psaki tweeted shortly after the White House issued the statement of Mr. Trump issued.
“On the advice of our medical team, the administration does not intend to lift these restrictions at 1/26,” she said. “We plan to strengthen the health measures surrounding international travel to further mitigate the spread of Covid-19.”
The proclamation that lifted the travel ban was part of a spate of executive orders that Mr. Trump issued on Monday, which was probably by Mr. Bids will be revoked or reversed.
The president-elect made the core of his new government control of the pandemic and was very critical of how his predecessor handled the worst public health crisis in more than 100 years.
Mr. Biden said the American people must be prepared to endure a ‘dark winter’ in which the virus spreads rapidly and causes more disease and death. His advisers have recommended that he impose a mask mandate on federal workplaces and for interstate travel in hopes of slowing the increase in the number of infections.
Help for mr. Biden made it clear Monday that mitigating restrictions now do not make sense.
Mr. Trump has long tried to use his willingness to ban travel to slow the spread of the virus as proof that he acted quickly in the early days of the pandemic. In fact, medical experts said that the restrictions on travel from China, which Mr. Trump introduced in late January, was littered with releases that tens of thousands of people who were in China could enter in the weeks after the ban. .
Mr. Trump’s restrictions on travel from Europe only came into effect in mid-March, when the virus was well established in the United States. In May, the government imposed a travel ban on people who were in Brazil.
The proclamation on the travel restrictions appears to be an attempt to help the airline and hospitality industry, which has been hit hard by the ban.
In it, Mr. Trump said the ban is no longer necessary because unrestricted travel to the United States “no longer harms the interests of the United States” and added that he finds it “in the interest of the United States to end the suspension of access. to the United States from persons who were physically present in those jurisdictions. ”
The president’s attempt to change the policy associated with the pandemic just two days before leaving office is consistent with the unorthodox way he made the transition to a new government. Ordinary presidents usually do not remember to issue new executive orders without consulting with the incoming president.
But Mr. Trump refused to meet the norms. Weeks after Mr. Biden would be the winner of the presidential contest, the president refused to acknowledge the defeat and handed over the formal process of handing over power to the team of mr. Pray to convey.
And recently, Trump officials rushed to introduce policy changes that could be disruptive to the incoming president.
Mr. Trump’s other executive orders on Monday included one that would allow federal agencies to issue new regulations only upon incitement to political appointments.
It seems that the order is intended to replace existing political appointments of Mr. Allow Trump’s administration to stay in control of new regulations until Mr. Biden replaces it with his own appointments, a process that can sometimes take weeks or months.
Mr. Trump also issued an executive order instructing the federal government not to buy drones “that carry unacceptable risks and are manufactured by either software or critical electronic components of foreign adversaries.” This order seems to be aimed at China.
Mr. Trump ordered the creation of a National Garden of American Heroes that would include statues of notable people. The order follows the complaints of mr. Trump during the summer that protesters desecrate statues, something he used as a cultural wedge issue in his lost presidential campaign.
He also issued one executive order that would seek to increase the protection of prosecutors and another aimed at protecting Americans from ‘overcriminalization’ through regulations.
None of Mr. Trump’s executive orders are unlikely to take effect Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Biden has committed himself to the legacy of Mr. To stop Trump and plan a flash of his own executive orders – many of which reverse the Trump agenda – in the first hours and days he is in the White House.