唐纳德·特朗普总统使用《国防生产法》（DPA）授予的紧急权力，签署了一项法案，旨在增加医疗保健专业人员为应对美国冠状病毒爆发所需的呼吸器，口罩和呼吸机的生产。
DPA最初由总统哈里·杜鲁门（Harry S. Truman）于1950年签署，它使联邦政府能够指示私营部门将其精力集中在帮助该国的国防上。特朗普在周三签署的立法中表示，在冠状病毒大流行期间医疗设备的短缺符合使用DPA的标准。
白宫周三发布的行政命令说：“为确保我们的医疗保健系统有能力应对COVID-19的扩散，应对这一扩散的能力和能力至关重要，至关重要的是，应对该扩散所需的所有健康和医疗资源COVID-19的一部分已正确分发到国家医疗体系以及目前最需要它们的其他国家。”
特朗普在周三的新闻发布会上说：“从来没有像这样的事例，无论你拥有什么，这还不够。”
包括众议院少数党领袖参议员查克·舒默（Chuck Schumer）在内的一些众议院民主党人一直在敦促特朗普使用DPA的权力，在3月的一封信中说，使用该法案“将确保我们准备好所需的材料，而不是等待破坏。在全球供应链中消退。”
当被要求发表评论时，众议院少数党领袖参议员查克·舒默（Chuck Schumer）的办公室将《新闻周刊》引向舒默在周三发布的推文。
舒默写道：“我们需要确保医生和护士拥有他们所需的一切。” “测试工具包，口罩，床，通风机。特朗普总统听取了我们使用《国防保护法》来应对短缺的呼吁，迈出了第一步。但是，他的管理员在抗击冠状病毒方面还有很多工作要做。”
最近几天，特朗普一直在使用更多的军事术语来描述美国与冠状病毒的斗争。
特朗普周三在推特上说：“我希望所有美国人都明白：我们正在与一个看不见的敌人交战，但这种敌人无法与美国人的精神和决心相提并论。” “它无法克服我们的医生，护士和科学家的奉献精神，也无法击败我们公民的爱，爱国主义和决定性。坚强而团结，我们将万无一失！”
特朗普在周三的新闻发布会上也称自己为“战时总统”。
特朗普告诉记者：“这是一场战争。从某种意义上讲，我认为这是战时总统。” “我的意思是，这就是我们正在争取的。”
为此，特朗普曾承诺将派出两艘美国海军医疗船，即USNS Comfort和USNS Mercy前往可能在冠状病毒战斗中最有用的地区，同时承认政府尚未“做出最终决定”。这些船将部署在哪里。
美国海军在一份声明中说：“ Comfort and Mercy不会部署来治疗COVID患者，但将在沿海地区（当地卫生专业人员必须专注于大量COVID病例的地方）协助其他患者的治疗。”周三声明。
TRUMP SIGNS EMERGENCY BILL TO MAKE COMPANIES MANUFACTURE MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO FIGHT CORONAVIRUS
Using emergency powers granted under the Defense Production Act (DPA), President Donald Trump signed a bill designed to increase the production of respirators, face masks and ventilators needed by health care professionals in order to fight the U.S. coronavirus outbreak.
Originally signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1950, the DPA allows the federal government to direct the private sector to focus its efforts on aiding the defense of the country. In the legislation signed Wednesday, Trump said the shortage of medical equipment during the coronavirus pandemic meets the criteria for using the DPA.
"To ensure that our healthcare system is able to surge capacity and capability to respond to the spread of COVID-19," read Wednesday's executive order from the White House, "it is critical that all health and medical resources needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19 are properly distributed to the Nation's healthcare system and others that need them most at this time."
"There's never been an instance like this where no matter what you have it's not enough," Trump said during a Wednesday news briefing.
Some House Democrats including House Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer have been pushing for Trump to use the powers of the DPA, saying in a March letter that using the act "would ensure we have the materials we need at the ready, rather than wait for disruptions in the global supply chain to subside."
When asked for comment, House Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer's office directed Newsweekto a tweet posted by Schumer on Wednesday.
"We need to make sure doctors & nurses have everything they need," Schumer wrote. "Testing kits, masks, beds, ventilators. President Trump took a 1st step by heeding our call to use the Defense Protection Act to fight the shortages. But his admin still has so much more to do to fight coronavirus."
In recent days, Trump has been using more militaristic terms to describe the U.S. fight against the coronavirus.
"I want all Americans to understand: we are at war with an invisible enemy, but that enemy is no match for the spirit and resolve of the American people," Trump tweeted Wednesday. "It cannot overcome the dedication of our doctors, nurses, and scientists- and it cannot beat the LOVE, PATRIOTISM, and DETERMINATION of our citizens. Strong and United, WE WILL PREVAIL!"
Trump also referred to himself as a "wartime president" in a Wednesday press briefing.
"It's a war. I view it as in a sense a wartime president," Trump told reporters. "I mean, that's what we're fighting."
To those ends, Trump has promised to send two U.S. Navy medical ships, the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy, to areas where they could be the most useful in the coronavirus fight while admitting that the administration has not "made the final determination" of where those ships will be deployed.
"The Comfort and Mercy will not deploy to treat COVID patients, but will be made available to assist with treatment of other patients in coastal locations where local health professionals are necessarily focused on a large number of COVID cases," said the U.S. Navy in a Wednesday statement.
