Trump on coronavirus response debt: ‘We had no choice’

President Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. “had no choice” but to pour trillions of dollars into fighting the coronavirus and its steep economic toll as Republican lawmakers raise concerns about its impact on the national debt.

Trump said during a White House briefing Wednesday night that while he was worried about the climbing national debt, the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic required a response of similar magnitude from Washington, D.C.

“This was an attack. This wasn’t just, ‘Oh gee.’ This wasn’t the flu, by the way,” Trump said, despite comparing COVID-19 to seasonal influenza before the outbreak reached pandemic proportions.

“Nobody’s ever seen anything like this,” Trump continued. 

Trump’s comments come as the House prepares to pass more than $300 billion in further coronavirus economic rescue and medical response funding and Democrats push for another massive stimulus bill. Trump and Congress have already approved more than $2.2 trillion in economic relief to counter more than 22 million job losses caused by the pandemic and the efforts to slow it.

Democrats are seeking billions more in relief for states facing severe revenue losses and spiking unemployment claims, along with federal assistance for people having trouble paying rent. funds for election reform, hazard pay for essential workers, including doctors, nurses and grocery store clerks, and funding for the U.S. Postal Service.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said Thursday that the U.S. must be willing “to spend what it takes to win the war” despite concerns about the $24 trillion national debt.

Even so, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rebuffed talk of another titanic spending package, citing the steep cost of the response already.

“I think it’s also time to begin to think about the amount of debt we’re adding to our country and the future impact of that,” McConnell said. 

“Let’s weigh this very carefully, because the future of our country in terms of the amount of debt that we’re adding up is a matter of genuine concern.”

Economists across the ideological spectrum have called for a massive, unprecedented response to devastation caused by the coronavirus. The unemployment rate is estimate to rise above 20 percent by the release of May’s jobs report after lingering near a 50-year low of 3.5 percent for most of the past 12 months.

Trump voiced optimism Wednesday that the U.S. economy would be able to quickly rebound once the pandemic was under control. But public health experts and economists have warned that life will be slow to return normal.