WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced Thursday he is canceling the Jacksonville portion of the Republican National Convention that had been planned next month because of the coronavirus pandemic, a major setback in his effort to energize his struggling bid for reelection.
"The timing for this event is not right," Trump told reporters at the White House during his latest briefing on the virus. "There's nothing more important than keeping our people safe."
Trump said that he would deliver remarks to formally accept his party's nomination for president but offered no details on where or when that would happen. The move was not only a significant blow to his campaign but also appeared to undermine the president's narrative that the country is ready to reopen for business.
Trump said convention delegates will still gather in North Carolina and formally nominate him for reelection. Trump said he would announce new plans in coming days.
"We will still do a convention speech in a different form, but we won't do a big crowded convention, per se," Trump said. "I care deeply about the people of Florida and everywhere else, frankly, in this country and even in the world who would be coming into the state. And I don't want to do anything to upset it. They will be doing very well very shortly."
The explosion of coronavirus cases in Florida – the state has reported sharp increases in COVID-19 deaths – and the later-than-usual selection of Jacksonville had cast doubt on the party's ability to convene the major event there to rally supporters. USA TODAY reported this month that convention organizers were severely limiting the event.
Republican officials announced last month that Trump would move the highest-profile speeches of the Republican National Convention to Jacksonville from Charlotte, North Carolina, after the state's Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, imposed a shelter-in-place order that could have severely limited the large, made-for-television event Trump wanted.
In a sign of disorder as Republicans scrambled to organize the event, the Jacksonville sheriff, a Republican, raised concerns this week about a lack of funds for a four-day event, which was expected to bring thousands of people to the city.
"There can be nothing like our last convention, unfortunately," Trump said. "It's a different world, and it will be for a little while."
Trump addressed reporters for the third time in as many days after abruptly announcing he would restart daily briefings on the virus that were suspended in April. Trump has used the high-profile sessions to tout efforts to spur vaccine production, encourage the wearing of face masks and warn that the pandemic is getting worse.
Public health officials reported Thursday that 4 million people in the U.S. had been infected with the virus and experts believe the number of cases is actually much higher. Meanwhile, almost 150,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus.
More: U.S. hits 4 million cases of COVID-19: A look at the milestones and setbacks
Minutes before Trump walked into the briefing room, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told his colleagues that Senate Republicans have reached an agreement "in principle" with the administration on another round of virus-related economic stimulus. McConnell said he expected leaders would present details early next week.
Lawmakers have been locked in negotiations for weeks over another round of economic aid. McConnell's announcement was incremental – the major political struggle will be fought between Senate Republicans and House Democrats – getting Republicans on the same page as the White House has been viewed as a critical first step.
Trump's latest briefings have been shorter than those earlier in the pandemic, and he has appeared alone rather than standing alongside Vice President Mike Pence and the nation's leading public health experts, such as Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The president has largely stayed on message and avoided the kind of missteps that led to the suspension of the briefings in April (when he suggested disinfectant could be used as a treatment for the virus). Still, Trump has continued to draw controversy even in these toned-down briefing. On Tuesday, Trump offered his well wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein, who is facing charges that she helped recruit girls as young as 14 who were sexually abused by the billionaire financier.
On Wednesday, Trump blamed a dramatic uptick in U.S. coronavirus cases on young people who attended nationwide protests over police brutality, summer holidays, a "substantial increase in travel" and migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, even though his own advisers have also attributed the surge to some states' early reopenings.
Contributing: Khrysgiana Pineda, Joey Garrison.
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