(Photo : Reuters)

On Sunday, March 29, President Donald Trump met with supply chain distributors in the Cabinet Room of the White House to discuss the expedition of production, delivery, and upkeep of equipment deemed vital for the ongoing battle with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The President started the meeting by first acknowledging the fantastic job that the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA did on building mobile hospitals in New York at the Javits Center. Other hospitals are expected to be built all across the country.

Mobile Hospitals

These hospitals add 2,900 additional beds and will play a major role in helping the U.S. combat the spread of COVID-19. President Trump also touched on the fact that the hospitals are being built ahead of schedule, in only three to four days, and are of the highest quality.

After addressing Admiral Polowczyk, and commending him and his team for a job well done, the President went on to say that the U.S. government, along with the private sector, as well as nurses, doctors and other key medical personnel are doing a fantastic job amid the pandemic. A pandemic that he says no one could have been prepared for. 

President Trump then said that it's his administration's responsibility, along with the distributors present at the meeting, "to get our heroic doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers the medical supplies they need."

Supply Hoarding

He went on to address the problem of some hospitals and medical personnel who are supposedly hoarding crucial medical supplies. The President said that he understands why they would want to maintain ventilators and other medical supplies in case they need them, but that there are hospitals and American that are sick with this virus that need them now. 

"I spoke to a couple of people today, and I don't want to mention their names, but there is hoarding going on. And it's not really something that you wouldn't understand. They don't want to lose their ventilators in case they need them. But these are areas, in some cases, that probably will not need them, and in some cases, even if they do, they have too many. So they have to release ventilators, if they have them. They have to release certain medical supplies and equipment," said President Trump.

Project "Airbridge"

Project "Airbridge" is a series of at least 51 flights coming from allied countries that are to be loaded with medical supplies. The first such flight touched down at JFK early Sunday morning carrying nearly 2 million masks and gowns, over 10 million gloves, and over 70,000 thermometers. 

The projected increase of supplies due to project "Airbridge" is expected to be well over three times the normal production for the U.S. in one year and is to happen in the next 100 days, according to the President.

Increase in American Cases, due to Increase in Testing

As of now, the United States is testing nearly 100,000 people each day for the novel coronavirus. This, compared to most other countries is an astronomical number. While some media outlets will portray this as a failure for the current administration, it only goes to show that if other countries-those with 1.5 billion people for example-had the capabilities to test like the U.S. does, then the narrative would be somewhat different.

"When the fake news goes and says, 'Well, we have more,' we're fine with it. We're testing tremendous numbers of people," said Trump.

Sharing Is Caring

According to transcripts from the meeting, President Trump stated that if the U.S. has an excess of critical supplies, then we will be shipping it to those countries in need. 

"We're working along with Italy, we're working along with France and Spain. They have massive problems," he said. "They're doing a great job, but they're having a tremendous problem."

"So it's a very sad thing. We're up to 151 countries, as you people know. A hundred and fifty-one countries.  Nobody would have thought this was possible," said Trump before turning the meeting over to his associates from the supply chain. 

Those present at the meeting were military officials in charge of Task Force Supply Chain, as well as executives from UPS, FedEx, Cardinal Health, Henry Schein, McKesson and others.