District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser's cellphone rang earlier this week from an unfamiliar number: It was the White House calling to say President Donald Trump wanted to talk.
The president congratulated Washington's mayor on $876 million in federal coronavirus relief going to the Washington-area Metro system -- money that was welcome but not under the mayor's jurisdiction, instead going to a regional transportation authority.
"It is very important that the District is made whole, and that the District gets what it's owed," Bowser said this week after her talk with Trump. The District is easing the order next week, one of the last jurisdictions to begin reopening. But city and public health officials warn that the nation's capital will likely take months to fully come back to life.
And just after Trump spoke, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force co-ordinator, said D.C., along with Chicago and Los Angeles, had experienced a long plateau in infections that administration officials were closely monitoring. "We want everything open," Bowser said. "And the way to get everything open is to have a measured and phased approach."In 2014, as his company was developing a hotel at the historic Old Post Office building leased from the federal government, Trump donated $5,000 to Bowser's DC Proud Inaugural Committee. Two of Trump's children -- Ivanka and Eric -- gave $2,000 each to the mayor's campaign after she defeated the city's incumbent mayor in the primary that year.
Trump's outings in the area have centred on dinners at his own hotel and trips to his golf club in Northern Virginia. His infrequent forays elsewhere in the District have courted controversy.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump declares emergency for flooded Michigan communitiesMany Central Michigan residents remained cut off from their homes Thursday even as floodwaters receded, with senior citizens among the scores of displaced people staying in shelters after flooding overwhelmed two dams, submerged homes and washed out roads.
Read more »
Biden regrets being 'cavalier' after suggesting African-American Trump supporters 'ain't black'Joe Biden said he 'should not have been so cavalier' in comments earlier Friday in which he suggested African Americans who back U.S. President Donald Trump 'ain't black.'
Read more »
Donald Trump deems churches ‘essential,’ calls on governors to reopen them this weekendTrump stressed the importance of churches in many communities and took issue with some of the businesses that had been allowed to reopen
Read more »
Trump ignores Ford’s request and Michigan law, refuses to wear mask on plant visitTrump ignores Ford's request and Michigan law, refuses to wear mask on plant visit
Read more »
Analysis: China dares Trump to hit back with Hong Kong power grabThe move risks triggering another round of tit-for-tat escalation between the U.S. and China, which have seen ties spiral to their worst in decades since COVID-19 began spreading
Read more »