White House says Trump to give news conference

President Trump will hold a news conference on Monday evening to discuss new guidance on coronavirus testing, according to the White House.

Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump plans to brief the nation on the new guidance and “other announcements about safely opening up America again.” The announcement came roughly two and a half hours after the White House canceled a planned 5 p.m. press conference for the president’s coronavirus task force.

“The White House has additional testing guidance and other announcements about safely opening up America again. President @realDonaldTrump will brief the nation during a press conference this evening,” McEnany wrote in a tweet Monday afternoon.

UPDATE: The White House has additional testing guidance and other announcements about safely opening up America again. President @realDonaldTrump will brief the nation during a press conference this evening.

— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) April 27, 2020

The White House issued updated guidance shortly thereafter noting a 5 p.m. news conference in the Rose Garden. It is unclear whether the president will field questions from reporters at the press conference, which is also expected to be attended by Vice President Mike Pence. It is unclear whether other members of the coronavirus task force will also attend the news conference.

The event was added hours after McEnany told Fox News in an interview Monday morning that there would not be a briefing Monday and that Trump would instead hold a press availability during a meeting with executives on COVID-19. The White House then canceled the coronavirus briefing, which had been scheduled for 5 p.m. in the press briefing room. 

“There will be briefings throughout other portions of the week. But these briefings are excellent. They’re a way for the president to speak directly to the American people,” McEnany said on Fox.

Trump has for the past two days forgone coronavirus press briefings, which have become a daily occurrence over the past several weeks, save Easter Sunday. Trump signaled over the weekend that he may curtail the briefings, accusing the press of inaccurately reporting his remarks.

The decision to skip briefings came after Trump weathered criticism over remarks he made at Thursday’s briefing suggesting medical experts study the use of disinfectants to treat COVID-19. Trump has since claimed he made the remarks in jest.