Trump announces news conference on coronavirus

President Donald Trump announced a White House news conference Friday, his latest attempt to restore public confidence in his handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Trump, who has been criticised for persistently downplaying the pandemic, said in a tweet that this would take place at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT).

"Topic: CoronaVirus!" he tweeted. The announcement came as Congress and the White House said they were nearing agreement on measures to ease the financial pain caused by the pandemic's disruption to the economy.

A deal would likely dampen panic in the stock markets and offer reassurance for Americans facing possible severe health costs and job turmoil resulting from the sudden slowdown in economic activity.

Trump could also declare a national emergency, which would free up substantial federal funding.

His press conference comes after a widely panned national address on Wednesday, which not only failed to calm growing nerves but contained serious factual errors and was followed by a massive stock market sell-off.

Trump is likely to face a barrage of questions over what critics say has been a chaotic public health response, particularly regarding meager testing capacities for the virus.

In addition, Trump is under pressure to explain why he is not being tested for coronavirus himself, or even going into self-quarantine, following his contact with numerous politicians who took the precautionary measure.

Last weekend, Trump hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who said Friday he tested negative for the virus after it emerged that his press secretary had tested positive.

Trump also met with the press secretary during the dinner at his golf resort in Florida.