Washington(CNN) In his return to coronavirus briefings after a hiatus of nearly three months, President Donald Trump has argued less with reporters, stuck more to his prepared texts and adopted a more somber speaking voice.
But he has continued one of the staples of his briefing room appearances in March and April: downplaying the pandemic in ways that do not match reality.
At his Thursday briefing, Trump made a series of separate remarks in which he tried to make the situation in the US sound far better than it is.
He said, "a lot of the country has no problem whatsoever -- most of the country actually." He said, of the outbreak in the Jacksonville, Florida area, where he had been planning to hold Republican convention activities until canceling them Thursday, "It happens quickly. And it goes away and it goes away quickly."
Hailing progress in the Northeast, he said, "The country is in very good shape other than if you look South and West."
Facts First: Though some parts of the US have much bigger current problems than others, the virus is a problem throughout the country -- and as the outbreaks in the South and West prove, communities that once looked to be in relatively good shape can soon become hot spots. Though Trump didn't define "quickly," major outbreaks do not simply go away fast; they do not vanish at all without intensive effort by governments and citizens. And though the situation in the Northeast has indeed improved substantially, it's absurd to claim the country is in "good shape" other than rampaging outbreaks in two major population regions.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus task force coordinator, said Wednesday that the administration was monitoring rising cases in a list of 12 cities that included some far from the South or West.
"There are cities that are lagging behind and we have new increases in Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, San Jose, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Baltimore, so we're tracking this very closely," Birx told a group of local and state health officials in audio obtained by journalism nonprofit Center for Public Integrity.
Twenty-three states have rising numbers of coronavirus cases this week versus last, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (Twenty-two states are steady, while cases are declining in only five.) Coronavirus hospitalizations, meanwhile, are right around the record levels of April. The US is again having days of more than 1,000 reported coronavirus deaths.
Trump claimed the country was low on supplies, particularly ventilators, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
"Remember, I used to say the cupboards were bare; well now the cupboards are the opposite," Trump said. "And most importantly, they have ventilators because the ventilators are very, very hard to come by, at least in the past. Now we're making thousands of ventilators a month, and supplying them in many cases to other countries."
Facts First: The Strategic National Stockpile was not empty, of ventilators or other supplies, before the coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to CNN in late June that there had been about 19,000 ventilators in the national stockpile for "many years," including 16,660 ventilators that were ready for immediate use in March 2020; the spokesperson confirmed that none of those 16,660 were purchased by the Trump administration.
Additionally, the stockpile contained enough smallpox vaccines for every American, among other medical resources. And while the stockpile of some critical supplies that could be used to combat coronavirus was drained and not replenished, Trump has had three years in office to build those depleted stockpiles back up.
Ultimately, Trump ignored the warnings of experts and failed to restock masks and prepare other supplies to fight a potential pandemic.
You can read a longer fact check on Trump's claims about inheriting an empty cupboard of supplies here.
Trump also touted the government's efforts to provide supplies to the states, emphasizing that his administration has been closely communicating with governors.
"We have supplies, everything they could possibly need," Trump said. "We're very strong on supplies. "
Facts First: While some governors have what they need, others have said the Trump administration is falling short. And even though Trump claimed the US was "very strong on supplies," some hospitals and health care workers still don't have enough protective gear, for which experts say Trump's slow decision-making is partially to blame.
As of Thursday's briefing, at least 13 states have requests for coronavirus supplies pending with the Trump administration, according to ABC. This is not the first time Trump has claimed that governors were satisfied with the supplies they received, even as governors from both parties said they faced shortages of medical equipment.
The country is in better shape than a few months ago, but there are still reports of equipment shortages. Some frontline health care workers are also still rationing their personal protective gear.