Donald Trump praises Ron DeSantis’ coronavirus response

President Donald Trump speaks before he signs the coronavirus stimulus relief package in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, March 27, 2020, in Washington. Listening are from left, Larry Kudlow, White House chief economic adviser, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty of Calif. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump praised Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ response to the novel coronavirus Friday, noting the Governor’s self-isolation requirements for travelers from the New York City area this week.

“He was not happy with the people coming down from New York,” Trump said. “You know, they’re flying down from New York. He has a state with obviously a lot less problems.”

DeSantis’ order on Monday called for plane passengers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to be screened and isolate for 14 days upon arriving in Florida. The next day, he doubled down on that order by calling on travelers who have been in those states in the last three weeks to self-isolate for 14 days and to report anyone they have had contact with.

On Friday, the Governor added Louisiana to that list to assuage concerns in the Panhandle. Florida Highway Patrol and local law enforcement will enforce highway checkpoints to alert travelers to self-isolate.

The President noted that Florida has been doing well “in the sense of testing.”

Florida has 3,198 cases of COVID-19 and 48 deaths with 503 hospitalizations as of a Friday evening report. In New York, where there are more than 44,000 cases statewide, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 passed 6,000 on Friday, double what it had been three days earlier.

Florida has ordered half a million sampling swabs to send samples to testing sites where about 625,000 tests are available. But those swabs have been coming in small quantities, with the state sending about a thousand at a time to sampling sites throughout the state.

Trump on Thursday said officials would look at the coronavirus impact on a county-by-county level, which DeSantis says is an approach he has taken from the beginning. The Governor has repeatedly defended his decision to not implement lockdowns like New York or California, instead leaving local governments to issue their own varying stay-at-home orders.

“I think that that really shows that Florida led the way on doing it in a way that made sense for all of our communities to be able to win this fight,” DeSantis said earlier Friday.

He also noted the state has led the way on traveler isolation orders with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott later implementing a similar order.

Trump lathered further praise on DeSantis.

“He’s a very talented guy. He’s a very good Governor. Everyone loves him. He’s doing a fantastic job for Florida,” Trump said.

“Ron’s a very tough guy,” he added. “He’s a great Governor, and I have tremendous confidence in him. He had the big situation, he was all that. He will get it all resolved.”