President Trump calls off planned trip to CDC in Atlanta

President Donald Trump's visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has been called off because he doesn't want to get in the way of its work, the White House said Friday. Trump had planned a Friday stop at the agency, which is working with state and local officials to help combat the spread of the coronavirus. COVID-19 so far has killed 12 people in the US, most of them in Washington state.

Vice President Mike Pence said late Thursday during a visit to Washington state that Trump would sign an USD 8.3 billion coronavirus funding bill at the CDC. But the Atlanta stop was left off of the president's public schedule when it was released late Thursday. Trump would no longer visit the agency because he "does not want to interfere with the CDC's mission to protect the health and welfare of their people and the agency," The White House said Friday morning. No further explanation was provided.