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Trump news: US lifts coronavirus warning against international travel as president jokes about looking orange in rambling speech

US president Trump has been admonished by social media sites over coronavirus claims: AP
US president Trump has been admonished by social media sites over coronavirus claims: AP

US president Donald Trump travelled to Ohio on Thursday ostensibly to announce an executive order to ensure essential medicines are made in America, in what largely felt and sounded like a campaign event. As the president left DC, Ohio governor Mike DeWine tested positive for coronavirus and was therefore unable to meet Air Force One on the tarmac in Cleveland.

In a speech at the Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohio, the president veered on and off script lauding his purported achievements in trade for the American worker and promising more, while waxing lyrical about lightbulbs and water pressure, and going after his political opponents.

Earlier in the day, Trump suggested that Americans would have a coronavirus vaccine in November, and possibly before the presidential election. Meanwhile, three US social media sites censured president Donald Trump's claims on Wednesday that children were "virtually immune" to Covid-19, with Facebook calling the president's post "harmful Covid misinformation".

The US State Department announced it has lifted its global 'do not travel' order, in place since March, but there are still only a very small number of countries that welcome Americans.

The day couldn't go by without Trump taking a few swipes at his election opponent Joe Biden, who the president said is against religion, against the Bible, against God and against guns. He also took aim at Biden for insulting the black community after the former vice president asked an African American journalist if he was a "junkie".

Meanwhile, New York district attorney Letitia James, who has launched an investigation into the Trump Organisation, announced a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association that seeks to disband the gun-rights group.