Schumer Begs Trump To Send Ventilators Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

NEW YORK CITY — A phone call between Donald Trump and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer ended with the president shouting at someone in his office to get ventilators to the places that need them, according to a Senate Minority Leader spokesperson.

Schumer pleaded with Trump about 11 a.m. Friday to use the Defense Production Act — under which the president can order U.S. manufacturers to make needed products — to "get ventilators and other important medical equipment to those who need it," the spokesperson said.

"POTUS told Schumer he would,” the spokesperson said. “And then POTUS yelled to someone in his office to do it now.”

At a press conference hours later, Trump assured reporters several U.S. companies had already been identified to produce ventilators.

Among the companies was auto manufacturer General Motors, according to Trump.

"They said they've done it before, which surprised me, and they could do it very easily," Trump said.

The federal government also has 20,000 ventilators on standby, said Vice President Mike Pence, head of the Trump Administration's COVID-19 task force.

New York City alone needs an estimated 15,000 ventilators as soon as April to meet the wave of patients expected to overwhelm the state's healthcare system, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

New York’s shortage of medical supplies, specifically ventilators, spurred Gov. Andrew Cuomo Friday to issue a statewide stay-at-home order that will go into effect Sunday.

New York's case numbers were going up at triple the capacity of the hospital beds fitted with ventilators, said Cuomo.

"We can't get more ventilators," said Cuomo. "The only option available to us is to reduce the spread."