Trump expected to address protests and Hurricane Laura

There is no mention of required coronavirus testing in the guidance that was sent earlier today to guests who are invited to President Donald Trump's speech on the South Lawn tonight.

Instead, the guidance advises guests to stay home if they are not feeling well or have experienced Covid-19 symptoms, recently tested positive or have been in close contact with someone who has. 

According to the guidance obtained by CNN, "face coverings are required upon arrival and in security screening areas. Use is encouraged in high traffic areas including restrooms and hospitality spaces."

"Practice social distancing whenever possible," it adds.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows would not get into the details of Trump's speech tonight o the RNC, and on Covid-19 precautions, he would only say that people in close proximity to the President would be tested at the event. 

Testing for outdoor events at the Republican National Convention has been scattershot at best. Guests who were seated around the President Tuesday night were tested, but most who attended weren't.

Reporters covering Vice President Pence's speech Wednesday night were tested, but several guests who were seated much closer to the stage were not. And now it appears no testing will be required for the President's speech Thursday night. 

Eric Trump, son of U.S. President Donald Trump, pre-records his address to the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium on August 25 in Washington. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Trump's son Eric Trump joined “Fox and Friends” for an interview Thursday morning and teased his father’s speech tonight, telling anchor Steve Doocy, “I was with him yesterday and this whole week was absolute home run.” 

Trump did not mention Hurricane Laura or the protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, but focused rather on touting the Republican National Convention.

Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh confirmed to reporters earlier today excerpts of President Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention speech as reported by Politico. 

The President is also expected to say, “The Republican Party goes forward united, determined, and ready to welcome millions of Democrats, independents, and anyone who believes in the Greatness of America and the righteous heart of the American people. This towering American spirit has prevailed over every challenge, and lifted us to the summit of human endeavor.”

President Donald Trump speaks on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Charlotte Convention Center on August 24 in Charlotte. Jessica Koscielniak/Pool/Getty Images

One of Republicans’ challenges this week has been recasting Trump as an effective crisis-time leader. Many Americans say in polls he mishandled the coronavirus pandemic, a view Trump’s advisers hope to change. 

Using revisionist history, they have tried to rewrite his approach to the crisis — though a top-down decision this week to restrict testing only amplifies the impression he’s continuing to downplay the outbreak. 

Yet as the week progresses he’s also faced a spate of real-time crises, including a serious hurricane bearing down on the Gulf Coast and unrest in Wisconsin. 

White House officials say Trump has been monitoring the storm closely, though they have not suggested he would alter his convention plans — unlike the 2008 and 2012 Republican National Conventions, which were both truncated because of hurricanes. Trump tweeted a photo on Wednesday from an Oval Office storm briefing. Trump traveled to FEMA's headquarters ahead of today's speech to receive a storm briefing.

Hurricane Laura is the first major weather event to occur during the coronavirus pandemic, though wildfires have also been ravaging parts of Northern California this week (Trump blamed the state, saying, “You gotta clean your floors”).

Laura has weakened into a tropical storm. Earlier this morning, it made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, as a Category 4 hurricane. So far at least six deaths have been reported, as well as widespread damage.

Trump has always shown greater willingness to appear engaged when disasters strike states that voted for him — and the storm tracked toward Louisiana and Texas.

This is an instance where having the convention at the White House — opposed to an arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, or Jacksonville, Florida — could benefit Trump. Because he remains in Washington, he’s able to say he’s monitoring the storm from his Oval Office command center — even if his attention remains on his reelection campaign.

President Donald Trump listens during a meeting at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington on Thursday, August 27. Erin Scott/Polaris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

President Donald Trump will address Hurricane Laura’s landfall in the gulf during his address tonight at the Republican National Convention, per Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh.

“The President will talk about the hurricane, and the preparations that have been made, and ask for God's blessing for the people who are in his path," he told reporters on a call Thursday.

Murtaugh also told reporters, Trump is expected to address racial unrest, including protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, saying, “He will also talk about the unrest that we have seen in American cities, including Kenosha, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and other cities. So it's a big night for us, we are very much looking forward to it. The program leading up to the President's speech will be just as good if not better than the previous three nights.”

Asked if Trump will address the shooting of Jacob Blake, Murtaugh dodged, saying, “I'm not going to get into very much in the way of specifics about what the President will talk about, as far as specific topics, but the President will address the unrest in this country, he will make reference to Kenosha, and he will speak about the issue also in terms of how the reaction cannot be to escalate violence, in that we cannot have Americans continue to harm Americans in our streets, and also in the frame that the police must be allowed to do their jobs, that he respects and admires the work that the vast majority of our men and women of law enforcement, respects the job that they do.”

A person stands outside of the White House lit in purple and gold to mark the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage during the third night of the Republican National Convention in Washington on Wednesday, August 26. Carolyn Kaster/AP

The White House and Trump campaign appear to be taking some big health risks in their planning for Trump's speech on the South Lawn of the White House.

Trump's speech is expected to draw between 1,000 to 1,500 people, according to outgoing counselor Kellyanne Conway. That would rank as one of Trump's biggest events since his ill-fated rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, back in June. 

Asked about precautions for the event, a WH official said, "Anyone in close proximity to the president will be tested." But when asked about everybody else, the official said that's a question for the campaign. Campaign officials did not respond for comment.

Earlier this week, the campaign said it was working with a coronavirus adviser in all of its event planning.  

But the White House has taken a cavalier attitude toward the virus at times during the convention, staging Vice President Mike Pence's speech Wednesday night in Baltimore where it appears there were not many people wearing masks.

A similar scene was seen during Tuesday's speech for first lady Melania Trump in the Rose Garden where few people wore masks. As a task force source recently told CNN, Trump still doesn't get it when it comes to the virus. 

As for Trump's speech, campaign officials told CNN it will happen as scheduled, despite the likelihood Hurricane Laura will be leaving behind a lot of devastation in its wake. 

President Donald Trump speaks on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Charlotte Convention Center on August 24 in Charlotte. Chris Carlson/Pool/Getty Images

President Donald Trump is expected to deliver his nomination acceptance speech Thursday evening from the White House, according to a Republican familiar with the planning.

Ethics experts have said that accepting the nomination from White House property highlights Trump's willingness to trample on norms. A federal law, known as the Hatch Act, generally forbids the use of government property and employees for political activities with some exceptions.

The President and vice president are exempted, but some previous officeholders have sought to limit political activity in the White House, for instance, by holding political events elsewhere or in the residential spaces of the presidential mansion.

Vice President Mike Pence formally accepted the Republican nomination for vice president last night, speaking in front of a live audience at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. A major theme of both his address and the night as a whole was support for law enforcement.

A dangerous storm tearing toward the Gulf Coast and an extraordinary protest by basketball and baseball stars over the latest police shooting of a Black man threatened to overshadow Pence's turn to headline the convention.