Trump clarified in a later tweet that “Invoke ‘P’” referred to invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA), a Korean War-era law that gives the president the power to direct civilian businesses to help meet orders for products necessary for the national defense.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/ventilators-nyc-rt-ps-200324_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Caitlin Ochs/Reuters
PHOTO: Ventilators at the New York City Emergency Management Warehouse are shipped out for distribution due to concerns over the rapid spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, March 24, 2020.
ABC News has not confirmed the full details of the Times report, but a personal familiar with the negotiations told ABC News that, in line with the president’s publicly expressed frustration with GM, the administration pumped the brakes on the prospective deal because it was unsatisfied with the timeline of how long it would take for production to ramp up to full capacity.
After Trump tweeted, Ventec and GM said in a statement they were poised to deliver their first ventilators by next month and would ramp up to a manufacturing capacity to more than 10,000 per month – although they did not say when they would reach that goal.
Trump's mention of the DPA came even as he has resisted actually using the authorities under the act, which would allow him to order private industry to produce ventilators and other needed goods at prices set by the federal government.
He previously said he liked to wield the law as a “threat” that gives him “leverage” over companies. There is no evidence his administration has yet to use it.
Governors have for weeks pleaded with the federal government to do more to secure ventilators. New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo had said his state needed at least 30,000 soon.
While the president’s tweets represented an urgent call to manufacturers to step up ventilator production, his expressed outrage on Friday comes after he downplayed projected shortages in an interview with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity on Thursday night, in which he disagreed with the chorus of experts calling for more.
\"I don't believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators,\" the president said on Fox News. \"You know, you're going to major hospitals sometimes, they'll have two ventilators. And now, all of a sudden, they're saying, can we order 30,000 ventilators?
What to know about coronavirus:
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