Trump to invoke Defense Production Act if needed for vaccine distribution

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order on vaccine distribution during an Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would invoke the Defense Production Act if needed to ensure Americans are first in line for domestically produced coronavirus vaccines, although he added he did not think it would be necessary.

Trump delivered the remarks at the top of a White House summit on vaccine development and distribution just before signing an executive order intended to ensure that priority access for COVID-19 vaccines procured by the U.S. government is given to the American people before assisting other nations.

The executive order does not appear to have a clear enforcement mechanism, so Trump’s suggestion that he could use the Defense Production Act was significant. The act, which was passed in 1950, grants the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons.

“If necessary … we’ll invoke the Defense Production Act, but we don’t think it will be necessary. If it is, it’s a very powerful act, as you know, because we’ve used it very, very successfully,” he said.

The executive order and the summit itself seemed designed in part to give credit to Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden but has refused to concede, for the speedy development of the vaccine.

At the beginning of the event, a video was played showing people, including infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, casting doubt on the likelihood a vaccine would be ready before the end of the year.

Trump has had a complicated relationship with Fauci, who has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. Biden has made him a chief medical adviser in his upcoming administration.

The White House did not invite members of the Biden transition team to the vaccine summit. Biden’s administration will oversee vaccine distribution once he takes office on Jan. 20.

Trump, who has asserted allegations of widespread electoral fraud without evidence, repeated his claims when asked about why Biden officials had not been included.

“We’re going to have to see who the next administration is, because we won in those swing states and there was terrible things that went on. … But whichever the next administration is will really benefit by what we have been able to do,” Trump said. “Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration.”