Despite expanding travel ban for the Iranian nationals and those who traveled to Iran in the last fourteen days, the US president claimed that his country is ready to help Iranians if they ask.

Iran Press/ America: Speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington, Donald Trump said: "If we can help the Iranians with this problem, we are certainly willing to do so. All they have to do is ask. We will have great professionals over there," referring to the recent global spread of the coronavirus.

However, Trump announced that his administration will respond to a global increase in confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus by expanding its travel ban on Iran and issuing “do not travel” warnings to areas in Italy and South Korea most affected by viral outbreaks.

“My administration has taken the most aggressive action in modern history to control our borders and protect Americans from the coronavirus; I ordered sweeping travel restrictions to prevent uncontrolled spread of this disease and took a lot of heat as I did it very early,” he said, adding that he was called racist for imposing the measures.

"We're banning travel for anyone who has been to Iran in the last 14 days," he said, adding that: "We will do everything in our power to keep the virus and those carrying the infections from entering our country."

Worldwide, the number of people sickened by the coronavirus is about 85,000. There have been more than 2,900 deaths, most of them in China.

The virus has now hit 61 countries across the globe, prompting the World Health Organization to raise its risk assessment to its highest level.

In the US, one person died from the coronavirus in Washington State on Saturday, the first patient to die from the disease in the United States. Officials in California, Oregon, and Washington state this week confirmed four patients were infected with no history of travel to a country where the virus is circulating.

Trump has appointed his VP, Mike Pence on Feb. 26 to be in charge of a White House coronavirus task force.

CPAC is a key event on the calendar of many prominent American conservatives. The first conference took place in 1974 and featured a closing speech by the future President Ronald Reagan. It has enjoyed sustained popularity since then and continues to be organized by the American Conservative Union (ACU) on an annual basis.

The 2020 conference schedule featured a host of notable conservatives in the days leading up to Trump's grand finale, including many top administration officials. 212/ 104

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