President Donald Trump will hold a press conference to address the spiraling coronavirus pandemic.
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President Donald Trump will hold a press conference to address the spiraling coronavirus pandemic. / AP

President Donald Trump will hold a press conference to address the spiraling coronavirus pandemic as he seeks to calm a panicked nation amid mixed messages and growing criticism of his administration's scattershot response.

The news conference comes as the virus edged ever closer to the world’s power centers, including a positive test for a Brazilian official who spent time with Trump and top administration officials last weekend and an Australian Cabinet minister who met with U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Trump’s daughter Ivanka among other top aides.