President Trump moves to lift coronavirus travel restrictions on Europe, Brazil

President Trump has lifted travel bans for Brazil and much of Europe effective Jan. 26 as he prepares for a flurry of eleventh-hour activity before he leaves office — including issuing a new set of pardons.

Trump announced Monday night in a proclamation that “the unrestricted entry into the United States” from Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the 26 countries of the Schengen area in Europe — Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, Italy and more — is now allowed. The move steals the thunder of the incoming Biden administration, which had publicized plans for a similar move.

“(I) find that it is in the interest of the United States to terminate the suspension of entry into the United States of persons who have been physically present in those jurisdictions,” Trump’s proclamation reads.

Trump added he’s “leaving in place the restrictions applicable to the People’s Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran” for their “their lack of transparency, and their lack of cooperation with the United States.”

Lifting the ban, he adds, “is the best way to continue protecting Americans from COVID-19 while enabling travel to resume safely.”