Trump insisted the move would eradicate the testing shortcomings that health experts say hindered the country’s ability to contain the virus when it first appeared on American shores. In recent days, Trump’s health officials have warned Americans to expect the situation to worsen, spurring much of the country’s public spaces to shutter — professional sports have been suspended, concert halls are closed until further notice and many Americans have been asked to self-isolate.

Yet even as Trump unleashed $50 billion in government funding, the announcement had a distinct market-first flavor.

Trump outlined a series of agreements with private companies, including Google, Target and Walmart, to facilitate swifter coronavirus testing for Americans. Target and Walmart said they will set aside parking lot space for testing sites, while Google pledged to set up a website to determine whether a person needs a test, and where one is available.

“Very soon, Americans will be able to go to these drive-in sites,” said Vice President Mike Pence, who Trump put in charge of the administration’s coronavirus task force.

Trump said he expected 1.4 million additional tests to be available next week and 5 million within a month — even as he cautioned against everyone rushing to get tested.

“We don’t want everybody taking this test,” he said. “It’s totally unnecessary.”

Trump has faced condemnation over the administration’s failure to provide adequate testing and resources for the coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people worldwide and infected tens of thousands. Health specialists have also reprimanded Trump for repeatedly downplaying what has now been deemed a global pandemic.

“I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump said of the government’s struggles to produce enough tests, blaming existing rules set by prior administration for limiting his options. “We were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.”

And he claimed to not know that a pandemic preparedness team within the National Security Council was scrapped in 2018. Trump called a question about it “nasty” at a news conference.

“I didn’t do it,” he said.

Still, Trump’s executive actions on Friday received a positive response on Wall Street and even among Democrats.

A faltering stock market swiftly rebounded as Trump was speaking, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring nearly 2,000 points, or more than 9 percent, the largest percentage gain since the 2008 crisis. The comeback reversed nearly all of Thursday’s tumble, which was the worst since the 1987 market crash.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y,), who had urged Trump to act more forcefully, offered rare praise for the president but warned him not to go too far.

“As other steps are considered, the president must not overstep his authority or indulge his autocratic tendencies for purposes not truly related to this public health crisis,” he said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered no comment.

In addition to his executive actions, Trump has pressed Congress for an economic stimulus package that could amount to hundreds of billions of dollars. Late Friday, Pelosi announced that she had clinched a deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on a package meant to provide paid leave for workers, expand food aid and support widespread testing for the illness at no cost to patients.

Only hours earlier, Trump had said during his press conference that he did not yet support the latest version of the bill.

“We just don’t think they’re giving enough,” he said. “We don’t think the Democrats are giving enough.”

Friday’s national emergency declaration was considerably different than one the White House earlier this week had signaled was being prepared. A White House aide involved in the coronavirus response told POLITICO on Wednesday that Trump would sign a limited emergency declaration that only addressed the faltering economy by unleashing billions of dollars for loans to small businesses and to cover missed paychecks for hourly workers.

But Democrats and many health care industry leaders were pressuring Trump to declare a more expansive emergency to help hard-hit states build mobile hospitals and shelters, while assisting with public safety and other issues.

White House documents referenced both the Stafford Act, which is designed to activate the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the National Emergencies Act, the same law he invoked last year to repurpose government funds for construction of a southern border.

But the president only said his order would increase the powers of the Department of Health and Human Services, the lead agency thus far in the administration’s coronavirus response. Under Friday’s order, HHS will be able to waive certain Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program requirements in an effort to bypass time-consuming regulations.

Separately, Trump said the federal government will waive interest on federal student loans and would purchase additional crude oil for the nation’s reserves.

“This will pass,” he said. “This will pass through. We’re going to be even stronger for it. We learned a lot, a tremendous amount has been learned.”

Previously, Trump had been reluctant to declare a more sweeping national emergency, fearful of stoking panic with such a dramatic step. But his thinking evolved as the American coronavirus caseload soared past 1,600 this week, with public health officials warning the country to expect a spike in the coming days.

For weeks, Trump has tried to reassure Americans that the widening outbreak is under control. But the situation has escalated in recent days.

The stock market has dropped in record numbers not seen since the 2008 recession, and much of the country — from Disney World to professional sports leagues, museums and concert halls — has shut down. Across the U.S., the coronavirus has now killed more than 40 people and health officials have warned that the situation will worsen.

Trump made another attempt to calm Wall Street during a brief prime-time Oval Office address on Wednesday. But he instead caused more confusion when he misrepresented the contours of a 30-day ban on foreign visitors from Europe and misstated that insurance companies had promised to fully pay for people’s coronavirus treatment.

Friday’s declaration builds on a previous, agency-specific “public health emergency” declaration HHS made in January. The move unlocked some initial federal money and resources. But Friday’s two designations are much broader.

Still, some disaster management experts were disappointed that Trump on Friday did not appear to task FEMA — the agency that oversees hurricane, tornado and flood response — with leading the government’s coronavirus response plan.

“FEMA has an important role in coordinating the larger response to the crisis,” said Tim Manning, a former FEMA deputy administrator. “If there’s an emergency, FEMA needs to be involved. I’m not sure how it could be done mechanically or legally without FEMA.”

FEMA has previously helped with government responses to other insidious dangerous outbreaks, including SARS, MERS and Ebola.

While previous presidents have made emergency declarations “virus threat” disasters — Bill Clinton did it for West Nile virus under the Stafford Act — it is rare, former FEMA officials say.