Washington, March 12 (RHC)-- The president of the United States, Donald Trump, woke up on Thursday to a wave of harsh criticism from political sectors and the media for his incompetence to lead the country in the midst of a crisis.

According to The New York Times, Trump faces the biggest challenge yet to his prospects for re-election, with his campaign advisors' two main assumptions - a booming economy and an opponent easily vilified as too left-wing (Bernie Sanders) - rapidly evaporating.

After a year in which the president told voters they must support his re-election or risk seeing the economic decline, the stock market is reeling and economists warn that a recession may be on the horizon due to the worsening spread of the coronavirus, the paper says.

Criticism of the president comes from across the U.S. political spectrum, and the voices of alarm in the country are growing in response to the measures announced on Wednesday to tackle the COVID-19 epidemic and its spread throughout the nation.

Prensa Latina news agency says theamericanconservative.com website analyzes the president's speech and says that instead of hope, his words and actions, in many cases described as childish and out of place, are creating a crisis to confront the scourge.

Rod Dreher, the site's senior editor, said it was too late for a travel ban from Europe to help. It would have made much more sense two weeks ago. He criticized Trump for talking more about economic relief than public health concerns, after spending weeks minimizing the severity of the epidemic for the country.

Meanwhile, EU leaders condemned Trump's move on Thursday, which they described as unilateral and announced without any consultation whatsoever with them.

 “The Coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel said in a joint statement.