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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration will send a test message to all US mobile phones on Thursday for a new warning system to warn the public of national emergencies.
The messages will carry the title "Presidential Alert", the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which will send the message, said in a statement earlier this week.
Former President Barack Obama signed in 2016 a law asking FEMA to create a system allowing US presidents to send mobile phone alerts regarding public safety issues such as natural disasters and the terrorism".
The latest announcement about the alert comes amidst a flurry of tweets from President Donald Trump's personal Twitter account in recent days regarding Hurricane Florence. Dozens of tweets provided safety tips and applauded the efforts of his administration and the work of the first responders.
The test alert, announced by the Trump administration in July, will arrive at a politically sensitive moment: about two months before the November 6 legislative elections.
US mobile phone users will not be able to opt out of the alert system. Thursday's test message is scheduled for 2:18 pm EDT and will read as follows: "THIS IS A TESTING of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System.No action is needed."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its role in planning the test alert.
The administration will also send a test alert via broadcasters and broadcasters two minutes after the cell phone alert, part of a long-standing system for reporting extreme weather conditions and other situations. emergency. FEMA indicated that it would interrupt programming for about a minute.
(Report by Jason Lange and David Morgan in Washington, edited by Chizu Nomiyama)
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