President Trump mused about finding a “cure” for the COVID-19 coronavirus and defended the safety of his campaign rallies ahead of a White House meeting with drug company leaders.

Trump is eager to halt a stock market panic and quiet Democratic criticism of his handling of the coronavirus as scientists warn the virus may have spread widely in the US, though there are fewer than 90 confirmed cases.

“We’re talking about a vaccine, maybe a cure, it’s possible, we’ll see about that,” Trump told reporters Monday morning. “We’ve asked them to accelerate whatever they’re doing in terms of a vaccine.”

Trump spoke briefly as he hosted Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez in the Oval Office, and defended the safety of a massive campaign rally he’s hosting in North Carolina on Monday night.

“You could ask that to the Democrats … They’re all having rallies, that’s what they’re doing, they’re campaigning,” Trump said. “I think it’s very safe.”

The coronavirus killed its first two Americans this weekend in Washington state — men in their 50s and 70s with underlying health problems. The first victim had no recent travel to China or connection with a known infected person; the second victim died at the same hospital.

Additional new cases were reported over the weekend tied to recent travel to Italy and Iran, where there are significant local outbreaks.

Trump told reporters Monday about the new cases: “Some additional people were reported. They’re in good shape, but we have some additional people that were reported. Not very many in the United States.”

In Washington state, a nursing home is in a state of panic after a resident and staffer tested positive, with other suspected cases among residents. And in California, there are at least two cases without links to known infected individuals.

The Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, Wash., found that if the virus has been spreading in Washington state since mid-January, as genetic sequencing suggests, it’s likely about 300 to 500 state residents are infected.

Globally there are nearly 90,000 cases of the coronavirus. The vast majority are in China.