It’s Trump Versus the States as Virus Rages On

(Bloomberg) --

Donald Trump has often shown thinly-veiled envy for the power wielded by strongman leaders.

Yesterday he asserted from a podium in the White House briefing room that he has “total” authority to order states to relax social distancing and reopen their economies, even as the coronavirus continues to ravage America.

The president’s claim — which legal experts dispute — reflects an escalating battle with state governors, whom Trump warned could face political consequences, perhaps in the form of future losses at the polls, should they rebuff his directives.

Six northeast states, including New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, announced they will jointly develop a plan to reopen schools and businesses when the virus subsides. California, Washington and Oregon will work together on their own framework.

The message from these states, led by Democratic governors, is a blunt one. It comes as Trump is set today to announce a council of doctors and business people to advise him on restarting the economy. November's presidential election, where the economy is likely to be a major issue, is drawing ever-closer.

Pennsylvania is among several battleground states particularly hard hit by the virus, potentially decimating Trump’s central campaign narrative.

For Trump, who spent weeks down-playing the severity of the outbreak, the approach seems to be to take an ever harder line on his authority to direct policy. The question is whether he's underestimated the lengths to which leaders of key states will go to defy him.

Global Headlines

Longer lockdowns | Ministers will decide in the next three days on extending Britain's lockdown, with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab — standing in for Boris Johnson while the premier recovers from the virus — saying the measures are likely to continue, as the U.K. toll passes 11,000. President Emmanuel Macron has extended France's lockdown until May 11, while India's measures will stay until May 3.

• Read more about the violence and abuse Indian health-care staff face as people panic about catching the virus from medical workers or being stigmatized for having contracted it themselves.

Latest salvo | North Korea fired short-range cruise missiles from its eastern coast, while fighter jets conducted exercises with air-to-surface rockets. The launches are a show of military might ahead of parliamentary elections next door in South Korea; tomorrow also marks the birthday of state founder Kim Il Sung, grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.

• Public approval of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s handling of the virus outbreak could help his party keep control of the National Assembly.

Losing patience | China’s top agency overseeing Hong Kong accused lawmakers there of using “sleazy tactics” to block the agenda of the local legislature. The ability to stall proposed laws is one of the few political levers available to the government’s elected opponents. The 70-seat Legislative Council is vested with the power to pass laws under the “one country, two systems” framework for Hong Kong's rule by China.

Running short | Russia’s deepening economic crisis threatens to spill into neighboring states that are among the world’s most dependent on remittances from migrant workers. Former Soviet republics in central Asia and the Caucasus receive $13 billion annually from migrants in Russia, where they can work visa-free. Now that money is drying up amid coronavirus lockdowns in Moscow and St. Petersburg that have halted construction projects and sapped demand for taxis.

Hygiene warlords | A notorious Sudanese militia that spearheaded a bloody anti-insurgency in Darfur has a new message: Please wash your hands. The Rapid Support Forces is taking center stage in the fight against the coronavirus, building on its rise to near the top of Sudan’s transitional government. The militia runs a quarantine center, disinfects streets and distributes equipment and medical advice, promoting it all on social media.

What to Watch

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz won an extension until midnight tomorrow to try and seal a power-sharing deal, after the rivals signaled to President Reuven Rivlin that an agreement was near.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered a second straight weekend-only lockdown, telling 31 cities to observe a curfew from April 17-19, as he seeks to balance measures against the pandemic with a desire to keep the economy running.
• Libya’s United Nations-backed government is accelerating its campaign to reclaim territory lost to eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar after it seized key towns yesterday.
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will take part in a video conference today of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors, ahead of a similar Group of 20 meeting tomorrow.

Tell us how we’re doing or what we’re missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.

And finally… Officials in Saudi Arabia are racing to contain a coronavirus outbreak in the Islamic holy city of Mecca, where crowded slums and migrant labor camps have accelerated the spread. Shielding Mecca from the pandemic is crucial for the Saudi royal family, which grounds its rule in guardianship of the birthplace of Islam that's visited by millions of Muslim pilgrims each year. King Salman’s official title is “custodian of the two holy mosques.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.