Trump’s Target for Ending Lockdown Sets Up Clash With Governors
Trump said he envisions “packed” U.S. churches on Easter Sunday as he described his ambition to re-open the economy in mid-April
(Bloomberg) --
President Donald Trump said he envisions “packed” U.S. churches on Easter Sunday as he described his ambition to abandon stringent public-health measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak and re-open the economy in mid-April.
His vision appears increasingly out-of-step with the nation’s state and local leaders, who have ordered entire states and cities shut down in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the virus.
But he drew measured support from Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said it might be possible for parts of the country to return to normal function while others combat outbreaks. Fauci did not, however, address the Easter timeline specifically.
“Obviously no one is going to want to tone down things when you see what’s going in in a place like New York City,” Fauci said. “What we don’t have right now that we really do need is, we need to know what’s going on in those areas of the country where there isn’t an obvious outbreak.”
Trump again said during the news conference that he aims to have Americans back at work by “that beautiful Easter day.” There have been more than 53,000 cases of the disease in the U.S. and nearly 700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, and the World Health Organization said earlier Tuesday the country risks becoming the epicenter of the global outbreak.
‘Packed Churches’
“I think Easter Sunday -- you’ll have packed churches all over our country,” Trump said during a Fox News “virtual town hall” on Tuesday, though he said the timing could shift.
Trump has said he’d re-evaluate whether to call for people to return to work after his 15-day strategy to limit social contact elapses next week. On Tuesday, he repeatedly talked about the harm a long-term economic shutdown would have on the nation.
“This cure is worse than the problem,” Trump said. “In my opinion, more people are going to die if we allow this to continue.”
One Federal Reserve official sees a 50% drop in U.S. economic growth from social distancing efforts related to the outbreak.
But even as Trump muses about relaxing public health guidelines, governors and mayors across the U.S. are continuing the shutdown. On Monday, Indiana, West Virginia and Wisconsin all ordered residents to stay at home while Virginia and Maryland placed restrictions on non-essential movement.
“I hope and pray our president knows something I don’t know,” West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, a Republican and staunch Trump supporter, said at a news conference.
Jared Polis, the Democratic governor of Colorado, said in a statement to Bloomberg News that, “based on the data I’m seeing I’m not sure I share President Trump’s optimism about the exact date, but it’s a good goal and we all share a desire to get past this as quickly as we can and staying at home unless absolutely necessary is the way to do that.”
WHO warning
The World Health Organization warned earlier Tuesday that the U.S. could become a new hub of the outbreak. While the U.S. death rate is presently unknown, Trump has claimed it is lower than 1%.
“We save our economy by first saving lives,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Tuesday during a press conference. “When people are dying, when people don’t feel safe, this economy is not going to come back.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned not to attempt to re-open businesses and end the social-distancing campaign.
“This is a time for scientific, evidence-based decision making,” Pelosi said in an MSNBC interview Monday, adding that the cost to the economy of more deaths would be greater than the economic consequences of social isolation.
The U.S. is showing a large acceleration in the number of infections and has the potential to become a new epicenter of the outbreak, said Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the Geneva-based WHO. Over the 24 hours through 10 a.m. Geneva time Monday, 40% of new cases were in the U.S., more than any other country.
Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said earlier Tuesday that the White House would consider advice from public health officials as the administration moves to encourage Americans to return to work.
Professionals’ advice
“We’re not abandoning the health professionals’ advice but there is a clamor to try to reopen the economy, perhaps make it less of a shut-in,” Kudlow said Tuesday to reporters at the White House. “That’s one piece, but it’s yet to be determined.”
Trump began discussing how to get Americans back to work last week, just days after issuing guidelines encouraging people to stay away from restaurants and large gatherings and educate their children at home. But he has largely trailed governors and municipal leaders, who have essentially shut down entire states and cities in order to combat the spread of the virus.
Trump was peppered with questions at a news conference Monday about how soon he would try to end U.S. “social distancing” practices and whether he would follow the advice of government health professionals. “I’ll be listening to them and others we have who are doing a good job,” he answered.
One of those professionals, Deborah Birx, the State Department physician who advises Vice President Mike Pence on the government’s response to the outbreak, said at the news conference that she didn’t think Trump’s optimism about soon relaxing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines would hurt compliance.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.