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PHOENIX (BLOOMBERG) – United States President Donald Trump rushed into his attempt to reopen the country on Tuesday (May 4), saying that Americans should begin to return to their everyday lives even if this causes more pandemic diseases and deaths.
Trump, speaking in Phoenix during his first trip out of Washington in more than a month, said he is preparing for “phase two” of the United States’ response to the coronavirus.
That will include the dissolution of the White House public health experts working group, including Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, who have led the government’s response to the outbreak so far.
Trump acknowledged that reopening the economy would likely lead to more suffering.
“Will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be seriously affected? Yes,” Trump said. “But we have to open our country and we have to open it soon.”
On his visit to a Phoenix-based Honeywell International Inc. factory that produces medical masks, Trump made his strongest case so far that the economic damage to the country has become too great to sustain a prolonged shutdown.
He encouraged Americans to think of themselves as “warriors,” as they consider leaving their homes, a tacit acknowledgment of deep public reservations about reopening the country too soon.
The president has expressed growing frustration with the coronavirus recession that has left more than 30 million Americans out of work and damaged his case for a second term. The United States continues to have the largest coronavirus outbreak in the world, with approximately 1.2 million people infected and more than 70,000 killed so far.
Speaking separately in an ABC News interview that aired Tuesday night, Trump said closing the nation was “the most important decision I’ve ever had to make.”
And it was settled on the decision to reopen the nation, despite the certainty of suffering it will cause until a vaccine is developed.
“There will be more death,” he said. “The virus will pass, with or without a vaccine. And I think we are doing very well with vaccines but, with or without a vaccine, it will pass and we will return to normal.”
“But it has been a difficult process. There is no question about it,” Trump said. “I think our economy is going to be furious” next year, he added.
WITHOUT MASK
While in Phoenix, Trump encouraged states to facilitate social distancing measures and allow companies to reopen, although he cautioned that it should be done “safely.”
However, the president refused to set an example for the nation by participating in a government-recommended security protocol: wearing a face mask.
While touring the Honeywell plant, Trump only wore safety glasses. Music from his standard campaign soundtrack was heard through speakers, including Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” and Guns N ‘Roses “Live and Let Die”.
Senior White House officials also did not wear the masks, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend when social distancing is not possible. Factory workers, members of the press, and other support staff did so.
Trump also regretted that he had to be six feet away from two supporters during his speech, including one wearing a sequined denim vest with his campaign slogan.
Trump said the “doctors” he did not name had advised him to shut down the economy “for a couple of years.”
“I created, with many other very talented people and the people of our country, the largest economy in the history of the world. The best we have ever had,” Trump said.
“And one day they said, ‘We have to close our country.'” Well now is the time to open up. “
Public health experts have repeatedly warned that the country is at risk of a second wave of infections if the restrictions are lifted too soon, which could lead to another round of closings and economic damage.
‘SO WRONG’ MODELS
But even when Trump said a large-scale reopening could lead to more deaths, he expressed optimism that the virus would disappear. He added that if the cases recover, it would be like a “fire” that could be extinguished “quickly”.
It also ruled out two new projections that painted a gruesome picture of what could happen if the country lifts shutdown orders too quickly: a Johns Hopkins University model showing deaths could hit 3,000 a day by June 1, and an analysis by the University of Washington showing the death toll in the US USA it could hit 135,000 in early August.
“These models have been so wrong from day one. Both on the low side and on the positive side. They have been so wrong, they have been so out of control. And they keep making new models, new models and they are wrong,” said the President.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday that the Johns Hopkins model, included in a government document obtained Monday by the New York Times, was based on “wrong assumptions” about mitigation efforts and not it represented the projections of the federal government.
“The people of our country are warriors,” Trump said of the Americans, about 69 percent of whom are “somewhat” or “very” concerned about hiring Covid-19, according to an analysis of polls by fivethirtyeight.com.
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