President Donald Trump is sharing that reopening the U.S. economy may not happen all at once.
Trump is mulling the possibility of reopening the economy in different sections of the nation as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc.
“So we’re looking at two concepts. We’re looking at the concept where we open up sections and we’re also looking at the concept where you open up everything,” Trump said.
Listen to Trump’s comments below:
Trump acknowledged his desire for the nation’s economy to reopen all at once.
“I’d love to open with a big bang, one beautiful country and just open,” Trump said.
However, he went on to discuss parts of the nation that have been hit hard as well as those that have not been. He cited New York and New Jersey as states that have fallen on hard times.
New York has become the epicenter of the coronavirus. As of Wednesday morning, the state is reporting 140,081 confirmed cases and 5,563 deaths.
Trump suggested that New York is getting ready to hit its peak and after it will come down fast.
He also referenced to Louisiana and Michigan as states that have been negatively affected by the outbreak.
Trump explained the reasoning behind his decision to close the economy.
“We had the greatest economy in the history of our country and then all of a sudden they come in and say, ‘Sir, you’re going to have to close it,'” Trump said, adding, “If we did what some people wanted to do, we could have had very, very tremendous numbers, tremendous numbers.”
Despite the recent $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, some lawmakers are calling for more action to mitigate the effects the coronavirus is having on the economy.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pushing for a fourth coronavirus relief package to include more direct payments for Americans, additional assistance for small businesses, and enhanced unemployment benefits, as IJR previously reported.
