In a Monday morning tweet, President Donald Trump shot down the notion that state governments should have control of when they re-open after the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, Trump said, itās up to him when states re-open.
The president also blamed the media for perpetrating the notion that governors should make the decision to open their states and accused the press of seeking to create āconflict and confusion.ā
Trump wrote, āFor the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the fake news media are saying that it is the governorsā decision to open the states, not that of the President of the United States and the federal government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect. It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons.ā
He continued, āThe Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!ā
Trump has consistently pushed for the country to re-open ā in a Fox News interview over the weekend, he said, āWe have to get our country back. People want to get back, they want to get back to work. We have to bring our country back, so Iāll be making a decision reasonably soon.ā
But the presidentās push to re-open the country is not an idea shared by top health officials. In an interview on Monday, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said that re-opening the country is āgoing to be a step-by-step, gradual process.ā
Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that āWe want to reopen as soon as possible.ā
But the governor, who is dealing with the largest coronavirus concentration in the United States, added, āThe caveat is, we need to be smart in the way that we reopen.ā