Trump backtracks on scrapping of virus task force
washington — President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to backtrack on plans announced the previous day to shut down the task force advising him on the coronavirus pandemic.
The White House’s earlier suggestion that the high-level team could close around the start of June was Trump’s latest signal that he thinks it’s time to move on from the health crisis and reopen the economy.
But in a series of tweets, he said the task force had been so successful that it “will continue on indefinitely with its focus on
The president, however, said that he could “add or subtract people” to the group, which suggested the situation remained fluid.
Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the task force, said Tuesday he was “starting to look at the Memorial Day window, early June window” for shutting it down. That holiday falls on May 25.
The coronavirus task force has spearheaded the complex response to the fast-spreading virus, which has already killed more than 70,000 Americans.
The group coordinates between medical institutes, political staff and state governors, some of whom have spent weeks frantically trying to help overwhelmed hospitals.
The task force also drew on medical experts to formulate national recommendations on social distancing that led to the economic shutdown.
Members of the task force gave daily press conferences meant to inform the nation on the latest status of the pandemic. But they were often overtaken by Trump’s own freewheeling question-and-answer sessions and ended more than a week ago. —