Trump hints daily coronavirus briefings will return

WASHINGTON — As coronavirus cases and deaths continue to mount in the U.S., President Donald Trump teased a return to daily coronavirus task force briefings that could resume Tuesday.

“Well, we had very successful briefings. I was doing them, and we had a lot of people watching — record numbers watching. In the history of cable television — television, there’s never been anything like it,” Trump told reporters invited into the Oval Office to hear White House negotiators’ remarks on coronavirus funding.

Trump teased that he expected to resume task force briefings at 2 p.m. Pacific.

The decision to resume daily coronavirus briefings, which ended April 27, follows a marked dip in Trump’s approval numbers, with the Realclearpolitics average showing that 42 percent of voters approve of Trump’s job performance, and 56 percent disapproving. Trump’s numbers for his handling of the coronavirus are worse — with 38.7 percent approving and 58.4 percent disapproving.

Since April 27, the task force has conducted briefings while on the road or at nearby venues like the Department of Education, but those events lacked the regularity that prompted Americans to tune in daily to watch Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a collection of health officials urge Americans to avoid discretionary trips, wash their hands regularly and stay home if they exhibited symptoms.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @Debrajsaunders on Twitter.