President Trump: White House Task Force will 'continue on indefinitely' as US reopens
After sitting down with ABC News and answering a few questions related to America's reopening amid the pandemic, President Trump tweeted that the coronavirus task force would "continue on indefinitely" to focus on the work of producing vaccines and therapeutics.
The White House CoronaVirus Task Force, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, has done a fantastic job of bringing together vast highly complex resources that have set a high standard for others to follow in the future. Ventilators, which were few & in bad shape, are now being....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2020
An increasing number of states are easing stay-at-home restrictions even as the country's death toll continues to climb and during his previously mentioned interview with ABC's David Muir, President Trump acknowledged that it's likely more lives will be lost in the push to reopen the U.S. economy.
"It's possible there will be some because you won't be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is," Mr. Trump said, before criticizing "out of whack" models. "But at the same time, we're going to practice social distancing, we're going to be washing hands, we're going to be doing a lot of the things that we've learned to do over the last period of time."
As for the White House's coronavirus task force, President Trump indicated that the faces of the health experts audiences have grown used to seeing during televised press conferences from the White House may change; on Wednesday morning Mr. Trump tweeted, "we may add or subtract people" from the coronavirus task force.
The task force is scheduled to meet Wednesday, May 6 at 4 p.m. and Vice President Mike Pence is expected to lead the discussion.
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Interestingly, this meeting is scheduled at the same time as the new White House press secretary’s briefing.
On Tuesday, the president said the task force would take "a little bit of a different form."
"We'll have a different group, probably, set up for that," Mr. Trump said during an interview in Phoenix, adding that the group would still be involved in White House decision-making along with "other doctors and so will other experts in the field."
Vice President Pence also told reporters that conversations were underway about winding down the task force by around Memorial Day.
Though Mr. Trump says the task force will continue to exist, it remains to be seen whether it’ll meet as frequently and continue to hold the elevated status it has over the last few months.