WASHINGTON -- Anxious to spur an economic recovery without risking lives, President Donald Trump on Sunday insisted that "you can satisfy both" -- see some states gradually lift lockdowns while also protecting people from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 67,000 Americans.
The president, fielding questions from people in a virtual town hall from the Lincoln Memorial, acknowledged valid fears on both sides of the issue. Some people are worried about getting sick; others are reeling from lost jobs and livelihoods.
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But while Trump increased his projection for the ultimate U.S. death toll to 80,000 or 90,000 -- up more than 20,000 from the number he suggested just a few weeks ago -- he struck a note of urgency to restart the nation's economy, declaring "we have to reopen our country."
"We have to get it back open safely but as quickly as possible," Trump said.
After more than a month of being cooped up at the White House, Trump returned from a weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for the town hall hosted by Fox News Channel.
The president said of his backdrop: "We never had a more beautiful set than this."
As concerns mount about his reelection bid, Trump stuck to his relentlessly optimistic view of the nation's ability to rebound soon.
"It is all working out," he said. "It is horrible to go through, but it is working out."
Many public health experts believe the nation cannot safely reopen fully until a vaccine is developed. Trump declared Sunday that he believed one could be available by year's end.
U.S. public health officials have said a vaccine is probably a year to 18 months away. But Dr. Anthony Fauci said in late April that it is conceivable, if a vaccine is soon developed, that it could be in wide distribution as early as January.
Though the administration's handling of the pandemic, particularly its ability to conduct widespread testing, has come under fierce scrutiny, the president defended the response and said the nation was ready to begin reopening.
"I'll tell you one thing. We did the right thing, and I really believe we saved a million and a half lives," the president said. But he also broke with the assessment of his senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, saying it was "too soon to say" the federal government had overseen a "success story."
Trump's impatience also flashed. While noting that states would go at their own pace in returning to normal, with ones harder hit by the coronavirus going slower, he said that "some states, frankly, I think aren't going fast enough." He singled out Virginia, which has a Democratic governor and legislature. And he urged the nation's schools and universities to return to classes this fall.
Federal guidelines that encouraged people to stay at home and practice social distancing expired late last week.
Debate continued over moves by governors to start reopening state economies that tanked after shopping malls, salons, gyms and other nonessential businesses were ordered closed in the attempt to slow the virus.
The U.S. economy has suffered, shrinking at a 4.8% annual rate from January through March, the government estimates. It was the sharpest quarterly drop since the 2008 financial crisis.
Roughly 30.3 million people have filed for unemployment aid in the six weeks since the outbreak forced employers to shut down and slash their work forces. It was the worst string of layoffs on record.
The president's advisers have nervously watched Trump's support slip in a number of battleground states, and he was presented with polls late last month that, if the election were held that day, had him losing to Democrat Joe Biden. The president's aides believe restarting the economy, even with its health risks, is essential to victory in November, and they are pushing for him to pivot away from discussions about the pandemic and onto an American comeback story.
He will begin traveling again, with a trip to a mask factory in Arizona planned for Tuesday. And the grand setting of Sunday night's town hall was meant to evoke patriotism and overcoming national adversity.
But social-distancing measures have stopped Trump's campaign rallies, a key component of his re-election bid. He indicated Sunday he hopes to resume them soon.
REOPENING WORRIES
Public-health experts warn that reopening too soon could backfire, leading to a flare-up of covid-19 and even a second shutdown.
And critics say Trump's haste to reopen is putting Americans in a position of choosing whether to risk their health for their jobs.
Last week, for instance, he ordered meatpacking plants to keep operating after a spate of virus outbreaks among workers had forced shutdowns and threatened to choke off supplies. The move sparked an outcry from unions as Trump moved to shield meat-processing companies from liability but offered no clear assurances for worker safety.
It's unclear whether Americans will follow the president's advice to get back to work, or to frequent businesses that are now reopening. And there are signs his calls are falling flat in the nation's capital.
Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a rare moment of agreement, issued a joint statement Saturday rejecting a White House offer of rapid coronavirus testing for lawmakers.
"Our country's testing capacities are continuing to scale up nationwide and Congress wants to keep directing resources to the front-line facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly," Pelosi and McConnell said.
The Senate planned to reopen today, despite the Washington area's continued status as a virus hot spot and with the region still under stay-at-home orders. The House remains shuttered.
The pandemic is forcing big change at the tradition-bound Supreme Court: The justices will hear arguments, beginning today, by telephone for the first time since Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention in 1876.
Information for this article was contributed by Darlene Superville and Jonathan Lemire of The Associated Press; and by Joshua Gallu of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 05/04/2020