Business leaders ask Trump to increase coronavirus testing to ensure US is fit to reopen
President Donald Trump is not prepared to wait too long before reopening the country as the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a big toll on the economy. With the general election due in November, the economic downturn could be a major disadvantage. Trump is stressing time and again that normalcy will be restored once the month of May begins. However, there are still opinions that vouch for drastic improvement in the prevailing health conditions before the world’s largest economy crawls back to business as usual.
While Dr Anthony Fauci, a key member of the president's coronavirus task force, has opined that the US is still not there to see normalcy restored by the May 1 deadline, dozens of industry leaders have also suggested a big boost in the national testing to ensure that rolling back social distancing will be safe, the Wall Street Journal reported. Their suggestions came following Trump’s decision to consult them over reopening the country.
On Tuesday, April 14, the president announced his big advisory effort with the White House releasing 200 names to be consulted on the reopening. Soon after, he hinted at holding a press conference about reopening guidelines, claiming the US has gone past its peak.
On Wednesday, April 15, Trump had a teleconference that lasted for about an hour-and-a-half and included many participants from the banking, retail, food and hospitality sectors.
Over 630,000 people have been affected in the US by the virus while nearly 31,000 have died. The number of affected people has crossed 2M worldwide while the death toll stands at over 137,000.
The WSJ report cited sources saying that executives from banking and financial services told Trump that his administration needs to see a dramatic rise in the availability of coronavirus testing before people feel confident to rejoin work, go out to dine or shop. Trump was also praised by a number of executives, the report quoted one source as saying.
Advisory list also includes Trump critics
The list of executives also featured those who have ridiculed and criticized the president publicly in the past. Larry Lindsey, former economic advisor to former president George W Bush was among those who featured in the list. Last year he had said that China viewed the president as a "10 out of 10 narcissist".
Mark Cuban, a billionaire who endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, also found his name in the list of advisors. He had called the president a "jagoff".
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also found his name in the list although the president in the past attacked him repeatedly. Trump did not read out his name but it appeared later in the list that was sent out by the White House. George Bush’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, another critic of the president, was also in the list. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who had pulled out of the president's advisory council after he withdrew from the Paris climate deal, is also there.
Other top names featuring among the executives who Trump spoke to are: Tim Cook of Apple, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and Mary Barra of General Motors. There were also executives who could not get to connect for the session. Others said they were not informed that they were on the advisory committee before Trump read out their names (100 of them) on April 14.
Even lawmakers, including those from the Democratic Party, received emails that informed that they were in the president’s task force that would advise him on the re-opening of the country.
"I am emailing to inform you that the President has selected you to serve on a task force comprised of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives," read a mail obtained by the New York Times. "The purpose of the task force is to provide counsel to the President on the re-opening of America in the wake of COVID-19. The formal name of this task force has not yet been announced."
It may be mentioned here that Trump has found himself at odds with governors of various states in the Union over the idea of reopening. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for instance, set up a regional task force over re-opening with some of his counterparts after Trump tried to flex his political muscle saying he is the final authority on the issue.