Trump says he wants Barron back in the classroom soon: 'I've got a young son I'd like to go to school'
President Donald Trump, on Friday, April 17, said that he would like his youngest son, 14-year-old Barron, to go back in the classroom as he lamented the lockdowns associated with the coronavirus crisis. The Republican also expressed his own desire to travel outside the White House.
"I have a young boy who goes to school, I'd like to see him go to school, as good as home is, it's very nice but we'd like to see him go to school," the president during the daily press briefing on Friday. Trump made the statement after he was asked by a reporter on what the government planned to do in the scenario where workers were permitted to start working again but schools remained closed.
"I think the schools are going to be open soon," Trump responded. The White House, on Thursday, April 16, released a three-phase plan that aims to keep schools closed through phase one, however, it allows workers to gradually return to their workplaces. This could result in chaos for working parents who generally have children in school during their workweek.
Trump, however, did not answer the question specifically and instead talked about the economic rebound. The Republican also talked about his own restriction of movement amid the social social-distancing guidelines, saying that he has been in the White House "for months," the Daily Mail reported.
"I've been in the White House for months," he said. "I don't know what it is but it's been months. Other than I did leave to, to say goodbye to a beautiful ship." The president was referring to his visit to Virginia as he left Washington on March 28 to watch the USNS comfort depart for New York City, where it is currently stationed to cater to coronavirus affected patients.
Trump, on Friday, also expressed his desire to go back to the campaign trail soon; however, he did not divulge a timeline. "It's great for the country," he said while referring to his campaign trail, adding that he was not a fan of doing rallies with the currently enforced social distancing practices. "It loses a lot of flavor," he said.
The president also talked about the origin of the deadly novel coronavirus, with many suggesting that it may have originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. "A lot of strange things are happening but there is a lot of investigation going on. And we're going to find out," Trump told reporters at the White House.
He also suggested that China was hiding the extent the deadly virus has affected the country, stating that the nation's death toll has to be higher than the United States.
"We don't have the most in the world deaths. The most in the world has to be China," Trump said. "It's a massive country. It's gone through a tremendous problem with this, a tremendous problem - they must have the most."
China has stated that 4,636 have died because of the virus outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, in the country. While America's death toll, as of Friday night, crossed 37,000.