Trump to announce guidelines to reopen U.S. – weighing state demands, health issues, economy

President Trump is expected Thursday to announce his plan to essentially reopen the country from the coronavirus shutdown and restart the U.S. economy – weighing ongoing health concerns and getting Americans back to work. 

The scheduled announcement follows Trump saying Wednesday that data suggests the number of new infections in the county has peaked and that he’ll announce “new guidelines” on Thursday.

The president will hold a teleconference with U.S. governors prior to announcing the guidelines Thursday afternoon.

Trump and governors across the country, many of them Democrats, appeared to have a solid working relationship as the state leaders make critical decisions about stopping the spread of the virus with stay-at-home orders and pushing for as much medical equipment as they could get to test and treat patients.

Those relationships appeared to fray earlier this week when governors from the East and West coasts formed coalitions to collectively reopen their regional economies. 

Trump asserted “total authority” and railed against those governors, suggesting they committed “mutiny” by cutting out the administration after it had met their emergency demands with such responses as opening temporary hospitals and rushing ventilators to hospitals. 

However, both said have since expressed a willingness to work together to reopen the economy – as roughly 22 million Americans in roughly the past four weeks have filed unemployment claims and the U.S. economy heads toward a recession.

Health experts have cautioned about lifting the stay-at-home orders that have helped slow the virus spread, which has led to some officials suggesting a gradual reopening, starting with regions least impacted.

Officials have also said reopening cannot start until states have more widespread testing. 

Trump at first had wanted the country to reopen this past weekend, but has pushed back that timeline until May 1, following the advice of health officials on his coronavirus task force.