Trump Explains Reversal on Ending White House Coronavirus Task Force: ‘I Had No Idea How Popular It Is’

President Donald Trump told the White House press pool on Wednesday that he changed his mind on winding down his administration’s coronavirus task force because it’s “popular.”

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence put out multiple signals on Tuesday that they would start phasing out their pandemic response task force soon, and replace it with a new one focused on restarting the economy. This comes as public health experts warn that the health crisis is still far from over.

Earlier today, Trump changed course by announcing that the coronavirus task force will stay on “indefinitely” with a joint focus on safety and an eventual national reopen. When asked about this during a press spray in the Oval Office, Trump explained “I guess if you think, we are always winding it down, but it’s a question of what the end point is.”

“I thought we could wind it down sooner, but I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday,” he continued. “When I started talking about winding it down, I got calls from very respected people saying ‘I think it would be better to keep it it going. It’s done such a good job.’ It’s a respected task force. I knew it myself, I didn’t know if it was appreciated by the public, but it is appreciated by the public.”

Later, Trump was asked about the probability that there will be more coronavirus cases and more deaths if the country reopens sooner rather than later. In terms of whether the nation will have to “accept” that, Trump answered “I can’t keep the country close down for years, and we have to do something. Hopefully that won’t be the case, but it could very well be the case.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

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