It’s official: A second task force will be created to focus on the reopening of the United States economy.
During today’s press briefing, President Trump announced that an “Opening Our Country Council” will be named next week.
While Vice President Pence spearheads the COVID-19 task force, the council will be focused on revving up the country’s economic engine.
It’s important to save lives, but it’s also important to save people’s livelihoods.
By having two separate task forces that can coordinate but focus on their specialties, President Trump will be able to lead the country through one of the greatest challenges this nation has ever faced.
More details on the announced Opening Our Country Council can be found below:
President Trump has been ahead of COVID-19 every step of the way.
He prompted the securing of the United States border before leaders in either party even began talking publicly about it.
Now, as the country is in the midst of the pandemic, Trump is planning ahead to make sure that people have jobs to return to.
Politico confirms the announcement of the second task force:
President Donald Trump said he’s planning a Tuesday announcement to name the members of a new White House task force focused on reopening parts of the country that have been shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re also setting up a council, a very, very great — doctors and businesspeople, we’re going to be announcing it on Tuesday, of some great people,” Trump told reporters at a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on Friday.
Trump had publicly mulled forming a second group of advisers to focus on economic recovery apart from the group of public health officials on the task force run by Vice President Mike Pence.
The new group comes as the president has expressed his eagerness for several weeks now to shake the country from its self-imposed social and economic lockdown, though medical experts have warned that resuming business as usual before the virus is under control and widespread diagnostic measures can be implemented could have dire consequences.
Trump indicated Friday that the new group would look further than reviving the sputtering economy.
“This is beyond economic,” he explained. “This is really, I call it the ‘opening our country task force’ or ‘opening our country council’ so we don't get it confused with Mike's task force, which has done so great. And we’re going to have the great business leaders, great doctors, we’re going to have a great group of people.”
In keeping with social distancing recommendations still in place to blunt the spread of the coronavirus, Trump suggested the group will meet by teleconference “because we don't really want them traveling in for their own purposes.”
The Opening Our Country Council will be composed of more than just businessmen and businesswomen.
It will also include doctors and other health care experts and professionals.
The council will focus on the economic recovery, sure, but will also be tasked with making sure Americans return to work in the safest way possible.
Safety and strategy are key to preventing another outbreak as people return to work.
President Trump has unequivocally stated that reopening the country will be the hardest decision he has made in his entire life.
He is making a decision that will impact both people's physical health as well as their financial wellbeing.
While it is a difficult decision, he will be surrounded by many trusted experts and advisors to provide wisdom during the process.
MarketWatch reports that Trump's economic adviser Larry Kudlow is hopeful the economy can reopen in the next four to eight weeks:
President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration planned to announce on Tuesday who will serve on a new “Opening Our Country Council,” as he described a decision to “re-open” the U.S. economy as “the biggest decision I’ll ever make.”
At the administration’s daily coronavirus briefing, Trump said the group is likely to include business leaders, doctors, governors and other people from around the country, and it will be separate from the White House Coronavirus Task Force led by Vice President Mike Pence.
“I don’t know that I’ve had a bigger decision, but I’m going to surround myself with the greatest minds — not only the greatest minds, but the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason, and we’re going to make a decision,” the president said during the briefing.
“Hopefully it’s going to be the right decision. I will say this — I want to get it open as soon as we can. We have to get our country open.”
Trump’s comments on Friday echoed what other administration officials said earlier this week. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday said the president is “very much looking at how we can reopen parts of the economy,” while White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said he still believes “that in the next four to eight weeks we will be able to reopen the economy.”
During the entire pandemic, President Trump has shown strong leadership.
Joe Biden, however, has held "shadow briefings" that contradict President Trump... or flat out reiterates policies that Trump has already enacted.
Democrats are already trying to investigate Trump's response instead of trying to help fight COVID-19.
When November arrives, voters will remember who took action and who played politics.
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