Trump says U.S. must reopen even if more get sick, die

President Trump declared Tuesday the U.S. must begin to reopen its economy immediately, even if it leads to more Americans falling sick and dying from the coronavirus.

“Will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open, and we have to get it open soon,” Trump said at an event with Native Americans in Phoenix.

The president has expressed increasing frustration with the coronavirus-sparked recession that has put more than 30 million Americans out of work and hurt his case for a second term. The U.S. continues to grapple with the largest coronavirus outbreak in the world, with about 1.2 million people infected and more than 70,000 killed.

But Trump is seeking to move past the outbreak anyway, encouraging states to abandon social distancing measures and allow businesses to reopen, though he has said it should be done “safely.” On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence said the White House has begun discussing disbanding the coronavirus task force that has advised Trump on the federal response.

Trump said “doctors” he didn’t name advised him to close the economy “for a couple of years.”

“I created, with a lot of other very talented people and the people of our country, the greatest economy in the history of the world. The greatest that we’ve ever had,” Trump said. “And then one day they said, ‘We have to close our country.’ Well, now it’s time to open up.”

“The people of our country are warriors,” Trump said of Americans, 69% of whom are “somewhat” or “very” worried about contracting covid-19, according to an analysis of polls by fivethirtyeight.com.