President Donald Trump announced Sunday evening that he was extending social distancing guidelines through the end of April rather than easing them as early as this week, and took credit for avoiding a worst-case scenario death toll that could have exceeded 2 million.
The president, who had considered getting the economy restarted by Easter, now said that timeline had been "aspirational." He said he expected the country to be on its way to recovery by June 1.
"Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won," he said at the daily White House task force briefing, in which he again overstated the U.S. record in fighting the pandemic, questioned whether hospitals really needed all the protective gear and ventilators they were begging for, and sparred with a reporter who asked him how life-saving equipment was being apportioned among the states.
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