President Donald Trump and many governors are heralding a reopening of the American economy - even though a majority of states ending their coronavirus shutdowns this week have not met the White House's most basic thresholds for testing, tracing and a prolonged drop in new cases.
The White House has tried to distance itself from governors' actions by insisting its reopening guidelines are merely suggestions, not the rule of law. But Trump is latching himself on to the message that America is ready to reopen, traveling on Tuesday to Arizona - one of the states not yet meeting all of the administration's criteria - to visit a Honeywell plant and promote the reopening of huge swaths of the nation.
Trump in recent days has pivoted his attention squarely to the U.S. economy, even as he revised upward his own expectations for the death toll caused by Covid-19. On Monday, a coronavirus model closely watched by the White House also moved upward, projecting roughly 134,000 deaths by August - a near doubling of its forecast, prompted by states' rush to lift restrictions.
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