President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the White House’s coronavirus task force would continue « indefinitely, » less than a day after the president and Vice President Mike Pence…
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the White House’s coronavirus task force would continue « indefinitely, » less than a day after the president and Vice President Mike Pence signaled the group would be disbanded.
« The White House CoronaVirus Task Force, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, has done a fantastic job of bringing together vast highly complex resources that have set a high standard for others to follow in the future, » Trump tweeted. « Because of this success, the Task Force will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN. »
The president added: « We may add or subtract people to it, as appropriate. The Task Force will also be very focused on Vaccines & Therapeutics. Thank you! »
Later in the day, as Trump explained why he changed his mind, the president said, « I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday. »
Just a day earlier, Pence on Tuesday said the White House was considering disbanding the task force by Memorial Day. The task force, which is led by Pence, is a hodgepodge of White House officials, public-health experts, and other emergency-management officials from various federal agencies.
