Less than a day after it was reported that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering shutting down the White House coronavirus task force, he said it would continue “indefinitely.”
During an event at the White House on Wednesday, Trump explained his decision to keep the task force going, “I thought we could wind it down sooner, but I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday.”
He continued, “When I started talking about winding it down, I got calls from very respected people saying ‘I think it would be better to keep it going. It’s done such a good job.'”
“It’s a respected task force. I knew it myself, I didn’t know if it was appreciated by the public, but it is appreciated by the public,” he added.
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https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1258117263795851269
Trump’s comments come hours after he tweeted that he would not wind down the task force, “The Task Force will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN.”
….produced in the thousands, and we have many to spare. We are helping other countries which are desperate for them. Likewise, after having been left little, we are now doing more testing than all other countries combined, and with superior tests. Face masks & shields,….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2020
….to it, as appropriate. The Task Force will also be very focused on Vaccines & Therapeutics. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2020
On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence confirmed to reporters that the White House was considering shutting down the task force. However, his comments sowed some confusion as members of the task force reported that they were unaware of such discussions, as IJR reported.
Pence said the members of the task force would continue to work on combating the virus, but the news drew criticism.
But for the time being, it appears that the task force will continue and may even have members added to it.
“The task force will be around until we feel it’s not necessary,” Trump said, adding, “The task force is very respected. People said we should keep it going, so let’s keep it going.”
He added that he has a list of people he would like to see added to the task force.