President Donald Trump on Thursday is discussing his administration’s coronavirus pandemic response with world leaders, U.S. governors, and lawmakers as he prepares to announce guidelines for states to follow on reopening their economies.
Trump held a morning video teleconference with the Group of Seven leaders to coordinate responses to the outbreak. This year Trump is head of the group which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Shortly before the conference, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for his country. European countries including Germany, meanwhile, have begun to relax restrictions.
“G7 leaders agreed to remain committed to taking every necessary measure to ensure a strong and coordinated global response to this health crisis and the associated humanitarian and economic calamity and to launch a strong and sustainable recovery,” said a readout of the meeting provided by the White House.
Trump was also scheduled to take part in a video conference with U.S. state governors and have discussions with lawmakers about the pandemic.
Trump said late Wednesday he will announce reopening guidelines on Thursday, after telling reporters that data “suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases.”
The president has been eager to reopen the country but has clashed with governors, who have begun to study how and when to open shuttered schools, businesses and other institutions. Legal experts have underscored that rules like stay-at-home orders are up to individual states, not the federal government.
Trump is also asking a bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers to join a task force on reopening the economy. Democrats including Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Republicans such as Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana said they have been invited to participate.
U.S. stocks DJIA, -0.33% COMP, 0.93% SPX, 0.16% were mixed Thursday after the government reported that another 5.25 million people applied for unemployment benefits in the second week of April. That brought new jobless claims in the past month to 22 million.
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Originally Published on MarketWatch
