Trump, governors at odds

WASHINGTON: Amid indications that the US may be “nearing” the peak of its coronavirus outbreak this week, an acrimonious debate has broken out between President Donald Trump and some state governors on who will determine when to reopen the country, and by how much.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo took to morning TV shows on Tuesday to push back against Trump’s claim of “total” authority to reopen the nation’s virus-stalled economy, noting that a president is “not a king”.

Trump hit back, singling out Cuomo. “Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen!” he tweeted.

Trump insists on leading the reopening of the economy, claiming complete powers on the issue of public health matters and police powers inside states. “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total,” he told reporters on Monday. Constitutional experts and critics, including some of Trump’s Republican allies, have dispute that, citing the constitution.

Meanwhile, Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, said, “We are nearing the peak right now,” echoing consensus among officials and public health experts.

The number of fatalities in the country wen up by 1,509 on Monday over Sunday, which was marginally less the 1,514 the day before, but a lot less than 1,920 in the 24 hours ending Saturday.