Downplaying virus risk, Trump gets back to business as usual

 At White House, aides w routinely flout internal rules requiring face masks. president's campaign is again scheduling mass arena rallies. And he is back to spending summer weekends at his New Jersey golf club. Three months after President Donald Trump bowed to realities of a pandemic that put big chunks of life on pause and killed more Americans than several major wars, Trump is back to business as usual — even as coronavirus cases are on upswing in many parts of country.

While nation has w h months to prepare stockpiles of protective gear and ventilators, a vaccine still is many months away at best and a model cited by White House projects tens of thousands of more deaths by end of September.

Amid renewed fears of a virus resurgence, financial markets — frequently highlighted by Trump as a sign of ecomic recovery — suffered ir worst drop since March on Thursday.

At White House, though, officials played down severity of virus surge, which y sought to blame on factors beyond Trump's forceful push to reopen ecomy, which he is counting on to help him win reelection.

“ data shows that we are moving in right direction as a nation," said Surgeon General Jerome ams, who stressed that country has a positive testing rate under 6%.

Still, ams cautioned at a roundtable with Trump in Texas that while country has flattened curve on virus cases, “that doesn’t mean that COVID has gone away, that it’s any less contagious, that it’s any less dely to vulnerable communities.”

White House itself was a late opter of many of safety proposals it recommended, er to project a sense of rmalcy even as it relied on strong testing capacity t available to rest of nation. w Trump, who watched human and ecomic toll of virus take wind out of his campaign sails, sees even greater urgency in returning to how things were — matter state of virus.

At White House, coronavirus task force has dramatically scaled back both its visibility and its operations. It w meets once or twice a week on an as-needed basis inste of every day.

White House officials say that, because response systems have alrey been put in place and a strategy developed, re is longer a need for a whole-of-government response. Still, president receives regular briefings, and vice president gets briefed multiple times a day.

Yet Trump has taken to talking about pandemic in past tense — an “invisible enemy” conquered — rar than one still ravaging a nation that has, in recent weeks, also been consumed by mass protests following George Floyd's death by police.

Within White House complex, many staffers have been flouting directions issued last month to limit ir entry to West Wing and vising “everyone who enters West Wing to wear a mask or facial covering” unless y are sitting at ir desks and at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from colleagues. directive came after two White House officials — vice president’s press secretary and a presidential valet — tested positive for virus, sending panic waves through building.

Weeks later, staff members are frequently seen walking around West Wing without masks. That includes at meetings with president, such as a Wednesday roundtable with African American supporters. White House staff have also declined to wear masks on Air Force One, even in close proximity to president.

Vice President Mike Pence, for his part, tweeted — and n deleted -- a photo of himself posing with staff huddled toger at reelection campaign’s hequarters. one appeared to be wearing a mask. White House and campaign did t respond to requests for comment.

visual return to rmalcy comes as country surpassed 2 million COVID-19 cases this week, with new hot spots emerging in battleground states like Arizona and cases rising in nearly half of states, according to

Yet Trump has continued to travel — even to states that still have restrictions — and anunced this week that he will resume his signature campaign rallies beginning next Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. state, which was among earliest to begin loosening coronavirus restrictions, has a relatively low rate of infection but has seen cases rising.

“y’ve done a great job with COVID, as you kw, state of Oklahoma,” Trump said Wednesday.

Campaign officials chose location kwing Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt would raise objections. Stitt’s most recent reopening phase places limits on size of group garings. campaign hopes location will all but guarantee a large crowd, since Oklahoma is one of most Republican states in nation and Trump has never held a rally re as president.

Still, reality could t be completely igred.

“By ing register below, you are ackwledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present,” Trump's campaign vised those signing up for rally. “By attending Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree t to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc." liable for illness or injury.

Trump is also planning events in Arizona and Florida — states where cases are on upswing. In Arizona, hospitals have been told to prepare for worst as hospitalizations have surged.

Trump this month decided that he would longer hold marquee event of Republican National Convention —- his acceptance speech — in rth Carolina after state refused to guarantee that he could fill an arena to capacity with maskless supporters. It's being moved to Jacksonville, Florida.

For White House, priority is regaining ecomic momentum.