Trump back from mid-Covid Presidential retreat; disputes son-in-law Jared at TV town hall

Anxious for an ecomic recovery, President Donald Trump fielded Americans' questions about decisions by some states to allow nessential businesses to reopen while or states are on virtual lockdown due to coronavirus. After more than a month of being cooped up at White House, Trump returned from a weekend at Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland and participated in a virtual town hall, hosted Sunday night by Fox News Channel, from inside Lincoln Memorial.

He pushed for an ecomic reopening, one his visers believe will be essential for his reelection chances this vember.

"We have to get it back open safely but as quickly as possible," Trump said.

president ackwledged fear on both sides of issue, some Americans worried about getting sick while ors are concerned about losing jobs. Though ministration's handling of pandemic, particularly its ability to conduct widespre testing, has come under fierce scrutiny, president defended response and said nation was rey to begin reopening.

"I'll tell you one thing. We did right thing and I really believe we saved a million and a half lives", president said.

But he also broke with assessment of his senior viser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, saying it was too soon to say" if federal government was overseeing a success story." Trump's impatience also flashed. While ting that states would go at ir own pace in returning to rmal, with ones harder hit by coronavirus going slower, he said that some states frankly I think aren't going fast eugh" and singled out Virginia, which has a Democratic goverr and legislature.

And he urged nation's schools and universities to return to classes this fall. But many public health experts believe that cant be done safely until a vaccine is developed. Trump declared Sunday that he believed one could be available by year's end although his own pandemic task force has predicated it could be ar 18 months. Federal guidelines that encourd people to stay at home and practice social distancing expired late last week. Debate continued over moves by goverrs to start reopening state ecomies that tanked after shopping malls, salons and or nessential businesses were ordered closed in attempt to slow a virus that has killed more than 66,000 Americans, according to a tally of reported deaths by Johns Hopkins University.

U.S. ecomy has suffered, shrinking at a 4.8 per cent annual rate from January through March, government estimated last week. It was sharpest quarterly drop since 2008 financial crisis. Roughly 30.3 million people have filed for unemployment aid in six weeks since outbreak forced employers to shut down and slash ir workforces. It was worst string of layoffs on record. Larry Kudlow, Trump's top ecomic viser, on Sunday predicted a spectacular 2021 with right set of policies on top of a rebound from July through December of this year. He said on CNN's "State of Union" that ministration would "pause to review effectiveness of trillions in ecomic relief spending before making any decision on wher ditional aid is needed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on Thursday that state and local governments are seeking up to USD 1 trillion for coronavirus costs, Senate planned to reopen Monday, despite Washington area's continued status as a virus hot spot and with region still under stay-at-home orders. House remains shuttered. pandemic is forcing big changes at trition-bound Supreme Court: justices will hear arguments, beginning Monday, by telephone for first time since Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention in 1876. Congressional Republicans are resisting calls by Democrats for emergency spending for states and local governments whose revenue streams all but dried up in recent weeks.

GOP is counting on country's reopening and rebound promised by Trump as ir best hope to forestall ar big round of virus aid. leers of California and Michigan are among goverrs under public pressure over lockdowns still in effect while states such as Florida, Georgia and Ohio are reopening. Michigan Goverr Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said Sunday that armed protesters who demonstrated inside her state's Capitol depicted some of worst racism and awful parts of US history by showing up with Confederate flags, oses and swastikas.

Trump h tweeted LIBERATE and named Michigan and or states in mid-April. In a new tweet Friday, he urged Whitmer to make a deal with protesters. se are very good people, but y are angry. Fox News Channel said it asked viewers to submit questions about reopening country on network's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts for a chance to appear on rare brocast from Lincoln Memorial. Trump spoke from memorial's steps last July Fourth. It's also where Martin Lur King Jr. delivered his I have a dream speech in 1963. Trump recently compared his Independence Day audience to King's.