Trump touts virus successes in shortest briefing yet

US President Donald Trump touted the nation's successes in controlling the coronavirus pandemic Friday, in the shortest White House briefing since the COVID-19 outbreak began.

Speaking to reporters in the briefing room, Trump said there has been "very significant progress" over the past seven days.

The president said that 18 states are showing a decline in the number of COVID-positive tests and nationwide, the percentage of positive tests are also down.

He said half of all Americans are living in states that are working to re-open their economies.

"We continue to see evidence that our aggressive strategy is working and working at a very high level," said Trump.

Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn spoke for just 21 minutes before ending the briefing without taking questions.