Trump: Coronavirus pandemic taught us ‘I was right’
President Trump claimed in a new wide-reaching interview that that the “one thing” that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic “has taught us is that I was right.”
Trump told the New York Post that Americans are now focused on domestic manufacturing for a variety of products, including medicine currently produced in China.
“You know, I had people say, ‘No, no, it’s good. You keep — you do this and that.’ Now those people are really agreeing with me. And that includes medicine and other things, you know,” he said.
Trump also said that he believes “there’s a great optimism” in the United States and that Americans are “starting to feel good now.” He predicted that the economic crisis brought on by the ongoing pandemic, during which at least 30 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits, will end soon as some states allow sectors of their economy to reopen.
“You have to be careful, but you have to get back to work,” Trump told the newspaper. “People want the country open … I guess we have 38 states that are either opening or are very close.”
And the president predicted that the U.S. will see a strong fourth quarter during the interview.
“We did the right thing and now we’re bringing the country back. And I think there’s a great optimism. I don’t know if you see it, but I think there’s a great optimism now,” Trump said.
He cited Florida specifically, saying that the state is “doing great” and calling GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis “a good governor.”
Florida began allowing some businesses in parts of the state to reopen on Monday, excluding for the time being Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, which have seen the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state. Restaurants opened with 25 percent capacity indoors and can offer outdoor seating as long as tables are placed 6 feet apart. Retail stores can also open at 25 percent capacity.
Trump also rejected a model from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first reported by The New York Times suggesting that U.S. deaths will grow on a daily basis to 3,000 by the beginning of June.
“I know nothing about it. I don’t know anything about it. Nobody told me that. I think it’s — I think it’s false, I think it’s fake news.”
White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said Monday that the data is “not reflective of any of the modeling done by the task force or data that the task force has analyzed.”
There have been more than 1.1 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. and more than 68,000 deaths, according to estimates from The New York Times.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.