Trump discusses opening the country as coronavirus peak approaches

President Donald Trump pushed to reopen the country Saturday, despite warning Americans "it's not going to be a good-looking situation" as the number of deaths approach their peak in the coming days while talking at a briefing with the White House coronavirus task force.

The president also responded to questions about a tweet that suggested creating another White House coronavirus task force that would focus on the economy and reopening the country, he said that it is something he is thinking about.

"I started by saying that, and I continue to say it. The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. We've got to get our country open," Trump said.

The president discussed a Saturday morning call he had with commissioners of most of the major sports to discuss the effects of coronavirus to the industry, emphasizing that he wants fans "back in the arena" as soon as they can be.

"You know, they want to see basketball and baseball and football and hockey. They want to see their sports. They want to go out onto the golf courses and breathe nice clean, beautiful fresh air," Trump said. "No, I can't tell you a date, but I think it's going to be sooner rather than later."

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He said that sports aren't "designed" for closures, which he said is also true of the country, emphasizing that he wants citizens to get back to work.

"It has to get open. This country was not designed to be closed," Trump said. "Think of it. We're paying people not to go to work, how about that? How does that play?"

Trump had responded to a tweet by George W. Bush's former White House press secretary Dana Perino earlier in the day saying he agreed with the idea of another task force examining how the country's economy can reopen and get back on track.

He also discussed the possibility of opening churches for Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday services.

"I brought it up before, I said maybe we could allow special for churches, maybe we could talk about it, maybe we could allow them with great separation outside on Easter Sunday. I don't know, it's something we should talk about," Trump said, while allowing he'll be watching church services on a laptop the next two weeks.

The president added on the shutdown, "We cannot let this continue," and said at some point a decision will have to be made.

"Because you know, at a certain point, you'll lose more people this way through all of the problems caused, than you will with what we're doing right now," Trump said of the lockdowns in place across most of the country. "What we're doing right now, I think is going to be very successful, but you know what? I don't know. We have a big decision to make at a certain point. OK? We have a big decision to make. We went this extra period of time, but I said it from the beginning, the cure cannot be worse than the problem itself."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National In... (Read more)

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