President Donald Trump said on Monday he will not allow the coronavirus to do long-lasting damage to the U.S. economy and that he is considering how to move forward after a 15-day shutdown ends next week.
After tweeting “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF,” Trump said at a news conference at the White House: “America will again and soon be open for business. We are not going to let it turn into a long-lasting financial problem.”
Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction, such as staying home from work and isolating themselves, the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system. But with millions out of work, backlash is growing.
Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, said in an interview Monday: “We can’t shut in the economy. The economic cost to individuals is just too great. The president is right. The cure can’t be worse than the disease and we’re going to have to make some difficult trade-offs.”
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