Trump to Keep Virus Task Force After Pence Floated Pulling Plug

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he'll keep his coronavirus task force running indefinitely, backing away from a decision that was signaled by the White House a day earlier that he planned to disband the group of public health experts.

Trump, speaking Wednesday at a White House event hosting nurses, said he will add two or three members to the group who will be focused on reopening the nation for business.

Asked about his change of mind, Trump said: “I thought we could wind it down sooner, but I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday when I started talking about winding it down.”

The president said he received calls from “very respected people” who urged him to keep the task force up and running, but didn't name the callers.

“I didn't know whether or not it was appreciated by the public but it is appreciated by the public,” he told reporters.

Trump struck up the task force in late January as the coronavirus was spreading rapidly across the globe. About a month later, he put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the group of public health officials, including Deborah Birx and the nation's top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci.

The task force held daily news briefings for weeks, where Trump would hold court with reporters for sometimes more than two hours each evening. But those were dialed back after April 24, when Trump was ridiculed after musing about treating coronavirus patients with light and disinfectant.

On Tuesday, Pence and Trump signaled they thought the task force had run its course and exhausted its utility in its curent set-up.

“Mike Pence and the task force have done a great job, but we're now looking at a little bit of a different form,” Trump said during an event in Phoenix on Tuesday.

Pence, asked earlier Tuesday in Washington about whether the administration was disbanding the group, said: “We're having conversations about that.”

Then, in a series of tweets Wednesday morning, Trump reversed course. He said the task force will continue with a focus on reopening the country, as well as development of vaccines and therapeutic treatments. “We may add or subtract people to it, as appropriate,” Trump added, without elaborating.