A brewing Trump vs US Governor’s conflict has the state executives charting their own course amid the COVID-19 battle and Donald Trump seething mad for being left out.
Politics
For the past month, Donald Trump has made it clear that he takes “no responsibility” for the nation being underprepared for the coronavirus pandemic, that he is not a “shipping clerk” waiting to fulfill medical supply orders for states, and that America’s governors are on their own in locating and purchasing whatever equipment they need. In short, he wanted no part in putting in the hard work.
However, now that whispers of reopening the economy are in the infancy stage, the egomaniacal Trump is front and center ready to receive accolades for bringing us all back to normal “with a big bang.”
“I’m going to have to make a decision and I only hope to God that it’s the right decision,” Trump said of his lone decision on when he will allow America to reopen. “But I would say without question it’s the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make.”
“When somebody is president of the United States, your authority is total.” – Donald Trump
The only problem here is that Donald Trump doesn’t have the authority to make that determination. It wasn’t his decision to close all 50 states, so it’s not his decision to reopen it on a date of his own choosing.
Realizing weeks ago that their key to survival was to depend on themselves and not Donald Trump, America’s governor’s got used to getting things done on their own. So, it should come as no surprise that the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington are now working in tandem to collect and share medical supplies as well as coordinate the eventual opening of their state economies. On the east coast, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware have also joined forces to do the same as their western counterparts.
Now, Donald Trump is enraged — hence, the Trump vs US Governor’s conflict.
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For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2020
….It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2020
However, here’s the truth: just as Gov. DeSantis of Florida held the authority to keep his state’s beaches open during spring break while the rest of the country was shut down, America’s governors hold the same authority to reopen or keep closed their respective states.
Donald Trump wanted to be the knight riding in on a white horse who could single-handily return us all back to normalcy on a date and time of his own choosing. However, that’s not going to happen. The day he chose not to take responsibility is the day governors brushed Trump to the side and began working together without him.
“The President can *informally* put pressure on local/state governments. He can mess with emergency funding. And he can even order the federal workforce back to their offices,” explained University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck. “But largely because he’s left so much to local authorities so far, this, too, is ultimately up to them.”
So, he can throw a Twitter tantrum or he can rant and rave — but the day schools, stores, and the economy reopen to the public is a day the governors — and not Donald Trump — will decide.
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CNN: With 23,000 Americans dead and millions without a paycheck, President Donald Trump dimmed the lights in the White House briefing room, fired up a misleading propaganda video and boiled over. In one of the most unchained presidential tantrums ever captured on television, Trump’s Monday display flouted every notion of calm leadership by the commander in chief in a crisis. He claimed powers never envisioned by the Constitution and insisted his “authority is total” to order states and cities to get moving again to break out of the frozen economy. His warning came as two blocs of Eastern and Western hot-spot states banded together in an implied challenge to his vow to get people back to work soon, setting off a brewing confrontation over the power of the federal government. During the news conference, Trump moaned that the press was not giving him credit because “everything we did was right”… Read more »