President Trump said Thursday that governors can call their own “shots” on reopening their states and relaxing social distancing guidelines, a stark reversal from his earlier proclamation that he has “total” authority, The New York Times reported. “Some of you are in very, very good shape to open quickly and, if you’d like, according to the guidelines, you could open before the date of May 1,” Trump said.

At a coronavirus task force briefing later in the day, Trump said the new federal guidelines on reopening the country would “allow governors to take a phased and deliberate approach to re-opening their individual states.” 

“Governors will be empowered to tailor [an] approach that meets the diverse circumstances of their own states,” he said. “Every state is very different. They’re all beautiful. We love ’em all. But they’re very, very different.”