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President Donald Trump Hopes to Have Country ‘Opened Up’ by Easter Despite Coronavirus Surge

The president mentioned April 12 as the first concrete goal for potentially easing coronavirus restrictions.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he hoped to re-open the country by Easter, which lands this year on April 12, in the first concrete goal he has set to ease off restrictions meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. In a Fox News virtual town hall, Trump said he wanted to have the country and the economy “raring to go by Easter”—a date less than three weeks away that he said was also “an important day for other reasons.”

“I would love to have the country opened up by Easter,” Trump said multiple times, after expressing outrage over having to “close the country” by shutting down businesses and implementing social distancing despite a pandemic that, in his words, killed fewer people than the seasonal flu. “It’s not built to shut down. Our people are full of vim and vigor and energy. They don’t want to be locked in a house or an apartment or some space.”

In a second Fox interview that aired Tuesday afternoon, Trump doubled down on his April 12 date, stating that he didn’t choose it based on any expert recommendations or data—but because “Easter’s a very special day for me.”

“It’s sort of in that timeline I’ve been thinking about. Wouldn’t it be great to have all the churches full?” Trump said. “So I think Easter Sunday, you’ll have packed churches all over our country. I think it’ll be a beautiful time.” He later conceded that he is “not sure that’s going to be the day but I would love to aim it right at Easter.”