Trump to Governors: You Will 'Call Your Own Shots'

President Trump will unveil guidelines Thursday evening for the states on when and how to begin relaxing their coronavirus restrictions. In a tweet, Trump said he would explain the guidelines at a briefing at 6pm Eastern. This comes amid recent friction between Trump and governors over balancing public health with getting the economy rolling again. But in a conference call with governors Thursday, that conflict seemed to be on the back-burner. "You’re going to call your own shots,” Trump told them, according to an audio recording obtained by the AP. “We’re going to be standing along side of you.” Coverage:

• One goal: The guidelines are expected to remain vague because they will depend in part on the availability of testing and any resulting data in the coming weeks, reports Politico. But one general goal is to get people under age 65 who don't have pre-existing conditions back into the workforce as fast as possible.
• Some states by May? Bloomberg News reports that Trump told governors some states could begin reopening for business by May 1. The federal guidelines recommend states should see a "downward trajectory in cases" before relaxing restrictions. After that, employers that open for business should use a variety of safety measures, including temperature checks of workers, to make sure the disease stays under control.

• Also coming: Among other things, Trump is expected to announce that the CDC will hire hundreds of people to trace the contacts of people who have tested positive, reports the New York Times. The feds also will help states pay for medical personnel to conduct such tracing. "We want to beef up state capacity to be able to perform core functions, so that if and when we start to open the country back up, we don’t have a resurgence of cases to require the country to shut back down," says a government official.
• 7 more governors: The governors of seven Midwestern states announced a plan Thursday to coordinate their reopenings, reports CNN. They are Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. Governors on the coasts have previously done so. "We will make decisions based on facts, science, and recommendations from experts in health care, business, labor, and education," said the governors in a statement.
• Trump vs. Pelosi: In a conference call with House lawmakers Thursday morning, the president pointed to protests from people who want to get back to work and said more Americans were getting angry about being forced to stay home, per the Times. Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, told reporters it was foolish to reopen the nation prematurely because it would risk lives, per the Hill.

(More President Trump stories.)