After governors of a handful of states on the east and west coasts recently announced plans to reopen their states from coronavirus shutdowns, President Donald Trump declared he had "total authority."
"When somebody's president of the United States, the authority is total," Trump said during Monday's coronavirus task force daily press briefing. "And that's the way it's got to to be. It's total. It's total. And the governors know that."
The governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts announced earlier Monday they would begin planning strategies to reopen those states. Soon after, the state leaders of California, Washington, and Oregon followed suit.
The population of those states account for roughly one-third of the country's population.
"You have a couple bands of Democratic governors, but they will agree to it," Trump added. "They will agree to it. But the authority of the president of the United States, having to do with the subject we're talking about, is total."
He added: "They can't do anything without approval of the president of the United States."
Earlier on Monday, Trump tweeted it will not be "the Governors decision to open up the states."
Vice President Mike Pence clarified the president's comments by saying: "I support the president's leadership under the national emergency declaration that he signed."
The declaration allowed the president to provide $50 billion in federal resources to help fight against coronavirus.
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