Trump Takes Victory Lap On Testing Despite The Fact That America Still Lags Behind Many Countries

The Associated Press: Trump Faces Virus At White House Amid Push To 'Reopen' US
President Donald Trump insisted Monday his administration has “met the moment” and “prevailed” on coronavirus testing, even as the White House itself became a potent symbol of the risk facing Americans everywhere by belatedly ordering everyone who enters the West Wing to wear a mask. Trump addressed a Rose Garden audience filled with mask-wearing administration officials, some appearing publicly with face coverings for the first time during the outbreak, after two aides tested positive for COVID-19 late last week. The startling sight served only to further highlight the challenge the president faces in instilling confidence in a nation still reeling from the pandemic. (Miller and Freking, 5/12)

Politico: Trump’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ Moment Masks Deep White House Unease
“In every generation, through every challenge and hardship and danger, America has risen to the task,” Trump said. “We have met the moment and we have prevailed.” It was a pronouncement incongruous with the widespread anxiety among employers across America about whether enough testing exists to reopen their workplaces. It was also incongruous with the internal turmoil spreading on Monday inside the West Wing, where officials were scrambling to prevent the virus from crippling the most famous and supposedly safest office in America — one that already featured ample testing capacity for anyone who meets with Trump or Vice President Mike Pence. (Cook, 5/11)

The Washington Post: Trump Claims U.S. Outpaces The World In Coronavirus Testing, But The Country Still Falls Far Short
The White House event Monday afternoon amounted to an acknowledgment that there is not yet enough testing capacity across the United States, even as more than 40 states are in some stage of lifting restrictions on travel, work and school. The president’s claims about U.S. testing benchmarks do not account for what health experts have criticized as the slow pace of testing capability in the United States this spring, a delay that some attribute to the rapid spread of the virus, the mounting death toll and uncertainty about the way forward. (Gearan, Dennis, Rucker and Wagner, 5/11)

The Hill: Trump Says US Has 'Prevailed' On Testing 
Trump was asked repeatedly Monday why Americans should feel comfortable returning to their workplaces if they don’t have the same testing resources as the White House. He generally avoided the questions, at one point suggesting a reporter was “complaining” that the White House was getting too many tests. But public health officials have repeatedly said there must be a significant increase in testing capacity before states can safely reopen. Researchers at Harvard University have recommended the U.S. test 900,000 individuals per day in order for the country to safely relax coronavirus restrictions. (Samuels and Chalfant, 5/11)

The Associated Press: Trump Abruptly Ends Briefing After Contentious Exchanges
President Donald Trump abruptly ended his White House news conference Monday following combative exchanges with reporters Weijia Jiang of CBS News and Kaitlan Collins of CNN. Jiang asked Trump why he was putting so much emphasis on the amount of coronavirus tests that have been conducted in the United States. “Why does that matter?” Jiang asked. “Why is this a global competition to you if everyday Americans are still losing their lives and we’re still seeing more cases every day?” (Bauder, 5/12)

The Hill: Trump Abruptly Ends Press Conference After Heated Exchange With Reporters
"Well, they’re losing their lives everywhere in the world, and maybe that’s a question you should ask China," Trump responded. "Don’t ask me. Ask China that question, OK? When you ask them that question, you may get a very unusual answer." ... "I’m not saying it specifically to anybody. I’m saying it to anybody that would ask a nasty question like that," Trump replied before moving on to another reporter. The president has frequently blamed China for the outbreak, suggesting the country could have stopped the spread of the coronavirus had it acted sooner. (Samuels, 5/11)

The Washington Post: Biden Calls Out Trump For Testing His Staff While Telling Americans Testing Isn’t Necessary
Former vice president Joe Biden launched a fresh line of attack against President Trump on Monday, criticizing the president for providing coronavirus tests to his staff while telling Americans that testing isn’t important. “If Trump and his team understand how critical testing is to their safety — and they seem to, given their own behavior — why are they insisting that it’s unnecessary for the American people?” Biden wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post. (Linksey, 5/11)

Reuters: Factbox: U.S. COVID-19 Tests - What's Out There And How Well Do They Work?
Health policy experts say the United States must dramatically increase the availability of tests for the coronavirus if it is to safely reopen its economy. U.S. regulators have moved speedily to authorize many new tests, but concerns still remain about tests’ accuracy, and some policymakers say new testing technologies need to proliferate to fully contain the virus. (O'Donnell, 5/11)

ABC News: Trump Downplays Calls For Greater Testing, Suggesting They're Motivated By Politics 
According to the COVID Tracking Project, testing for the coronavirus in the U.S. has steadily improved to around 264,000 tests a day -- nearly nine million tests total as of Monday -- but the U.S. is still below proposed benchmarks from several experts. Researchers at the Harvard University, for example, calculated that the U.S. would need to do approximately 500,000 tests per day, as a bare minimum, by May 1 -- a figure they have since revised to 900,000 for May 15 as more states ease restrictions. (Cathey, 5/11)

CNN: Why A Positive Covid-19 Antibody Test Doesn't Mean Much Of Anything Yet 
You're about to get a blood test to see if you have been exposed to Covid-19, the deadly disease caused by the novel coronavirus. You're hoping it will tell you that you have, right? That your blood is full of beautiful antibodies, the body's soldiers called to fight when a known enemy invades our systems again... In today's reality, testing positive for antibodies to Covid-19 means nothing of the sort. In fact, it may not mean much at all — at least right now. (LaMotte, 5/12)

In other administration news —

The Washington Post: Trump Visit To Pennsylvania Factory That Produces PPE Materials Was Scuttled After Plant Officials Expressed Concerns About Health Risks
President Trump was pushing to get out in the public eye in recent weeks and tout his leadership during the pandemic, and White House staff thought they had hit on the ideal event: a presidential visit to thank the Pennsylvania factory workers who had recently taken herculean steps to ramp up U.S. supplies of protective equipment. ... White House officials pressed to hold an event at the Braskem factory, initially scheduled for last Friday. But after extensive back and forth, factory officials ultimately asked to postpone, worried that a visit from Trump could jeopardize both the safety of the workers and the plant’s ability to produce special material for masks and other medical gear, according to two people familiar with the decision and documents reviewed by The Post. (Leonnig, 5/11)

CNN: CNN Poll: Negative Ratings For Government Handling Of Coronavirus Persist 
Most Americans (54%) continue to say the US government is doing a poor job preventing the spread of Covid-19, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS. And, while a growing share of the public feels the worst of the outbreak is behind us (44%, up from 17% in April), a majority (52%) still sees the worst on the horizon. Four-in-10 Americans say that they personally know someone who has been diagnosed with coronavirus, a figure that has nearly doubled in the last month. And most say the government is not doing enough to address the growing death toll (56%), the limited availability of testing (57%) or the potential for a second wave of cases later this year (58%). (Agiesta, 5/12)

The Hill: Trump Camp Outraged Over Jezebel Article Calling For Stephen Miller To Get Coronavirus 
Allies of the president are steaming Monday night after an article in the left-leaning Jezebel magazine called for White House adviser Stephen Miller to contract and die from the coronavirus. Jezebel writer Molly Osberg wrote in a column Friday evening titled "I Will Personally Be Thrilled If Stephen Miller Dies of Covid-19" that she would he happy if Miller died from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. "While I am generally loathe to wish physical harm on those I disagree with, and while I do wish Katie a speedy recovery, I’m comfortable shedding whatever objectivity I have here to say I desperately hope Stephen Miller contracts covid-19," Osberg wrote. (Bowden, 5/11)