In change of plans, Trump now says coronavirus task force will continue 'indefinitely'

A day after President Donald Trump confirmed that he planned to wind down the White House coronavirus task force, the president announced Wednesday that it will now continue indefinitely.

In a series of tweets, Trump said the task force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, has done a “fantastic job of bringing together vast highly complex resources that have set a high standard for others to follow in the future.”

Trump said that ventilators are now being produced in the thousands, repeated the false claim that the U.S. is doing more testing than all other countries combined and said face masks and shields are “plentiful.”

“The last four Governors teleconference calls have been conclusively strong. Because of this success, the Task Force will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN. We may add or subtract people,” the president tweeted.

The task force will also be “very focused” on the development of a coronavirus vaccine and treatments, he said.

The president's apparent change of plans comes a day after he told reporters during a visit to a mask factory in Phoenix, Arizona, that he would wind down the task force.

“I think that, as far as the task force, Mike Pence and the task force have done a great job,” Trump said. "But we’re now looking at a little bit of a different form, and that form is safety and opening, and we’ll have a different group probably set up for that.”