Week 168

• President Trump reveals that his decision to extend the social distancing guidelines to April 30 was motivated by models which predicted that if the restrictions were removed as many as 2.2 million people would die and about half the country would be infected.^[2] President Trump also warned that between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans could become infected in the coming days, despite strict isolation and distancing guidelines.^[3]
• More than 3,600 people have died in the United States from the SARS-CoV-2 disease. 1,941 have died in New York state, 267 in New Jersey, 259 in Michigan, 239 in Louisiana, 225 in Washington state, 184 in California and 139 in Georgia. Every other state except Wyoming has recorded at least one death attributed to the virus.^[4]

• Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announces he has relieved Captain Brett Crozier from the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) for going outside the chain of command for help with 114 positive COVID-19 cases on board the aircraft carrier.^[5]
• In the daily COVID-19 press conference, Jared Kushner declares that the "notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile; it's not supposed to be state stockpiles that they then use."^[6][7]

• President Trump notifies Congress he has "removed from office" Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, the individual who had informed Congress about the whistleblower complaint that led to the Ukraine probe and the president's impeachment.^[8][9]

Week 169

• President Trump nominates Brian D. Miller to fill the newly created position of Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery.^[10]

• President Trump announces that Kayleigh McEnany will become the 31st White House press secretary, replacing Stephanie Grisham, who was moved to be the First Lady's chief of staff.^[11]
• President Trump dismisses Glenn A. Fine as acting inspector general for the Defense Department, making him ineligible to chair the recently created Pandemic Response Accountability Committee that he had been appointed to eight days previously.^[12]
• Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly submits a letter of resignation to Defense Secretary Mark Esper.^[13]

• The number of deaths in the United States attributed to the COVID-19 disease is 12,956. There are more than 397,000 certified COVID-19 cases.^[14]

Week 170

• The number of deaths in the United States attributed to the COVID-19 disease is 25,922. There are more than 606,800 certified COVID-19 cases.^[15]
• President Trump announces that the US will stop funding the World Health Organization (WHO), after Trump criticized the WHO for being too lenient on China.^[16]
• President Trump threatens to prorogue both houses of Congress in order to make recess appointments.^[17]

• President Trump announces that the states can begin lifting restrictions for COVID-19 by May 1 while acknowledging that the decision to reopen is best left to the states.^[18]

• President Trump tweets "LIBERATE", interpreted as support of not extending lock-downs in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia.^[19]

Week 171

• President Trump announces on Twitter that he will temporarily suspend all immigration in an effort to protect America from "the Invisible Enemy".^[20][21]

• The number of deaths in the United States attributed to the COVID-19 disease is 42,200. There are more than 830,000 certified COVID-19 cases.^[22]
• Health Dept. official Dr. Rick Bright is fired by President Trump after questioning the effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine as a drug to treat COVID-19 and requesting extensive tests to confirm Trump's claims.^[23]

• After the Senate passes a $480 billion aid bill to help small businesses and hospitals as well as to increase the number of COVID-19 tests performed the House of Representatives approves the bill in a vote of 388–5, sending the bill to President Trump for signing.^[24]

• President Trump signs the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act to provide hospitals with $484 billion in funding to increase COVID-19 testing.^[26]
• At the daily COVID-19 press briefing, President Trump promotes the use of ultraviolet light as a remedy to COVID-19, and muses about injecting bleach or disinfectant into the lungs or other areas of the body to kill the virus.^[27]

Week 172

• President Trump meets with Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis in the Oval Office.^[28]

• President Trump meets with Governor of Louisiana John Bel Edwards in the Oval Office.^[29]
• The number of deaths in the United States attributed to the COVID-19 disease is 53,034. There are more than 1 million certified COVID-19 cases.^[30]

• President Trump meets with Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy in the Oval Office.^[31]

Week 172

• President Trump dismisses Acting Health and Human Services inspector general Christi Grimm, who had issued an April report describing severe shortages of COVID-19 testing materials and personal protective equipment.^[32]

• During a Fox News town hall in the Lincoln Memorial, President Trump revises his forecast for the death toll from COVID-19, increasing it to 100,000. He also admits the disease has been more lethal than he expected, adding that early intelligence briefings indicated the virus was "not a big deal".^[33][34]

Week 173

• President Trump tours Honeywell Aerospace.^[35]

• President Trump meets with Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds in the Oval Office.^[36]
• The number of deaths in the United States attributed to the COVID-19 disease is 71,077. There are more than 1.2 million certified COVID-19 cases.^[37]

• One of Trump's personal valets tests positive for COVID-19. White House staffers, including valets, generally do not wear masks. Trump claims, however, that he requires all his aides to take rapid tests for the virus before he travels anywhere with them.^[38]
• President Trump meets with Governor of Texas Greg Abbott in the Oval Office.^[39]
• President Trump speaks at the National Day of Prayer service in the Rose Garden.^[40]
• The Justice Department announces that it is dropping all charges against President Trump's former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn.^[41]

• President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participate in the 75th anniversary of VE Day celebrations.^[42]
• Katie Miller, the top spokesperson for Vice President Mike Pence, tests positive for COVID-19. She is married to Stephen Miller, a top aide and speechwriter for President Trump. This suggests multiple people who work in the West Wing may have been exposed.^[43]

• Despite the COVID-19 diagnosis for one of his staff members, Vice President Pence said he would not self-isolate and would continue to work in person at the White House.^[44] Other members of the coronavirus Task Force, including Drs. Redfield, Hahn, and Fauci, however, planned to self-isolate.^[45]

Week 174