Trump is 'waving the white flag' on COVID-19 because beating virus is 'too difficult': CNN's Harwood

CNN's John Harwood on Wednesday painted a damning portrait of where President Donald Trump's efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are headed.

While discussing Trump's plans to pivot away from containing the virus and toward "reopening" the economy, Harwood told CNN host Erica Hill that the president didn't seem inclined to do all the work that other countries are doing to keep their people healthy during the pandemic.

"I think, Erica, that the 'war-time president' has decided this is too difficult to stick with, that he sort of is waving the white flag," the reporter explained. "The pressures between trying to make slow headway against the virus, by pressing states to stay closed and to follow the guidelines he laid out, are being met by the counter-pressure from business and from the president's own thought that he's got to get the economy up and running for his re-election."

However, Harwood expressed skepticism that this strategy would prove successful without the virus contained.

"The question is going to be how much can you get the economy up and running when the vast majority of the American people are anxious about going out, how much of an economy can you open up when the virus is out there in such substantial measure and people are so concerned about it?" he said. "It is a gamble the administration is taking that they can move on."

Watch the video below.

Trump is 'waving the white flag' on COVID-19 because beating virus is 'too difficult' from Brad Reed on Vimeo.