UPDATED: 5:40 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy met with President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday morning to make his case for ramping up COVID-19 testing and federal financial assistance for states.
Trump reassured that he's anticipating a major rebound in the coming months and a "spectacular" 2021.
"We will work together to defeat this virus and ensure that New Jersey emerges from this crisis stronger than ever," Murphy tweeted on Wednesday.
President @realDonaldTrump just met with @GovMurphy on Coronavirus testing, financial assistance, and planning a great comeback for New Jersey."I thank you for the enormous help in our darkest hour of need," Gov. Murphy said. pic.twitter.com/1VS4n0MOJJ
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 30, 2020"We're desperately in need of money," Murphy continued. "We're still not in the end zone on the interpretation of the CARES Act. We made progress, but we're not there yet, and that's gonna be a fraction of what we're gonna need overall."
Murphy and other governors have been pushing for a $500 billion federal package for state and local governments — in part, to pay for first responders and other front-line workers.
That funding is part of a bipartisan proposal, co-sponsored by Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey.
Initially, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said states could just file for bankruptcy if they're hurting so badly. His comments drew criticism from Murphy and many others. McConnell has backtracked somewhat, now saying that he's open to the additional funding.
While economists are warning of serious long-term damage as the country plunges into recession because of the coronavirus, Trump is predicting a strong fourth quarter thanks to pent-up demand.
"I think we can actually surpass where we were," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, while admitting he was relying on his gut.
"I feel it," he said. "I think sometimes what I feel is better than what I think, unfortunately or fortunately."
Murphy exchanged praise with Trump, despite past criticism. Trump said Murphy had "stepped up to the plate," while Murphy said Trump has delivered in his state's darkest hour.
"We've been crushed and appreciate your consideration on the financial side as well," Murphy said, while telling Trump his state needs $20 billion to $30 billion just to keep firefighters, teachers, police officers and others on the job.
The governor got no promises on that front, but he did come away with a pledge for more test kits, swabs and other PPE, enough to double the state's testing rate within a month.
The comments are the latest sign that Trump is trying to turn the page on the virus, even as the nation's death toll continues to climb and jobless claims rise. Trump had been hoping to ride a strong economy into another four-year term, but the virus and the economic damage it has wrought upended that strategy.
But economists have warned a sharp comeback may not be realistic. They point to expected flare-ups that could force reopened businesses to shut down again, concerns that employees and consumers afraid of contracting the virus could continue to stay home, and the fact that shuttered business may not open again. With so much of the economy paralyzed, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that economic activity will plunge this quarter at a 40% annual rate.
Trump has nonetheless given consistently high marks to his administration's handling of the virus, despite persistent criticism that he waited too long to act.
"I think we did a spectacular job," he said, days after the nation's death toll surpassed the Vietnam War, with more than 60,000 dead and a million infected.
"I'm not even referring to me, I'm referring to all of these people, including your people who have been working with my people so closely," he told Murphy. "But the federal government has done a spectacular job."
The nation's top infectious disease expert said earlier Thursday that new cases of the virus are a certainty as states begin to roll back restrictions. States need to proceed carefully as they take steps to reopen businesses and allow greater freedom of movement, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
"We will get blips ... there's no doubt," Fauci told NBC's "Today" show. "When you pull back there will be cases, and what we need to do is make sure (states) have in place the capability of identifying, isolating and contact tracing individuals."
Fauci urged states that don't have that capability to go very slowly. "You can't just leap over things and get into a situation where you're really tempting a rebound. That's the thing I get concerned about," he said.
His warnings came a day after Trump said the federal government would not extend its social distancing guidelines past Thursday, and Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, predicted that by July the country would be "really rocking again," despite health experts assessing that as highly unlikely.
New Jersey now has over 118,000 positive cases, with over 7,200 fatalities. Health officials say the state has reached its viral peak in mid-April and hospitalizations are slowly going down statewide — although not in South Jersey.
Still, the governor's warning people who venture to newly opened parks and golf courses this weekend to obey the social distancing rules or they could be shut down again.
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The Associated Press and KYW Newsradio's David Madden contributed to this report.
