Published on July 22, 2020 at 04:56AM by Toluse Olorunnipa, The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump walked to the lectern in the White House briefing room alone Tuesday, attempting to single-handedly hit the reset button on the public blame he is facing for not controlling the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Three months after he abandoned the daily virus briefings and attempted to turn the country's attention to what he described as the "great American comeback," Trump's low-key reappearance before reporters seemed to be a tacit admission that his previous strategy had not worked.
Six months after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the United States - and with almost 4 million confirmed infections - Trump's attempt to re-engage with the crisis and embrace public health guidelines marked a notable departure from his recent approach to the pandemic.
"We are in the process of developing a strategy that's going to be very, very powerful," Trump said Tuesday, reading from prepared remarks that did not include details of what the strategy would entail.
While Trump continued to showcase his trademark boosterism with repeated praise of his administration, he also appeared to acknowledge that the virus he once said would soon disappear continues to pose a serious threat to the country, as well as to his reelection chances.
"It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better," he said during the 30-minute briefing in which he spoke in subdued tones. "Something I don't like saying about things, but that's the way it is."
That somber approach harked back to late March, when Trump warned of a "great national trial unlike any it has ever faced before" and predicted a "very painful two weeks" for the country.
That soberness did not last long; Trump spent much of April and May attacking governors who did not reopen their economies and resisting calls for the federal...
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