The White House said Tuesday it may wind down its coronavirus task force by the end of the month — even as a draft government report projected COVID-19 cases in the United States are expected to double by August, with more than 3,000 deaths per day. The announcement came as the official U.S. coronavirus death toll passed 71,000 — more than a quarter of all reported deaths from the disease worldwide. New data show that once the New York City metropolitan region is factored out, the U.S. coronavirus infection rate continues to climb. Despite the grim figures, President Trump said Tuesday he’s ready to move the U.S. to the next phase of its recovery.

President Donald Trump: “Thanks to the profound commitment of our citizens, we’ve flattened the curve, and countless American lives have been saved. Our country is now in the next stage of the battle: a very safe, phased and gradual reopening. It’s a reopening of our country. Who would have ever thought we were going to be saying that? A reopening. Reopening.”

Trump made the remarks during a trip to Arizona, where he toured a Honeywell aerospace plant that’s now producing N95 face masks. Trump wore safety glasses but no mask during the tour, ignoring a sign in the factory ordering everyone inside to wear a facial covering. As a Honeywell executive showed President Trump N95 masks, loudspeakers blared a cover of the song “Live and Let Die” by the band Guns N’ Roses.

Tony Stallings: “This is the material that traps the particulates… “ [music blaring]