Trump insisted the move would eradicate the testing shortcomings that health experts say hindered the country’s ability to contain the virus when it first appeared on American shores. In recent days, Trump’s health officials have warned Americans to expect the situation to worsen, spurring much of the country’s public spaces to shutter — professional sports have been suspended, concert halls are closed until further notice and many Americans have been asked to self-isolate.

Yet even as Trump unleashed $50 billion in government funding, the announcement had a distinct market-first flavor.

Trump outlined a series of agreements with private companies, including Google, Target and Walmart, to facilitate swifter coronavirus testing for Americans. Target and Walmart said they will set aside parking lot space for testing sites, while Google pledged to set up a website to determine whether a person needs a test, and where one is available.

“Very soon, Americans will be able to go to these drive-in sites,” said Vice President Mike Pence, who Trump put in charge of the administration’s coronavirus task force.

Trump said he expected 1.4 million additional tests to be available next week and 5 million within a month — even as he cautioned against everyone rushing to get tested.

“We don’t want everybody taking this test,” he said. “It’s totally unnecessary.”

Trump has faced condemnation over the administration's failure to provide adequate testing and resources for the coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people worldwide and infected tens of thousands. Health specialists have also reprimanded Trump for repeatedly downplaying what has now been deemed a global pandemic.

“I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump said of the government’s struggles to produce enough tests, blaming existing rules set by prior administration for limiting his options. “We were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.”

And he claimed to not know that a pandemic preparedness team within the National Security Council was scrapped in 2018. Trump called a question about it “nasty” at a news conference.

“I didn’t do it,” he said.

Still, Trump's executive actions on Friday received a positive response on Wall Street and even among Democrats.

A faltering stock market swiftly rebounded as Trump was speaking, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring nearly 2,000 points, or more than 9 percent, the largest percentage gain since the 2008 crisis. The comeback reversed nearly all of Thursday’s tumble, which was the worst since the 1987 market crash.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y,), who had urged Trump to act more forcefully, offered rare praise for the president but warned him not to go too far.

“As other steps are considered, the president must not overstep his authority or indulge his autocratic tendencies for purposes not truly related to this public health crisis,” he said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered no comment.