A day after the White House coronavirus task force presented a dire outlook for the coming weeks that included more than 100,000 projected US deaths, Donald Trump shifted focus.

Instead of leading with the latest efforts to control the spread of the disease, the president had his military officials talk about drug interdiction in Latin America.

Eventually the subject did turn to the virus, with Trump once again warning that the days ahead would be “horrific”.

He said he would not issue a nationwide stay-at-home order, however, because “states are different”. Nor would he restrict airline flights out of “hotspot” cities like New York, Detroit and New Orleans at this time.

He also once again declined a chance to criticise the Chinese government for the spread of the virus – a marked change from past weeks.

Trump had previously made a point to call the coronavirus the “Chinese virus” at every opportunity – even writing it in by hand in his briefing notes.

Now he downplayed China’s role as the source of the disease and suggested he had no opinion on allegations that China was underreporting its coronavirus deaths.

“I’m not an accountant from China,” he said.

Instead, he emphasised the recent Chinese trade deal and described his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as “very good”.

While many of the president’s conservative supporters hold China responsible for the global pandemic, assigning blame no longer seems to be part of the president’s strategy.