A lot of people have made the point that President Trump doesn’t actually have the legal power to re-open the economy. He wasn’t the one who shut it down in the first place: It has been state governments issuing shelter-in-place orders. Trump’s claim this afternoon that he can override state policies in this matter is very likely wrong as a legal matter.


But that response to Trump misses the point. If Trump were to start calling for a re-opening, it would create enormous political pressure, particularly on Republican governors, to accede to his wishes. The stakes of this debate are real.