Related video: President Donald Trump shared a video bragging about his response to the coronavirus pandemic

Donald Trump has said the US will investigate a conspiracy theory surrounding the coronavirus suggesting it originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and was originally intended as a weapon for use in biological warfare, with secretary of state Mike Pompeo urging Beijing to “come clean” on the matter.​

While the president was triggering a new constitutional crisis by threatening to adjourn Congress on Wednesday over a minor political grievance, his supporters were staging protests across the country against ongoing stay-at-home orders, with armed demonstrators chanting “Lock her up!” outside the offices of Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.

After teasing out the release of a set of "guidelines" for state and local government to begin reopening during the pandemic, the president unveiled his MAGA-referencing "Opening Up America Again" plan, which he said could allow some states to begin reopening "literally tomorrow" despite criticisms that the plan doesn't offer any worker protections or consistent enforcement to prevent a spike in outbreaks.

He said his guidelines offer a "phased, deliberate approach" for states to re-open businesses, after the president has grown impatient with a stalled economy in the wake of the pandemic.

Mr Trump said "a national shutdown is not a sustainable long-term solution."

The president told governors on Thursday that "you're going to be calling the shots" despite telling Americans just days earlier that he has "total authority" to end quarantine and other mitigation efforts.

Ronald Klain, who led the Ebola response under former president Barack Obama, said that the "plan" is "barely a PowerPoint."

Meanwhile, the president's approval rating dropped six percentage points within the first weeks of April, marking the largest point drop in his presidency, according to Gallup.

His current 43 per cent rating, however, still hovers above his 40 per cent average.