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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo travelled to Washington DC today to meet with US President Donald Trump. In normal times, that sentence wouldn't mean much.
It makes sense for the leader of a country and the leader of that country's third-biggest state economy to get together now and again.
But these are not normal times.
Cuomo broke his own stay-at-home advice, crossing state lines to get to the White House. He broadcast his agenda in the press.
And he welcomed the public to again turn its attention to what's becoming a bit of a national pastime: watching the Democratic leader carefully — and successfully — stand up to Trump during this national crisis.
Cuomo's stated purpose for the meeting was to convince the Federal Government to help New York ramp up its COVID-19 testing.
In a press briefing, Trump implied that Cuomo would get his wish.
"We had a great talk on testing," he said.
"Together, we'll help them secure additional tests. We hope this model will work with other states as well."
Trump praised his relationship with New York, but did not confirm he'd direct more federal funds to the testing effort.
Though the details are still fuzzy, the promise of collaboration is another win for Cuomo as well as a glimmer of hope for the governors struggling against Trump's push to ease lockdowns.
New York not the only state desperate for test kits
Following the advice of public health experts, Cuomo says the state can't reopen its economy until it determines who's safe to go back to work. That means scaling up its testing capacity.
New York, the epicentre of America's coronavirus spread, has recorded over 250,000 COVID-19 cases and 14,000 deaths.
The trouble is the state only has 211 laboratories that have the equipment and chemicals to test for COVID-19.
Those labs currently produce around 1,000 test kits a day, Cuomo said. Cuomo says that number should be closer to 50,000.
The labs get supplies from national manufacturers, which in turn get supplies from China. Or at least they would in other circumstances.
National manufacturers are now trying to service all 50 US states while dealing with their own supply-chain logjam.
It's so difficult for states to obtain tests domestically that one Republican governor, Larry Hogan of Maryland, purchased 500,000 kits from South Korea after weeks of secret negotiations.
The Governor's reliance on South Korea could be read as an embarrassment for a country that considers itself a world leader. It was met with criticism from Trump.
"I don't think he needed to go to South Korea. I think he needed to get a little knowledge — would have been helpful," he said.
But, as Hogan pointed out, the President has long said it's up to the states to secure their own testing kits.
Trump has been singing the "every state for itself" refrain since the beginning of the pandemic, asking states to secure their own live-saving supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators amid a national shortage.
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Though there was one notable variation on the theme. When it came to the potentially politically rewarding decision of reopening state economies, Trump tried to turn attention away from the governors by saying he had "total authority".
Experts say more testing needed before states ease restrictions
The timing of Cuomo's meeting comes at a critical juncture for the US coronavirus response.
As US unemployment soared past 22 million and oil prices went negative, protesters took to the streets to express discontent over stay-at-home orders.
For the past four days, they've gathered in states like Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, Washington and Virginia. Some of the crowds numbered in the thousands.
Some of them were armed. Some of them verbally confronted nurses and doctors.
The protesters don't represent the views of the nation as a whole. Polls suggest over half of the country believes the Government is moving to reopen the economy too quickly.
But the debate is visually front and centre, threatening to ramp up as some states set dates for easing restrictions.
Republican governors in three states have said they want to reopen parts of their economies as soon as May 1. Trump supports them.
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But other governors, like Cuomo, are hesitant to even discuss dates without first ramping up testing.
One study from public health experts suggests the US as a whole will need the ability to conduct 20 million tests per day to avoid a dire death toll.
Cuomo's initiative, if effective, could determine how quickly and safely New York, and dozens of other states, get back to normal.
Cuomo's popularity is rising as Trump's falls
When asked how he'd convince Trump to change his tune on state testing, Cuomo replied like a true New Yorker.
"I'll tell you how I negotiate the fine line: You tell the truth," he said.
"You can try to figure it out or, you know what, heck with it, just tell the truth. Whatever it is, it is."
"I said that to the President from day one. And, by the way, he's done the same vis-a-vis me … he has no problem telling me when he disagrees, and he tells me when he agrees."
The two leaders have done a lot of disagreeing and agreeing over the past two months, nearly in equal measure.
For Cuomo, it's been a boon to his national popularity.
A recent Siena College poll put his approval rating at 87 per cent with New Yorkers, including 70 per cent of Republicans.
His daily press briefings are the pandemic's "must-watch TV" and rack up millions of viewers, many of them beyond New York.
The term #PresidentCuomo has so notably trended on Twitter that the Governor has had to confirm several times he's not running.
Elsewhere on social media, women are professing a newfound sexual attraction to Cuomo — or at least to the authority he exudes.
And all the while, polls show Americans increasingly disapprove of Trump's handling of the pandemic.
It may be too soon to tell who'll get the credit if the US is able to reopen its economy safely.
But if it opens too soon and disaster strikes again, Cuomo's trip to Washington could insulate him from the blame.
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Topics: donald-trump, us-elections, covid-19, democrats, world-politics, epidemics-and-pandemics, united-states
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