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US President Donald Trump made clear he is willing to do a fight with local and tribal school officials and his own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leaders over getting children back into the classroom this fall. Trump’s senior administration officials opted against threatening school systems with possibly withholding $13 billion recently allocated by the US Congress to help them deal with the widespread coronavirus. But, President Trump did just that the next morning. He tweeted, “In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS. The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open”!

The recent move is a warning shot over the bow of any local and tribal school system officials who are hesitant about opening schools in just a few months due to as Covid-19 cases spike in the Sun Belt, Arizona, Florida, and South Carolina outpacing entire countries in terms of new cases in the last several weeks. A senior official of Trump administration said, “So, as part of the CARES Act, schools received more than $13 billion to help them respond to the COVID-19 situation. That funding was very flexible in its uses, whether it was allowed to support there, the provision of distance education and remote learning services, or whether it was allowed to use to support activities or activities that will actually maintain the continuity of services in the physical building itself”.

Point to be noted that the White House has now confirmed President Trump didn’t stop with the school system and local officials. He also threw down the gauntlet on his own hand-picked CDC leaders. President also tweeted and said, “I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!” His comments came just hours after the president had warm words for CDC Director Robert Redfield during a Tuesday afternoon White House event on reopening schools across the country. Trump said, “And I see Dr. Redfield over in the audience, and I appreciate it. And I know you’d like to see everybody coming back and getting back to school in the fall”.