Watch live: Trump says New York's Cuomo will visit Oval Office Tuesday

President Trump announced during Monday night’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing that he will meet with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Oval Office on Tuesday. Mr. Trump, although he’s had his squabbles with Cuomo over the federal coronavirus response, has also pointed to the governor as an example of a one who has said he is right that testing is up to the states. Mr. Trump praised New York’s progress against the virus: “They’re getting it together in New York.”

The Trump administration continues to face criticism from the nation’s governors over shortfalls in testing capacity, though President Trump said Sunday he is preparing to invoke his authority under the Defense Production Act to boost production of the swabs used in the kits. Testing was a large focal point of Monday night’s briefing, after a flurry of weekend stories about the administration’s missteps and initially slow moves to step up testing. 

Everything used to be “ventilators, ventilators, ventilators,” Mr. Trump said, and now it’s “testing, testing, testing.” 

Public health experts and members of the House and Senate have emphasized the need for widespread testing availability, as businesses look to opening up in the future. A bill the Senate is finalizing includes $25 billion for testing, even as much of the responsibility is left to states. 

Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that “we have enough testing capacity today for every state in America to go through phase one” of the administration’s plan to reopen the country. 

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said on “Face the Nation” earlier Sunday the White House is approaching coronavirus testing on a “community by community” basis. 

How to watch the Coronavirus Task Force briefing

Public health experts say more testing will be crucial as governors look to gradually restarting their economies. But Mr. Trump has defended the administration’s response to the coronavirus crisis and urged states to do more.

The U.S. is conducting 150,000 tests daily and has conducted 4 million tests overall, according to Vice President Mike Pence, who called on governors to activate all labs in their states ramp up testing as the country looks to a return to normalcy.