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Itâs âMake America Great Again.â Again.
President Donald Trump is rebooting his 2016 slogan, [Mario Parker]( reports, in an attempt [to refocus attention]( on what his campaign predicts will be a rosy post-coronavirus world.
It wonât be easy. Less than six months from the election, polls show Americans broadly souring on Trump and [his performance]( in managing the outbreak, which has [crippled the economy]( and left his central argument for a second term in tatters.
Hence the Trump teamâs efforts at a reframe. He started the week with [a virtual town hall]( at the Lincoln Memorial and the [release of an ad]( featuring images of health-care workers cheering and Democratic governors praising steps heâs taken. âWe built the greatest economy the world has ever seen and weâre going to do it again,â Trump pledges.
Look for a similar message today when the president visits a medical-supply plant [in Arizona](. Itâs his first major trip in weeks, with the state expected to be a key battleground.
In political terms, Nov. 3 is still a long way away. But with a U.S. death toll of 67,000 so far and skyrocketing job losses, the election will almost certainly hinge on votersâ confidence in Trumpâs ability to manage a public health crisis and lead an economic recovery.
And the slogan that worked four years ago will inevitably be a harder sell from inside the White House.
â [Kathleen Hunter](
Trump at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 2. Senate Democrats [are due today]( to grill Trumpâs nominee to oversee the trillions being spent to rescue the economy.
Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
Global Headlines
[Returning fire]( | Chinese state media unleashed a torrent of criticism against Secretary of State Michael Pompeo â calling him âevilâ and a liar â as Beijing pushes back against [U.S. allegations]( over the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak. Still, Beijing continues to steer clear of direct attacks against the U.S. president, a strategy it also used during the trade war to fan nationalistic outrage at home without drawing Trumpâs ire.
[Big spenders]( | European governments have been paying a portion of the wages of 40 million workers during the virus lockdowns but, as [Fergal O]([âBrien]( and [Zoe Schneeweiss]( write, the huge burden on public finances looks like itâs worth it. Without government support, many might have lost their jobs, sending unemployment soaring to levels never seen before.
- Global deaths from the pandemic [have surpassed]( 250,000, with more than 3.5 million confirmed infections.
[Balancing act]( | Boris Johnsonâs drive to revive the U.K. economy is caught between demands by labor unions and opposition politicians for proper protection for workers and calls by members of his Conservative Party to allow businesses to restart. The prime minister is expected to outline his plans Thursday to ease restrictions while attempting to prevent a second peak of infections.
[Mixed messages]( | South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has generally won praise for his handling of the coronavirus â but some of his ministers, not so much. As [Antony Sguazzin]( explains, the reversal of a decision to ease a controversial ban on tobacco sales, authoritarian statements by his police commissioner and racially tinged comments by other cabinet members suggest a government that is at times out of sync.
[Counter claims]( | Former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who runs Florida-based security company Silvercorp USA, says an effort to overthrow Venezuelaâs President Nicolas Maduro is ongoing, with 52 men, including two Americans, on the ground. Maduroâs regime says it [stopped the attack]( in its tracks with some âmercenariesâ killed and others arrested as they sought to enter from waters off Colombia.
What to Watch
- Germanyâs top judges gave the European Central Bank [three months to fix]( its $2.95 trillion asset purchase program, saying some parts of the quantitative easing arrangements arenât backed by European Union treaties.
- The U.S. and the U.K. [are set to begin]( two weeks of trade talks that British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said were aimed at forging a pact to benefit both countries in the global downturn.
- Tanzania [suspended the head]( of its national medical laboratory, a day after President John Magufuli questioned its virus case figures and said the outbreak isnât as bad as reported.
- Brazilian prosecutors asked the Supreme Court for permission to interview senior cabinet members as part of [their probe]( into allegations President Jair Bolsonaro tried to interfere with federal police investigations.
Tell us how weâre doing or what weâre missing at [balancepower@bloomberg.net](bbg://screens/MSG%20balancepower%40bloomberg.net).
[And finally](...Indiaâs move to relax some virus restrictions saw migrant workers clash with police and brawls outside reopening liquor shops. Mumbai police said standalone shops would issue tokens to customers to avoid crowding, and used the hashtag MaintainSoberDistance. Delhiâs government put a 70% âcorona feeâ tax on alcohol sales. The lockdowns hit millions of daily wage earners across the nation of 1.3 billion, leaving many penniless and stranded in the cities where they worked.
Police disperse people lining up to buy alcohol near a liquor shop in New Delhi yesterday. Photographer: Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images.
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