U.S. President Donald Trump visited a medical supply distribution facility in Pennsylvania Thursday, calling for the state to lift lockdown restrictions, even though it has not fully met the reopening criteria recommended by White House guidelines.

"We've got to get your governor in Pennsylvania to start to open up here," Trump said. "You have areas in Pennsylvania that are barely affected and they want to keep them closed. You can't do that."

Pennsylvania's Democratic governor Tom Wolf faces growing pressure from Republicans in the state to ease stay-at-home orders.

According to the CNN, quickly reopening the state means a lot to Trump. He narrowly won Pennsylvania in 2016 and his political advisers view the state as a key battleground if he's to win re-election in November.

Apart from urging an economic reopening, Trump said he intends to bring the manufacturing of COVID-19-related items back to the U.S. and export items to the rest of the world.

In the meantime, whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright, who was ousted as a top government vaccine director for what he alleged were for political reasons, testified before a House subcommittee on Thursday. He told lawmakers, "Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities."

The Democratically-led House plans to pass a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package on Friday, even though leading Republicans say the plan will be "dead on arrival".

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed Thursday that she is open to negotiation with the Senate.

(Cover image: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) visits medical supply distributor Owens and Minor Inc. in Allentown, Pennsylvania on May 14, 2020. /AFP)

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