Donald Trump Declares ‘Mutiny’ as Power Struggle Builds over Reopening Country

President Donald Trump ridiculed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other Democrat governors on Tuesday, warning them that he relished a fight over when to reopen the country.

“Tell the Democrat Governors that ‘Mutiny On The Bounty’ was one of my all-time favorite movies,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain. Too easy!”

Several Democrat governors banded together on Monday, asserting their authority over when and how to reopen their states for business during the coronavirus crisis.

Earlier Monday, Trump criticized Cuomo for demanding full autonomy over when his state reopens.

“Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won’t happen!”

Cuomo has stepped up criticism of the president after Trump asserted “total authority” to reopen the country.

Cuomo warned Trump against creating a “constitutional crisis” in New York during an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Tuesday morning.

“If [Trump] says to me, ‘I declare it open,’ and that is a public health risk, or it’s reckless with the welfare of the people of my state, I will oppose it,” he said.

Cuomo predicted a “terrible” situation if Trump demanded states reopen before they are ready.

“It would be terrible for this country; it would be terrible for this president,” he said. “So, I just hope he gets control of what he was saying last night, and he doesn’t go down that road.”

Cuomo said it was absurd for Trump to expect state governors to shut down their states and allow him to decide when to reopen.

The New York governor also warned Trump in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

“The federal government does not have absolute power,” Cuomo said, referring to the Founding Fathers of the United States, adding, “Keep the politics out of it.”