[Farm93]

“Our country wasn’t built to be shut down,” Trump continued. “This is not a country that was built for this.” "

Which countries were? This is a useless statement. Just says the truism that being shut down is not good.

I think I can get there.

France was built for shutdowns - 
The working citizens get 6 (or more) weeks of vacation.
Many routinely take August off, so they have that part of the challenge down too.
And, with universal health care, they don't need to scramble back to work seconds after layoffs.
Most of Europe has a similar deal as many even offer extended paid breaks for those struggling with serious illnesses.

The USA was not built for shutdowns 
Working citizens get 2 weeks of vacation time, if they are lucky
Most don't even take their 2 week allocation each year
With insurance provided by employers Americans often can't afford healthcare when they become unemployed
In most cases USA citizens will get a small fraction of their pay should they become disabled and almost nothing if they have a serious illness.

So if you think about it the USA was not built for shutdowns is essentially true. 
For similar reasons the USA was not built for pandemics.

Feel free to relocate to France.

France has loads of issues with their worker-business model.  France's system is definitely not even close to ideal for normal times.
HOWEVER, no doubt in my mind that the USA model is not built for a contagious health care pandemic.
Americans are not just socially pressured to work while sick, in many cases their livelihood requires that devotion to the economy. 

POTUS is right.  The USA is not built for a shutdown.  If he understood that in January he should have mobilized the USA's great resources in the way Korea did in January.   Get industry to test aggressively from day #1 because, as he now claims he knows, the USA absolutely can't wait to take the shutdown route.   Sigh.

[Farm93]

“Our country wasn’t built to be shut down,” Trump continued. “This is not a country that was built for this.” "

Which countries were? This is a useless statement. Just says the truism that being shut down is not good.

I think I can get there.

France was built for shutdowns - 
The working citizens get 6 (or more) weeks of vacation.
Many routinely take August off, so they have that part of the challenge down too.
And, with universal health care, they don't need to scramble back to work seconds after layoffs.
Most of Europe has a similar deal as many even offer extended paid breaks for those struggling with serious illnesses.

The USA was not built for shutdowns 
Working citizens get 2 weeks of vacation time, if they are lucky
Most don't even take their 2 week allocation each year
With insurance provided by employers Americans often can't afford healthcare when they become unemployed
In most cases USA citizens will get a small fraction of their pay should they become disabled and almost nothing if they have a serious illness.

So if you think about it the USA was not built for shutdowns is essentially true. 
For similar reasons the USA was not built for pandemics.

Feel free to relocate to France.

France has loads of issues with their worker-business model.  France's system is definitely not even close to ideal for normal times.
HOWEVER, no doubt in my mind that the USA model is not built for a contagious health care pandemic.
Americans are not just socially pressured to work while sick, in many cases their livelihood requires that devotion to the economy. 

POTUS is right.  The USA is not built for a shutdown.  If he understood that in January he should have mobilized the USA's great resources in the way Korea did in January.   Get industry to test aggressively from day #1 because, as he now claims he knows, the USA absolutely can't wait to take the shutdown route.   Sigh.