President Trump loves to talk up the roaring economy he sees arriving sooner than you might think. “Once we get rid of the virus, I think we’ll have a boom economy … a tremendous rebound,” he insisted last week. “We’ll be the talk of the world soon. … We’re going to be stronger than ever.”

This is more than just the usual Trump hyperbole. He will be in a stronger position to free up parts of the economy from coronavirus restrictions than in late March, when he was pressured to back off his plan to do so by Easter. Trump had to yield to a superior force: the collusion of the public health network, both political parties, and the media. But if there are indications that the growth in new coronavirus infections has peaked by May, the president is poised to argue for easing constraints on some areas of the country and boosting the economy.