[magicnubs]

What's the end game in this scenario? It feels like political suicide if it causes coronavirus deaths to spike even more before November, as people already don't care for how the administration has handled it. Although, since it's mostly young people, maybe cases would spike, but deaths wouldn't, making the virus seem less deadly. But maybe deaths are expected to spike either way, so better to both increase cases (with relatively fewer deaths making it seem less deadly, as mentioned above) and also spur the economy somewhat? Or maybe it's pure and simply just a way to energize the base by "scoring a point against the other team", as it is seen as bringing defiant liberal institutions to heel?

[magicnubs]

(continued as I accidently submitted my comment too early)

Or is it simply about making it seem like things have returned to normal? "See business are reopening, schools are reopening, the world is back to the way it was".

[121789]

I think there are many interpretations that are all probably a little true

Generous interpretation: if classes are primarily online, international students do not have a reason to reside in the US except for easier access to the labor market. With 20M Americans out of work, the administration is prioritizing citizens for first access to the labor market.

Skeptical interpretation: This is another anti-immigrant change that uses COVID as a scapegoat for racist/nativist policy.

I generally interpret most of the administration's moves as political gambles. Given current trends in deaths, they may be hoping that daily deaths are near zero with the country mostly opened back up by October. That seems like the only path to reelection given the current gap in approval ratings between the two candidates.

[kec]

F-1 students don't have access to the labor market outside of OPT which is limited and subject to government approval.

[lordleft]

I honestly don't know...it seems the majority of Americans are alive to the dangers of COVID and believe we aren't doing enough, and Trump's approval ratings are plummeting, so this doesn't make sense to me -- but his reaction doesn't have to be rational, it could be a desperate attempt to do exactly what you said, and cultivate the appearance of things being fine.

[pchristensen]

"the majority of Americans are alive to the dangers of COVID and believe we aren't doing enough"

Possibly a majority, but nowhere near all.

[UncleMeat]

Trump just believes in stuff. It doesn’t need to make sense. “It’ll go away by Easter”.

Trump probably believes that if we all just go back to normal that we will be fine and he will be a hero because that’s how his mind works. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense.