Donald Trump took a question this past week from a reporter about the “metrics” he would use to decide whether to “reopen” the U.S. economy that the coronavirus pandemic has slammed shut.

He pointed to his noggin and said “my metrics are right here.” He’s going to make a decision, he said, after listening to the advice he will get from his team.

If only I could believe he would listen to anyone, let alone to the experts with whom he has surrounded himself.

The docs and many of the nation’s governors are imploring the president to resist seeking to restart the economy by May 1.

Too many Americans are still being infected. Too many also are dying from the COVID-19 strain of the virus and yet Trump still keeps talking about the need to get Americans back to some sense of “normal.”

The need must be first and foremost to stem this infection and to ensure that we test sufficient numbers of Americans to determine who is infected. To date we have tested a tiny fraction of Americans; we need to get many millions more tested. Only after we do that should we “reopen the economy” and seek to return to the way it was before the pandemic swept across the world.

The medical experts and many governors are pushing back against Donald Trump’s desire to act. Is he seeking a premature restarting of the economy? A lot of the “best people” advising Trump believe he must slow it down.

Pay attention to them, Mr. President. They have the “metrics” that need to matter more than those that are knocking around inside Donald Trump’s skull.