Trump showed no sign of acknowledging the magnitude of the crisis as he welcomed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) at the White House and praised what he called a “fantastic job” in turning around what had been among the nation’s worst spikes in virus cases and deaths.

“He has done an incredible job on covid, or covid-19, or about 19 other names you can call it. It’s got probably more names than anything else you can think of,” Trump said.

“And he was hit very hard, and . . . he hit back even harder,” Trump said of Ducey, a political ally who had lifted many restrictions in late spring in accordance with Trump’s wishes for rapid economic reopening.

The White House endorsement comes even as Arizona continues to suffer the effects of a virus that has no vaccine and no widely effective treatment. The state is now averaging some 14,000 to 16,000 new cases a week.

Earlier Wednesday, in wide-ranging, often erroneous comments on “Fox & Friends,” Trump claimed the virus was spreading in a “relatively small portion” of the country (it is spreading nearly everywhere); said children are “virtually immune” to the virus (they are not); and once again insisted the outbreak “will go away like things go away.”

The White House touted Arizona as a model for managing the crisis without mandatory lockdowns or what Trump called “overly punitive measures.” The state is also a cautionary tale about the rapid lifting of restrictions meant to slow the spread of disease....