Trump has apparently taken the position that he has the sole power to determine when the various social distancing schemes imposed by the states can be relaxed. This is consistent with his skewed concept of federalism: he gets the fun parts, and state and local governments are stuck with the pain.
I have to assume that he thinks that the commerce clause prevails over traditional state police powers, even during a pandemic, and even when the federal government disclaimed any interest in creating the regulations in question. That line of reasoning sounds questionable, at best. If push comes to shove and the issue is litigated, however, the Democrats’ interests would actually be best served by a Trump victory, because the commerce clause is their legal weapon of choice to expand federal power, and the right has done its best to limit its use in the recent relevant past.
Don’t think Mitch McConnell doesn’t know that. He’ll be begging Trump not to make the argument. Will the man on golf cart listen to him? As he likes to say, we’ll see.