President Donald Trump has said the federal government will not be extending its coronavirus social distancing guidelines once they expire on Thursday.

The president said he plans to resume official travel with a trip to Arizona next week and hopes to hold mass campaign rallies in the coming months with thousands of supporters, even though medical experts have said there is little hope of having a vaccine by then.

Mr Trump also talked up the good news the day provided: hopeful results for a possible Covid-19 treatment.

The White House has been trying to pivot to a new stage of the crisis, focused on efforts to reopen the nation’s economy state-by-state amid concerns that lifting restrictions too quickly without sufficient testing and contact tracing will spur a resurgence.

“We’re heartened that the worst of the pain and suffering is going to be behind us,” Mr Trump said as he led a roundtable with executives from companies like Hilton and Toyota.

The president laid out a vision of a return to pre-coronavirus normalcy — “with or without” a vaccine — with packed restaurants and filled stadiums.

That vision flies in the face of sober assessments from doctors who say the country will need to embrace a “new normal” that includes extended social distancing and mask-wearing.

“I don’t want people to get used to this,” Mr Trump told reporters. “I see the new normal being what it was three months ago.”

To underscore his confidence, the president announced that he plans to resume out-of-state travel after spending more than a month mostly cooped up in the White House.

He said he is planning a trip to Arizona next week, followed by a possible trip to Ohio, even as much of the country remains under effective lockdown with all but essential travel banned.