WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump claimed the authority Monday to decide how and when to reopen the economy after weeks of tough social distancing guidelines aimed at fighting the new coronavirus. But governors from both parties were quick to push back, noting they have the primary constitutional responsibility for ensuring public safety in their states and would decide when it's safe to begin a return to normal operations.

Democratic leaders in the Northeast and along the West Coast announced separate state compacts to coordinate their efforts to scale back stay-at-home orders or reopen businesses on their own timetables, even as Trump tried to say it's his call.

“When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total,” Trump said at Monday's White House coronavirus briefing. “The governors know that.”

But he offered no specifics about the source of his authority or his plan to reopen the economy.

Anxious to put the twin public health and economic crises behind him, Trump has backed federal social distancing recommendations that expire at the end of the month. But it has been governors and local leaders who have instituted mandatory restrictions, including shuttering schools and closing non-essential businesses.

Taking to Twitter, Trump wrote that some are “saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect ... it is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons.”

Trump can use his bully pulpit to pressure states to act or threaten them with consequences, but the Constitution gives public health and safety responsibilities primarily to state and local officials.

Meanwhile, the president's guidelines have little force. Governors and local leaders have issued orders that carry fines or other penalties, and in some jurisdictions extend out into the early summer.

“All of these executive orders are state executive orders and so therefore it would be up to the state and the governor to undo a lot of that,” New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said on CNN.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, told reporters that until people are healthy, reopening the economy's “not going to work.”

“Seeing how we had the responsibility for closing the state down, I think we probably have the primary responsibility for opening it up,” he added.

Wolf joined governors in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island in agreeing to coordinate their actions. The governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced a similar pact. While each state is building its own plan, the three West Coast states have agreed to a framework saying they will work together, put their residents' health first and let science guide their decisions.