Failed State

How the president’s denial of reality made a dangerous virus even more deadly

- By Dave Gilson and Laura Thompson

ON JANUARY 22, two days after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States, President Trump breezily declared, “We have it totally under control.” Over the next four months, more than 1.4 million Americans would become infected, nearly 100,000 would die, and 39 million would lose their jobs. While we don’t know what the months ahead hold, we have already witnessed the devastating consequences of the president’s attempt to spin, bluster, and blame his way out of a national emergency that will go down as the greatest scandal of a scandal-plagued presidency.

1 “IT WILL ALL WORK OUT WELL.”

January 2017: Incoming Trump administration officials meet with Obama officials for an exercise about how to handle “the worst influenza pandemic since 1918.” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly dozes off during the meeting.

May 2017: Trump proposes slashing billions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health agencies. Congress does not approve of the cuts.

June 2017: A CDC-funded study finds that a severe pandemic could quickly deplete the national ventilator stockpile.

May 2018: The National Security Council disbands its directorate for global health security and biodefense, and its head, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, resigns. • Senators Elizabeth Warren and Patty Murray request a briefing from national security adviser John Bolton on pandemic response. He does not respond.