The president of the U.S. has been criticized a lot in the last couple of days. According to the public, he did not react appropriately in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Apparently, both Donald Trump and his administration have been warned about the severity and consequences of the Coronavirus. However, they ignored it.
Take a look at the chronology below to see which 10 times president Trump ignored the signs of the pandemic.
- According to the New York Times, Trump has been informed about the threat of the novel Coronavirus on January 18th, via a telephone call by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. On January 22nd, Trump publicly stated that he is not so worried about the pandemic and that they “have it totally under control.”
- According to the Washington Post, on January 27th the experts and associates of the White House met with then-acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney in order to explain the severity of the situation. The head of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Joe Grogan, said that it could cost Trump his re-election.
- Peter Navarro, an economic adviser, on January 29th warned the White House that Covid-19 could endanger more than a half a million American lives and cause nearly $6 trillion in economic damage.
- On January 30th told Trump that the virus could become a pandemic and that China should be criticized due to the lack of transparency. Trump did not agree, and told Azar not to panic.
- On the same day, January 30th the World Health Organization declares a pandemic of Covid-19.
- The Senators asked the administration to take the situation more seriously on a briefing on February 5th. They also asked if more supplies were necessary. However, the administration did not make any requests.
- According to Times, the targeted use of “quarantine and isolation measures,” was advised by the health officials and National Security Council. It was planned to present the memo to the president Trump on February 25th, but the meeting was cancelled upon his arrival from India.
- On February 21st a mock exercise was performed by the White House coronavirus task force. It was concluded that the USA will have to apply the aggressive social distancing despite the fact that it might influence the economy and the quality of American lives.
- On February 23rd another warring was sent to Trump by Navarro. This time it said that Covid-19 could take up to 2 million lives.
- Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, on February 25th publicly stated that the virus must be understood as highly dangerous one. She said that “we need to be preparing for significant disruption in our lives.” On the other hand, Trump thought that she had scared people and brought the unnecessary panic, the Times reports.
