Here is a “Complete List of Trump’s Attempts to Play Down Coronavirus” from January to March.
Early in the week, German officials seemed to confirm reports that the Trump Administration attempted to secure exclusive ownership over a vaccine produced by a German company.
The Washington Post reports that of the four federally operated vaccine labs: “two of the sites are taking no role, while the other two expect to conduct small-scale testing of potential coronavirus vaccines.”
On Monday there was a change in tone and urgency from the White House, Trump in particular. Based in part on a British model that says 2.2 million people could die in the United States.
Here is an account of how the White House culture of infighting has shaped the response so far: “Senior aides battling one another for turf, and advisers protecting their own standing. A president who is racked by indecision and quick to blame others and who views events through the lens of how the news media covers them. A pervasive distrust of career government professionals, and disregard for their recommendations. And a powerful son-in-law whom aides fear crossing, but who is among the few people the president trusts.”
On Wednesday Trump authorized the Defense Production Act, but it is unclear that the administration is using those powers to produce and transport more medical equipment: “people familiar with the administration’s actions say it is still trying to figure out how industry supply chains operate, which companies could produce additional products and what kinds of subsidies it may need to offer. And without the Defense Production Act, the government will lack the ability to channel these supplies to areas that need it most — or to persuade companies to act quickly and without regard for their profits.
“As reported cases of the virus in the United States have soared, Mr. Trump, who is known to recruit input from a variety of outside advisers, has been getting conflicting advice. The proliferating number of private sector voices with direct access to the president and his top advisers — notably his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner — has resulted in a chaotic process. The president’s advisers say they see the role of the federal government as a facilitator, as opposed to the chief producer or a national governor. They have tried to encourage states to get by with what they can, suggesting there will be support from the federal government but that this should not be the first option.
ProPublica reported that Senator Burr saved millions of dollars by selling stock just before the markets crashed, and that he knew the COVID-19 was more dire that he was saying publicly: “Burr’s Feb. 13 selling spree was his largest stock selling day of at least the past 14 months, according to a ProPublica review of Senate records. Unlike his typical disclosure reports, which are a mix of sales and purchases, all of the transactions were sales. His biggest sales included companies that are among the most vulnerable to an economic slowdown. He dumped up to $150,000 worth of shares of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, a chain based in the United States that has lost two-thirds of its value. And he sold up to $100,000 of shares of Extended Stay America, an economy hospitality chain. Shares of that company are now worth less than half of what they did at the time Burr sold.” Some have accused him of insider trading.
Burr issued a statement saying he has asked the ethics committee to investigate.
At a Friday press conference, Trump was asked by an NBC reporter “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now and are scared?” Trump’s response: “I say that you’re a terrible reporter, that’s what I say. It is a bad signal that you are putting out to the American people. You want to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. Let’s see if it works. I happen to feel good about it. Who knows. I have been right a lot. Let’s see what happens.”
The Washington Post reported a good summary of how intelligence reports from January and February informed leaders about the threat of the virus and how Trump did not listen: “Donald Trump may not have been expecting this, but a lot of other people in the government were — they just couldn’t get him to do anything about it,” this official said. “The system was blinking red.”
This New York Times piece details how the virus is a challenge that Trump’s defensive style is not equiped to handle: “Mr. Trump’s performance on the national stage in recent weeks has put on display the traits that Democrats and some Republicans consider so jarring — the profound need for personal praise, the propensity to blame others, the lack of human empathy, the penchant for rewriting history, the disregard for expertise, the distortion of facts, the impatience with scrutiny or criticism. For years, skeptics expressed concern about how he would handle a genuine crisis threatening the nation, and now they know.
“Aides have long understood that Mr. Trump needs to hear support for his decisions, preferably described in superlatives. He often second-guesses himself, prompting advisers to ask allies to tell him he made the right call or go on Fox News to make that point in case he might be watching.
“Over the last week, as Mr. Trump has faced ever more draconian and expensive options, Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, sought to coax him into action by using bits of praise in news coverage or from other officials as a motivator, according to people familiar with the discussions.Officials have learned that the president craves a constant diet of flattery, which they serve up during daily televised briefings. Vice President Mike Pence makes a point of repeating it day after day, sometimes repeatedly in the course of a single briefing. “Mr. President, from early on, you took decisive action,” he said during one. Other advisers have followed suit.”
There was also an effort by Trump and his media this week of re-branding the coronavirus as the Chinese or Wuhan virus. David Frum: “by revving up hate among their supporters against China, Trump and Fox can redirect those supporters’ rage from the dangerous target it might otherwise find: the trusted political and media figures who lied and lied and lied to them, exposing those supporters to disease and death for their own crass ends. Hate China, not me!
“While Trump, Fox, and Carlson try to redirect the anger of the people they betrayed, it’s worth noticing something strikingly absent from the speeches and writings of this administration and its Trump-line network: a word of sympathy or compassion for the thousands of Americans getting sick and dying on this president’s watch, as a result of this president’s neglect of his duties. They’re not capable of such language. They gain power by targeting outsiders. A virus is the ultimate outsider, but it’s not a very satisfying target for rage. Only human beings will do, human beings marked in some way as different: by nationality, by ethnicity, by race.”
In Other News:
On Wednesday Ignatius reported on concerns in the National Security community that Grennell was purging professionals. One of the details he reported on was this. Russell Travers is acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center: “A half-dozen intelligence veterans told me it is crucial that Travers remain in his job.”
On Thursday he reported that Travers just lost his job. Christopher Miller was appointed to replace Tavers as director. Travers is allowed to stay on as Miller’s deputy. “An intelligence source told me that Miller received a call about 10 p.m. Tuesday from the White House, asking if he would take the job…. The move will add to concerns within the U.S. intelligence community, and among its partners abroad, that Trump is continuing a purge of what he views as disloyal subordinates at the ODNI, FBI and other spy agencies.”
Travers told colleagues he was fired by Grenell.
Former intelligence chiefs wrote and signed an op-ed in the Washington Post to decry to removals of careen officials: This is not just about protecting a few senior officers. These unceremonious removals send a damaging message across the intelligence community. Every current officer sees that speaking truth to power in this administration is an immediate career-killer. Every young recruit will conclude that joining the intelligence community is little different from signing up for any other politicized element of the federal bureaucracy. Countless more talented young Americans will decide that federal service, indeed public service, is not a worthy calling.
Personal Log:
We are in the first week of schools being closed, and working from home. Word came that one of our school’s staff members is being tested for the virus, and that results could take six days. By Sunday that test came back positive and the network said two other staff members were also infected. Our two year old has been going to daycare. Few kids are still going, and staff takes their temperatures before entry. Parents are not allowed beyond the front office. By Sunday we decide not to risk sending her.
A relative is self-quarantining because someone working in her building had the virus. Another relative (Trump supporter from a red state) said they did not plan to cancel their travel plans to the British Isles (assuming the travel ban there is lifted by the end of April) and that talks of a lock down was “democrats” propaganda.
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Trump’s Job Approval: 43.2%
COVID-19 Cases / Deaths: 15,219 / 201