hroughout DonalD trump’s presi-
dency, an ominous question has hung
in the air: How would he handle a truly
serious crisis? Now we know. The novel
corona virus pandemic has infected more
than 200,000 people around the world
to date and is spreading rapidly in the U.S. Experts
project that COVID-19, the respiratory disease that
corona virus causes, could afflict millions world-
wide and kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Faced with the most dangerous threat to American
life since at least the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,
the 45th President made matters worse.
A few weeks after the outbreak began in China’s
Hubei province in December, U.S. health officials
warned Trump of the seriousness of the threat. But in
his first public comments about the virus, on Jan. 22,
Trump told the public he wasn’t worried. “Not at all,”
he said. “We have it totally under control.” Through-
out February, Trump dismissed Democrats’ alarm
about the virus as their new “hoax,” blamed “the
Democrat policy of open borders” for the pathogen’s
spread and insisted that his Jan. 31 decision to re-
strict travel from China had contained the outbreak.
By Feb. 29, officials reported the first coronavirus-
related death of an American on U.S. soil.
As epidemiologists and infectious-disease experts
begged Americans to self-quarantine and cancel
social events, many of the President’s supporters in
the media and Congress echoed his cavalier tone. The
disease, meanwhile, continued to spread throughout
the country, largely undetected. As other nations
tracked and prevented new infections by testing
tens of thousands of people, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) had administered
fewer than 500 tests in the entire month of February.
The government’s top infectious-disease expert,
Dr. Anthony Fauci, called the feds’ testing program
“a failing,” but it was hardly the only one. Trump’s
team ignored an alarming shortfall of basic medical
supplies, like masks, hospital beds and ventilators—
necessary to handle an expected surge of patients
requiring hospitalization—and tussled with gov-
ernors, who were begging the White House to re-
lease federal funds to aid in preparation efforts.
Trump brushed aside the mess. Asked on March 13
if he accepted responsibility for the testing de-
bacle, he uttered seven words that could come to
define his presidency. “No,” he said, “I don’t take
responsibility at all.”
State and local leaders stepped up to fill the lead-
ership vacuum. Governors moved quickly to declare
states of emergency and close schools, mayors im-
posed mandatory lockdowns, and community lead-
ers canceled public events. Mayors of some of the
nation’s largest cities set up a Slack channel to swap
tips and find a unified response. Ohio Governor Mike
DeWine, a Republican, assembled his own ad hoc
group of local doctors to offer him advice. “My in-
stinct was ‘We’ve gotta move, and we’ve gotta move
fast,’ ” he tells TIME. The private sector also stepped
into the breach. Within days, the National Hockey
League, National Basketball Association, Major
League Soccer and Major League Baseball all sus-
pended or postponed their seasons. Broadway can-
celed shows, Disneyland closed through the end of
the month, and scores of businesses shuttered.
With stocks down 12% and the pandemic fuel-
ing a full-blown economic panic, Trump appeared
to awaken at last to the severity of the crisis. On
March 16, Trump admitted that the virus was indeed
“very bad.” He urged Americans to stay away from
bars and restaurants and avoid groups of more than
10 people. “Each and every one of us has a critical
role to play in stopping the spread and transmission
of the virus,” Trump said. “With several weeks of
focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it
quickly.” Over the next couple of days, Treasury Sec-
retary Steven Mnuchin backed a $1.3 trillion stim-
ulus package, including $500 billion in direct pay-
ments to Americans.
If the past two months were a calamity, the next
NATION
The U.S. paid dearly for the Trump Administration’s
fumbled response. There’s little time left to fix it
BY HALEY SWEETLAND EDWARDS
T
CORONAVIRUS
OPPORTUNITY
COST
