Intelligence reports warned about a pandemic in January. Trump reportedly ignored them.

[kentuck]

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/21/21189179/coronavirus-trump-intelligence-reports-warned-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR1nMLbSl07vaUnXa6EyAcB-hh04CMmltfO8VIm7UqW9kNHvFuAMwfrz6zU

<snip>

US intelligence officials reportedly warned President Donald Trump and Congress about the threats posed by the novel coronavirus beginning in early January — weeks before the White House and lawmakers began implementing stringent public health measures and as the president minimized the threat posed by the virus in his tweets and public statements.

The fact those warnings were largely disregarded — something first reported by the Washington Post’s Shane Harris, Greg Miller, Josh Dawsey, and Ellen Nakashima — suggests Trump administration officials failed to take action that could have prepared the health care system to handle an influx of patients, helped Americans avoid mass social distancing, and saved lives.

Top health officials first learned of the virus’s spread in China on January 3, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday. Throughout January and February, intelligence officials’ warnings became more and more urgent, according to the Post — and by early February, much of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA’s intelligence reports were dedicated to warnings about Covid-19.

<snip>
All the while, Trump downplayed the virus publicly, telling the public the coronavirus “is very well under control in our country,” and suggesting warm weather would neutralize the threat the virus poses.

The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2020

[Beartracks]

2. Ignoring intelligence seems to be a dangerous hallmark of Republican presidents. n/t

[Midnight Writer]

3. His briefers should have called it the Trumpvirus from the start. That would have got his attention.

[trueblue2007]

4. impeach him again and lock him up

[Under The Radar]

5. HE CAN'T READ!!!! It is not his fault

[global1]

6. When Was China Building That Hospital That They Needed To Get Done In 10 Days?.....

That should have been a red flag as to what was to come here. Immediately our government should have started to take action. They should have looked into how they would do the same here. They should have immediately called on these 2 hospital ships and begin to service them to get them deployed at a moments notice or even put them into position. One off NYC and one on the West Coast. Instead - it was too little too late and now they are finally getting them serviced to deploy them. I heard the other day it might take 2 weeks for them to be ready.

They should have looked into the supplies of masks, PPE equipment, tests, sanitizing supplies. Again - now we're up against a wall and they are scrambling to get more to the market.

Then the administration got a look at what Italy was up against and what they were doing. They should have ordered self-isolation to flatten the curve right after they watched what was going on in Italy.

This was mismanaged right from the get go and we lost valuable time because Trump was too concerned about the stock market and keeping the numbers of virus cases down.

Now all we hear are superlatives and no real hard numbers - just that vast amounts of supplies will be coming soon. Can't give us how many or when - but a tremendous amount of supplies will be available. All the Governors of the States must do is call around to find them and then compete with all the other states for limited supplies. They're at the mercy of the market and will pay premium prices. Those states that can afford them will get them. The others - its just tough.

This is no way to fight a pandemic. Trump is a menace to society. He needs to go.

[MyOwnPeace]

7. Bush/tRump share reports.............

That report went into the same filing cabinet as the report of Bin Laden planning attacks on the US mainland.
They'll read them later............