{"id":896,"date":"2020-04-15T16:26:58","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T20:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/?p=896"},"modified":"2020-04-15T16:26:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T20:26:58","slug":"americans-are-paying-the-price-for-trumps-failures-the-atlantic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/?p=896","title":{"rendered":"Americans Are Paying the Price for Trump\u2019s Failures &#8211; The Atlantic"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>IDEAS This Is Trump\u2019s Fault The president is failing, and Americans are paying for his failures. APRIL 7, 2020 David Frum Staff writer at The Atlantic 2 more free articles this month Sign in Subscribe Now MANDEL NGAN \/ AFP \/ GETTY Link Copied \u201cIdon\u2019t take responsibility at all,\u201d said President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden on March 13. Those words will probably end up as the epitaph of his presidency, the single sentence that sums it all up. Trump now fancies himself a \u201cwartime president.\u201d How is his<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Source: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/04\/americans-are-paying-the-price-for-trumps-failures\/609532\/?fbclid=IwAR0LRCRTMG7vwpZPKAS1LR8c7CWpqw_R8Np1uPN4Elchja4LxxvXvRUOVE4\">Americans Are Paying the Price for Trump\u2019s Failures &#8211; The Atlantic<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<header class=\"c-article-header--ideas\" role=\"banner\">\n<div id=\"rubric\" class=\"c-rubric \"><a class=\"c-rubric__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/\">IDEAS<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"c-article-header__hed\">This Is Trump\u2019s Fault<\/h1>\n<div class=\"c-article-meta c-article-meta--ideas\">\n<p class=\"c-dek c-dek--ideas\">The president is failing, and Americans are paying for his failures.<\/p>\n<p><time class=\"c-dateline c-dateline--ideas\" datetime=\"2020-04-07T06:30:00-04:00\">APRIL 7, 2020<\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-byline-authors\">\n<address id=\"article-writer-0\" class=\"c-article-author\" data-author-id=\"1614\">\n<div class=\"c-article-author__image\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<figure class=\"o-media c-article-author__media\"><a class=\"o-media__object\" title=\"David Frum's writer page\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/author\/david-frum\/\"><picture class=\"c-article-author__picture\"><img class=\"c-article-author__img o-media__img lazyloaded\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/oDqL6dd6TEepERoN5c8qAy4atzE=\/0x67:576x646\/200x200\/media\/None\/fullsizeoutput_22-1\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/Tx5ksnOewi9fsJ3x6oxWyuNshvI=\/0x67:576x646\/400x400\/media\/None\/fullsizeoutput_22-1\/original.jpg 2x\" alt=\"\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/oDqL6dd6TEepERoN5c8qAy4atzE=\/0x67:576x646\/200x200\/media\/None\/fullsizeoutput_22-1\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/Tx5ksnOewi9fsJ3x6oxWyuNshvI=\/0x67:576x646\/400x400\/media\/None\/fullsizeoutput_22-1\/original.jpg 2x\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-author__content\">\n<div><a class=\"c-article-author__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/author\/david-frum\/\">David Frum<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-author__bio\">Staff writer at\u00a0<em>The Atlantic<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/address>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-nudge__container c-nudge-compressed__container\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"c-nudge__spacing-container\">\n<div class=\"c-nudge__compressed-link\"><span class=\"c-nudge__count\" role=\"text\">2<\/span><span class=\"c-nudge__message-desktop\">more free articles this month<\/span><\/div>\n<p><a class=\"c-nudge__compressed-anchor c-nudge__login--bordered js-accounts-modal js-login-click-compressed\" role=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/accounts.theatlantic.com\/login\/\">Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-nudge__subscribe-container\"><a class=\"c-nudge__button\" href=\"https:\/\/accounts.theatlantic.com\/products?source=nudge3\">Subscribe Now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"l-article__container js-article-container\">\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<figure class=\"c-lead-media\"><picture class=\"c-lead-media__frame o-media o-media--16x9\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lead-media__picture\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/original.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/G915xlA-8vkVXaYfU6x4J8bEj8Q=\/0x602:5790x3859\/1440x810\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/04\/GettyImages_1208678021_bw\/original.jpg 2x\" alt=\"Donald Trump\" \/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"c-lead-media__credit o-credit\"><span class=\"o-credit__attribution\">MANDEL NGAN \/ AFP \/ GETTY<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<section id=\"share-social\" class=\"c-share-social js-share-social-sticky\">\n<ul class=\"c-share-social__list\">\n<li class=\"c-share-social__item\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"c-share-social__item\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"c-share-social__item c-share-social__item--copy-link js-copy-link-container\">\n<div class=\"c-share-social__success-icon js-social-success-icon\">Link Copied<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-share-social__item\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"article-section-0\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">\n<p class=\"dropcap\">\u201cI<span class=\"smallcaps\">don\u2019t take<\/span>\u00a0responsibility at all,\u201d said President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden on March 13. Those words will probably end up as the epitaph of his presidency, the single sentence that sums it all up.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Trump now fancies himself a \u201cwartime president.\u201d How is his war going? By the end of March, the coronavirus had killed more Americans than the 9\/11 attacks. By the first weekend in April, the virus had killed more Americans than any single battle of the Civil War. By Easter, it may have killed more Americans than the Korean War. On the present trajectory, it will kill, by late April, more Americans than Vietnam. Having earlier promised that casualties could be held near zero, Trump now claims he will have done a \u201cvery good job\u201d if the toll is held below 200,000 dead.<\/p>\n<p>The United States is on trajectory to suffer more sickness, more dying, and more economic harm from this virus than any other comparably developed country.<\/p>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-0\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/archive\/2020\/03\/how-will-coronavirus-end\/608719\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'0',r'None'\">Read: How the pandemic will end<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That the pandemic occurred is not Trump\u2019s fault. The utter unpreparedness of the United States for a pandemic is Trump\u2019s fault. The loss of stockpiled respirators to breakage because the federal government let maintenance contracts lapse in 2018 is Trump\u2019s fault. The failure to store sufficient protective medical gear in the national arsenal is Trump\u2019s fault. That states are bidding against other states for equipment, paying many multiples of the precrisis price for ventilators, is Trump\u2019s fault. Air travelers summoned home and forced to stand for hours in dense airport crowds alongside infected people? That was Trump\u2019s fault too. Ten weeks of insisting that the coronavirus is a harmless flu that would miraculously go away on its own? Trump\u2019s fault again. The refusal of red-state governors to act promptly, the failure to close Florida and Gulf Coast beaches until late March? That fault is more widely shared, but again, responsibility rests with Trump: He could have stopped it, and he did not.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--1\" role=\"complementary\">\n<div class=\"u-dynamic-content js-dynamic-content is-rendered lazyloaded\" data-include=\"\/api\/2.0\/articles\/609532\/more-by-author\/?page_size=3 module:theatlantic\/js\/lacroix\/components\/recirc-content\" data-insert=\"false\" data-section=\"side\" data-source=\"more-by-author\" data-title=\"More by David Frum\" data-currentinclude=\"\">\n<section class=\"c-recirc-content\">\n<h2 class=\"c-recirc-content__heading\">MORE BY DAVID FRUM<\/h2>\n<div class=\"c-recirc-content__items\">\n<ul class=\"c-recirc-content__list\">\n<li id=\"recirc-item-0\" class=\"c-recirc-item c-recirc-item--\">\n<figure class=\"c-recirc-item__photo c-recirc-item__photo--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__link\" title=\"Read More: The Coronavirus Is Demonstrating the Value of Globalization\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/dont-abandon-globalizationmake-it-better\/608872\/\"><picture class=\"o-media c-recirc-item__media c-recirc-item__media--\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/6u0ptDoQ_62J390YAba6LDlW_BY=\/114x317:4392x2965\/300x185\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_848961382\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/d3qah5g2SCVIOy1XcpBahVw-LcQ=\/114x317:4392x2965\/600x370\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_848961382\/original.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 975px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/6u0ptDoQ_62J390YAba6LDlW_BY=\/114x317:4392x2965\/300x185\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_848961382\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/d3qah5g2SCVIOy1XcpBahVw-LcQ=\/114x317:4392x2965\/600x370\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_848961382\/original.jpg 2x\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-recirc-item__image lazyloaded\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/hUa9uw2L5yinfXDhCpB5TkwggRk=\/755x0:3751x2995\/250x250\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_848961382\/original.jpg\" alt=\"UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, U.S. President Donald Trump, and others at the United Nations.\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/hUa9uw2L5yinfXDhCpB5TkwggRk=\/755x0:3751x2995\/250x250\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_848961382\/original.jpg\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/figure>\n<div class=\"c-recirc-item__content\">\n<h3 class=\"c-recirc-item__title c-recirc-item__title--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/dont-abandon-globalizationmake-it-better\/608872\/\">The Coronavirus Is Demonstrating the Value of Globalization<\/a><\/h3>\n<address id=\"recirc-item-0-byline\" class=\"c-recirc-item__byline c-recirc-item__byline--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__byline-author c-recirc-item__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/author\/david-frum\/\">DAVID FRUM<\/a><\/address>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id=\"recirc-item-1\" class=\"c-recirc-item c-recirc-item--\">\n<figure class=\"c-recirc-item__photo c-recirc-item__photo--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__link\" title=\"Read More: No Empathy, Only Anger\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/trumps-dangerous-party-line\/608383\/\"><picture class=\"o-media c-recirc-item__media c-recirc-item__media--\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/00BftuVofVh_DF1s-nj7IH8wssw=\/60x232:2552x1776\/300x185\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_599724318_crop\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/6UcyM8CkGoFQil4qRxcpxaJ3br4=\/60x232:2552x1776\/600x370\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_599724318_crop\/original.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 975px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/00BftuVofVh_DF1s-nj7IH8wssw=\/60x232:2552x1776\/300x185\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_599724318_crop\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/6UcyM8CkGoFQil4qRxcpxaJ3br4=\/60x232:2552x1776\/600x370\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_599724318_crop\/original.jpg 2x\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-recirc-item__image lazyloaded\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/mi7a8IFVd2xiOjd1g5GPRSXqT7c=\/328x24:2287x1984\/250x250\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_599724318_crop\/original.jpg\" alt=\"Donald Trump\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/mi7a8IFVd2xiOjd1g5GPRSXqT7c=\/328x24:2287x1984\/250x250\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/GettyImages_599724318_crop\/original.jpg\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/figure>\n<div class=\"c-recirc-item__content\">\n<h3 class=\"c-recirc-item__title c-recirc-item__title--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/trumps-dangerous-party-line\/608383\/\">No Empathy, Only Anger<\/a><\/h3>\n<address id=\"recirc-item-1-byline\" class=\"c-recirc-item__byline c-recirc-item__byline--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__byline-author c-recirc-item__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/author\/david-frum\/\">DAVID FRUM<\/a><\/address>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-recirc-item c-recirc-item--native\"><\/li>\n<li id=\"recirc-item-2\" class=\"c-recirc-item c-recirc-item--\">\n<figure class=\"c-recirc-item__photo c-recirc-item__photo--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__link\" title=\"Read More: What If the President Gets Sick?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/coronavirus-trump-must-get-tested\/608041\/\"><picture class=\"o-media c-recirc-item__media c-recirc-item__media--\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/H3YjJf7vizrCXhLd3p9kMVnJWGg=\/90x0:1907x1125\/300x185\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/TrumpTest\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/0cZevfa7W0qXJEitstuMrHc4phw=\/90x0:1907x1125\/600x370\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/TrumpTest\/original.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 975px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/H3YjJf7vizrCXhLd3p9kMVnJWGg=\/90x0:1907x1125\/300x185\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/TrumpTest\/original.jpg, https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/0cZevfa7W0qXJEitstuMrHc4phw=\/90x0:1907x1125\/600x370\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/TrumpTest\/original.jpg 2x\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-recirc-item__image lazyloaded\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/M7_w0mpKBiubqKrIH4EjuDzFYig=\/438x0:1563x1125\/250x250\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/TrumpTest\/original.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/M7_w0mpKBiubqKrIH4EjuDzFYig=\/438x0:1563x1125\/250x250\/media\/img\/mt\/2020\/03\/TrumpTest\/original.jpg\" \/><\/picture><\/a><\/figure>\n<div class=\"c-recirc-item__content\">\n<h3 class=\"c-recirc-item__title c-recirc-item__title--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/coronavirus-trump-must-get-tested\/608041\/\">What If the President Gets Sick?<\/a><\/h3>\n<address id=\"recirc-item-2-byline\" class=\"c-recirc-item__byline c-recirc-item__byline--\"><a class=\"c-recirc-item__byline-author c-recirc-item__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/author\/david-frum\/\">DAVID FRUM<\/a><\/address>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-1\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>The lying about the coronavirus by hosts on Fox News and conservative talk radio is Trump\u2019s fault: They did it to protect him. The false hope of instant cures and nonexistent vaccines is Trump\u2019s fault, because he told those lies to cover up his failure to act in time. The severity of the economic crisis is Trump\u2019s fault; things would have been less bad if he had acted faster instead of sending out his chief economic adviser and his son Eric to assure Americans that the first stock-market dips were buying opportunities. The firing of a Navy captain for speaking truthfully about the virus\u2019s threat to his crew? Trump\u2019s fault. The fact that so many key government jobs were either empty or filled by mediocrities? Trump\u2019s fault. The insertion of Trump\u2019s arrogant and incompetent son-in-law as commander in chief of the national medical supply chain? Trump\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n<p>For three years, Trump has blathered and bluffed and bullied his way through an office for which he is utterly inadequate. But sooner or later, every president must face a supreme test, a test that cannot be evaded by blather and bluff and bullying. That test has overwhelmed Trump.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Trump failed. He is failing. He will continue to fail. And Americans are paying for his failures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">T<span class=\"smallcaps\">he coronavirus emerged<\/span>\u00a0in China in late December. The Trump administration received its first formal notification of the outbreak on January 3. The first confirmed case in the United States was diagnosed in mid-January. Financial markets in the United States suffered the first of a sequence of crashes on February 24. The first person known to have succumbed to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in the United States died on February 29. The 100th\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/us-coronavirus-death-toll-reaches-100\/2020\/03\/17\/f8d770c2-67a8-11ea-b313-df458622c2cc_story.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'1',r'None'\">died<\/a>\u00a0on March 17. By March 20, New York City alone had\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/20\/nyregion\/coronavirus-new-york-update.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'2',r'None'\">confirmed<\/a>\u00a05,600 cases. Not until March 21\u2014the day the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/090600c299a8cf07f5b44d92534856bc\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'3',r'None'\">placed<\/a>\u00a0its first large-scale order for N95 masks\u2014did the White House begin marshaling a national supply chain to meet the threat in earnest. \u201cWhat they\u2019ve done over the last 13 days has been really extraordinary,\u201d Jared Kushner said on April 3, implicitly acknowledging the waste of weeks between January 3 and March 21.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-1\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/peter-wehner-trump-presidency-over\/607969\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'4',r'None'\">Peter Wehner: The Trump presidency is over<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Those were the weeks when testing hardly happened, because there were no kits. Those were the weeks when tracing hardly happened, because there was little testing. Those were the weeks when isolation did not happen, because the president and his administration insisted that the virus was under control. Those were the weeks when supplies were not ordered, because nobody in the White House was home to order them. Those lost weeks placed the United States on the path to the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the developed world: one-fourth of all confirmed cases anywhere on Earth.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--2\" role=\"complementary\">\n<div class=\" ad-native-rr-wrapper\" data-section=\"side\" data-pos=\"native-rr\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/rail.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-2\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">Those lost weeks also put the United States\u2014and thus the world\u2014on the path to an economic collapse steeper than any in recent memory. Statisticians cannot count fast enough to keep pace with the accelerating economic depression. It\u2019s a good guess that the unemployment rate had reached 13 percent by April 3. It may peak at 20 percent, perhaps even higher, and threatens to stay at Great Depression\u2013like levels at least into 2021, maybe longer.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>This country\u2014buffered by oceans from the epicenter of the global outbreak, in East Asia; blessed with the most advanced medical technology on Earth; endowed with agencies and personnel devoted to responding to pandemics\u2014could have and should have suffered\u00a0<em>less<\/em>\u00a0than nations nearer to China. Instead, the United States will suffer more than any peer country.<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t have to be this way. If somebody else had been president of the United States in December 2019\u2014Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Mike Pence, really almost anybody else\u2014the United States would still have been afflicted by the coronavirus. But it would have been better prepared, and better able to respond.Through the early weeks of the pandemic, when so much death and suffering could still have been prevented or mitigated, Trump joined passivity to fantasy. In those crucial early days, Trump made two big wagers. He bet that the virus could somehow be prevented from entering the United States by travel restrictions. And he bet that, to the extent that the virus had already entered the United States, it would burn off as the weather warmed.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-2\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2020\/03\/trumps-lies-about-coronavirus\/608647\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'5',r'None'\">Read: All the president\u2019s lies about the coronavirus<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At a session with state governors on February 10, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/remarks-president-trump-white-house-business-session-nations-governors\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'6',r'None'\">predicted<\/a>\u00a0that the virus would quickly disappear on its own. \u201cNow, the virus that we\u2019re talking about having to do\u2014you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat\u2014as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. We\u2019re in great shape though. We have 12 cases\u201411 cases, and many of them are in good shape now.\u201d On February 14, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/remarks-president-trump-national-border-patrol-council-members\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'7',r'None'\">repeated<\/a>\u00a0his assurance that the virus would disappear by itself. He\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/factba.se\/transcript\/donald-trump-press-gaggle-marine-one-departure-february-23-2020\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'8',r'None'\">tweeted<\/a>\u00a0again on February 24 that he had the virus \u201cvery much under control in the USA.\u201d On February 27, he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/remarks-president-trump-meeting-african-american-leaders\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'9',r'None'\">said<\/a>\u00a0that the virus would disappear \u201clike a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those two assumptions led him to conclude that not much else needed to be done. Senator Chris Murphy left a White House briefing on February 5, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisMurphyCT\/status\/1225073987639705600\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'10',r'None'\">tweeted<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Just left the Administration briefing on Coronavirus. Bottom line: they aren\u2019t taking this seriously enough. Notably, no request for ANY emergency funding, which is a big mistake. Local health systems need supplies, training, screening staff etc. And they need it now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Trump and his supporters now say that he was distracted from responding to the crisis by his impeachment. Even if it were true, pleading that the defense of your past egregious misconduct led to your present gross failures is not much of an excuse.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--3\" role=\"complementary\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-3\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>But if Trump and his senior national-security aides were distracted, impeachment was not the only reason, or even the principal reason. The period when the virus gathered momentum in Hubei province was also the period during which the United States seemed on the brink of war with Iran. Through the fall of 2019, tensions escalated between the two countries. The United States blamed an Iranian-linked militia for a December 27 rocket attack on a U.S. base in Iraq, triggering tit-for-tat retaliation that would lead to the U.S. killing General Qassem Soleimani on January 3, open threats of war by the United States on January 6, and the destruction of a civilian airliner over Tehran on January 8.<\/p>\n<p>The preoccupation with Iran may account for why Trump paid so little attention to the virus, despite the many warnings. On January 18, Trump\u2014on a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/trumpgolfcount.com\/displayoutings\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'11',r'None'\">golf excursion<\/a>\u00a0in Palm Beach, Florida\u2014cut off his health secretary\u2019s telephoned warning of gathering danger to launch into a lecture about vaping,\u00a0<em>The<\/em>\u00a0<em>Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/us-intelligence-reports-from-january-and-february-warned-about-a-likely-pandemic\/2020\/03\/20\/299d8cda-6ad5-11ea-b5f1-a5a804158597_story.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'12',r'None'\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Two days later, the first documented U.S. case was confirmed in Washington State.<\/p>\n<p>Yet even at that late hour, Trump continued to think of the coronavirus as something external to the United States. He\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realdonaldtrump\/status\/1220818115354923009\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'13',r'None'\">tweeted<\/a>\u00a0on January 22: \u201cChina has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-3\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/trumps-dangerous-party-line\/608383\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'14',r'None'\">David Frum: No empathy, only anger\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Impeachment somehow failed to distract Trump from traveling to Davos, where in a January 22 interview with CNBC\u2019s\u00a0<em>Squawk Box<\/em>, he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/01\/22\/trump-on-coronavirus-from-china-we-have-it-totally-under-control.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'15',r'None'\">promised<\/a>: \u201cWe have it totally under control. It\u2019s one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It\u2019s going to be just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump would later complain that he had been deceived by the Chinese. \u201cI wish they could have told us earlier about what was going on inside,\u201d he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/03\/21\/politics\/trump-china-told-us-coronavirus\/index.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'16',r'None'\">said<\/a>\u00a0on March 21. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know about it until it started coming out publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Trump truly was so trustingly ignorant as late as January 22, the fault was again his own. The Trump administration had\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-china-cdc-exclusiv\/exclusive-u-s-slashed-cdc-staff-inside-china-prior-to-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKBN21C3N5\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'17',r'None'\">cut<\/a>\u00a0U.S. public-health staff operating inside China by two-thirds, from 47 in January 2017 to 14 by 2019, an important reason it found itself dependent on less-accurate information from the World Health Organization. In July 2019, the Trump administration\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-china-cdc-exclusiv\/exclusive-u-s-axed-cdc-expert-job-in-china-months-before-virus-outbreak-idUSKBN21910S\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'18',r'None'\">defunded<\/a>\u00a0the position that embedded an epidemiologist inside China\u2019s own disease-control administration, again obstructing the flow of information to the United States.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Yet even if Trump did not know what was happening, other Americans did. On January 27, former Vice President Joe Biden sounded the alarm about a global pandemic in an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2020\/01\/27\/coronavirus-donald-trump-made-us-less-prepared-joe-biden-column\/4581710002\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'19',r'None'\">op-ed in\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2020\/01\/27\/coronavirus-donald-trump-made-us-less-prepared-joe-biden-column\/4581710002\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'20',r'None'\"><em>USA Today<\/em><\/a>. By the end of January, eight cases of the virus had been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/asia\/live-news\/coronavirus-outbreak-02-01-20-intl-hnk\/index.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'21',r'None'\">confirmed<\/a>\u00a0in the United States. Hundreds more must have been incubating undetected.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--4\" role=\"complementary\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-4\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">On January 31, the Trump administration at last did something: It announced restrictions on air travel to and from China by non-U.S. persons. This January 31 decision to restrict air travel has become Trump\u2019s most commonly proffered defense of his actions. \u201cWe\u2019ve done an incredible job because we closed early,\u201d Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/remarks-president-trump-meeting-african-american-leaders\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'22',r'None'\">said<\/a>\u00a0on February 27. \u201cWe closed those borders very early, against the advice of a lot of professionals, and we turned out to be right. I took a lot of heat for that,\u201d he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/remarks-president-trump-latino-coalition-legislative-summit-2\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'23',r'None'\">repeated<\/a>\u00a0on March 4. Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/remarks-president-trump-fox-news-town-hall-scranton-pa\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'24',r'None'\">praised himself<\/a>\u00a0some more at a Fox News town hall in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the next day. \u201cAs soon as I heard that China had a problem, I said, \u2018What\u2019s going on with China? How many people are coming in?\u2019 Nobody but me asked that question. And you know better than\u2014again, you know \u2026\u00a0 that I closed the borders very early.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Because Trump puts so much emphasis on this point, it\u2019s important to stress that none of this is true. Trump did not close the borders early\u2014in fact, he did not truly close them at all.<\/p>\n<p>The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on January 30, but recommended against travel restrictions. On January 31, the same day the United States announced its restrictions, Italy\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelocal.it\/20200131\/italy-suspends-all-china-flights-after-coronavirus-cases-confirmed-in-rome\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'25',r'None'\">suspended<\/a>\u00a0all flights to and from China. But unlike the American restrictions, which did not take effect until February 2, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.enac.gov.it\/news\/coronavirus-sospesi-tutti-collegamenti-aerei-tra-italia-cina-courtesy-translation-available\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'26',r'None'\">Italian ban<\/a>\u00a0applied immediately. Australia\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/asia\/live-news\/coronavirus-outbreak-02-01-20-intl-hnk\/index.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'27',r'None'\">acted<\/a>\u00a0on February 1, halting entries from China by foreign nationals, again ahead of Trump.<\/p>\n<p>And Trump\u2019s actions did little to stop the spread of the virus. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/proclamation-suspension-entry-immigrants-nonimmigrants-persons-pose-risk-transmitting-2019-novel-coronavirus\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'28',r'None'\">ban<\/a>\u00a0applied only to foreign nationals who had been in China during the previous 14 days, and included 11 categories of exceptions. Since the restrictions took effect, nearly 40,000 passengers have entered the United States from China, subjected to inconsistent screenings,\u00a0<em>The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/04\/us\/coronavirus-china-travel-restrictions.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'29',r'None'\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>At a House hearing on February 5, a few days after the restrictions went into effect, Ron Klain\u2014who led the Obama administration\u2019s efforts against the Ebola outbreak\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.house.gov\/hearings?ID=41B2E5E9-E5F8-4869-94F0-019DB3DFD037\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'30',r'None'\">condemned<\/a>\u00a0the Trump policy as a \u201ctravel Band-Aid, not a travel ban.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That same afternoon, Trump\u2019s impeachment trial ended with his acquittal in the Senate. The president, though, turned his energy not to combatting the virus, but to the demands of his own ego.<\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s top priority through February 2020 was to exact retribution from truth-tellers in the impeachment fight. On February 7, Trump removed Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council. On February 12, Trump withdrew his nomination of Jessie Liu as undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial crimes, apparently to punish her for her role in the prosecution and conviction of the Trump ally Roger Stone. On March 2, Trump withdrew the nomination of Elaine McCusker to the post of Pentagon comptroller; McCusker\u2019s sin was having raised concerns that suspension of aid to Ukraine had been improper. Late on the evening of April 3, Trump fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, the official who had forwarded the Ukraine whistleblower complaint to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, as the law required. As the epigrammist Windsor Mann\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WindsorMann\/status\/1246276790907285510\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'31',r'None'\">tweeted<\/a>\u00a0that same night: \u201cTrump\u2019s impeachment distracted him from preparing for a pandemic, but the pandemic did not distract him from firing the man he holds responsible for his impeachment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--5\" role=\"complementary\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-5\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-4\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/family\/archive\/2020\/04\/two-pandemics-us-coronavirus-inequality\/609622\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'32',r'None'\">Read: The pandemic will cleave America in two<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Intentionally or not, Trump\u2019s campaign of payback against his perceived enemies in the impeachment battle sent a warning to public-health officials: Keep your mouth shut. If anybody missed the message, the firing of Captain Brett Crozier from the command of an aircraft carrier for speaking honestly about the danger facing his sailors was a reminder. There\u2019s a reason that the surgeon general of the United States seems terrified to answer even the most basic factual questions or that Rear Admiral John Polowczyk sounds like a malfunctioning artificial-intelligence program at press briefings. The president\u2019s lies must not be contradicted. And because the president\u2019s lies change constantly, it\u2019s impossible to predict what might contradict him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">\u201cB<span class=\"smallcaps\">est usa economy<\/span>\u00a0IN HISTORY!\u201d Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realdonaldtrump\/status\/1227294418010542080\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'33',r'None'\">tweeted<\/a>\u00a0on February 11. On February 15, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realdonaldtrump\/status\/1228814332252884992\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'34',r'None'\">shared<\/a>\u00a0a video from a Senate GOP account, tweeting: \u201cOur booming economy is drawing Americans off the sidelines and BACK TO WORK at the highest rate in 30 years!\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Denial became the unofficial policy of the administration through the month of February, and as a result, that of the administration\u2019s surrogates and propagandists. \u201cIt looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,\u201d Rush Limbaugh said on his radio program February 24. \u201cNow, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus \u2026 Yeah, I\u2019m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-5\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/archive\/2020\/04\/hydroxychloroquine-trump\/609547\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'35',r'None'\">Read: Why does the president keep pushing a malaria drug?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have contained this,\u201d Trump\u2019s economic adviser Larry Kudlow\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/02\/25\/larry-kudlow-says-us-has-contained-the-coronavirus-and-the-economy-is-holding-up-nicely.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'36',r'None'\">told<\/a>\u00a0CNBC on February 24. \u201cI won\u2019t say airtight, but pretty close to airtight. We have done a good job in the United States.\u201d Kudlow conceded that there might be \u201csome stumbles\u201d in financial markets, but insisted there would be no \u201ceconomic tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On February 28, then\u2013White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference, near Washington, D.C.:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The reason you\u2019re &#8230; seeing so much attention to [the virus] today is that [the media] think this is gonna be what brings down this president. This is what this is all about. I got a note from a reporter saying, \u201cWhat are you gonna do today to calm the markets.\u201d I\u2019m like:\u00a0<em>Really, what I might do today to calm the markets is tell people to turn their televisions off for 24 hours<\/em>\u00a0&#8230; This is not Ebola, okay? It\u2019s not SARS, it\u2019s not MERS.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That same day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/28\/us\/politics\/trump-accuses-media-democrats-coronavirus.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'37',r'None'\">scolded<\/a>\u00a0a House committee for daring to ask him about the coronavirus. \u201cWe agreed that I\u2019d come today to talk about Iran, and the first question today is not about Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Throughout the crisis, the top priority of the president, and of everyone who works for the president, has been the protection of his ego. Americans have become sadly used to Trump\u2019s blustery self-praise and his insatiable appetite for flattery. During the pandemic, this psychological deformity has mutated into a deadly strategic vulnerability for the United States.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--6\" role=\"complementary\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-6\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-6\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/family\/archive\/2020\/03\/coronavirus-social-distancing-over-back-to-normal\/608752\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'38',r'None'\">Read: The four possible timelines for life returning to normal<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we were doing a bad job, we should also be criticized. But we have done an incredible job,\u201d Trump said on February 27. \u201cWe\u2019re doing a great job with it,\u201d he told Republican senators on March 10. \u201cI always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning,\u201d he tweeted on March 18.<\/p>\n<p>For three-quarters of his presidency, Trump has taken credit for the economic expansion that began under President Barack Obama in 2010. That expansion accelerated in 2014, just in time to deliver real prosperity over the past three years. The harm done by Trump\u2019s own initiatives, and especially his trade wars, was masked by that continued growth. The economy Trump inherited became his all-purpose answer to his critics. Did he break laws, corrupt the Treasury, appoint cronies, and tell lies? So what? Unemployment was down, the stock market up.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Suddenly, in 2020, the rooster that had taken credit for the sunrise faced the reality of sunset. He could not bear it.<\/p>\n<p>Underneath all the denial and self-congratulation, Trump seems to have glimpsed the truth. The clearest statement of that knowledge was expressed on February 28. That day, Trump spoke at a rally in South Carolina\u2014his penultimate rally before the pandemic forced him to stop. This was the rally at which Trump accused the Democrats of politicizing the coronavirus as \u201ctheir new hoax.\u201d That line was so shocking, it has crowded out awareness of everything else Trump said that day. Yet those other statements are, if possible, even more relevant to understanding the trouble he brought upon the country.<\/p>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-7\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2020\/04\/trump-whitmer-desantis-coronavirus\/609727\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'39',r'None'\">Read: The two states where Trump\u2019s COVID-19 response could backfire<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Trump does not speak clearly. His patterns of speech betray a man with guilty secrets to hide, and a beclouded mind. Yet we can discern, through the mental fog, that Trump had absorbed some crucial facts. By February 28, somebody in his orbit seemed to already be projecting 35,000 to 40,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Trump remembered the number, but refused to believe it. His remarks are worth revisiting at length:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, you know that, right? Coronavirus, they\u2019re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, \u201cHow\u2019s President Trump doing?\u201d They go, \u201cOh, not good, not good.\u201d They have no clue. They don\u2019t have any clue. They can\u2019t even count their votes in Iowa. They can\u2019t even count. No, they can\u2019t. They can\u2019t count their votes.<\/p>\n<p>One of my people came up to me and said, \u201cMr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.\u201d That didn\u2019t work out too well. They couldn\u2019t do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything. They tried it over and over. They\u2019d been doing it since you got in. It\u2019s all turning. They lost. It\u2019s all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax.<\/p>\n<p>But we did something that\u2019s been pretty amazing. We have 15 people [sick] in this massive country, and because of the fact that we went early. We went early; we could have had a lot more than that. We\u2019re doing great. Our country is doing so great. We are so unified. We are so unified. The Republican Party has never ever been unified like it is now. There has never been a movement in the history of our country like we have now. Never been a movement.<\/p>\n<p>So a statistic that we want to talk about\u2014Go ahead: Say USA. It\u2019s okay; USA. So a number that nobody heard of, that I heard of recently and I was shocked to hear it: 35,000 people on average die each year from the flu. Did anyone know that? Thirty-five thousand, that\u2019s a lot of people. It could go to 100,000; it could be 27,000. They say usually a minimum of 27, goes up to 100,000 people a year die.<\/p>\n<p>And so far, we have lost nobody to coronavirus in the United States. Nobody. And it doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t and we are totally prepared. It doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t, but think of it. You hear 35 and 40,000 people and we\u2019ve lost nobody and you wonder, the press is in hysteria mode.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>On February 28, very few Americans had heard of an estimated death toll of 35,000 to 40,000, but Trump had heard it. And his answer to that estimate was: \u201cSo far, we have lost nobody.\u201d He conceded, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t.\u201d But he returned to his happy talk. \u201cWe are totally prepared.\u201d And as always, it was the media&#8217;s fault. \u201cYou hear 35 and 40,000 people and we\u2019ve lost nobody and you wonder, the press is in hysteria mode.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--7\" role=\"complementary\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-7\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>By February 28, it was too late to exclude the coronavirus from the United States. It was too late to test and trace, to isolate the first cases and halt their further spread\u2014that opportunity had already been lost. It was too late to refill the stockpiles that the Republican Congresses of the Tea Party years had\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/us-emergency-medical-stockpile-funding-unprepared-coronavirus\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'40',r'None'\">refused to replenish<\/a>, despite frantic pleas from the Obama administration. It was too late to produce sufficient ventilators in sufficient time.<\/p>\n<p>But on February 28, it was still not too late to arrange an orderly distribution of medical supplies to the states, not too late to coordinate with U.S. allies, not too late to close the Florida beaches before spring break, not too late to bring passengers home from cruise lines, not too late to ensure that state unemployment-insurance offices were staffed and ready, not too late for local governments to get funds to food banks, not too late to begin social distancing fast and early. Stay-at-home orders could have been put into effect on March 1, not in late March and early April.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-8\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/04\/impeachment-covid-19\/609574\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'41',r'None'\">Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes: Trump\u2019s allies know he has failed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>So much time had been wasted by the end of February. So many opportunities had been squandered. But even then, the shock could have been limited. Instead, Trump and his inner circle plunged deeper into two weeks of lies and denial, both about the disease and about the economy.<\/p>\n<p>On February 28, Eric Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/atrupar\/status\/1238314041984122880\/photo\/1\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'42',r'None'\">urged<\/a>\u00a0Americans to go \u201call in\u201d on the weakening stock market.<\/p>\n<p>Kudlow\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/03\/06\/kudlow-long-term-investors-should-think-about-buying-these-dips.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'43',r'None'\">repeated<\/a>\u00a0his advice that it was a good time to buy stocks on CNBC on March 6 after another bad week for the financial markets. As late as March 9, Trump was still\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realdonaldtrump\/status\/1237027356314869761\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'44',r'None'\">arguing<\/a>\u00a0that the coronavirus would be no worse than the seasonal flu.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life &amp; the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But the facade of denial was already cracking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">T<span class=\"smallcaps\">hrough early march<\/span>, financial markets declined and then crashed. Schools closed, then whole cities, and then whole states. The overwhelmed president responded by doing what comes most naturally to him at moments of trouble: He shifted the blame to others.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>The lack of testing equipment? On March 13, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1238410044263333894\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'45',r'None'\">passed that buck<\/a>\u00a0to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Obama administration.<\/p>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-9\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/archive\/2020\/04\/why-were-running-out-of-masks-in-the-coronavirus-crisis\/609757\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'46',r'None'\">Read: Why we\u2019re running out of masks<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The White House had dissolved the directorate of the National Security Council responsible for planning for and responding to pandemics?\u00a0<em>Not me<\/em>, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/03\/13\/trump-coronavirus-testing-128971\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'47',r'None'\">said<\/a>\u00a0on March 13. Maybe somebody else in the administration did it, but \u201cI didn\u2019t do it &#8230; I don\u2019t know anything about it. You say we did that. I don\u2019t know anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Were ventilators desperately scarce? Obtaining medical equipment was the governors\u2019 job, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jmartNYT\/status\/1239597234993405952?s=20\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'48',r'None'\">said<\/a>\u00a0on a March 16 conference call.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--8\" role=\"complementary\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-8\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">Did Trump delay action until it was far too late? That was the fault of the Chinese government for withholding information, he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/03\/21\/politics\/trump-china-told-us-coronavirus\/index.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'49',r'None'\">complained<\/a>\u00a0on March 21.<\/p>\n<p>On March 27, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1243557418556162050\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'50',r'None'\">attributed<\/a>\u00a0his own broken promises about ventilator production to General Motors, now headed by a woman unworthy of even a last name: \u201cAlways a mess with Mary B.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Masks, gowns, and gloves were running short only because hospital staff were stealing them, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sEQ6CH4Wzek\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'51',r'None'\">suggested<\/a>\u00a0on March 29.<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p>Was the national emergency medical stockpile catastrophically depleted? Trump\u2019s campaign creatively\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TrumpWarRoom\/status\/1244439141905022979\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'52',r'None'\">tried to pin that<\/a>\u00a0on mistakes Joe Biden made back in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>At his press conference on April 2, Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-17\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'53',r'None'\">blamed<\/a>\u00a0the shortage of lifesaving equipment, and the ensuing panic-buying, on states\u2019 failure to build their own separate stockpile. \u201cThey have to work that out. What they should do is they should\u2019ve\u2014long before this pandemic arrived\u2014they should\u2019ve been on the open market just buying. There was no competition; you could have made a great price. The states have to stock up. It\u2019s like one of those things. They waited. They didn\u2019t want to spend the money, because they thought this would never happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Were New Yorkers dying? On April 2, Trump fired off a peevish\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/04\/02\/politics\/trump-schumer-letter-politics\/index.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'54',r'None'\">letter<\/a>\u00a0to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: \u201cIf you spent less time on your ridiculous impeachment hoax, which went haplessly on forever and ended up going nowhere (except increasing my poll numbers), and instead focused on helping the people of New York, then New York would not have been so completely unprepared for the \u2018invisible enemy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-m-wrapper\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-mobile.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-m\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-10\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/03\/america-learn-new-york\/608875\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'55',r'None'\">Fred Milgrim: A New York doctor\u2019s warning<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s instinct to dodge and blame had devastating consequences for Americans. Every governor and mayor who needed the federal government to take action, every science and medical adviser who hoped to prevent Trump from doing something stupid or crazy, had to reckon with Trump\u2019s psychic needs as their single biggest problem.<\/p>\n<p>As his medical advisers sought to dissuade Trump from proceeding with his musing about reopening the country by Easter, April 12, Deborah Birx\u2014the White House\u2019s coronavirus-response coordinator\u2014appeared on the evangelical CBN network to deliver this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/atrupar\/status\/1243556939369496576\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'56',r'None'\">abject flattery<\/a>: \u201c[Trump is] so attentive to the scientific literature &amp; the details &amp; the data. I think his ability to analyze &amp; integrate data that comes out of his long history in business has really been a real benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Governors got the message too. \u201cIf they don\u2019t treat you right, I don\u2019t call,\u201d Trump explained at a White House press briefing on March 27. The federal response has been dogged by suspicions of favoritism for political and personal allies of Trump. The District of Columbia has seen its requests\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/dc-maryland-virginia-shortchanged-by-federal-coronavirus-stockpile\/2020\/04\/02\/10df0860-748d-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'57',r'None'\">denied<\/a>, while Florida gets\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.orlandoweekly.com\/orlando\/why-did-florida-get-all-the-emergency-supplies-it-requested-when-other-states-didnt\/Content?oid=27064142\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'58',r'None'\">everything<\/a>\u00a0it asks for.<\/p>\n<p>The weeks of Trump-administration denial and delay have triggered a desperate scramble among states. The Trump administration is allocating some supplies through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but has made the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/04\/03\/politics\/supply-delay-fema-coronavirus\/index.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'59',r'None'\">deliberate choice<\/a>\u00a0to allow large volumes of crucial supplies to continue to be distributed by commercial firms to their clients. That has left state governments bidding against one another, as if the 1787 Constitution had never been signed, and we have no national government.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--9\" role=\"complementary\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-9\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-11\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/04\/the-us-should-just-write-checksbut-wont\/609637\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'60',r'None'\">Mehrsa Baradaran: The U.S. should just send checks\u2014but won\u2019t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In his panic, Trump is sacrificing U.S. alliances abroad, attempting to recoup his own failure by turning predator. German and French officials\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/04\/04\/827321294\/german-french-officials-accuse-u-s-of-diverting-supplies\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'61',r'None'\">accuse<\/a>\u00a0the Trump administration of diverting supplies they had purchased to the United States. On April 3, the North American company 3M publicly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20200403005218\/en\/3M-Response-Defense-Production-Act-Order#.Xoc0wi4M7hU.twitter\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'62',r'None'\">rebuked<\/a>\u00a0the Trump administration for its attempt to embargo medical exports to Canada, where 3M has operated seven facilities for 70 years.<\/p>\n<p>Around the world, allies are registering that in an emergency, when it matters most, the United States has utterly failed to lead. Perhaps the only political leader in Canada ever to say a good word about Donald Trump, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, expressed disgust at an April 3 press conference. \u201cI just can\u2019t stress how disappointed I am at President Trump &#8230; I\u2019m not going to rely on President Trump,\u201d he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepostmillennial.com\/ford-slams-trump-3m\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'63',r'None'\">said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not going to rely on any prime minister or president from any country ever again.\u201d Ford argued for a future of Canadian self-sufficiency. Trump\u2019s nationalist selfishness is proving almost as contagious as the virus itself\u2014and could ultimately prove as dangerous, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">A<span class=\"smallcaps\">s the pandemic kills<\/span>, as the economic depression tightens its grip, Donald Trump has consistently put his own needs first. Right now, when his only care should be to beat the pandemic, Trump is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/02\/business\/economy\/coronavirus-trump-company-finances.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'64',r'None'\">renegotiating<\/a>\u00a0his debts with his bankers and lease payments with Palm Beach County.<\/p>\n<p id=\"injected-recirculation-link-12\" class=\"c-recirculation-link\" data-id=\"injected-recirculation-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/04\/trump-brings-imperial-presidency-halt\/609583\/\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'65',r'None'\">Kori Schake: The imperial presidency comes to a sudden halt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He has never tried to be president of the whole United States, but at most 46 percent of it, to the extent that serving even the 46 percent has been consistent with his supreme concerns: stealing, loafing, and whining. Now he is not even serving the 46 percent. The people most victimized by his lies and fantasies are the people who trusted him, the more conservative Americans who harmed themselves to prove their loyalty to Trump. An Arkansas pastor\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/without-guidance-from-the-top-americans-have-been-left-to-figure-out-their-own-coronavirus-solutions\/2020\/03\/15\/9875aa64-6550-11ea-845d-e35b0234b136_story.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'66',r'None'\">told<\/a>\u00a0<em>The Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0of congregants \u201cready to lick the floor\u201d to support the president\u2019s claim that there is nothing to worry about. On March 15, the Trump-loyal governor of Oklahoma\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/coronavirus\/ny-coronavirus-oklahoma-gov-eats-at-restaurant-while-covid-19-spreads-20200316-aqwqvclh5nf5fizxxsqtvstpae-story.html\" data-omni-click=\"r'article',r'',d,r'intext',r'67',r'None'\">tweeted<\/a>\u00a0a since-deleted photo of himself and his children at a crowded restaurant buffet. \u201cEating with my kids and all my fellow Oklahomans at the @CollectiveOKC. It\u2019s packed tonight!\u201d Those who took their cues from Trump and the media who propagandized for him, and all Americans, will suffer for it.<\/p>\n<p>Governments often fail. From Pearl Harbor to the financial crisis of 2008, you can itemize a long list of missed warnings and overlooked dangers that cost lives and inflicted hardship. But in the past, Americans could at least expect public spirit and civic concern from their presidents.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has mouthed the slogan \u201cAmerica first,\u201d but he has never acted on it. It has always been \u201cTrump first.\u201d His business first. His excuses first. His pathetic vanity first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"l-rail l-rail--right l-rail--10\" role=\"complementary\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\" ad-boxinjector-d-wrapper\" data-section=\"full\" data-pos=\"boxinjector-d\" data-template=\"hippo\/components\/ads\/article-desktop.html\" data-native=\"standard,gift\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"blah\">\n<div class=\"l-article__container__container\">\n<section id=\"article-section-10\" class=\"l-article__section s-cms-content\">Trump has taken millions in payments from the Treasury. He has taken millions in payments from U.S. businesses and foreign governments. He has taken millions in payments from the Republican Party and his own inaugural committee. He has taken so much that does not belong to him, that was unethical and even illegal for him to take. But responsibility? No, he will not take that.<\/p>\n<p>Yet responsibility falls upon Trump, whether he takes it or not. No matter how much he deflects and insults and snivels and whines, this American catastrophe is on his hands and on his head.+<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IDEAS This Is Trump\u2019s Fault The president is failing, and Americans are paying for his failures. APRIL 7, 2020 David Frum Staff writer at The Atlantic 2 more free articles this month Sign in Subscribe Now MANDEL NGAN \/ AFP \/ GETTY Link Copied \u201cIdon\u2019t take responsibility at all,\u201d said President Donald Trump in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":898,"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions\/898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carloswsmith.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}