Topline: A new report from the New York Times details early warnings issued to President Trump and his administration throughout early January and February that were ignored because of potential impacts to the economy and trade relations with China, including guidance for social distancing practices weeks before they were issued by the president.

  • Dr. Robert Kadlec, the Department of Health and Human Services’ lead on disaster response, met with the White House’s coronavirus task force on February 21, and the group concluded that social distancing measures including school closures would need to take place soon.
  • The group intended to present Trump with their plan after he returned from a trip from India—a February 14 memo prepared with the National Security Council went over guidelines like cancelling sporting events and issuing stay-at-home directives nationwide—but on February 25,  Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, put out a public warning that echoed the task force’s plan but infuriated Trump as it impacted the stock market.
  • Instead of conducting a meeting with the task force about the need for social distancing, Trump instead had a briefing on February 26 where he replaced Dr. Alex Azar, the secretary of Health and Human Services, as the head of the coronavirus task force with Vice President Mike Pence, with a focus on controlling the message so as not to impact the economy.
  • The report also details the struggles officials went through in convincing Trump and his administration to put in place social distancing measures, including Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who argued with national security adviser Robert O’Brien during an Oval Office meeting, claiming the economy could be destroyed.
  • Trump reportedly pushed back against social distancing because his “business friends” told him it would hurt the economy. Senior adviser Jared Kushner brought in former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb to convince Trump, and Pence also tried to help, but it was Dr. Deborah Birx, now a familiar face on the coronavirus task force, who finally got through to Trump.
  • Echoing a Washington Post report in March, officials in early January were reportedly issuing early warnings of the pandemic, with the State Department’s epidemiologist writing the virus could turn into a pandemic and biodefense experts in the National Security Council telling officials to think about preparations for city-sized quarantines.
  • Azar in particular was reportedly told by Trump in January to “stop panicking” after he called him about a potential pandemic, and a plan by Azar to set up surveillance in five cities that would have cost $100 million fell through in February as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent struggled to issue working tests.

Tangent: The report also focuses on the touchy relationship between the White House and the Chinese government. Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser, was warned early on in January by a Hong Kong epidemiologist that China was not being truthful about the spread of the virus. Described as a China hawk, Pottinger and others pushed the administration to blame China while economic advisers to Trump pushed back as they worked through a trade deal with the government. The debates eventually led to a restriction of foreign nationals traveling from China on January 31, a move consistently touted by Trump as a sign he acted early. However, no other broad actions were taken in February to prepare and address the pandemic, with senators in a briefing on February 5 telling Trump’s administration to take the threat seriously and offering money to help state and local departments. While Trump tweeted praise to China early on, a war of words began to brew between the two nations, with Trump using the phrase “Wuhan Virus” throughout March.

Crucial Quote: In an email exchange with other experts after Trump issued travel restrictions between European countries on March 11, Dr. James Lawler, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said “We have thrown 15 years of institutional learning out the window and are making decisions based on intuition.”

Chief Critic: President Trump. After the publication of the New York Times story, Trump lashed out on Twitter Saturday, calling the accounts made up. “When the Failing [New York Times] or Amazon [Washington Post] writes a story saying ‘unnamed sources said,’ or any such phrase where a person’s name is not used, don’t believe them. Most of these unnamed sources don’t exist. They are made up to defame and disparage.”

Key Background: After much delay, Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, two days after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. Trump has frequently said the pandemic and its impact couldn’t have been predicted and the administration acted quickly. However, before calling a national emergency, Trump frequently downplayed the coronavirus. “When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done,” Trump said on February 27. Some states still haven’t issued stay-at-home orders, and Trump is now saying widespread testing isn’t needed to reopen the country.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) separately announced they’d introduce legislation to create a nonpartisan commission to investigate the federal government’s response to the pandemic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on April 2, announced a bipartisan select committee to oversee federal actions during “the here and now” of the pandemic.

The U.S. now leads all other countries in confirmed cases of the coronavirus with 522,286 and deaths with 20,283.

Further Reading: He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus

Report: U.S. Intelligence Officials Warned About Coronavirus In Wuhan In Late November

‘We Didn’t Know About It’: Trump Denies Ignoring Coronavirus Pandemic Warnings

Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus