According to interviews recorded by Bob Woodward for his book, “Rage,” Donald Trump was briefed by national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Jan. 28 of this year that the coronavirus “will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency,” that the virus was five times more deadly than ordinary flu, that it was spread when “you just breathe the air,” and that it would soon become a worldwide pandemic. At the moment Trump told Woodward these things, on Feb. 7, the president had one job: Persuade the American people to work together to deal effectively with this threat to their health and well-being.
That would mean, in the coming months, that Trump would have to convince people it was not just in their interest, but necessary for their very survival, to do a whole bunch of stuff they would not want to do. They would have to endure lengthy “lockdowns,” when they would essentially be confined to their homes. They would have to take their kids out of school and learn to cope with “remote learning” from home. Many of them would have to close down their businesses or be laid off from their jobs. Sports competitions, from junior high and high school level right on through college and professional sports like baseball and basketball, would be canceled. Concerts would be canceled. Museums and zoos and national parks and public attractions like Disneyland and other amusement parks would close. Restaurants and bars would close. People wouldn’t be able to gather in large groups to attend conventions or watch movies or plays or attend their children’s graduations, or even in smaller groups for birthdays and dinner parties and weddings. People would be forbidden to visit their elderly relatives in nursing homes. If their family members got sick, they would not be able to visit them in hospitals. If loved ones died, it would not be possible to celebrate their lives in person at funerals. It would become necessary for people to learn how to “socially distance” themselves and even to wear protective masks when they were around others.
But Donald Trump didn’t know how to convince others to do things they didn’t want to do. All he understood was fear and money. Trump had spent his entire life dealing with people in two ways: He would try to intimidate and frighten them, and if that didn’t work, he would buy them off. Two things which you and I probably look at as to be avoided, yes, like a plague — meeting with lawyers and accountants — Donald Trump did on practically a daily basis. This was the way Trump moved through the world. When he encountered a problem, he would get one of his lawyers to threaten lawsuits or file them, and when the lawsuits failed, he’d ask his accountants to figure out a way to move money that wasn’t his — for example, money from his supposed charitable foundation — so he could buy his way out of trouble with a settlement. Continue reading.