Two months in the dark: The increasingly damning timeline of Trump’s coronavirus response

The spread of the coronavirus in the United States continues, now with more confirmed deaths than any other country in the world (with the caveat that data from China aren’t reliable). And as it has spread, we keep learning about new warning signs that apparently weren’t heeded.

It wouldn’t be until mid-March that Trump would truly acknowledge the gravity of the situation. He would repeatedly say the situation was “under control,” downplay the threat and compare it to the flu. For about two months before that, though, people around him were offering cautions about the pandemic that it would become.

Below is a timeline of all the reported warning signs, with some of Trump’s public actions and comments interspersed. Much of it is based upon two investigative pieces published by The Washington Post on March 20 and April 4. Continue reading.