We now have even more evidence that Trump ignored warnings of the coronavirus threat. Our intelligence community issued a warning in November 2019 and Trump was briefed in early January.
WARNED IN NOVEMBER 2019 BY U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: Trump’s intelligence officials warned in November about the coronavirus sweeping through China.
ABC News: “As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China’s Wuhan region, changing the patterns of life and business and posing a threat to the population, according to four sources briefed on the secret reporting. Concerns about what is now known to be the novel coronavirus pandemic were detailed in a November intelligence report by the military’s National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), according to two officials familiar with the document’s contents.”
BRIEFINGS THROUGH DECEMBER: There were repeated briefings through December for policymakers and decision-makers across the federal government and in the White House.
ABC News: “From that warning in November, the sources described repeated briefings through December for policy-makers and decision-makers across the federal government as well as the National Security Council at the White House.”
TRUMP KNEW IN EARLY JANUARY: A detailed explanation of the problem appeared in Trump’s daily intelligence briefing in early January.
ABC News: “All of that culminated with a detailed explanation of the problem that appeared in the President’s Daily Brief of intelligence matters in early January, the sources said.”
YET TRUMP DID NOTHING: Trump downplayed the threat and wasted precious time that could’ve been used to fight the virus. In fact, he still doesn’t even have a national testing strategy.
Washington Post: “Three months into the coronavirus epidemic, the Trump administration has yet to devise a national strategy to test Americans for the deadly disease — something experts say is key to blunting the outbreak and resuming daily life.”
Associated Press: “After the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal stockpile of critically needed medical supplies and equipment.”