Mistakes Were Made

Chicago 2020. Photo by Charles Rex

 

First, in 2017, the Trump administration fought against and prevented protections for health workers in case of a pandemic.

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/26/862018484/trump-team-killed-rule-designed-to-protect-health-workers-from-pandemic-like-cov

Second, in 2018 the Trump administration dismantled the pandemic team which was in place.  They considered it to  be a waste of money and something which would never be needed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/nsc-pandemic-office-trump-closed/2020/03/13/a70de09c-6491-11ea-acca-80c22bbee96f_story.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-trump-fired-pandemic-team/partly-false-claim-trump-fired-pandemic-response-team-in-2018-idUSKBN21C32M

Did Trump Administration Fire the US Pandemic Response Team?

Third, the U.S, probably should have taken up the offer for a COVID 19 test for the World Health Organization in January 2020.  Did they reject these tests because they thought the virus risk was not serious?  Were they just being stupid or foolhardy? Or were they interested in making money off of the tests?

Did US ‘Refuse’ COVID-19 Testing Kits from the World Health Organization?

More information:

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-cuts-programs-responsible-for-fighting-coronavirus-2020-2

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/21/818932167/fact-checking-5-trump-administration-claims-on-the-coronavirus-pandemic