Trump Made Sweeping Promises At The Beginning Of Crisis. So Far, Few Have Materialized.
NPR takes a deep dive into the promises President Donald Trump made during a Rose Garden address declaring a national emergency in March. In other news on Trump's response: the president's personal reflections on the crisis, his early missteps, his attacks on watchdogs and his frustration with WHO.
NPR:
A Month After Emergency Declaration, Trump's Promises Largely Unfulfilled
One month ago today, President Trump declared a national emergency. In a Rose Garden address, flanked by leaders from giant retailers and medical testing companies, he promised a mobilization of public and private resources to attack the coronavirus. "We've been working very hard on this. We've made tremendous progress," Trump said. "When you compare what we've done to other areas of the world, it's pretty incredible." But few of those promises have come to pass. (Mak, Pfeiffer, Jingnan, Benincasa, Smith, Shapiro and Anderson, 4/13)
Politico:
Trump Personalizes The Coronavirus — Through A Political Lens
With the coronavirus, though, things appear to be actually getting personal for Trump. After initially downplaying the burgeoning outbreak, the president’s tenor changed as he started reflecting publicly about a friend who was in a coma after becoming infected and recounting the chaos at a hospital near his childhood home in Queens. He’s repeatedly waxed about the meaning of the pandemic leaving society isolated on Easter, which the president has personalized as “a very special day for me. ”The coronavirus has also encircled the president, making it even more personal, with guests near Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort testing positive, and political allies like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson falling ill. (McGraw, 4/12)
The Associated Press:
Signs Missed And Steps Slowed In Trump's Pandemic Response
By the time President Donald Trump first spoke publicly about the coronavirus, it may already have been too late. Interviewed at Davos, a gathering of global elites in the Swiss Alps, the president on Jan. 22 played down the threat posed by the respiratory virus from China, which had just reached American shores in the form of a solitary patient in Washington state. “We have it totally under control,” Trump said on CNBC. “It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” (Lemire, Miller, Colvin and Alonso-Zaldivar, 4/12)
The Associated Press Fact Check:
Trump' Misfires In Watchdog Attacks
Man bites watchdog. In firing one inspector general, sidelining another and assailing a third, President Donald Trump in recent days has put his aversion to agents of federal accountability on stark display in a country consumed by the coronavirus. Clearly displeased when inspectors general come to independent conclusions that don’t fit the stories he tells, Trump employs a tactic to mar their credibility. If public servants worked for the government in the Obama era, they are subject to being painted as Obama loyalists out to get him. (Yen and Woodward, 4/13)
Politico:
Trump Aides Consider Creating Alternative To WHO
Aides to President Donald Trump are debating some potentially far-reaching moves to punish the World Health Organization in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, including cutting off U.S. funding and trying to create an alternative institution. Officials have begun drafting a letter that -- if the decision is made -- will announce a suspension of U.S. funding to the WHO and a related body, the Pan American Health Organization, according to a person familiar with the issue. The draft document also tells officials at the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other institutions to try to route the money to existing alternative organizations. (Toosi, 4/10)
Politico:
Public Health Professionals Plead With Trump Not To Defund WHO
A trio of public health and medical professionals making the rounds on the Sunday morning news shows called for President Donald Trump not to defund the World Health Organization as the administration weighs punitive measures on the public health organization. White House aides and Trump are debating several far-reaching moves to target the WHO in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, POLITICO reported Friday, including cutting off U.S. funding and trying to create an alternative institution. (Beavers, 4/12)
