Coronavirus
Just prior to Trump’s inauguration, Obama administration officials apprised the incoming Trump administration about pandemic threats and response. In 2018, the Trump administration eliminated The National Security Council’s (NSC) Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense (instituted by the Obama administration) and reassigned pandemic issues to another office of the NSC. This reorganization may have organizationally weakened the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic less than two years later. President Trump also received briefings on the coronavirus threat in January 2020. Nevertheless, President Trump downplayed the threat of the pandemic for nearly two months. President Trump finally began publicly communicating a more serious tone about coronavirus in mid-March 2020. The Trump administration’s response to the pandemic was anemic at best. Perhaps this was the reason why the United States had the most confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths globally during the Trump presidency. Although representing just 4% of the global population, the United States had approximately 28% of the Covid-19 cases and deaths in the world in June 2020. Going forward, the United States needs to prioritize such threats and ensure that there is healthy funding, organizational strength, robust medical expertise, and vigorous international cooperation to effectively address and mitigate Covid-19 and other global health threats in the future.
Article Updated December 28, 2020
