Donald Trump has been facing a lot of accusations in recent weeks amid the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. But, the newest among these allegations said that he "ignored" early warnings from intelligence reports that the virus could get worse, and that the number of people infected and killed by the virus China shared was "played down."
According to The Washington Post, an unnamed source revealed that many government officials were already expecting the outbreak to get worse in the next few weeks considering its rapid widespread. While the President may not have been expecting it, it was alleged that the officials could not get him to do anything about it.
As added by the reports, the Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar shared that they were "first alerted" about the outbreak on January 3. The source reportedly alleged that Azar "struggled" to reach Donald Trump.
It was only on January 18 that he was able to do so. However, it was stated that the US President was more interested in learning about the updates on matters relating to vape, instead of the pre-warned virus outbreak.
In a similar report released by Metro UK, it was said that US intelligence agencies sent "daily briefing papers" to the White House. These papers reportedly contained the warnings and information about the "potential dangers" of the coronavirus turning likely into a pandemic.
At the end of January, allegations claimed that aides were able to "steer" Donald Trump towards the then-potential crisis. However, he was said to believe that the American people should not worry about COVID-19 in the United States.
Moving forward to the timeline, on February 19, the President reportedly stated before the public that he thinks the crisis will "work out fine." He then shared on social media that the virus is "very much under control," and that the stock market looked "very good."
The Guardian said that the US President "dismissed" all of the allegations being thrown at him. While being criticized for "mishandling" the situation, his spokesperson reportedly shared that the Trump administration, especially Donald Trump, has taken "aggressive" measures to secure the health and safety of the American people.
It was also reported that he "attacked" the Post after the release of its narrative. He was said to call it "inaccurate." It is a "disgrace," the President added.
As of today, the United States has a total of 39,207 confirmed cases, with 466 deaths.
