Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised.
Vice President Mike Pence, left, and ... more Photo: Evan Vucci, AP Photo: Evan Vucci, AP Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised 1 / 22 Back to Gallery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Public health and national security experts shake their heads when President Donald Trump says the coronavirus "came out of nowhere" and “blindsided the world.”.
The NSC directorate for global health and security and bio-defense survived the transition from President Barack Obama to Trump in 2017.
The NSC during the Obama administration grew to about 250 professionals, according to Trump's current national security adviser, Robert O'Brien.
When Trump was asked on Friday whether closing the NSC global health unit slowed the U.S. response, the president called it a “nasty” question because his administration had acted quickly and saved lives.
On Saturday, John Bolton, a former Trump national security adviser, dismissed claims that “streamlining NSC structures impaired our nation's bio defense are false.'' »