President Donald Trump was informed in late January of a memo written by his trade adviser, Peter Navarro, warning that 'half a million American souls' could die of coronavirus, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Trump has denied he saw the memo at the time.
The Times also reported that Trump was displeased that Navarro had put the information in writing.
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President Donald Trump was reportedly told as early as January about a memo written by one of his advisers that warned of mass death in the United States from a coronavirus outbreak, though he has denied that he saw the memo at the time.
In a damning profile of the White House's actions leading up to the US's coronavirus outbreak, The New York Times reported Saturday that Trump did indeed learn of the January 29 memo written by his trade adviser, Peter Navarro.
The memo reportedly included a warning that up to 30% of the US population could be infected, and the death toll could be "on the order of a half a million American souls."
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who is now serving as national defense production act policy coordinator, gestures to President Donald Trump as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Thursday, April 2, 2020, in Washington. Associated Press/Alex Brandon
Navarro had also urged in the memo to limit travel from China, then the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Trump implemented a travel ban shortly after.
"The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on US soil," Mr. Navarro's memo said. "This lack of protection elevates the risk of the coronavirus evolving into a full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans."
Read more: Tests that can tell if you're immune to the coronavirus are on the way. Here are the companies racing to bring them to the US healthcare system.
According to The Times, aides discussed the memo with Trump, and he was displeased Navarro put the information in writing.
Navarro also wrote a second memo on February 23 warning that up to "1 [to] 2 million souls" could die of the virus, according to Axios.
Just one day later, Trump tweeted that the coronavirus was "very much under control in the USA."
thistimewithheart on April 12nd, 2020 at 05:00 UTC »
The CDC issued its first warning on Jan 8. Trump held campaign rallies on Jan 9, Jan 14, Jan 28, Jan 30, Feb 10, Feb 19, Feb 20, Feb 21 & Feb 28. He golfed on Jan 18, Jan 19, Feb 1, Feb 15, Mar 7 & Mar 8. The first time he admitted the coronavirus might be a problem was Mar 13.
Tarijeno on April 12nd, 2020 at 03:09 UTC »
I feel like if real life was a movie, the critics would complain that the “evil President” character is cartoonishly stupid and unrealistic.
howtohuman101 on April 12nd, 2020 at 02:20 UTC »
If only they'd said "you'll lose half a million viewers" or "half a million people will permanently unfollow you", then this could all have been avoided.