Last week, President Trump called himself a “wartime president” as he faced up to the threat caused by the coronavirus. But only days later — and with the crisis escalating — he has abandoned that message. What changed?
Guest: Maggie Haberman, who covers the White House for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.
Background reading:
- Despite the warnings, President Trump said he believed a crippled economy and forced social isolation would inflict more harm than the spread of the virus.
- Mr. Trump is now facing a personal dilemma as he responds to the crisis: How can he save his campaign for re-election when so much is suddenly going so wrong?
- The White House and Congress have reached a $2 trillion stimulus deal, the biggest such package in modern American history. The plan would offer jobless benefits to individuals and direct cash payments to taxpayers.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
From the New York Times. Unlike of about this is the daily last week president
prompt sounded newly serious about combating the corona virus, calling himself a cold war time present Maggie Haven Online
These later and with the situation only worsening, the president is abandoned. That message. It's Wednesday March, twenty fifth, hello, guys hi hi Maggie it is Tuesday afternoon. Can you tell us about what just happened on the box in this house over the next two hours, the president and the vice president and the officials, towns with leading our nations response on the virus pandemic, will join us to answer your questions all across Amerika we just saw vice president, my pants.
And President Trump sit for two hours of a town hall, meeting virtual town Hall Meeting with Fox NEWS from the White House where they took questions by remote. I think a lot of his regular disciplinary one is that the terms of foreigners in stating who order
This is something that America could be seen. Are your future? Hence answered a bunch of questions? First Corleone.
And tell you that at no point as the White House, corona virus task force discussed what some people call
a nation wide lockdown. Then president trunk came on for the second. Our our people are
all of them and vigour and energy didn't want to be locked into.
A house or an apartment or some space date, it's not for our country. It would have we not been that way and his message was even louder of a message that he's been delivering for the last day or so, which is that, while we have to take the corona
seriously in. I don't want the cure to be worse than the problem itself. In his words, the cure can't be worse than the disease of the problem being, obviously the problem- and you know you can destroy a country this way by closing down and by that he means that the hits to the economy are becoming unsustainable, that it can't go on forever. The other donors, people you then have suicide by the thousands you're gonna have all sorts of things happen. You can have instability, you can't just come in and say, let's close up the United States of America, the biggest that most
successful country in the world by far and then he brooks NEWS, I'd love to have an open by Easter. Ok, I would alive it organised on that
This was that he believes that by April twelfth, which is Easter, but that could be when the country and its economy are reopened at such an important day for other regions, but I'll make an important day for those do. I would love to have the
Tree opened up and they're just rare indigo by Easter Maggie. This seems very much at odds with the messaging coming from more local leaders and help
officials in the areas of the U S had been most directly hit by this pandemic. So far. I am thinking, for example, of the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, who was warning Newark residents. Look. This can go on for several months, ok, that they should be preparing for four six: eight months: nine months, nine months of life under isolation and shut down
to fight the coroner buyers, Michael about half an hour or so before my pen started this town hall. You have twenty thousand ventilators in the stockpile. Release the ventilators to New York. Andrew Cuomo was pleading with the federal government to send more resources, especially ventilators, because the number of cases that are severe in New York is growing and keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it is outpacing the number of materials that they have for doctors to treat them. I mean the ventilators in fourteen days, only the federal
Has that power? You have health officials in New York, health officials in California, health officials in president, from his own government, saying we are not just a mere two or three weeks away from things going back to normal and their basing that not just an idle projections, but watching what those curves have looked like in terms of the spread of the virus. Also, Maggie help us understand how we got here and why this is the message from the president at this
critical moment when how we respond, what measures we take and how long we take those measures, really matters, and so I wonder we think that starts. Where do we begin to understand that Michael you need to go back to January twenty. Second, when the president was in Davos for the World Economic Forum great to see you thank you for,
join us again in Davos. We ve done this before right. He didn't interview with CNBC and at that point b
virus was already in the. U S. The CDC has identified a case of corona virus in Washington State and he was asked by the interviewer if he was concerned that this could become a pandemic. Have you been brief by the CDC out of your words about a pandemic at this boy or not at all, and and the president's response was
no, not at all one person coming in from China and we have it under control- it's gonna be just fine. He didn't want to talk about it publicly at the time.
And why do you think that was
According to a number of people who were in contact with him, it was because he didn't want to rattle the financial markets that he was hoping that it was going to stand or control and the stock markets are his political. Whether vein,
and he thinks they need to stay up in order for him to win re election and he didn't want to do
I think the disturbed that- and he didn't want to create a panic reaction
what happened next so after that, a couple of days later, as there were more cases, and it was clear that it was spreading out of China where it originated, the president took this move that he was widely criticised for by them.
France, and even some Republicans at the time, which was he halted a number of flights from China into the? U S is closed, radiators close hospital.
In the end, they will now have to work
case in the United States. How concerned here
Well, we pretty much shut down coming in from China. The idea was to halt the spread of the disease.
Transmissions to a minimum. He was accused of xenophobia. He was accused of making a racist move
at the end of the day, it was probably effective because it did actually take a pretty aggressive measure against the spread of the virus.
The problem is, it was one of the last things that he did for several weeks and so the right decision in retrospect, but not accompanied by
similar actions that may have contained transmission. That's exam
they right. In the same way, the George W Bush was criticised for his mission accomplished banner about Iraq. The president
at that moment, as if it was his mission accomplished moment did not do anything after that in terms of a learning. The public or telling people to be safe are telling people to take precautions, and it basically squandered several weeks within the EU
What looking back at the timeline? We can now see that, on the same day that the present stop those files from China
The coroner virus was already being reported by the W H out in Japan and South Korea, and those countries are still sending their citizens to the United States on flights that have not been stopped. So the horse is out of the barn exactly. It was not anything close to a whole of government approach, and at that point there was a task force that was formed and it was being led by the health and Human Services Secretary Alex Aser, but it was outside of the White House and it was rife with all kinds of turf battles, and president, meanwhile, was still trying not to talk about it and succeeding enough
the most hard and succeeding in that. For the most part, it was not something came up in interviews that he did, which were mostly with friendly interviewers. Who warned can ask him things that he didn't want to talk about and look it's not as if it wasn't getting news coverage. The New York Times had it on the front page almost every day,
from the end of January. It was very clear that this was a global crisis, but it was not
entreated as an american crisis, and I think a lot of that is because the President just was not talking about it.
And we know what information the present is receiving during this time is getting a bunch of briefings. One would think he would be that of conveying the seriousness of the approaching situation. There's conflicting information, Michael about exactly how specific and how alarmed the briefing materials the president was receiving were at this time. We understand that a lot of
Books in the National Security Council were taking it very seriously and that information had been passed him. We understand that Alex's are the health, inhuman service secretary took it very seriously, but it's not clear that he was sharing all of that with the president or that he was being allowed to tell it to the president.
Where some people on the White House who viewed Alex Aser in particular as quorum, quote alarmist known that he was overstating the threat and when the president doesn't want to take something particularly seriously ill, often pull test advisers until he finds the one who agrees with him
Then you shouldn't take it seriously and I have every reason to believe that he was looking for people to a farm. His sense, the distant really need to be addressed, and one of the places that he would go to hear his own thoughts of farmed or for solace was Fox news.
Have you ever had a question whether the mainstream media distorts whips up, throw things out of focus or has an agenda, especially when it comes to the Trump administration. Look no further than corona virus. They were very much echoing what he believed and wanted to believe, which was that the criticisms about inactivity
did he wasn't doing enough was all part of an effort to harm him. This is yet another attempt to impeach the president, and sadly it seems they care very little for any of the distrust
they are leaving in their wake losses in the stock market. All this, unfortunately, just part of the political casualties for them.
At this point, that the president is an India being fitted by Prime Minister Modi and public health officials start basis,
Taking matters into their own hands, they start giving public warnings. One top health expert gave a press briefing where she said now. It's not so much a question of if this will happen any more, but rather more a question of exactly when this will have. It was no longer a question of if the virus would spread in the United States, but when and how many people in this country will become infected
and how many of those will develop severe or more complicated disease, and that hospitals and businesses in schools should start making preparations accordingly right. This was
The president was now on his way back from India and the stock market reacted terribly to these warnings and the president was furious. He called the health and Human service, a secretary, saying that the remarks
rattled people. He called one of his top economic advisers, Larry COD low wondering what could be done to stop the slide, but it
This point is angry, as the president was. It was clear to him and to his advisers that this was no longer something he could ignore, we'll be right back.
While you do your part to beat Corona Virus America's biopharmaceutical companies are busy doing, there's their testing existing medicines, developing new treatments and vaccines and collaborating with the CDC Fda and an age there, working with doctors and hospitals on over two hundred and thirty five clinical trials.
And ramping up production to ensure these medicines are available, get the latest updates at farm a dot org, sir,
ass corona virus, because science is how we get back to normal,
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So maybe what happens once the president recognises that this is something that has to be addressed. The president put Vice President MIKE Pence in charge of the task force could have learnt we're just completed today's likely meeting the White House curl of irish task force and up- and that was a big moment, because this task force that had been kind of diffuse and fighting with itself was for the first time being run from the White House, and it was meant to signal that the president was taking this seriously.
So my pants had control of this thing for basically two weeks and during that time we're continuing to lean under this effort in full partnership with state and local health authorities around the country. He was trying to communicate that they were working on a plan to ensure that we do everything to prevent the spread of the disease
to address the spread that they were working on guidelines that they were aware of problems with testing for this virus that have played this administration for weeks to mitigate its expansion and to provide necessary treatment to Americans that have been impacted and after two weeks. Vice president, my pants was getting a lot of praise for his demeanor in these briefings. If I may, I will be back here every day, get used to say in us. We're gonna bring the experts,
going to make sure and give you the best and most high quality. Real time, information on the best people in the world, so thank you all, and that became a point of concern for some of President Trump's own advice.
Nurse who didn't want to see my pants get all of the attention ha so that people are on the present didn't want the vice president, rather than the president to be the one seen as quarter backing this major national crisis. That's right. There was concern among the president's top advisers that it would look as if vice president pants was basically doing the job. The president should be doing calming a nation giving out accurate information sounding as if he's in charge and that led to
the idea that the president should give an oval office address. So in March eleven the same day, the W h O declared the corona virus a global pandemic. President trump
sat in the oval office behind the resolute desk at nine p m and the clique lights came on and the tail
prompter study, rolling
He gave an address to the nation, my fellow Americans tonight. I want you
Big with you about our nations unprecedented responds to the corona virus outbreak that start
China and is now spreading throughout the world. For the first time. He acknowledged that this could impact should get older people the highest.
Risk is for elderly population.
Underlying health conditions. The elderly population,
must be very, very careful. He talked about a ban on me
travel from Europe to keep new cases from entering our shores. We will be suspended
all travel from Europe to the United States. For the next thirty days,
New rules will go into effect Friday at midnight, but they address, which was brief, as oval office address is usually are, was seen as a disaster, why the president looked uncomfortable,
He stumbled over the teleprompter, which he never does well with. I am
often in that, by counting and continuing to take these tough measures we went. It was riddled with errors, including about that
well and these prohibitions, while not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various
other things as we get approval. He suggested that it would apply.
Cargo and trade it didn't, and those miss
eggs send the stock markets plummeting.
Right, and my assumption was the president hope this be to do the exact opposite, which is it would give confidence to the stock market and send it back up. That's right! The markets continued to tank.
Next couple of days and aid started realizing that there had to be a major course correction or the presidency could be threatened and the President realise this
so in March, seventeenth would like to begin by noting so
developments in a war against the chinese virus. We saw Vulcan pretty different town from President Tramp ass. He talked about. This virus will be involved in the defence production act.
In case we need it. Last week I signed in emergency declaration under these Stafford ACT, he described it soberly. We suddenly seemed willing to answer questions without being combated. Averages verse, American beyond a wartime pudding in terms of fighting. I do I actually do up look at it that way, because you
described himself as a war time president. He seemed to be taking this seriously and all the ways,
that a nation usually looks for a leader to take such a crisis seriously of situation. You you have to do things you have do you have to close porch of an economy that six weeks
The words were the best they ve ever been where the best economy we ve ever had.
And then one day you have to close it down in order to defeat this enemy and what we're doing it and we're doing well- and I attach the american people at an incredible. This was dramatically different from what we had heard
a few days earlier, also making. How then do we get to today
where one week later, this situation with this pandemic has only gotten dramatically worse. The virus is exploding in places like New York, the number of infections and death arising across the country, and yet the president's message has now kind of reverted.
Back to where it was weeks and weeks ago, as languages changed his overall component.
And add the words he's using they ve all kind,
return to a period where he was not taking this as seriously there having people in the president's circle who this entire time, even as the president changed. His tone still thought that some of the moves that the government was making were too aggressive and those aids started lately,
last week talking about the fact that they might want to revisit some of these guidelines and ease up on some of them for targeted groups after this initial fifteen day period had ended, which is gonna, be marched thirtieth. The present
started, getting the message in earnest on Sunday night that this is something that he needed to worry about:
might not be an economy to return to what the country was fully back to normal, and so he tweeted on Sunday night that the cure couldn't be worse than the disease, and that was the beginning of a massive shift of the federal government which had move toward aggressive measures to mitigate this virus, spread to suddenly suggesting that they could see the end nearing
we can't lose a Boeing and we can't lose some of these companies and companies frankly bill that were solid as like AAA companies
Because of what happened over the last couple of weeks ago, from AAA to being
like they could use a hand, tough time. We can't right. We can't lose those companies. If we lose
companies were talking about hundreds of thousands of jobs, millions of jobs
faster. We go back the better it's gonna, be we have a pent up energy, that's gonna be
Is there a meaningful contingency of conservative leaders, thinkers and politicians, cannabis, even people in business who feel this way? Who feel like there's been an over reaction to this virus in the form of shutting down the american economy? There are, some of them were people who have been the president's advisers on and off for a while, like Stephen more of freedom works whose an economist and who advise the president of various points
He rode and are bad for the Wall Street Journal with our laughter of the president gave the middle of freedom to not that long ago, and in that are bad. They said essentially that the government can sustain this, that the economy cannot sustain this
there needs to be less draconian moves made to keep people safe, but still allow the country to run
There is no public health experts in the government telling the president that these moves are too severe
There is no public health experts in the government telling the president did. The curve is about to let up on the spread of the virus. Everything the president has done about this virus
then a reaction to something and right now he is reacting to pressure to reopen portions of the economy as the job losses are facing potential millions by April. You know
whether the president would frame it this way. But I wonder, if he's forcing all of us to reckon with what is the ultimate moral dilemma of this pandemic, which is what economic and social cost were willing to pay to save some
a certain number of lives, and he seemed to be saying in effect, I'm willing to take the risk that
a certain number of Americans, we'll get sick and will die
for the greater economic, good and health of the United States. We think of it. We average thirty, six thousand people death death, I'm not talking about cases. I'm talking about death. Thirty, six thousand deaths a year, people die thirty, six from the floor,
but we ve never closed down the country for the flu, so you say to yourself what is this all about? Now
how did you ever been doubted? You process that not good? I wasn't happy about it, Michael, I think that's very much what he sang and, in fairness to him, Governor Cuomo, has openly voiced the same ball dilemma Betty's wrestling with its just the governor Cuomo came down on the other side of it, which was that there is no cost that can be put on
on human life you're my mother's, not expendable, and your mother's not expendable, and our brothers and sisters than not expendable.
And we're not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable.
And we're not going to put a dollar figure on human life. First order of business is save lives period. Whatever it costs,
New York has ban, as we know, much harder head, then most of the rest of the country. Most of the rest, the country has not had to go through
What New York is going through a right now with surges in hospital stays and and a number of sick people, the president says most of the country agrees with him and maybe that's why.
But the president has taken really large gamble and going with his guy that the greater good will be served for the rest of the country by trying to preserve the economic health of the country more quickly than his health experts would like him to make you. Thank you very much like to thank you on Tuesday night
Doktor Anthony fetching an infectious disease specialist and an influential member of the President's Karuna Virus taskforce, was asked about the President plan to read,
in the: U S: economy by Easter. Where are you now the sidelines? Ninety days, that's really very flexible. We just had a conversation with the president in the oval office. Talking about you know, you could look at a day for you,
I'd be very flexible another on it literally day by day week by week faces you need to evaluate the feasibility of what you're trying to do
The president's standing beside him felt she said it would be foolhardy,
ease restrictions if major parts of the country were still in the town
those of the pandemic. Obviously no one is gonna. Wanna toned down things when you see.
It's going on in a place like New York City, I mean I mean. That's just no good public health practising common sense back
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nationwide locked down over the virus continued on Tuesday, with India becoming bone latest enlarges.
Country to require citizens to remain indoors in India's case for the next twenty one days already. I guess then noticed some lead banish. All I've got buddy LA it gives saw fit to live
in a televise speech, Prime Minister, nor render Modi told Indians quote if you can't handle these twenty one days. This country will go back twenty one years at
in the United States Senate leaders said they were nearing a deal on a historic two trillion dollar stimulus bill. After these of objections from Democrats, overhead
would monitor billions of dollars in loans to american businesses. We ve been fighting very hard that any bail out fund money to industries that have trouble have real oversight and transparency. That's vitally important! On Tuesday Democrats said they had persuaded publicans and the trumpet ministries and to allow and
independent inspector and a congressional oversight board to scrutinise the loans and were almost ready to support the bill. I hope I pray that we can come together very quickly and pass in large numbers a bipartisan bill that will help the american people, who so badly badly badly need our help.
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Transcript generated on 2020-04-22.