On January 28, 2020, in a meeting in the Oval Office, Donald Trump was told by National Security Advisor Michael O’Brien that the virus outbreak in China “will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency.” Another person in the room at the time said that this virus would not be anything like the 2003 SARS.  However, according to Bob Woodward, O’Brien defended his position. 

Indeed, Assistant National Security Advisor, Matt Pottinger, agreed with him. Matt Pottinger had been in the Trump administration since September 2019.  He previously was a journalist and U.S. Marine Corps officer.  As a reporter, he wrote more than three dozen stories on the SARS epidemic and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.  He spoke Mandarin Chinese and did reporting from China for seven years.  During this meeting in the Oval Office he explained to Trump that the virus in China would be as bad as the 1918 Flu Pandemic.  He knew this because he had been in touch with Chinese contacts who he trusted and worked with while in China.

So, on January 28, Donald Trump knew that the virus that had begun in Hubei province in China was going to be a serious health threat to the United States, as well as the rest of the world.

He had already lied to the American people when he was in Devos. He said on January 22 it was totally under control. He actually didn’t know much about the virus. Two days after his top National Security Advisors warned him that this virus would be the most serious national security threat, he told his MAGA hat crowd that the virus was under control. He said there would be little problem in this country.

Now more than a year later, more than 500,000 Americans have died, many because of Trump’s lying and inability to lead the nation during a national threat.

Fortunately, he got skunked in the election, and the country has a leadership team that will bring some light at the end of the tunnel.