# Trump’s Decision Making in the COVID Era **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 3, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005 "2020-04-03T21:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/21 "2020-04-04T18:15:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The reality is that Trump is not a very intelligent person. He himself has said that he reacts to problems. House is on fire. Better go to the store and steal a fire extinguisher. ---
**Author:** ![tampora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@tampora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tampora)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/22 "2020-04-04T18:30:07Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Moved to Politics and Elections. Political threads should go in their normal forums, not in Quarantine Zone. It’s sad that discussion of the coronavirus in the designated area for coronavirus discussion somehow means you can’t discuss the obvious and verifiable shortcomings that lead to this state of horror and continues to worsen it. This isn’t 2 subjects. It is 1 subject. Stop burying your head in the sand. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/23 "2020-04-04T18:49:52Z")
> [@tampora](#): > > It’s sad that discussion of the coronavirus in the designated area for coronavirus discussion somehow means you can’t discuss the obvious and verifiable shortcomings that lead to this state of horror and continues to worsen it. > > This isn’t 2 subjects. It is 1 subject. Stop burying your head in the sand. I agree with the policy. We should separate the problems being caused by the disease itself from the problems being caused by Trump’s failure to lead. If we start attributing all problems to the virus, we’re effectively absolving Trump of his responsibility. And I’m sure that’s going to be the Republican party line; they’ll be saying all of the death and confusion was unavoidable and there was nothing anyone (ie Trump) could have done to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/24 "2020-04-04T18:52:18Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > House is on fire. Better go to the store and steal a fire extinguisher. I guess Trump was caught by surprise by the short term consequences. He probably though this would be another crisis like the environment or the deficit, where he could tell the lies now and the consequences wouldn’t appear until he was out of office. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/25 "2020-04-04T20:02:41Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Hey, sorry. That was a bit over the top. Did you mistake me for a Trump supporter? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/26 "2020-04-04T20:17:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I guess Trump was caught by surprise by the short term consequences. He probably though this would be another crisis like the environment or the deficit, where he could tell the lies now and the consequences wouldn’t appear until he was out of office. I think this is it. Up to this point, Trump has been able to hand-wave, distort or spin most things he didn’t like, and they were typically minor enough things that he could get away with it. Now with Covid-19, he’s finally been hit by something too big and too severe to be distorted or waved away. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/27 "2020-04-04T21:29:27Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Did you mistake me for a Trump supporter? Maybe more like an apologist is how I saw it at the time. But then again, the way I see things lately is not to be trusted. Lots of double vision from self medication combined with an outright rage at the way Trump is tolerated in this country. A real good combination. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/28 "2020-04-04T23:16:06Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Maybe more like an apologist is how I saw it at the time. But then again, the way I see things lately is not to be trusted. Lots of double vision from self medication combined with an outright rage at the way Trump is tolerated in this country. A real good combination. Yeah, well, reading my initial response, “It doesn’t make any sense” reads like I was saying that it makes no sense that Trump would do this. “Self-medication and outright rage”. Does a twelve pack of beer count as self -medicating? The rage I can so sober. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/29 "2020-04-04T23:17:16Z")
Cutter’s Way” quotes “I don’t drink. You know, the routine grind drives me to drink. Tragedy, I take straight.” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/30 "2020-04-05T03:00:41Z")
About the issue of what is going on with the medical supplies, one gets the impression that at the federal level no one is managing this in a rational way. > [@](#): > > What’s Up with the Feds Seizing PPE Shipments to States and Hospitals? > [@](#): > > Let’s talk about these seizures of PPE goods by federal authorities. There are a number of instances of this and as I noted in the post below a number of reasons why it might be happening. There are numerous cases where orders placed by states or hospitals have been canceled after they have been outbid by federal authorities or federal authorities have ordered vendors to sell to the federal government. According to Kaiser Health News, those compelled sales appear to be pursuant to an executive order President Trump signed on March 18th under authorities granted by the Defense Production Act. > > But what I’m more interested in are reports of federal authorities confiscating physical shipments en route to states, local governments or regional hospital systems. The most publicized case of this came at some point in March when, according to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), a shipment of 3 million masks ordered through BJ’s Wholesale was seized by federal authorities in the Port of New York. Baker did not say which agency confiscated the goods or under what authority. That incident was what led to the widely reported and successful effort to fly goods in from China using the New England Patriots jet. > [@](#): > > In any case, we need to know more. States have been asking the federal government to take over the process of provisioning the country with these critical PPE goods. That at least would avoid states being forced to bid up prices by bidding against each other. After having FEMA swoop in and purchase ventilators that Colorado was in the process of buying, Gov. Jared Polis (D) said: “Either be in or out. [Either let] us know what we’re going to get and when we’re going to get them or stay out and let us buy them.” But these seizures of shipments are at best causing confusion for desperate states and hospitals. And they seem so haphazard that they are raising legitimate questions about whether they are being allocated to states in a preferential or politicized fashion. > > We need to know more. If you see relevant press reports or if you personally know relevant information please contact us as soon as possible. Confidentiality assured. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/31 "2020-04-05T03:18:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What you’re describing would be a rational, though sociopathic, way for Trump to behave. He is indeed sociopathic enough to do that. But he’s not rational. True, but there are rational sociopaths in his ear who can probably get him to do what they want. Sean Hannity comes to mind. We know that Trump getting re-elected is goals #1 to 100 for his network. Sure, there are hotspots now, and some of them in swing states. But the current shortages are mostly in cities with populations that will vote against Trump anyway. In today’s news conference, Trump did proclaim that the ventilators “are ready to go” when needed. And yet, New York has to rely on donated ones from China and Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/32 "2020-04-06T21:19:15Z")
DJT’s goals! pre-COVID: get re-elected to avoid dying in Leavenworth. post-COVID: get re-elected so he can die in Bethesda. I still lean toward national emergency, martial law, interning dissidents for their own safety, etc. An out-of-control pandemic makes a good excuse, as seen in Hungary. Liberal optimist: But the Dems hold the House! Cynical response: Only if they aren’t detained. One awful scenario: Dem congresscritters find themselves quarantined in Very Safe Places. GOPs majorities show up in DC for votes, to impeach and remove bothersome judges and justices, to grant the God-Emperor sweeping powers to rule by decree, all for the sake of Order. Oh no, that would never occur. It Can’t Happen Here, of course not. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/33 "2020-04-06T22:32:56Z")
I read an article in today’s paper that documented that the Trump administration was told back in January about the coming need for ventilators. But took no action on ordering them until March - and didn’t look into having production increased until after that. In fact, the Trump administration actually reduced the supply by sending a shipment of them to China in February. I’ve also read that Trump did not take the initiative on invoking the Defense Production Act as he has claimed. GM and other companies, on their own initiative, formed plans for increasing ventilator production when they heard about the developing shortage. They then went to the administration with their plans. After initially ignoring them, the Trump administration then turned around stated it was ordering GM and other companies to produce the ventilators. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/34 "2020-04-07T01:33:49Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > When? > > Michigan passed California yesterday to become the state with the third largest number of reported cases. It has the 6th highest infection rate and and the 4th highest death rate (by population not by numbers infected.) One fifth of the Detroit Police department is in quarantine. Michigan was also an important part of how Trump won. [NYT numbers by state.](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html#states) > > If your theory was correct, we should at least expect Trump to be leaning into verbal support for the state even if they did not yet require a significant surge of extra federal aid. What we are actually seeing is Trump attacking the governor on Twitter. But Michigan has a female governor. A female who has challenged Trump and called him out on his appalling lack of leadership in this crisis. “In a weekend tweet storm as the coronavirus death toll surged, Mr. Trump called her “Gretchen ‘Half’ Whitmer,” charging that she was in “way over her head” and “doesn’t have a clue” about how to handle the health crisis. Two days earlier, Mr. Trump said publicly that he had instructed Vice President Mike Pence, the leader of the White House’s pandemic response, not to call “the woman in Michigan.”” Trump hates Democrats and women who stand up to him. Poor Governor Whitmer is both. Michigan, hopefully, will not vote for him again. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/35 "2020-04-07T02:08:17Z")
Don’t our so-called president make you proud? Well done, Republicans. Go to hell. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/36 "2020-04-07T03:44:20Z")
It’s time to give it a name: The Trump Pandemic The Dems should start using the term now. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/37 "2020-04-07T04:59:27Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > It’s time to give it a name: > > The Trump Pandemic > > The Dems should start using the term now. “Drumpfodemic” has a nice ring to it. Or Mar-a-Lago-itis? No, Drumpfosis. Or (illustrated) [the orange bug](http://blort.meepzorp.com/mjjj/germy-trump.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/38 "2020-04-07T05:02:39Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > About the issue of what is going on with the medical supplies, one gets the impression that at the federal level no one is managing this in a rational way. > > > [@](#): > > > > What’s Up with the Feds Seizing PPE Shipments to States and Hospitals? (From Post #30 above.) In case anyone was wondering, the source of the quoted article appears to be [What’s Up with the Feds Seizing PPE Shipments to States and Hospitals?](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/whats-up-with-the-feds-seizing-ppe-shipments-to-states-and-hospitals), Josh Marshall, _Talking Points Memo_, April 4, 2020. ---
**Author:** ![EhhMon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@EhhMon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EhhMon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/39 "2020-04-07T10:55:14Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > It’s time to give it a name: > > The Trump Pandemic > > The Dems should start using the term now. Naw let’s piss off his evangelical supporters. Call it the “Trump Plague” ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005/40 "2020-04-07T16:51:23Z")
I like TRUMP PLAGUE or TRUMPEDEMIC But whatever the label it needs to be tattooed on his forehead! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-s-decision-making-in-the-covid-era/851005.md?page=3)