# What was Trump's role in Operation Warp Speed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2021, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224 "2021-03-19T10:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/1 "2021-03-19T10:34:03Z")
In case you missed it, about a week ago former President Trump released the following statement to the media: > “I hope everyone remembers when they’re getting the COVID-19 (often referred to as the China Virus) Vaccine, that if I wasn’t president, you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful ‘shot’ for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn’t be getting it at all. I hope everyone remembers!” Which makes me ask: OK, what _was_ his contribution to Operation Warp Speed? I’m not looking to denigrate the achievement of getting a new vaccine into people’s arms after less than a year, or to give Trump huge credit for doing something any other sitting President might have done. Just wondering what ideas, political deals, or solutions to bureaucratic deadlocks he brokered to keep OWS moving forward. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/2 "2021-03-19T10:46:04Z")
Figurehead. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/3 "2021-03-19T11:06:22Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Figurehead. - Considering how much he denied the existence and severity of the disease, denigrated mask-wearing, promoted potentially lethal “cures” and opposed vaccination, I wouldn’t even go that far. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/4 "2021-03-19T11:20:22Z")
I’ll keep my thoughts to myself as I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that we are to leave politics out of The Quarantine Zone, but I’m not in disagreement with the other posts. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/5 "2021-03-19T11:36:21Z")
OK, so take politics out of it. Take Trump’s name out of it. Depersonalize the question, boil it down to this: What is the role of a US president in compressing a vaccine development program into something less than a calendar year? What is the role of the FDA/CDC? Congress? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/6 "2021-03-19T11:38:50Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > OK, what _was_ his contribution to Operation Warp Speed? The name? Wait, no, he even cribbed that from Star Trek. Like everything else Trump has ever said, this is nothing more than self-aggrandizing BS. Literally every major government in the world was throwing money at this thing. Several of the major vaccines weren’t even developed in the US. They would have appeared regardless of what Trump did or didn’t do, short of nuking the laboratories doing the work. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/7 "2021-03-19T11:42:40Z")
I wonder if operation warp speed was anything special at all given that currently there are 12 different COVID - 19 vaccines already in use to date worldwide (1). Only 1 of them was made exclusively in the US… Other nations have developed and deployed them on a similar timeframe, some faster than us. As such I’m seeing nothing special in terms of Trump/MAGA about operation warp speed as the US was just running among the pack here to do what obviously needed to be done, and what every nation who had the means did. The US was not the fastest to get deployed, though it’s vaccine did have a very high effective rate compared to most others. In general it seems a very good thing for humanity, that it was not in the hands of one country or company. We have the ability to quickly produce vaccines and now have the data set of how such a deployment can work (hopefully). IMHO Trump is trying to steal credit for a great achievement of humanity, one that should be celebrated on a world wide scale. (1) [COVID-19 vaccine - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/8 "2021-03-19T11:44:17Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > OK, so take politics out of it. Take Trump’s name out of it. Depersonalize the question, boil it down to this: > > What is the role of a US president in compressing a vaccine development program into something less than a calendar year? What is the role of the FDA/CDC? Congress? Essentially, the President’s role was to declare an emergency, allowing the government agencies like the FDA to use fast-track approval processes. But again, everyone else was doing the same thing. Canada, for instance, has had Health Canada, our equivalent of the FDA, fast tracking things as well. But even with this, his “5 years or maybe never” BS is still BS. At the start of this, the people in charge (and I have family that works for Health Canada, so that’s partly who I’m talking about) were talking about 18 months to two years to an effective vaccine. So the state of emergency did speed things up a bit, but not anywhere to the degree Trump is BSing about. So even if you gave him credit for all the difference, it’s maybe 6 months to a year. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/9 "2021-03-19T11:56:41Z")
Taking names out of it. In February, when Congress was writing and passing the “Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020”, which was the predecessor to the Cares Act, both parties were appalled at how little the administration was wanting to be budgeted. Congress almost unanimously approved an amount many multiples of what the White House was suggesting. Also, BARDA was giving money to the various drug companies for R&D long before Operation Warp Speed. While there was additional monies given to vaccine research from Operation Warp Speed funds (through BARDA, who had already been distributing monies as mentioned earlier), it was also intended to handle other aspects, such as expansion of manufacturing and coordination with the states on distribution and tracking of each and every dose given. Considering the vast difference in state handling of the vaccination process, I’m inclined to say they failed in that aspect. Quite frankly, Operation Warp Speed did some good, but only in areas that had already been in progress and quite frankly a bit later than it should have been. Congress had been allocating money on this long before OWS was announced. For instance, they gave an additional 1.5 billion to Moderna for research, but not until August. BARDA had already awarded them almost a billion dollars, starting in mid April. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/10 "2021-03-19T12:08:57Z")
> [@Trump](#): > > (often referred to as the China Virus) WTF? Often referred to by who? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/11 "2021-03-19T12:12:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Trump](#): > > > > (often referred to as the China Virus) > > WTF? Often referred to by who? - Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/12 "2021-03-19T14:06:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Trump](#): > > > > (often referred to as the China Virus) > > WTF? Often referred to by who? **Moderating** It’s obvious from the OP that Trump made that statement. People have been doing a good job so far of keeping politics out of this. This is a reminder to continue to do so. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/13 "2021-03-19T14:13:24Z")
I’d say staying out of the way. A president’s role is to declare an emergency and authorize funding. Other than that, it’s in the hands of scientists and doctors. I don’t give him credit for it getting done in less than a year and I wouldn’t assign him blame it it took more than two years. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/14 "2021-03-19T14:14:57Z")
He did no leading on this, his actions did not in any way speed up the process of producing and distributing the vaccine. There are things that he could have done to have hampered the effort, and I suppose we should “thank” him for not doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/15 "2021-03-19T14:18:51Z")
I have to agree with, I think it was, Seth Meyers. Trump said ‘make a vaccine’ and that was his contribution. And, let’s keep in mind that the first vaccine to show up was Pfizer’s, and they weren’t part of Operation Warp Speed and received no money\* from the US government. \*ETA, no money for research. The money they received from the US Gov was for purchasing the vaccine. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/16 "2021-03-19T14:22:15Z")
Is there much role for executive orders in a pandemic response? I mean, could a President order Federal agencies to do specific things, or NOT do specific things as part of a response? From looking up OWS, it looks like all the President at the time did was basically approve it, and the rest was basically the CDC, FDA and DoD working in conjunction with each other to identify promising vaccine candidates (FDA), accelerate the testing, approval and manufacturing (FDA/CDC), and distribute them to the populace (CDC/DoD). I suppose that the President/executive branch could have done some bullshit-clearing and some skid-greasing for the various agencies, but ultimately it was run by the CDC/FDA/DoD, likely with a little oversight from the Executive branch. We have yet to see any concrete examples of Gordian-knot cutting or skid-greasing by the executive branch prior to January 2021 from what I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/17 "2021-03-19T14:44:08Z")
One thing the President can do is invoke the Defense Production Act to get one manufacturer to do work with another to produce the vaccine (with the government footing the bill for plant conversion), which is what happened with Merck and J&J. [Biden invokes federal law to broker Merck, J&J Covid vaccine manufacturing alliance - MedCity News](https://medcitynews.com/2021/03/biden-invokes-federal-law-to-broker-merck-jj-covid-vaccine-manufacturing-alliance/) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/18 "2021-03-19T16:12:31Z")
The general mishandling of the COVID response at the federal and state level gave the vaccine makers many more test subjects than they would have had. For example, it would have take a LOT longer to test this vaccine in, say, New Zealand. So, by downplaying the severity, pressuring states to re-open, and making fun of mask-wearing, he helped provide lots and lots of test subjects. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/19 "2021-03-19T19:51:17Z")
Contributions can be both positive and negative. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224/20 "2021-03-20T01:29:51Z")
Ok, maybe it’s time to move this to P&E from QZ. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-trumps-role-in-operation-warp-speed/938224.md?page=2)