Trump administration ended pandemic early-warning program to detect coronaviruses
The project, launched by the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2009 by Obama, identified 1,200 different viruses that had the potential to erupt into pandemics, including more than 160 novel coronaviruses.
Months before the discovery of the deadly coronavirus in China, the Trump administration ended this program that helped laboratories around the world detect viruses that could spread from animals to humans and cause the next global pandemic.
Then, to fill this void Trump did this.....
Trump replaced White House Pandemic-Response Team with Jared Kushner
At his coronavirus press briefing yesterday, Fox News correspondent John
Roberts asked President Trump about his 2018 decision to eliminate the
National Security Council’s pandemic-response office. Trump lashed out,
“You know that’s a false story, what you just said is a false story ... You
shouldn’t be repeating a story you know is false,” accusing Roberts of
“working for CNN.” (The charge of committing legitimate journalism is the
most serious charge Trump could think to hurl at a Fox News employee.)
The story is not false. Trump did eliminate the job of coordinating a national
pandemic response. And the strongest evidence of the damage he did is that
this job is now being performed by Jared Kushner.