Trump on the Coronavirus Crisis

As President Trump attempts to blame President Barack Obama for his own handling of the coronavirus outbreak, it’s important to document Trump’s comments during this public health crisis.

These are not utterances from some of his more rambling news conferences or from his advisers. These are Trump’s most direct statements as a global pandemic took hold.

January 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.” (CNBC)

February 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.” (Fox News)

February 10: “A lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat—as the heat comes in.” (Bloomberg)

February 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… Stock market starting to look very good to me.” (Twitter)

February 26: “It’s going very substantially down, not up… The 15 within a couple of days, is going to be down to zero.” (CNN)

February 27: “It’s going to disappear one day, it’s like a miracle.” (Twitter)

March 6: “I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it… Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.” (Wired)

March 6: “I didn’t know people died from the flu.” (CNN)

March 6: “I like the numbers being where they are.” (Washington Post)

March 10: “It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.” (Twitter)

March 13: “I don’t take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time.” (New York Times)