Opinion: Donald Trump fails in coronavirus crisis

His now almost daily coronavirus press conferences are intended to demonstrate confidence and decisionmaking powers. But they are almost unbearable for people seeking orientation or people interested in facts. During his appearances, the US president often spreads half-truths and even outright lies and attacks reporters who ask probing questions. His messages are contradictory, and his crisis management could cost many American lives.

When his own intelligence agencies warned of the coronavirus in January, Trump played down the danger. When the virus spread unchecked due to lack of testing, he vowed he had everything under control. He has now declared himself a “war-time president” fighting an invisible enemy. But it is not Trump who is acting with courage and determination in the crisis, reassuring an insecure nation, but Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic governor of New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the US.

While the number of infections is rapidly on the rise in New York and other parts of the country, and more and more American hospitals are pushed to the limit, Trump wants to get the economy moving again soon. As doctors in New York City prepare to face the possibility of perhaps having to decide whom to save and whom to let die as a result of a shortage of ventilators, Trump prattled on fairly recently about crowded churches at Easter.

https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-donald-trump-fails-in-coronavirus-crisis/a-52958890