After failing to provide an adequate response to coronavirus, and contradicting experts to downplay the outbreak, Trump spent his time in Florida golfing and fundraising for his reelection.

After spending his weekend golfing, Trump will spend his day today fundraising for his reelection. 

CNN: “As coronavirus gains a foothold in the nation, it’s business as usual for Trump”

Washington Post: “After stopping at the CDC on his way to Mar-a-Lago, Trump heads to the golf course two days in a row”

Top administration officials are claiming that the coronavirus is “contained,” even as the number of confirmed cases continue to rise.

Bloomberg: “Two of President Donald Trump’s top aides each described the coronavirus outbreak as ‘contained’ on Friday morning, even as the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. exceeded 200 and test kits remained in short supply.”

Washington Post: “Since January, public health officials have been urging others in the administration not to use the word ‘contained’ in reference to the virus.”

He tried to keep people exposed to the virus on a cruise ship to not add to the nation’s tally.

Associated Press: “But Trump also detoured from that message, calling Washington state’s governor a ‘snake’ and saying he’d prefer that people exposed to the virus on a cruise ship be left aboard so they wouldn’t be added to the nation’s tally.”

Trump: “I would rather because I like the numbers being where they are. I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault. … I’d rather have them stay on, personally.”

Trump continues to downplay the severity of the coronavirus crisis and spin it as a positive for his presidency.

MSNBC: “White House officials are growing increasingly frustrated at what they see as President Donald Trump’s consistent bids to downplay the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, a tendency that has led to a clash in messaging with public health officials.

Associated Press: “For weeks he’s played down the consequences of the public health emergency and also misleadingly played up his poll ratings even as his agencies scramble to manage the crisis. Now he’s suggesting that a robust jobs report might be explained in part by the prospect that Americans are hunkering down and focusing more of their spending in their own country. There’s no evidence that the virus has juiced jobs.”

Trump said we couldn’t expect him to be ready for coronavirus, but Trump repeatedly proposed budget cuts to critical health funding, and left vacant important positions for responding to the outbreak.

New York Times: “Defending against criticism of his handling of the coronavirus, President Trump suggested the other day that he could hardly have been expected to be ready for such an unexpected crisis. ‘Who would have thought?’ he asked during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nerve center for the government’s response to the outbreak. ‘Who would have thought we would even be having the subject?’”

Washington Post: “Wall Street and business leaders are looking to the Treasury Department for leadership and aid, but its response is hindered by so many vacancies in top positions, including the assistant secretary for financial markets, several former staff members said.”

NBC News: “President Donald Trump’s decision to downsize the White House national security staff — and eliminate jobs addressing global pandemics — is likely to hamper the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus, according to veterans of past disease outbreaks and experts who have studied them.”