By JiJo Chen —

Covid

Covid

What did Donald Trump did during the outbreak of the COVID under his past presidency?

Travel Resrictions

In late January 2020, the Trump administration imposed travel restrictions on foreign nationals.

White House Coronavirus Task Force

Established on January 29, 2020, this task force was created to coordinate and oversee the administration’s efforts to monitor, contain, and mitigate the spread of the virus.

National Emergency Declaration

On March 13, 2020, Trump declared a national emergency, freeing up federal resources and funding to combat the pandemic.

Social Distancing Guidelines

The administration released “15 Days to Slow the Spread” guidelines in March 2020, recommending measures such as avoiding gatherings of more than 10 people and practicing good hygiene.

Operation Warp Speed

Launched in May 2020, this public-private partnership aimed to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. The initiative contributed to the rapid development of vaccines by companies like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Economic Relief Legislation

Trump signed several bills to provide economic relief, including the CARES Act in March 2020, which provided direct payments to individuals, expanded unemployment benefits, and offered loans and grants to businesses.

Invoking the Defense Production Act

The administration used this act to expedite the production of critical medical supplies, such as ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Press Briefings and Public Statements

Trump held regular press conferences to update the public, often alongside health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx. These briefings were used to communicate policies and guidelines but sometimes included conflicting messages.

Reopening Advocacy

Trump encouraged states to reopen businesses and schools relatively early in the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of economic recovery and expressing concerns over the potential negative impacts of prolonged lockdowns.

International Collaboration and Funding Cuts

While participating in some international efforts to combat the pandemic, the administration announced plans to withdraw funding from the World Health Organization (WHO), criticizing its handling of the outbreak.

Emergency Use Authorizations for Treatments

Supported the expedited approval of treatments like remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies. At times, Trump promoted unproven treatments, which led to public debate and scrutiny.

Public policy and health in the Trump era

This report by the Lancet Commission on Public Policy and Health in the Trump Era assesses the repercussions of President Donald Trump's health-related policies and examines the failures and social schisms that enabled his election. Disdain for science and cuts to global health programmes and public health agencies have impeded the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths, and imperil advances against HIV and other diseases.

Trump’s 100 Days of Deadly Coronavirus Denial

Project 2025 on Covid-associated

Title 42 authority in Title 8
Create an authority akin to the Title 42 Public Health authority that has been used during the COVID-19 pandemic to expel illegal aliens across the border immediately when certain non- health conditions are met, such as loss of operational control of the border.
Leveraging the Strength and Experience of Presidential Initiatives
Millions of people are alive today because of the American people’s investment in PEPFAR and PMI. The training, laboratory, clinical intervention, health educa- tion, data collection, and organizational platforms of these programs became the bedrock for responding to the COVID pandemic. It is time for these programs to become part of an integrated, strong, and sustainable network of health care and public health in developing countries. A smooth transition to national ownership and funding, however, will require better coordination of USAID’s own stovepiped programs with PEPFAR and PMI.
Address the Abuse of CCC Discretionary Authority
With the exception of federal crop insurance, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is generally the means by which agricultural-related farm bill programs are funded. The CCC is a funding mechanism, which, in simple terms, has $30 billion a year at its disposal.24 Section 5 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (Charter Act)25 gives the Secretary of Agriculture broad discretionary authority to spend “unused” CCC money. However, in general, past Agriculture Secretaries have not used this power to any meaningful extent. This changed dramatically during the Trump Administration, when this discretionary authority was used to fund $28 billion in “trade aid” to farmers, consisting primarily of the Market Facilitation Program. In 2020, this authority was used for $20.5 billion in food purchases and income subsidies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Return to the Original Purpose of School Meals
Federal meal programs for K–12 students were created to provide food to children from low-income families while at school. Today, however, federal school meals increasingly resemble entitlement programs that have strayed far from their original objective and represent an example of the ever-expanding federal footprint in local school operations. The NSLP and SBP are the two largest K–12 meal programs provided by federal taxpayer money. The NSLP launched in 1946 and the SBP in 1966, both as options specifically for children in poverty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal policymakers temporarily expanded access to school meal programs, but some lawmakers and federal officials have now proposed making this expansion permanent. Yet even before the pandemic, research found that federal officials had already expanded these programs to serve children from upper-income homes, and these programs are rife with improper payments and inefficiencies.
HHS Goal: Preparing for the Next Health Emergency
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how catastrophic a micromanaging, misinformed, centralized, and politicized federal government can be. Basic human rights, medical choice, and the doctor–patient relationship were trampled without scientific justification and for extended periods of time. Excess deaths, not due to COVID-19, skyrocketed because of forced lockdowns, isolation, vaccine-related mass firings, and colossal disruptions of the economy and daily rhythms of life. The federal government’s public health apparatus has lost the public’s trust. Before the next national public health emergency, this apparatus must be funda- mentally restructured to ensure a transparent, scientifically grounded, and more nimble, efficient, transparent, and targeted response that respects the unique needs and input of patient populations and providers.
COVID and Structural Reform
COVID-19 exposed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as perhaps the most incompetent and arrogant agency in the federal government. CDC continually misjudged COVID-19, from its lethality, transmissibility, and origins to treatments. We were told masks were not needed; then they were made mandatory. CDC botched the development of COVID tests when they were needed most. When it was too late, we were told to put our lives on hold for “two weeks to flatten the curve;” that turned into two years of interference and restrictions on the smallest details of our lives. Congress should ensure that CDC’s legal authorities are clearly defined and limited to prevent a recurrence of any such arbitrary and vacillating exercise of power.
The CDC should be split into two separate entities housing its two distinct functions. On the one hand, the CDC is now responsible for collecting, synthesizing, and publishing epidemiological data from the individual states—a scientific data-gathering function. This information is crucial for medical and public health researchers around the country. On the other hand, the CDC is also responsible for making public health recommendations and policies—an inescapably political function. At times, these two functions are in tension or clear conflict. In February 2022, for example, it was reported that “[t]wo full years into the pandemic, the agency leading the country’s response to the public health emergency has published only a tiny fraction of the data it has collected,” much of which “could [have helped] state and local health officials better target their efforts to bring the virus under control.” A CDC spokesman said that one of the reasons was “fear that the information might be misinterpreted.
The CDC’s initial COVID-19 testing failures were largely the result of that agency’s prioritizing its own development and production of tests using its internal staff and facilities. The private sector is much better positioned to tackle the challenges inherent in developing and manufacturing novel products, as illustrated by the relative success of the alternative approach to facilitating the development of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics by private companies that was adopted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

And so on...... WHATEVER: Trump administration interfered with CDC’s public outreach on COVID-19

What happened: In 2020, the former President Trump and White House officials interfered with the work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by blocking scientists and officials from speaking to the media about the dangers of COVID-19.
Why it matters: In an effort to downplay the severity of the fast-spreading virus, the Trump administration blocked the efforts of the CDC to provide needed scientific information about COVID-19 to the public. These actions prevented the public from accessing the best available scientific information from CDC experts during the early pandemic, likely exacerbating the public health crisis. Especially during a national emergency, the public needs and deserves to know the latest science-based information on how to best protect their health and safety.