A week before President Trump's inauguration in January 2017, his top aides went through a transition exercise with members of the outgoing Obama administration where they were briefed on a scenario much like the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Politico reports.
The point of the briefing was to show the gravity of situations a president can face and reinforce the president's responsibility to protect Americans. In the scenario presented to the Trump team, a strain of novel influenza called H9N2 first swept through Asia, overwhelming hospitals across the continent, then became a global threat, reaching the United States with a warning that "this could be the worst influenza pandemic since 1918." They were given challenges, including not having enough ventilators at hospitals, and were told having a coordinated response was "paramount," Politico reports.
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One person who attended the briefing for the Trump team was former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. He said the exercise felt too theoretical, and didn't translate well to real life. "There's no briefing that can prepare you for a worldwide pandemic," he told Politico.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was also at the meeting, and appeared to fall asleep a few times, attendees told Politico. Two others in attendance surprisingly got along really well: outgoing Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and his incoming counterpart, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. They were so chummy the pair looked to be "ready to go make a buddy movie," one participant told Politico. Read more about the meeting at Politico.
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