Historians will spend years looking back on President Trump's "lost month" at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, journalist Bob Woodward says.
Woodward reports in his new book Rage that President Trump told him he deliberately downplayed the threat of COVID-19 even though he was aware it was deadly, and speaking to Today on Monday, Woodward expressed his shock that Trump learned details about how "this is a coming pandemic to the United States" in January but did not tell Americans "the truth" during the State of the Union days later.
"Forty million people watched it," Woodward said of Trump's State of the Union address. "He had an opportunity ... He said, 'Well, we're doing everything possible.' At that moment, if, like Franklin Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor, [Trump] had told the American people the truth, a lot more could have been done."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Woodward added, "Historians are going to be writing about the lost month of February for tens of years."
In Rage, Woodward quotes Trump as describing COVID-19 as "deadly stuff" in February, but the president admits he wanted to "play it down." The quotes from Trump have generated a firestorm, with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden saying they demonstrate Trump's "life and death betrayal of the American people." Trump has argued that he simply did not want to create a panic and that he wanted to "show strength as a leader."
But Woodward told Today that after covering nine American presidents, the fact that Trump "possessed the specific knowledge that could have saved lives" is "one of those shocks for me." Brendan Morrow
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Sudoku hard: October 5, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace planSpeed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU partySpeed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
UK, 3 Western allies recognize Palestinian stateSpeed Read Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognized the state of Palestine
-
Russia slams Kyiv, hits government buildingSpeed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
