Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic

by Scott Gottlieb

The president seemed to agree on the need for stronger action. He was well briefed before my meeting. Even though some of his public statements over that time period would have suggested he didn’t see the looming calamity, or the need for strong action, his private demeanor that day left me with the clear impression that he recognized the grave risks, he was more solemn than previous meetings, and when it came to the question of mitigation, he was mostly sold on the ideas before I had arrived. It would be revealed seven months later that the president was sitting down for a series of taped interviews with Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward around the same time. Trump revealed his fears to Woodward and would face understandable criticism for, at times, publicly downplaying the risks while privately he was worrying about the dangers. Six days later, Trump told Woodward he was expressly downplaying the dangers to avoid creating a panic.7 The president, Woodward would write, understood the gravity of the threat we faced.