A few days later China abruptly ordered a lockdown in Wuhan, essentially walling off one of its largest metropolises. It did not require secret intelligence briefings to comprehend this was no longer some isolated problem but a serious crisis. Still, Trump seemed more worried about jeopardizing his new trade deal than pressing China on the virus. Hours after the Wuhan lockdown, he told advisers he wanted to publicly praise Xi Jinping for his handling of the outbreak.
