You would never see a high school principal talk about how much they hate the geometry teacher at a school-wide assembly. But President Trump has been bringing his schoolyard beef to the national stage daily, amidst a crisis that has seen over 1,500 American lives lost. He is wasting time fighting with governors, using his response to COVID-19 to bolster his campaign, and continuing his feud with the press instead of taking the concrete steps necessary to solve this problem.

Because Trump has failed to act, the nation’s hospitals are having to plan for worst case scenarios. A letter from Henry Ford Hospital on Thursday, March 26 detailed the Detroit, MI hospital’s plan to let the sickest die.

“Because of shortages, we will need to be careful with resources,” it reads. “Patients who have the best chance of getting better are our first priority.” 

With ventilators and other medical supplies becoming scarce, more lives are at risk.

“Patients who are treated with a ventilator or ICU care may have these treatments stopped if they do not improve over time,” the letter said. 

The difficult decision that this Michigan hospital is having to make is a result of the disastrous handling of this pandemic by our country’s “leader.” 

The fault lies not only in what he has and hasn’t done, but also in the justification for and reasoning behind his decisions. Lives are clearly at stake and when he should be taking measures to save them – by providing the much-needed supplies for which governors and healthcare workers are pleading – the president is letting his emotions and concern about his image get in the way. This should never be the case. 

Trump’s sensitive side was in the spotlight at the most recent White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing, held in the evening on Friday, March 27. 

Trump criticizes governors and General Motors:

With over 100,000 cases of COVID-19 now in the United States, the most in any country, various hospitals are being flooded in hotspots such as New York, New Orleans, Detroit, and Chicago. Doctors and nurses on the front lines are terrified and state governors are doing all they can to provide support and urging the federal government to do the same. But Trump is picking who to help based on who he likes and who he doesn’t. 

At Friday’s press brief, Trump said,  “If they [the governors] don’t treat you right, I don’t call.” 

Essentially, unless the governors stroke his ego, it appears he will be hesitant to publicly acknowledge their demands.  

When asked what more the governors could be doing, Trump didn’t talk about producing more supplies or providing more tests, but instead suggested what the governors should be doing for him. 

He said, “All I want them to do, very simple, I want them to be appreciative. I don’t want them to say things that aren’t true. I want them to be appreciative. We’ve done a great job.” 

He dubbed Washington Governor Jay Inslee as a “failed presidential candidate” who is “constantly chirping, and I guess complaining would be a nice way of saying it.” 

Trump is using these nationally televised press briefings, which are shaping into informal open-mics, to take shots at political rivals and voice his personal opinions that are frankly not what Americans need to hear at this moment.

He has also been critical of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who, at the briefing, he simply referred to as, “the young woman from Michigan.” 

Whitmer has been pleading for aid from the federal government, but Trump appears to be content with the job he’s done thus far in the state. He said on Twitter late Friday, “I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a great job for them. Yet your Governor, Gretchen “Half” Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude!”

I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic. Yet your Governor, Gretchen “Half” Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude! #MAGA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2020

He is being sexist, name-calling and accusing the governor, when, in truth, Whitmer was and should be the one upset. The supply shortage in Michigan is what triggered Henry Ford Hospital’s plan (referenced previously), which unfortunately, appears to be inevitable at this time.

It is important that Trump keeps people up to speed, but if he is providing mixed-messaging or using the air-time for other purposes, then the briefings seem unproductive. There is even an active debate among news outlets as to whether it is even responsible journalism to televise these spewings of vitriol and misinformation.

Furthermore, it wasn’t until Friday, March 27, that Trump utilized the Defense Production Act and ordered General Motors to manufacture ventilators, and even this development had a personal side to it. 

Trump said on Twitter Friday, “As usual with ‘this’ General Motors, things just never seem to work out. They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed Ventilators, ‘very quickly.’ Now they are saying it will only be 6,000, in late April, and they want top dollar. Always a mess with Mary B [referring to CEO of General Motors Mary T. Barra]. Invoke ‘P,’ [Defense Production Act].”

As usual with “this” General Motors, things just never seem to work out. They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed Ventilators, “very quickly”. Now they are saying it will only be 6000, in late April, and they want top dollar. Always a mess with Mary B. Invoke “P”.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020

Trump is attempting to use task force briefings to bolster his campaign:

The president is glorifying his team’s response to the pandemic when there is so much left to be done. Earlier in the week, Trump selected Easter Sunday as a date he’d like to reopen the country for business. Though he did not reference the holiday on Friday, a premature reopening would be a reckless endangerment of the American people, in a desperate effort to restart the economy – Trump’s only hope of winning the 2020 election. As Trump himself might tweet, “Sad. Pathetic.” As for the virus that is killing more by the minute, he hasn’t hesitated to reassure Americans that “it will pass.” 

Some people have actually found Trump to be doing a fine job – his approval rating 47 percent, per the CNN Poll of Polls*, which is the highest during Trump’s presidency; however, according to both CNNand NPR, presidents often see their ratings rise during wartime or a crisis. For example, George W. Bush’s approval rating rose 39 points after the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to NPR; however, in this crisis, Trump’s rating has only gone up by 3 percent from two weeks ago. 

48 percent still disapprove of the president, according to the Poll of Polls. Trump has talked about the need to unite in this difficult time but his attitude toward others and lack of focus on the task at hand, which should be saving lives, has made it difficult for many to get behind the president. 

Trump’s failure to base his words on fact – which is apparent based on his rapidly fluctuating and often overly-optimistic projections – has also led to a visibly tense dynamic between him and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Trump’s top medical advisor on the task force, and left Americans wondering who’s word they should take for certain. Furthermore, the most recent Hill/HarrisX March 26-27 poll, which took place the day after Trump expressed desire to open up businesses by Easter actually showed a 6 percent drop in the president’s approval rating since the March 22-23 survey. 

The United States economy being at an all-time high prior to this outbreak would’ve likely been Trump’s rallying cry for the upcoming presidential election. Understandably he wants to get things back to where they were and do all he can to help the millions of Americans whose jobs were lost and who can’t get food on the table. 

But this pandemic was also a golden opportunity for Trump to throw aways politics and focus on humanity at this moment. People are calling the efforts of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo presidential-like and praising his leadership and ability to be upfront with his people. If Trump had taken things seriously and gained the trust of the Americns from the get-go, perhaps his decisiveness in this chaotic time could’ve won people over, even with the recent economic downfall. However, with Trump sugarcoating the issue when things are only getting worse is making many Americans more fearful of what’s to come and increasingly skeptical of the president. 

Tense moments with the press:

It’s so obvious that Trump is trying to revamp his reputation that he is taking extreme measures to shun anyone who he feels is attempting to mess with it. This was evident on Friday when ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl asked if “everybody who needs a ventilator will get a ventilator.” 

Trump said that he believes the country is in “great shape” though when Karl followed up looking for Trump to directly answer the question, Trump had a snarky response. 

“Look, don’t be a cutie pie, okay?” He continued, “Nobody has ever done what we’ve done. Nobody has done what we’ve been able to do. And everything I took over was a mess. It was a broken country in so many ways and in so many ways other than this. We had a bad testing system. We had a bad stockpile system. We had nothing in the stockpile system. So don’t be a wise guy…”

Whenever Trump knows he is at fault, he condemns others; in this instance his response was absurd. Just because he can’t answer a fundamental question does not justify the president’s inappropriate tone and language.

When Trump hears something he doesn’t appreciate, he often declares it to be “fake news;” though, Trump is the one bringing fake news to these briefings – here’s a list of all his blunders from Friday, according to CNN.  

….very often FAKE NEWS. Lamestream Media should be forced to reveal sources, very much as they did in the long ago past. If they did that, the media would be trusted again, and Fake News would largely be a thing of the past!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2020

Albeit, at the briefing he said that news outlets had been mostly “fair” in covering the president during the crisis but that does not make up for this and other inopportune assaults by the president. 

Do your job, Mr. President:

Governors Whitmer and Inslee have both responded to the president.

Hi, my name is Gretchen Whitmer, and that governor is me 👋

I've asked repeatedly and respectfully for help. We need it. No more political attacks, just PPEs, ventilators, N95 masks, test kits. You said you stand with Michigan — prove it. https://t.co/FtWlTLZdqW

— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) March 27, 2020

Whitmer did report on Saturday that her state received 112,800 N95 masks from the strategic national stockpile.

Governor Inslee said on Twitter Friday, “I’m not going to let personal attacks from the president distract me from doing what matters: beating the virus and keeping Washingtonians healthy.” Like Inslee, governors across America are leading, healthcare workers are putting their lives on the line, civilians are sewing masks, but until Trump stops taking the situation personally, people will continue to perish and hospitals like Henry Ford in Michigan will have no choice but to make life-or-death decisions. 

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said last week, “Step up and do your job, Mr. President.” 

Presumably, Trump would argue he’s been doing it. He said on Wednesday, “We’ve done one hell of a job. Nobody has done the job that we’ve done. And it’s lucky that you have this group here [the White House Coronavirus Task Force], right now, for this problem, or you wouldn’t even have a country left.”

The country still remains, but its people are falling fast. The president needs to acknowledge that and act democratically – for the people – to restore sanity. 

 *According to CNN, The Poll of Polls is an average of the five most recent non-partisan, live operator, national surveys on Trump’s approval rating among either adults or registered voters. The Poll of Polls includes: The Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted March 22-25; the Fox News poll conducted March 21-24; the Monmouth University poll conducted March 18-22; the Gallup Poll conducted March 13-22 and the NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll conducted March 13-14. The Poll of Polls does not have a margin of sampling error.