Heard that Xi told Trump on Feb 5 that China was seeing early success in containing COVID, and wanted the US air travel ban lifted 'soon'
Trump interpreted Xi's words to mean that the virus was not that bad and it wouldn't spread to the US, and felt betrayed when it did spread
Of course, we now know that by Feb 5, the US likely had at least a few hundred active cases, if not more. Neither leader seemed aware of that at the time. Also, Xi emphasized test/trace/isolation but it's unclear if Trump thought that knowledge would matter to the US
Instead, Trump got advice from national security specialists like Matt Pottinger, who told him Xi must be lying and China's numbers must be much worse, and that travel bans would substantively contain the disease.
For the next three weeks, US domestic policy remained driven by the economy, while Pottinger, Pompeo, and others directed staff to think about how to weaken China's government and its international image using COVID
Very little top-level attention was given to a potential lack of tests, ventilators, or hospital beds, or building trust and coordination between state and federal officials (or even understanding what public health policy options were available)
Much of this was because, at the start, the interagency COVID response was coordinated out of the NSC by DNSA Matt Pottinger, and focused on "national security" and anti-China messaging instead of public health & state/local policy
Here, the timeline gets interesting: on March 30, Josh Rogin (close to Pottinger) said P was leading interagency response until late February. But on April 8, as COVID cases mounted, think tank CGP was saying the NSC had transferred responsibility on Jan 31 to Mike Pence.
Ultimately, the US's COVID response can be blamed on many factors - and Xi's Feb 5 message around China's early success might be one. But an equally large factor was the US natsec apparatus's own biases and lack of relevant knowledge...
...as well as the increasing tendency of the US to defer nearly all major policy endeavors to the natsec apparatus under the Trump administration.
And, of course, the US's irrational fixation with zero-sum politics with China.
tldr: when COVID started, the NSC ran the show, and they focused on securing borders and demonizing China. Sometime btwn Jan 30 & late Feb, they handed back control to Pence, who also botched it. And Xi's Feb 5 call was badly misinterpreted by nearly everyone in the White House.
You may also be interested in this excellent piece by @chinahand
patreon.com/posts/heckuva-…
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