Trump refuses to declare a national emergency over coronavirus. The reason why is simple and selfish

Ultimately, many people will die because Trump’s worldview is filtered through the narrow lens of what he believes is good for him, politically and economically

President Trump declared a national emergency. No, not this week as the coronavirus surges inexorably: Last March, he invoked the sweeping powers of the National Emergency Act to declare an emergency over the purported humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

Ironically, Mexico has confirmed 12 cases of Covid-19 as the United States passes 1,200. Yet our president addressed the nation last night and declined to declare a national emergency because he thinks it will spook the markets.

Of course, the markets are spooked, as today the Dow suspended trading for the second time this week not long after opening. Markets are spooked because they are usually rational and they have rationally determined that the president is wholly unable to come to grips with real problems, like exponentially multiplying microbes, and prefers to attack imaginary problems, like the threat of foreigners.

Ultimately, many people will die because Trump’s worldview is filtered through the narrow lens of what he believes is good for him, politically and economically, right now. His impulsive need for instant gratification and his lashing out at those who frustrate that need is endangering the real people who constitute “the numbers” that he wants to suppress.

Trump has spent the past few months in denial for the pandemic that has emerged. He has slashed budgets and eliminated health emergency preparedness offices within the executive branch. Preparing for the future, in Trump’s world, is a mug’s game because it promises no short-term political benefits.

The CDC rejected World Health Organization testing kits (made by foreigners to test foreigners) and decided it could do all-American kits, which didn’t work and couldn’t be manufactured in the quantities required. Trump then told the baldfaced lie that anyone who wanted a test could get one, when the capacity to do testing was in the thousands rather than in the millions that were needed. He talked down the risk, comparing it to the seasonal flu, indicating shock at how many people die every year from the seasonal flu. Of course, the flu hits far more people, but its fatality rate is 0.1 per cent. No one knows what the fatality rate is for coronavirus, but Dr Anthony Fauci, a real scientist, expects it to be at least 10 times the rate of seasonal flu and the current fatality statistics suggest it could be 30 times that rate.

Valuable time has been wasted. Containment is no longer possible and the goal now must be widespread testing and quarantine so that the total number of cases can be limited. Under any scenario, thousands of people will die.

But of course, Trump gave up the game when he indicated he didn’t want to let infected passengers off the Grand Princess cruise docked in Oakland. He said, “I would rather — because I like the numbers being where they are. I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.” That was last weekend. The passengers stayed on the ship and the numbers doubled any way. And doubled again and again, and here it is Thursday and we have 80 times as many cases.

Exponential growth is a b***h, Mr President.

But for a man who lives in a narcissistic fantasy world, keeping people on a ship full of infected peers without medical resources and running out of food is in his interest. For Trump, it is all about the numbers — the number of cases, the Dow, the television ratings. There is no humanity out there getting sick, dying, untested, forced home without a safety net.

Sure, he is concerned about hospitality losses; Trump knows about occupancy rates and food and beverage revenue. It is also so unfair, because the ship “wasn’t our fault.” It is always someone else’s fault. The Chinese, perhaps, who gave us what Republicans are pushing to call “the Chinese virus” or those Europeans, who now, like the Muslims, can’t travel here, presumably because they spread disease. But of course, Americans who are in Europe or green card holders or their relatives or cargo can come, because presumably they don’t spread disease. Like despots throughout history, Trump blames outsiders and tries to suppress the numbers.

Declaring a national emergency won’t stop coronavirus or make up for tragically lost time. It will bring Federal Emergency Management resources into the fight and free up funds for states and localities. His Health and Human Services Secretary and his Vice President are both urging the declaration of an emergency, as are Congressional Democrats, and he may yet be forced to make the declaration in the end.

What is the downside? “The president isn’t persuaded because [an emergency declaration] contradicts his message that this is the flu,” said a Republican who speaks to Trump. Of course, the public health professionals dispute this, because it is plainly wrong. But Trump is “not comfortable with the optics of national emergency” because of how it might impact Wall Street, tourism and air travel, a former Department of Homeland Security official said.

Trump’s focus on economic indicators rather than health risks not only showcases his lack of empathy and concern only for “numbers” that drive his reelection prospects and business interests, but it also shows how much his judgment is clouded by his own inability to confront the consequences of naked reality. Wall Street is tanking, tourism has shriveled, and airplanes are empty. Declaration of a national emergency and letting the professionals take real action to manage the crisis is both good policy and good politics.