Coronavirus: Trump's own economic advisor warned him about 2 million dead in February memo president ignored

Alex Woodward
·1 min read
Getty
Getty

Weeks before declaring a national emergency as he dismissed concerns of a looming coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump was warned at least twice by his top trade adviser that the outbreak could cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars

In a January memo to the National Security Council, Peter Navarro warned the White House that an outbreak could likely lead to the deaths of half a million people in the US.

That memo called for an immediate ban on travel from China, reportedly as Mr Navarro sought to ramp up a trade war with the country.

Another memo, from February, said as many as 2 million Americans could die and warned that "now is not the time for penny-pinching or horse-trading" as the president waged political battles with his Democratic critics in Congress.

The first memo was sent to the National Security Council on 29 January, and the other was sent directly to the president on 23 February, according to Axios, which obtained copies of the memos.

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