'There’s nobody to figure out what the hell we should be doing’: Coronavirus outbreak a mounting nightmare for germaphobe Trump

The possible spread of Coronavirus inside the United States puts an admitted germaphobe and science skeptic, Donald Trump, in charge of preventing a widespread outbreak in the midst of cold and flu season.

The US president was at first muted in his public remarks about and response to the virus, but is now scrambling to cobble together a plan that will calm jittery markets and citizens. Federal health officials have put forth different messages about whether Coronavirus is a threat inside the United States, and about just what the federal government can and is doing, leaving Mr Trump backing towards a political wall as his team warns developing a safe and effective vaccine will take months, long after he faces voters again in November in search of a second term.

This comes as White House and 2016 campaign aides have mused to several media outlets about the president's aversion to germs or those he suspects might be carrying them in his general vicinity.

So far, Mr Trump has told the public he doubts there will be a major outbreak of the virus on American soil, while senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials on Tuesday warned they are planning to deal with a potential pandemic.

Mr Trump, at a press conference in India on Tuesday during a state visit, predicted, at least in the US, Coronavirus is just a "problem that's going to go away."

"We have very few people with it," he said, contending of those Americans who have contracted it: "The people are getting better, they're all getting better."

"I think that whole situation will start working out," Mr Trump claimed. "Lot of talent, lot of brain power is being put behind it."

Some of that brain power, the president announced in a Tuesday morning tweet, will join him during a 6pm ET "news conference" at the White House to discuss the virus and what his government is doing to prevent a major outbreak.

The president on Wednesday appeared to downplay the seriousness of the situation, blaming any concerns on the news media.

"Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape!" he wrote in a tweet.

But some worry his Tuesday comments reflect a president lowballing the matter's potential seriousness or failing to fully grasp it.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday suggested as much, telling reporters on Capitol Hill when asked about his recent remark that it is "under control," she is not sure he "knows what he's talking about."

"Again," she then deadpanned, suggesting Mr Trump has failed to either do his homework about the state of the virus and its spread or is dismissing what his advisers are telling him -- or both.

"This is shameful," Ms Pelosi said. "He puts forth a proposal now that is meager, anemic in terms of addressing this. Ebola, we did $5b. And now they're trying to take the Ebola money and spend it here."

The previous night, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, whom Mr Trump has attacked as the Democratic presidential candidate's poll numbers have risen, pinned blame directly on the chief executive.

"The president fired the pandemic specialist in this country two years ago," Mr Bloomberg said. "There's nobody here to figure out what the hell we should be doing. And he's defunded the CDC."

Mr Bloomberg's campaign, already known for its slick and candid television ads. fired off one on Wednesday going after the germaphobe in chief.

"Health experts warn the U.S. is underprepared. Managing a crisis is what Mike Bloomberg does. In the aftermath of 9/11, he steadied and rebuilt America's largest city, oversaw emergency response to natural disasters, upgraded hospital preparedness to manage health crises, and he's funding cutting edge research to contain epidemics," an announcer says about the former Big Apple mayor, calling him "tested" and "ready."

But the GOP president, as he does on just about any unresolved matter or unmet goal, also has blamed Democrats.

"No matter how well we do, however, the Democrats talking point is that we are doing badly. If the virus disappeared tomorrow, they would say we did a really poor, and even incompetent, job," he wrote on Twitter while flying back to Washington. "Not fair, but it is what it is. So far, by the way, we have not had one death. Let's keep it that way!"

The Trump administration is seeking $2.5b in emergency funding to counter the virus. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has called for $6b more.

If Trump is concerned about catching the virus himself or a member of his senior staff doing so, he did not allow such worries to put the kibosh on his state visit to India. Nor has the White House or his 2020 reelection campaign announced any changes to his mini-campaigning blitz.

He is scheduled to host a fundraiser for GOP Senator Lindsey Graham Friday afternoon in South Carolina before addressing another arena-sized crowd of supporters that evening. The former will require him to shake hands and be in close proximity to members of the general public, and he will address thousands of potential Coronavirus carriers inside the North Charleston Coliseum & Performing Arts Center during an campaign rally.

And he addressed over 100,000 people in India earlier this week at a massive cricket stadium.

White House officials declined to comment on any worries Mr Trump might have about such a mysterious sickness reaching the continental United States. But they gave no indication on Wednesday that there have been internal health procedure changes ordered inside the West Wing.

Whether or not Mr Trump is even comfortable talking about the virus, which senior US health officials continue to admit they still do not "understand," is unclear.

After all, the president has flashed his aversion to sickness and germs before. White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney found out the hard way in July.

His error?

Coughing in the Oval Office while Mr Trump was conducting part of a lengthy interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News.

"I don't like that, you know. I don't like that," Mr Trump snapped at Mr Mulvaney before kicking him out to avoid his potential germs.

"If you're going to cough," the clearly agitated president said, "please, leave the room."

Mr Trump now can be spotted shaking hands with supporters, aides and White House guests, he once publicly admitted an aversion to the skin-to-skin greeting.

"I'm not a big fan of the handshake. I think it's barbaric," he told NBC News in 1999. "I mean, they have medical reports all the time. Shaking hands, you catch cold, you catch the flu. You catch this, you catch all sorts of things. Who knows what you don't catch?

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