Dealing with the less quantifiable impacts of the current pandemic, Rosie DiManno spoke at length with President Trump to see what lessons she could draw from the president’s responses to the crisis, whether or not he’s learned any from her recent columns, and what she thinks is really at stake.
DiManno, who has covered a number of such crises, shared with Trump the failures of the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina; how the whole world ignored the public health disaster in Chile, with President Obama’s response to the outbreak of swine flu being more nuanced than the Bush administration’s response to 9/11.
And she also listed some of the accomplishments of the current president, including the fact that less than four years into the job, Trump is the first presidential candidate to name Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, as a national security adviser.
“He’s so glad you mentioned Richard Haass because Richard Haass is sort of a genius,” said Trump.
DiManno also discussed the influence of #MeToo on Trump’s thinking and got him to talk about a number of his attempted comments, which involved vulgar language, which have fallen flat so far.
“Not enough civility, you know?” said Trump. “Not enough civility.”
DiManno also got him to discuss criticisms of his handling of the crisis and whether or not he’s heeded it.
The following video is from an editorial conversation with The Times’ Editorial Board, hosted by Margaret Sullivan, about “Trump, Putin and China’s Growing Power.”