Since one or more of the following quotes could be required memorization exercises by school children studying U. S. History in future years, the Spirited Reasoner presents those quotes unvarnished, but with one clarifying comment (the one regarding the $2.5 billion number he mentioned on February 28.)
January 30, via Twitter: “Working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in U.S., all in good recovery.”– @realDonaldTrump
February 24, via Twitter: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”–@realDonaldTrump
February 28, during reception in White House Cabinet Room: “We’re doing incredibly. Think of it: 15 people. Out of billions of people, 15 people. They’re getting better and soon they’re all going to get better, hopefully. One is in very serious shape, and we understand that, and we understand it very well, but — but we also have the other group and they’re all getting better. So, I think it’s an incredible achievement that our country has done … And, you know, I got criticized because I said $2.5 billion. That’s a lot of money. See, $2.5 billion is a lot of money. And the Democrats said, ‘How dare he only ask for $2.5 billion?’” [Comment: the eventual bipartisan bill called for approximately $2 trillion dollars, not billion. That’s 1,000 times the $2.5 billion he was suggesting on February 28.]
March 4, during phone interview with Sean Hannity: “So if, you know, we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better.” Followed by: March 5, via Twitter: “I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work. This is just more Fake News and disinformation put out by the Democrats …”
March 6, remarks to media during tour of CDC: “Anybody that needs a test gets a test; they’re there, they have the tests, and the tests are beautiful.”
March 9, via Twitter: “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”–@realDonaldTrump
March 13, during remarks from the White House Rose Garden: “National emergency, two very big words.”