Trump's ego certainly hasn't suffered any blows

America is contending with rising numbers of critically ill coronavirus patients and a shortage of emergency medical equipment. Governors, mayors and front-line health care workers have said they haven’t received meaningful amounts of federal aid.

[...]

In response to a reporter’s question on whether he would reach out to any former presidents (George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama or Jimmy Carter), Trump implied that wasn’t in the cards.

“I think we're doing an incredible job. So I don't want to disturb them, bother them,” he said at the White House coronavirus task force briefing. “I don't think I'm going to learn much and, you know, I guess you could say that there's probably a natural inclination not to call.”

I guess you could say that, yes. And he's not going to learn much about anything from anyone because he already knows everything and has no intention of trying to learn.

However, Trump said, if he felt that he would glean information that could save even just one life, he would “make the call in two minutes.”

Ha!

“But I don’t see that happening,” he finished.

That's more like it.

There is ample precedent for current presidents asking former presidents to step in. Notably, Bush enlisted the help of Clinton and President George H.W. Bush in raising voluntary contributions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — just as they did to help victims of tsunami relief in 2004. Carter conducted diplomatic missions throughout his post-presidential years.

[...]

On Sunday, Trump did extensively cite one former president during his extended press briefing. In discussing the sacrifices he made in becoming president, Trump repeated a tale about Founding Father George Washington having two desks — one for his business, one for his presidential work. Historians have debunked that story.

  Politico

Trump spent the weekend vacillating between casting himself as an empathetic leader and wartime president as the coronavirus spreads through the United States.

But above all, he still wants credit.

[...]

During three collective hours of briefings on Saturday and Sunday, the president extolled his administration’s “extraordinary mobilization in our war against the virus,” dropped superlatives while describing efforts to offset testing shortages and move a major economic stimulus bill on Capitol Hill and trumpeted a national emergency he declared over a week ago.

“There’s never been anything like we're doing on the Hill right now,” he told reporters in one of many laudatory passages.

[...]

He attacked the press. He decried the sacrifices that he made as a rich person in choosing to run for office.

[...]

His daily briefings have essentially become stand-ins for his campaign rallies that are on hiatus until the coronavirus recedes — his way to communicate with the public and rally his base.

[...]

The president’s rhetoric this weekend belied the country’s ongoing inability to broadly test Americans for the coronavirus, almost one month after the first homegrown case appeared in California. Doctors, nurses and major medical groups spent the weekend begging for additional masks and protective equipment to keep health care workers safe as they treat an increasing number of infected patients, and local leaders and governors warned of potentially dire shortages at hospitals that lack enough beds and ventilators to treat the expected waves of new cases.

Trump tried to combat these complaints by announcing over the weekend that his administration intended to send thousands of masks, hospital gowns and respirators to hard hit states, including New York, California and Washington, early this week. Two government ships are also making their way to both New York and the West Coast to serve as extra hospital beds, the president said on Sunday night.

These announcements came after Trump and his top officials could not answer direct questions on Saturday and Sunday morning during the briefing and on various talk shows about the availability of new tests it hoped to unveil in coming weeks, or the timeframe for the federal government to get crucial N95 masks to health care workers.

[...]

Trump and White House officials have argued that states and local public health leaders are also responsible for tracking down much-needed supplies. The federal government cannot solve all of these problems, officials have argued, and to assume so is a “socialist fantasy,” said one senior administration official.

  Politico

Well, it wouldn't fucking HAVE to be fantasy if this country gave a shit about anything other than amassing obscene wealth in the hands of a few people at the top.

Public health experts say the Trump administration is still playing catch-up after not responding aggressively in the early stages of the coronavirus. One former senior administration official said the U.S. government would have been in a much better situation if officials had started taking more assertive action in January or February.

That, too.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.