The crisis is "an unforeseen problem" that "came out of nowhere," Trump said on March 6. The US intelligence community, public health experts and officials in Trump's own administration had warned for years that the country was at risk from a pandemic. Some of the warnings specifically mentioned the possibility of a coronavirus pandemic. Numerous warningsThe US intelligence community warned about the possibility of a pandemic long before the current pandemic. Disbanding the pandemic unitAnother pandemic warning came in 2018 -- from the now-defunct White House National Security Council team then responsible for pandemics.

Source: CNN March 16, 2020 00:33 UTC