President Trump declared that America is at war against the coronavirus and that he was a wartime president. Fine, let’s accept the fact that this nation is, indeed, at war. However, let me contrast President Trump’s response to another time in our history when President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan and on Germany one day later. During the remainder of his presidency, Roosevelt rallied the nation to a united national response, marshaling all the resources necessary to fight that war until the U.S. prevailed in 1945.

How did Donald Trump approach the current task? Well, he denied any responsibility whatsoever for carrying on the current “war” on COVID-19. In his flailing attempts to send enough personal protective equipment to states and localities, he oversaw a process in which the federal government actually undercut the efforts of states to procure those materials. Eventually, he said the states were on their own. That was equivalent to President Roosevelt saying that any states who did not want to be part of the national commitment, it would be OK if they declined to allow their citizens to be drafted.

The best I can say about Trump’s efforts is “pathetic.”

Denis Fortier, Lewiston


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