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Donald Trump on Health Care

2016 Republican incumbent President; 2000 Reform Primary Challenger for President

 


I aced a cognitive test; doctor never saw anybody ace it

The great Doc Ronny, my doctor, became a Congressman {U.S. Rep. Ron Jackson, TX-13]. He only beat 22 people. 22 people, he was great. I said, "Doc, how about if I take a cognitive test?" He said, "Well, you can do it, sir. But if you do, it'll be public." Well, I said, "What's wrong with that?" He said, "Well, if you don't do well, sir, it's not going to be pretty." I said, "Is it hard?" He said, "After the first five questions, it gets very hard." I said, "Let's take a shot at it," and we did it and we aced it, right? I aced it. And one of the doctors said he's never seen anybody that aced it. And some of those questions are not easy. I will tell you that." How do you think Joe would do on a cognitive test? You never know. Maybe underneath there, there's somebody that's very unusual. Unfortunately, this was an election where the person that counts the votes was far more important than the candidate, no matter how many votes that candidate got, and we got record numbers of votes.
Source: Speech transcript from 2021 CPAC Conference , Jul 11, 2021

Improve Medicare by looking for fraud, waste and abuse

Q: How could your administration provide more support for the nation's army of roughly 40 million unpaid family caregivers?

TRUMP: We're looking at that very seriously. These are incredible people. They have been unrecognized for the job they do, and if they didn't do that job, we'd be swamped; our hospitals and our health care system would be swamped.

Q: That would be through Medicare or Medicaid?

TRUMP: We think so, yes. We're looking at that as being probably the best alternative. Management can be improved. One of the biggest ways of doing that, as you know, is look at fraud, waste and abuse. By the way, [Medicare] Part D premiums are lower by around 12 percent. We've done a lot, but there is a big thing on fraud, waste and abuse, and we'll take care of that.

Source: AARP Survey on 2020 Presidential hopefuls , Sep 28, 2020

I get things done, like right-to-try drugs

Sometimes you don't have time to be totally presidential; you have to get things done. I think I've done more than other president in the first 3 years.

When you look at what we've done for tax cuts and regulation cuts and the vets, all of the things that we've done for the vets. We rebuilt our military, we created Space Force. We did so many things, Right to Try, which is so incredible and so successful. You know what Right to Try is? [on use of experimental drugs for fatally ill patients]

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

COVID: Supported China travel ban and national emergency

The president said in the State of the Union [on Feb. 5, 2020], "protecting Americans' health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat."

On Jan. 31, President Trump had declared the coronavirus a public health emergency and announced travel restrictions for China. While the president and his team were starting preparations in the event of an outbreak in the US, many leading Democrats in Washington were too distracted by impeachment to care about the emerging threat.

Despite criticism from Democrats and the media, the president made the right call with the travel ban. He was also right to declare a national emergency and implement social distancing guidelines--not forever, but until we flattened the curve--which likely prevented the failure of hospitals and prevented many American deaths.

Source: Speaking for Myself, by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, p.247 , Sep 8, 2020

Dismantled global health security system before coronavirus

In 2018, Trump effectively dismantled the Obama-era global health insurance system. The objective--to understand how viruses move beyond borders and to prepare a communications and response strategy for transitional health crises-- had its genesis in the nation's multilateral engagement in the Ebola virus. Swift, worldwide action had not only accelerated treatments to countries facing infection, it slowed transmission to other nations, including the United States. Trump's shortsighted decision, while devastating in this current crisis, should galvanize restoration of the global health security system and prompt a deeper thinking of what constitutes genuine national security threats. COVID-19 demands immediate response to defeat an intercontinental enemy to our health, our economies and our future
Source: Our Time Is Now, by Stacey Abrams, p.259-60 , Jun 9, 2020

Falsely claims US did more tests rest of world combined

Tweet from @realDonaldTrump: "@washingtonpost Headline reads, 'A BOOST IN TESTS, BUT LACK OF TAKERS.' We have done a great job on Ventilators, Testing, and everything else. Were left little by Obama. Over 11 million tests, and going up fast. More than all countries in the world, combined."Just those three countries combined total more tests than the USA, so "more than all countries in the world combined" is false. Worldwide, the current total is 61M tests. Trump's figures would indicate the USA has performed over 50% of the world's tests; in fact USA is under 20%.

Furthermore, a better measurement of testing would count a per capita basis, the number of tests per million population, as World-o-Meter does. On that scale, the USA is in 39th place, just behind Germany, well behind Russia & Italy.

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on Twitter Posting , May 18, 2020

Claims to have seen evidence COVID19 was from Chinese lab

Fox News: Trump said he has seen evidence suggesting that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in China, while continuing his criticism of the World Health Organization's ties to Beijing, comparing the group to a public relations agency. "This is something that could have been contained at the original location and I think it could have been contained relatively easily," Trump said. "They were either unable to or they chose not to."

Snopes 7/13/20: One of the conspiracy theories that have plagued attempts to keep people informed during the pandemic is the idea that the coronavirus was created in a laboratory. Scientists who have studied the virus agree that it evolved naturally and crossed into humans from an animal species, most likely a bat. How exactly do we know that this virus, SARS-CoV-2, has a zoonotic animal origin and not an artificial one? The answers lie in the genetic material and evolutionary history of the virus, and understanding the ecology of the bats in question.

Source: Fox News and Snopes FactCheck on Trump Administration , Apr 30, 2020

Ended pandemic early-warning program in Wuhan, China

Two months before the novel coronavirus is thought to have begun in Wuhan, China, the Trump administration ended a $200-million pandemic early-warning program. The initiative, called PREDICT, trained and supported staff in 60 foreign laboratories-- including the Wuhan lab that identified COVID-19. The Wuhan lab received USAID funding for equipment, and PREDICT coordinators connected the scientists there with researchers in other countries in order to synchronize tracking of novel viruses.
Source: The Los Angeles Times on Trump Administration , Apr 2, 2020

Fact-Check: 4,311 drugs had price hike; 619 were lowered

President Trump said, "We have approved a record number of affordable generic drugs, and medicines are being approved by the FDA at a faster clip than ever before. I was pleased to announce last year that, for the first time in 51 years, the cost of prescription drugs actually went down. I am calling for bipartisan legislation that achieves the goal of dramatically lowering prescription drug prices. Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it into law without delay."

Fact -Check: In 2019, 4,311 prescription drugs experienced a price hike, with the average increase hovering around 21%, according to data compiled by Rx Savings Solutions, a consulting group. Meanwhile, 619 drugs had price dips. And already in 2020, 2,519 drugs have increased prices. The average hike so far this year is 6.9%. Meanwhile, the prices of 70 drugs have dropped. When generics post their price increases, the 2020 average price hike will likely go up.

Source: PolitiFact Fact-Check on 2020 State of the Union address , Feb 5, 2020

Executive order requiring healthcare price transparency

President Trump said, "The American patient should never be blindsided by medical bills. That is why I signed an Executive Order requiring price transparency. Many experts believe that transparency, which will go into full effect at the beginning of next year, will be even bigger than healthcare reform. It will save families massive amounts of money for substantially better care."

Fact -Check: It's not clear where this timeline comes from--the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule for hospitals and a similar rule for insurers that would require them to reveal their negotiated prices to consumers in an accessible way. But hospitals have already sued to block the first rule, and the rule for insurers has not been finalized. New practices can take effect only after these legal hurdles have been resolved.

Source: NPR Fact-Check on 2020 State of the Union address , Feb 4, 2020

Unacceptable for Americans to pay more for exact same drugs

A major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs--and to protect patients with pre-existing conditions. Already, as a result of my Administration's efforts, in 2018 drug prices experienced their single largest decline in 46 years.

But we must do more. It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, unfair, and together we can stop it.

I am asking the Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients. We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs down.

Source: 2019 State of the Union address to United States Congress , Feb 5, 2019

Medicare for All is really Medicare for None

Throughout the year, we have seen Democrats across the country uniting around a new legislative proposal that would end Medicare as we know it and take away benefits that seniors have paid for their entire lives. Dishonestly called "Medicare for All," the Democratic proposal would establish a government-run, single-payer health care system that eliminates all private and employer-based health care plans and would cost an astonishing $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years.

In practice, the Democratic Party's so-called Medicare for All would really be Medicare for None. Under the Democrats' plan, today's Medicare would be forced to die. The Democrats' plan also would mean the end of choice for seniors over their own health care decisions. Instead, Democrats would give total power and control over seniors' health care decisions to the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.

Delaying reform will make it worse. Half of America skimps to pay for health care. The only fix is to cut waste.

Source: USA Today OpEd (press release by 2018 Trump Administration) , Oct 10, 2018

Let terminally ill take any experimental drugs

To speed access to breakthrough cures and affordable generic drugs, last year the FDA approved more new and generic drugs and medical devices than ever before in our history. We believe that patients with terminal conditions should have access to experimental treatments that could potentially save their lives.

People who are terminally ill should not have to go from country to country to seek a cure--I want to give them a chance right here at home. It is time for the Congress to give these wonderful Americans the "right to try."

One of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs. In many other countries, these drugs cost far less than what we pay in the United States. That is why I have directed my Administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of our top priorities. Prices will come down.

Source: 2018 State of the Union address , Jan 30, 2018

Why can't Medicare simply cover everybody?

All things considered, Trump probably preferred the notion of more people having health insurance than fewer people having it. He was even, when push came to shove, rather more for ObamaCare than for repealing ObamaCare. As well, he had made a set of rash Obama-like promises, going so far as to say that under a forthcoming TrumpCare plan (he had to be strongly discouraged from using this kind of rebranding--political wise men told him that this was one instance where he might not want to claim ownership with his name), no one would lose their health insurance, and that preexisting conditions would continue to be covered. In fact, he probably favored government-funded health care more than any other Republican. "Why can't Medicare simply cover everybody?" he had impatiently wondered aloud during one discussion with aides, all of whom were careful not to react to this heresy.
Source: Fire And Fury, by Michael Wolff, p.p. 164-65 , Jan 5, 2018

OpEd: Ordered healthcare associations, but no follow-up

Trump said in a N.Y.Times interview, "Here's the good news. We've created associations, millions of people are joining associations. Millions that were formerly in ObamaCare or didn't have insurance. Or didn't have health care."

This has not happened. Trump issued an executive order on Oct. 12 to ask his Secretary of Labor to propose regulations to allow more employers to make use of "association health plans." But the actual change has not actually been made yet, noted Timothy Jost, an expert on health law as an emeritus professor at Washington and Lee University--so even if millions of people will eventually use these plans, they have, obviously, not been able to do so yet.

Trump added about people joining associations due to changes to ObamaCare, "That's gonna be a big bill, you watch."

The move toward association health plans is not going to be a bill at all, let alone a "big bill." This "would be a change in regulation or guidance," not legislation, Jost noted.

Source: Toronto Star on Trump's promise on Border Wall , Dec 29, 2017

Expand Health Savings Accounts but not forced by government

Here are the principles that should guide the Congress as we move to create a better healthcare system for all Americans:
  1. First, we should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage, and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the healthcare exchanges.
  2. We should help Americans purchase their own coverage, through the use of tax credits and expanded Health Savings Accounts--but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by the Government.
  3. We should give our great State Governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.
  4. We should implement legal reforms that protect patients and doctors from unnecessary costs that drive up the price of insurance.
  5. Finally, the time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across State lines--creating a truly competitive national marketplace.
Source: 2017 State of the Union address to Congress , Feb 28, 2017

Slash restraints at FDA; get blessed with more miracle drugs

Today is Rare Disease day, and joining us in the gallery is a Rare Disease Survivor, Megan Crowley. Megan was diagnosed with Pompe Disease, a rare and serious illness, when she was 15 months old. She was not expected to live past 5.

On receiving this news, Megan's dad, John, fought with everything he had to save the life of his precious child. He founded a company to look for a cure, and helped develop the drug that saved Megan's life. Today she is 20 years old--and a sophomore at Notre Dame. Megan's story is about the unbounded power of a father's love for a daughter.

But our slow and burdensome approval process at the Food and Drug Administration keeps too many advances, like the one that saved Megan's life, from reaching those in need. If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA but across our Government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles like Megan. In fact, our children will grow up in a Nation of miracles.

Source: 2017 State of the Union address to Congress , Feb 28, 2017

Lack of mental healthcare is greatest tragedy today

Q: What will you do to reduce the human and economic costs of mental illness?

TRUMP: This is one of the great unfolding tragedies in America today. States are reducing their commitments to mental health treatment and our jails are filled with those who need mental health care. Any mental health reforms must be included in our efforts to reform healthcare in general in the country. We must make the investment in treating our fellow citizens who suffer from severe mental illness. This includes making sure that we allow family members to be more involved in the total care of those who are severely mentally ill. We must ensure that the national government provides the support to state and local governments to bring mental health care to the people at the local level. This entire field of interest must be examined and a comprehensive solution set must be developed so that we can keep people safe and productive.

Source: ScienceDebate.org: 20 questions for 2016 presidential race , Oct 9, 2016

Focus on greatest bang for the buck, not public health

Q: Public health efforts like smoking cessation, drunk driving laws, vaccination, and water fluoridation have improved health and productivity and save millions of lives. How would you improve federal research and our public health system?

TRUMP: The implication of the question is that one must provide more resources to research and public health enterprises. In a time of limited resources, one must ensure that the nation is getting the greatest bang for the buck. We cannot simply throw money at these institutions and assume that the nation will be well served. What we ought to focus on applying resources to those areas where we need the most work. Our efforts to support research and public health initiatives will have to be balanced with other demands for scarce resources. My administration will work to establish national priorities and then we will work to make sure that adequate resources are assigned to achieve our goals.

Source: ScienceDebate.org: 20 questions for 2016 presidential race , Oct 9, 2016

Let vets see private doctors or VA: that's not privatization

CLINTON: I will not let the V.A. be privatized. And I do think there is an agenda out there, supported by my opponent, to do just that.

TRUMP: I never said take the Veterans Administration private. I wouldn't do that. But I do believe, when you're waiting in line for six, seven days, you should never be in a position like that. You go out, you see the doctor, you get yourself taken care of. The V.A. is really almost a corrupt enterprise. So we are going to make it efficient and good. And if it's not good, you're going out to private hospitals, public hospitals, and doctors.

FACT-CHECK: Trump's campaign published a "Veterans Plan" last October. It doesn't call for the VA to be completely privatized, but allows veterans to get care at any non-VA medical center that accepts Medicare. Trump stuck to the idea when he released his "Ten Point Plan To Reform The VA" in July, giving "every veteran the choice to seek care at the VA or at a private service provider of their own choice."

Source: USA Today Fact-check on 2016 NBC Commander-in-Chief forum , Sep 7, 2016

Create V.A. mental health division to reduce veteran suicide

Q: What is your plan to stop 20 veterans a day from killing themselves?

A: It's almost impossible to conceive that this is happening in our country, 20 to 22 people a day are killing themselves. A lot of it is they're killing themselves over the fact that they're under tremendous pain and they can't see a doctor. We're going to speed up the process. We're going to create a great mental health division. I have a powerful plan that's on my website. One of the problems is the wait time. Vets are waiting six days, seven days, eight days. Under my plan, if they have that long wait, they walk outside, they go to the local doctor, they choose the doctor, they choose the hospital, whether it's public or private, they get themselves better. We will pay the bill.

Source: 2016 NBC Commander-in-Chief forum with Matt Lauer , Sep 7, 2016

Removing cross-state barriers solves many insurance issues

TRUMP: We should have gotten rid of the lines around the state so there's competition. The insurance companies are making a fortune on every single thing they do. You're going to see preexisting conditions, but the price will be down, and the insurance companies can pay. Yes, they will keep preexisting conditions, and that would be a great thing. Get rid of ObamaCare, we'll come up with new plans. But, we should keep preexisting conditions.

RUBIO: Here's what you didn't hear in that answer. What is your plan? I understand the lines around the state, whatever that means. This is not a game where you draw maps. What is your plan, Mr. Trump?

TRUMP: You get rid of the lines, it brings in competition. So, instead of having one insurance company taking care of New York, or Texas, you'll have many. They'll compete, and it'll be a beautiful thing.

RUBIO: So, that's the only part of the plan? Just the lines?

Source: 2016 CNN-Telemundo Republican debate on eve of Texas primary , Feb 25, 2016

Taking care of poor sick people isn't single-payer

Q: If Obamacare is repealed & there's no mandate for everybody to have insurance, why would insurance companies insure somebody who has a pre-existing condition?

TRUMP: Well, I like the mandate. I don't want people dying on the streets. The Republican people, they don't want people dying on the streets, but sometimes they'll say "Donald Trump wants single payer."

Q: Will people with pre-existing conditions be able to get insurance?

TRUMP: Yes. Now, the new plan is good. It's going to be inexpensive. It's going to be much better for the people at the bottom, people that don't have any money. We're going to take care of them through maybe concepts of Medicare. Now, some people would say, "that's not a very Republican thing to say." That's not single payer, by the way. That's called heart. We gotta take care of people that can't take care of themselves.

Source: 2016 CNN GOP Town Hall in South Carolina , Feb 18, 2016

Insurance companies love a lack of competition

I have thousands of employees. If I'm negotiating for health insurance for my people in New York or California of Texas, I usually have one bidder in each state. Competition brings down prices, and the way the law is now, it discourages real competition between insurance companies for customers. They have virtual monopolies within the states. That makes no sense. It's very stupid and unfair for us.

You know who loves a lack of competition? Those insurance companies, who are making a fortune because they control the politicians. They've paid for them with their contributions, and it's a good investment from their perspectives. For our country, not so much. They give money to almost all the politicians.

Source: Crippled America, by Donald Trump, p. 75 , Nov 3, 2015

The insurance companies have total control over politicians

Q: ObamaCare is one of the things you call a disaster.

TRUMP: A complete disaster, yes.

Q: Saying it needs to be repealed & replaced.

TRUMP: Correct.

Q: Now, 15 years ago, you called yourself a liberal on health care. You were for a single-payer system, a Canadian-style system. Why were you for that then and why aren't you for it now?

TRUMP: As far as single payer, it works in Canada. It could have worked in a different age. What I'd like to see is a private system without the artificial lines around every state. I have a big company with thousands of employees. And if I'm negotiating in BY or NJ or CA, I have like one bidder. Nobody can bid. You know why? Because the insurance companies are making a fortune because they have control of the politicians. They're making a fortune. Get rid of the artificial lines and you will have yourself great plans. And then we have to take care of the people that can't take care of themselves. And I will do that through a different system.

Source: Fox News/Facebook Top Ten First Tier debate transcript , Aug 6, 2015

Don't cut Medicare; grow the economy to keep benefits

What does Donald Trump believe? Entitlements: Do not cut Social Security or Medicare benefits. Grow the economy to save those programs.

The real estate tycoon told CPAC in 2013 that Republicans should not cut Social Security or Medicare because most Americans want to keep the benefits as they stand now. His solution is unclear, but he has indicated that general economic growth would play a role. Trump tweeted in May that he knows "where to get the money from" and "nobody else does."

Source: PBS News Hour "2016 Candidate Stands" series , Jun 16, 2015

Make health insurance premiums tax-deductible

Our elected representatives in the House & Senate must allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system. Businesses are allowed to take these deductions so why wouldn't Congress allow individuals the same exemptions? As we allow the free market to provide insurance coverage opportunities to companies and individuals, we must also make sure that no one slips through the cracks simply because they cannot afford insurance. We must review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure that those who want healthcare coverage can have it.

There are other reforms that might be considered if they serve to lower costs, remove uncertainty & provide financial security for all Americans. And we must also take actions in other policy areas to lower healthcare costs and burdens. Enforcing immigration laws, eliminating fraud and waste and energizing our economy will relieve the economic pressures felt by every American.

Source: 2016 presidential campaign website, DonaldJTrump.com , Mar 15, 2015

Increase insurance competition across state lines

Even if we elect a real president who will get tough and repeal Obamacare, we still need a plan to bring down health-care costs and make health-care insurance more affordable for everyone. It starts with increasing competition between insurance companies. Competition makes everything better and more affordable.

One way to infuse more competition into the market is to let citizens purchase health-care plans across state lines.

This could be easily accomplished if Congress got some guts and did the right thing. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress control over interstate commerce. But for whatever reason, the Congress has never exercised this power regarding health insurance. They need to.

Source: Time to Get Tough, by Donald Trump, p.131 , Dec 5, 2011

We must have universal health care

I’m a conservative on most issues but a liberal on health. It is an unacceptable but accurate fact that the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 42 million. Working out detailed plans will take time. But the goal should be clear: Our people are our greatest asset. We must take care of our own. We must have universal healthcare.

Our objective [should be] to make reforms for the moment and, longer term, to find an equivalent of the single-payer plan that is affordable, well-administered, and provides freedom of choice. Possible? The good news is, yes. There is already a system in place-the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program-that can act as a guide for all healthcare reform. It operates through a centralized agency that offers considerable range of choice. While this is a government program, it is also very much market-based. It allows 620 private insurance companies to compete for this market. Once a year participants can choose from plans which vary in benefits and costs.

Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p.206-208 & 218 , Jul 2, 2000


Donald Trump on ObamaCare

Biden will terminate 180 million healthcare plans

TRUMP: We'll always protect people with pre-existing. I'd like to terminate ObamaCare, come up with a brand new healthcare. We have 180 million people out there that have great private healthcare. Joe Biden is going to terminate all of those policies. These are people that love their healthcare. People that have been successful, middle-income people.

BIDEN: Not one single person with private insurance would lose their insurance under my plan, nor did they under ObamaCare. They did not lose their insurance unless they chose they wanted to go to something else.

TRUMP: I terminated the individual mandate. That is the worst part of ObamaCare. The individual mandate where you have to pay a fortune for the privilege of not having to pay for bad health insurance. Now, it's in court, because ObamaCare is no good. Then I made a decision, run it as well as you can. They ran it. Premiums are down. Here's the problem. No matter how well you run it, it's no good. What we'd like to do is terminate it.

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker , Oct 22, 2020

Replace ObamaCare with less expensive but great healthcare

BIDEN: [Trump's second term would focus on] trying to get ObamaCare wiped out after 10 million people have already lost their insurance, plus 100 million people with pre-existing conditions.

TRUMP: We got rid of the individual mandate on ObamaCare. By the way, we're always protecting people with pre-existing conditions, and I can't say that more strongly. The problem with ObamaCare, it's not good. We'd like to terminate it, and we want a much less expensive healthcare that's a much better healthcare.

Q: You repealed, but you haven't replaced. You had the Senate and House in Republican hands, and there is not a replacement yet.

TRUMP: Look, we had both houses and what did we do? We got rid of the individual mandate. That went through the legislature.

Q: But the promise was repeal and replace.

TRUMP: We would like to replace it with something that's much less expensive and much better. We will always protect people with preexisting conditions.

Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/NBC Town Hall Miami , Oct 15, 2020

My healthcare plan: we got rid of the individual mandate

Q: The Supreme Court will hear a case a week after the election in which the Trump Administration, along with 18 state Attorney Generals are seeking to overturn ObamaCare, to end ObamaCare.

TRUMP: That's right, because they want to give good healthcare

Q: Over the last four years, you have promised to repeal and replace ObamaCare, but you have never come up with a comprehensive plan to replace ObamaCare.

TRUMP: Yes, I have. Of course I have. I got rid of the individual mandate, which was a big chunk of ObamaCare.

Q: That's not a comprehensive place.

TRUMP: That is absolutely a big thing. That was the worst part of ObamaCare. The individual mandate was the most unpopular aspect of ObamaCare. I got rid of it. And we will protect people. We guaranteed pre-existing conditions, but took away the individual mandate.

BIDEN: He has no plan for healthcare.

TRUMP: Of course we do.

BIDEN: He has none, like almost everything else he talks about. He does not have a plan.

Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace , Sep 29, 2020

ObamaCare is no good, even if run well

Joe BIDEN [to TRUMP]: There are 20 million people getting healthcare through ObamaCare now that he wants to take it away.

TRUMP: No, I want to give them better healthcare at a much lower price, because ObamaCare is no good.

BIDEN: He won't ever look you in the eye and say that's what he wants to do: "Take it away." He doesn't know how to do that.

TRUMP: We've already fixed it, to an extent. ObamaCare is no good. We made it better. We guaranteed pre-existing conditions, but took away the individual mandate. I had a choice to make, do I let my people run it really well or badly? If I run it badly, they'll probably blame me. But more importantly, I want to help people; I said, "You've got to run it so well." The problem is, no matter how well you run ObamaCare, it's a disaster. It's too expensive. Premiums are too high, that it doesn't work. So we do want to get rid of it. Chris, we want to get rid of that and give something that's cheaper and better.

Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace , Sep 29, 2020

FactCheck: No massive prices cuts for prescription drugs

TRUMP: I'm cutting drug prices. I'm going with Favored Nations. Drug prices will be coming down 80 or 90%. So we're cutting healthcare. Prescription drug prices, we're going to allow our Governors now to go to other countries to buy drugs because when they paid just a tiny fraction of what we do.

FactCheck by Associated Press, Aug. 3, 2020: Actually, no massive, across-the-board cuts are in the offing for drug prices. Efforts announced last month by the president--such as allowing importation of medicines from countries where prices are lower--take time to roll out. It remains to be seen how much they'll move the needle on prices. Drug importation, for example, requires regulatory actions to be taken and supply chains to be established.

Source: Associated Press Fact-Check: First 2020 Presidential Debat , Sep 29, 2020

We already have much better healthcare plan, for less money

Q:

TRUMP: If you look at what they want to do, where they have socialized medicine, they will get rid of preexisting conditions, if they go into Medicare for All you can forget about your doctors and your plans. We're going to be doing a healthcare plan--protecting people with preexisting conditions.

Q: I interviewed you last year, you said the healthcare plan would come in two weeks. You told Chris Wallace that this summer it'd come in three weeks. You promised an executive order on preexisting.

TRUMP: I have it already, and it's a much better plan.

Q: What is it?

TRUMP: We're going to have a very good healthcare. I think maybe a great healthcare for less money.

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

Already have a much better healthcare plan (but no details)

Q: Your response to the Biden healthcare plan?

TRUMP: If you look at what they want to do, where they have socialized medicine, they will get rid of preexisting conditions, if they go into Medicare for All you can forget about your doctors and your plans. We're going to be doing a healthcare plan--protecting people with preexisting conditions.

Q: I interviewed you last year, you said the healthcare plan would come in two weeks. You told Chris Wallace that this summer it'd come in three weeks. You promised an executive order on preexisting.

TRUMP: I have it already, and it's a much better plan.

Q: What is it?

TRUMP: We're going to have a very good healthcare. I think maybe a great healthcare for less money.

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

FactCheck: Undercut protection for preexisting conditions

Trump again pledged that he and the entire Republican Party "will always, and very strongly, protect patients with preexisting conditions."

FactCheck: His administration has consistently taken steps to undermine the Affordable Care Act without presenting alternative plans that would offer similar benefits. Congressional Republicans have also repeatedly put forward bills and filed lawsuits that would weaken Obamacare's protections for people with preexisting conditions.

Trump said, "Last month, I took on Big Pharma and signed orders that will massively lower the cost of your prescription drugs," and also promised to "further reduce the cost of prescription drugs."

FactCheck: The President signed four executive orders aimed at reducing drug prices, but it's far from clear whether they will ever take effect or greatly lower prices if they do. Also, drug prices have continued to rise during the Trump administration, though the growth rate has slowed by some measures.

Source: CNN Fact-Check on 2020 Republican Convention speech , Aug 28, 2020

ObamaCare: not great but we're managing it fantastically

I think it's probably the thing that I'm most disappointed that I haven't been able to sell what a great job we've done. I got rid of the individual mandate, which was the worst part of ObamaCare. Preexisting conditions: 100% percent, we take care of.
Source: Fox News Town Halls at the Scranton Cultural Center , Mar 5, 2020

Socialist healthcare would take away from 180M patients

I signed an Executive Order requiring price transparency. Transparency will save families massive amounts of money for substantially better care.

As we work to improve Americans' healthcare, there are those who want to take away your healthcare, take away your doctor, and abolish private insurance entirely. One hundred thirty-two lawmakers in this room have endorsed legislation to impose a socialist takeover of our healthcare system, wiping out the private health insurance plans of 180 million Americans. To those watching at home tonight, I want you to know: We will never let socialism destroy American healthcare!

If forcing American taxpayers to provide unlimited free healthcare to illegal aliens sounds fair to you, then stand with the radical left. But if you believe that we should defend American patients and American seniors, then stand with me and pass legislation to prohibit free Government healthcare for illegal aliens!

Source: 2020 State of the Union address to Congress , Feb 4, 2020

Decided not to kill ObamaCare, but still it's not good

I could have managed ObamaCare so it would have failed or I could have managed it the way we did so it's as good as it can be. Not great, but it's as good -- It's too expensive and the premiums are too high. I had a decision to make. I could have politically killed ObamaCare. I decided not to do it. But still it's not good. We're going to come up with great health care if we win the House, the Senate and the presidency.
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview series , Jun 23, 2019

Republicans will always support Pre-Existing Conditions

The president tweeted, "Everybody agrees that ObamaCare doesn't work. Premiums & deductibles are far too high--Really bad HealthCare! Even the Dems want to replace it, but with Medicare for all, which would cause 180 million Americans to lose their beloved private health insurance."

"The Republicans are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare," Trump continued. "In other words it will be far less expensive & much more usable than ObamaCare. Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans win back the House."

Trump wrote online that the Republican proposal "will be truly great HealthCare that will work for America," and that "Republicans will always support Pre-Existing Conditions."

The president's comments come after his Justice Department endorsed a federal court ruling to eliminate ObamaCare in its entirety; Trump declared that the Republican Party "will soon be known as the party of health care."

Source: Politico.com on Trump promises, "Healthcare 2020" , Apr 1, 2019

FactCheck: Opposed ObamaCare's pre-existing condition law

Among the president's top 10 whoppers of 2018: REPUBLICANS SUPPORT PROTECTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS.

"All Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions, and if they don't, they will after I speak to them," Trump tweeted in October. "I am in total support."

The Trump administration backed Republican-led states in a lawsuit that claims ObamaCare's protections for pre-existing conditions are illegal, and a federal court ruled the law unconstitutional in December. If the Supreme Court confirms the ruling, insurers would be able to start denying coverage to those people. The White House has not proposed alternative legislation that would offer those with pre-existing conditions the protections ObamaCare gives consumers. Supporting the concept of health care for people with pre-existing conditions, and supporting legislation that accomplishes it, are two different things.

Source: NBC Fact Check on 2018 Trump Promises, "10 falsehoods" , Dec 20, 2018

The cruel ObamaCare individual mandate is gone

We eliminated an especially cruel tax that fell mostly on Americans making less than $50,000 a year--forcing them to pay tremendous penalties simply because they could not afford government-ordered health plans. We repealed the core of disastrous ObamaCare--the individual mandate is now gone.

And we are giving our veterans choice in their healthcare decisions.

Source: 2018 State of the Union address , Jan 30, 2018

We have gutted ObamaCare by ending individual mandate

Trump said in a N.Y.Times interview, "I believe we can do health care in a bipartisan way, because now we've essentially gutted and ended ObamaCare."

Gutted? Perhaps. Trump repealed a central pillar of ObamaCare: the "individual mandate," a requirement that Americans obtain health insurance or pay a financial penalty. The law might now experience new problems. But Trump is wrong to claim that he has already "ended" ObamaCare. The individual mandate is a key part of ObamaCare, but it is far from the entire thing. Trump did not touch ObamaCare's expansion of the Medicaid insurance program for low-income people, the federal and state ObamaCare marketplaces that allow other uninsured people to buy insurance, and the subsidies that help many of them make the purchases. Nor did he touch various ObamaCare rules for the insurance market, like its prohibition on insurers denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

Source: Toronto Star on Trump's promise on Border Wall , Dec 29, 2017

Lower the cost of health insurance, instead of mandates

Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for America. The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we will do.

ObamaCare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits. One third of counties have only one insurer on the exchanges--leaving many Americans with no choice at all. Remember when you were told that you could keep your doctor, and keep your plan? We now know that all of those promises have been broken. ObamaCare is collapsing--and we must act decisively to protect all Americans. Action is not a choice--it is a necessity.

Here are the principles that should guide the Congress as we move to create a better healthcare system for all Americans: First, we should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage, and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the healthcare exchanges.

Source: 2017 State of the Union address to Congress , Feb 28, 2017

ObamaCare collapses under its own weight if we don't repeal

One thing we have to do: Repeal and replace the disaster known as Obamacare. It's destroying our country. It's destroying our businesses. You take a look at the kind of numbers that that will cost us in the year '17, it is a disaster. It's probably going to die of its own weight. But Obamacare has to go. The premiums are going up 60 , 70 , 80 percent. Bad health care at the most expensive price. We have to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Source: Third 2016 Presidential Debate moderated by Fox News , Oct 19, 2016

ObamaCare will never work; repeal it and replace it

ObamaCare will never work. It's very bad, very bad health insurance. Far too expensive. And not only expensive for the person that has it, unbelievably expensive for our country. It's going to be one of the biggest line items very shortly. We have to repeal it and replace it with something absolutely much less expensive and something that works, where your plan can actually be tailored.

We have to get rid of the lines around the state, artificial lines, where we stop insurance companies from coming in and competing, because that gives the insurance companies essentially monopolies. We want competition.

You will have the finest health care plan there is. She wants to go to a single-payer plan, which would be a disaster, somewhat similar to Canada. And if you haven't noticed the Canadians, when they need a big operation, when something happens, they come into the United States in many cases because their system is so slow. It's catastrophic in certain ways.

Source: Second 2016 Presidential Debate at WUSTL in St. Louis MO , Oct 9, 2016

ObamaCare is government control over our everyday lives

We're going to repeal and replace disastrous ObamaCare which gives the government control over the lives of everyday citizens. And the numbers are horrendous. Your premiums are going up by 50, 60, 70 percent. The deductible is so high you never get to use it unless you are going to lead a very long and very complex bad period--very, very long. It is a disaster. It's a disaster, and everybody knows it. And it's going to die of its own weight anyway, but we're going to get rid of it and we're going to replace it with some great, great alternatives--much better health care at a much lower price.

Hillary Clinton wants to have completely government-run health care, which would be a disaster for the liberties and freedoms of all America. That's what she wants. That's what she's aiming at. That's what Obama wanted. He didn't quite get there, but he got this, and you see how bad this has been.

Source: 11th Annual Value Voters Summit - 2016 , Sep 9, 2016

Keep pre-existing condition coverage; not individual mandate

Q: Senator Rubio, you said that Mr. Trump thinks part of ObamaCare is pretty good. Which part?

RUBIO: The individual mandate. He said he likes the individual mandate portion of it; I don't believe that should remain there. We need to repeal ObamaCare completely and replace it with a system that puts Americans in charge of their health care money again.

TRUMP: I agree with that 100%, except pre-existing conditions, I would absolutely get rid of ObamaCare. I want to keep pre- existing conditions. It's a modern age, and I think we have to have it.

Q: The insurance companies say is that the only way that they can cover people with pre-existing conditions is to have a mandate requiring everybody purchase health insurance. Are they wrong?

TRUMP: I think they're wrong 100%. Look, the insurance companies take care of the politicians [and vice-versa]. The insurance companies are making an absolute fortune. Yes, they will keep preexisting conditions, and that would be a great thing.

Source: 2016 CNN-Telemundo Republican debate on eve of Texas primary , Feb 25, 2016

Chief Justice Roberts: a disaster who gave us ObamaCare

Justice Roberts gave us ObamaCare. Might as well be called Roberts-care. Two times of the Supreme Court, Justice Roberts approved something that he should have never raised his hand to approve. And we ended up with ObamaCare. That judge has been a disaster in terms of everything we stand for because there is no way -- no way that he should have approved ObamaCare.
Source: 2016 CNN-Telemundo Republican debate on eve of Texas primary , Feb 25, 2016

1998: For universal coverage; have to take care of people

[Reviewing Trump's stances from 1998]: Q: Health care?

TRUMP: [I'm] liberal on health care, we have to take care of people that are sick.

Q: Universal health coverage?

TRUMP: I like universal, we have to take care, there's nothing else. What's the country all about if we're not going to take care of our sick?

Source: Snopes.com Fact-Check on 2016 Presidential Hopefuls , Oct 16, 2015

Shifted from favoring universal care to opposing ObamaCare

Trump's tough-guy statements communicated the feeling of plain-spoken English but were more like the deliberate double-speak of carnival barkers. In fact, his message was so convoluted that listeners would have to fill in much of the meaning themselves. How, for example, would he bill Mexico for a border fence? This didn't seem to matter to him. Also, it didn't seem to matter to Trump that he has changed his mind on abortion rights, moving from being "very pro-choice" to "very pro-life." Nor did it matter to him that he had shifted from favoring universal health care to opposing health-care reform under President Obama. What did matter to him was his own belief in the natural abilities handed down to him by his German and Scottish forbearers.
Source: Never Enough by M. D'Antonio, p.345-6 , Sep 22, 2015

We didn't have a free market before ObamaCare

Q: in 2000, you wrote that you're a liberal on health care, and you supported a Canadian-style system, where the government acts as an insurer. Is that what you still believe?

A: You know, I looked at that. I looked at it very seriously. Some people don't agree with me on this: I want everyone to have coverage. I love the free market, but we never had a free market. Even before ObamaCare, it wasn't really free market. As an example, in New York, when I wanted to bid out my health insurance, we had boundaries. I could only go in New York. If I wanted to bid it out to a company from California or New Jersey, anywhere--you get no bids.

Q: But the single payer, you're not interested anymore?

A: No. No, these are different times. And over the years, you are going to change your attitudes. You're going to learn things and you're going to change. And I have evolved on that issue. I have evolved on numerous issues.

Source: CNN SOTU 2015 interview series: 2016 presidential hopefuls , Jun 28, 2015

ObamaCare is a catastrophe that must be repealed & replaced

What does Donald Trump believe? ObamaCare: Repeal it. Replace it.

Speaking at the Iowa Freedom Summit in January, Trump said ObamaCare is a catastrophe that must be repealed and replaced. In 2011, Trump suggested that the health insurance industry have more ability to cross state lines. In "The America We Deserve" Trump wrote that he supported universal healthcare and a system that would mirror Canada's government-run healthcare service.

Source: PBS News Hour "2016" series on 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit , Jun 16, 2015

Kill ObamaCare before it becomes a trillion-ton weight

Obamacare can't be reformed, salvaged, or fixed. It's that bad. Obamacare has to be killed now before it grows into an even bigger mess, as it inevitably will. Obamacare takes full effect in 2014. If it's not repealed before then, it will be more than just another failed government entitlement program--it will be the trillion-ton weight that finally takes down our economy forever.

Obamacare is a heat-seeking missile that will destroy jobs & small businesses; it will explode health-care costs; and it will lead to health care that is far less innovative than it is today. Every argument that you'd make against socialism you can make against socialized health care, and any candidate who isn't 100% committed to scrapping Obamacare is not someone America should elect president. Repealing Obamacare may be one of the most important and consequential actions our next president takes.

Source: Time to Get Tough, by Donald Trump, p.121-122 , Dec 5, 2011


Donald Trump on Pandemics

Use military to distribute 100 million vials of vaccine

Q [to BIDEN]: How would you lead the country out of the coronavirus crisis?

BIDEN: If we just wore these masks, we can save a 100,000 lives. The president has no comprehensive plan. I will make sure we have a plan.

Q: [to TRUMP]: You said a vaccine will be coming within weeks. Is that a guarantee?

TRUMP: No, it's not a guarantee, but it will be by the end of the year.

Q: Your own officials say, "It could take well into 2021 at the earliest for enough Americans to get vaccinated." Is your timeline realistic?

TRUMP: No, I think my timeline is going to be more accurate. I don't know that they're counting on the military the way I do, but we have our generals lined up [for distribution] logistics. As soon as we have the vaccine and we expect to have a 100 million vials.

BIDEN: This is the same fellow who told you, "Don't worry, we're going to end this by the summer." We're about to go into a dark winter, and he has no clear plan.

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker , Oct 22, 2020

Need to re-open country during pandemic, to have a country

Q: The CDC has said young people can get sick with COVID-19 and can pass it.

TRUMP: 99.9% of young people recover. We have to recover. We can't close up our nation. We have to open our schools and we can't close up our nation, or you're not going to have a nation.

BIDEN: He says that we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. And you say, "I take no responsibility."

TRUMP: I take full responsibility. It's not my fault that it came here. It's China's fault. They kept it from going into the rest of China for the most part, but they didn't keep it from coming out to the world, including Europe and ourselves. But when I closed, he said, "This is a terrible thing, you're xenophobic." I think [Biden] called me racist even, because I was closing it to China. Now he says I should have closed it earlier.

Q: What do you say to Americans who are fearful that the cost of shutdowns?

BIDEN: What I would say is, I'm going to shut down the virus, not the country.

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker , Oct 22, 2020

We reduced coronavirus from an expected 2.2 million deaths

Q: What about people who say you could have done more on coronavirus?

TRUMP: 2.2 million people were expected to die. We closed up the greatest economy in the world in order to fight this horrible disease that came from China. The mortality rate is down 85%. There was a spike in Florida and it's now gone. There was a very big spike in Arizona. It's now gone. We have a vaccine that's coming. We have Operation Warp Speed, which is the military is going to distribute the vaccine. I had it and I got better.

BIDEN: He did virtually nothing. And then he gets out of the hospital and he talks about, "Oh, don't worry. It's all going to be over soon." Come on. There's not another serious scientist in the world who thinks it's going to be over soon.

TRUMP: I didn't say "over soon." I say we're learning to live with it. We have no choice. We can't lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does. As the president couldn't do that and go away for a year and a half until it disappears. I can't do that.

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker , Oct 22, 2020

If H1N1 were as lethal as COVID, we'd have 700,000 dead

TRUMP: Biden ran the H1N1 swine flu and it was a total disaster. Had that had this kind of numbers, 700,000 people would be dead right now, but it was a far less lethal disease. Look, his own chief of staff said, "It was catastrophic. We didn't know what we were doing." Now he comes up and he tells us how to do this.

BIDEN: If you're going to open a business, have social distancing. If you have a restaurant, you need to have plexiglass dividers. You need to take testing rapidly. You need to be able to trace. You need to be able to provide all the resources that are needed to do this. That is going to make sure that we're going to open safely.

TRUMP: We have to open our country. We can't keep this country closed. This is a massive country with a massive economy. People are losing their jobs. They're committing suicide. There's depression, alcohol, drugs at a level that nobody's ever seen before. He'll close down the country if one person in our bureaucracy says we should close it down.

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker , Oct 22, 2020

People with masks can still catch coronavirus

BIDEN: From March on, I started wearing masks. And what's Trump doing? Nothing. He's still not wearing masks.

Q: At the event [in Oct. 2020] before you tested positive, there was an indoor reception. People were not wearing masks. Shouldn't the White House know better than to hold an event like that?

TRUMP: Well, they do a lot of testing in the White House; they test everybody including me. As far as the mask is concerned, I'm okay with masks. I tell people, "wear a mask." But just the other day, they came out with a statement that 85% of the people that wear masks catch it.

Q: It didn't say that. I know that study.

TRUMP: That's what I heard. Hey, I'm President. I can't be in a basement. I have to be out.

Q: You can see people with a mask, though, right?

TRUMP: I can, but people with masks are catching it all the time. Look at the Governor of Virginia, he was known for a mask. If you look at Thom Tillis, a great guy, he always had a mask, and they caught it.

Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/NBC Town Hall Miami , Oct 15, 2020

I put in travel ban to China very early, and Europe too

Q: Why did you only put in place a travel ban from China, and not put in place other measures mitigating the spread of COVID-19?

TRUMP: I did put it in very early. Joe Biden was two months behind me, and he called me xenophobic and racist, because I put it in. And it turned out that I was 100% right. I also put it on Europe, very early, because I saw there was a lot of infection in Europe. The news doesn't get out the right answer, because I put on a travel ban far earlier than Dr. Fauci thought it was necessary. I was actually the only one that wanted to put it on. I put it on at the end of January. When I put on the travel ban Joe Biden, and others, said, "This is ridiculous. You don't do that." Well, Dr. Fauci said, I saved thousands and thousands of lives.

BIDEN: All the way back in the beginning of February, I argued that we should be keeping people in China.In February, I did a piece for USA Today saying, "This is a serious problem." Trump denied it. He said it wasn't.

Source: Second 2020 Presidential Debate/NBC Town Hall Miami , Oct 15, 2020

FactCheck: experts changed on use of masks as facts emerged

BIDEN: Masks make a big difference.

TRUMP: They've also said the opposite.

BIDEN: No serious person has said the opposite.

TRUMP: Dr. Fauci said the opposite.

BIDEN: He did not say the opposite.

TRUMP: He said very strongly, "Masks are not good." Then he changed his mind. He said, "Masks are good."

FactCheck by Associated Press, Sept. 30: Early on in the outbreak, a number of public health officials urged everyday people not to use masks, fearing a run on already short supplies of personal protective equipment needed by doctors and nurses in hospitals. But that changed as the highly contagious nature of the coronavirus became clear, as well as the fact that it can be spread by tiny droplets breathed into the air by people who may not display any symptoms.

Source: NBC News Fact-Check on First 2020 Presidential Debate , Sep 29, 2020

COVID: We don't know how many died in China, Russia, India

If we would've listened to [Biden and the Democrats], the country would have been left wide open, millions of people would have died, not 200,000. And one person is too much. It's China's fault. It should have never happened. They stopped it from going in, but it was China's fault. And, by the way, when you talk about numbers, you don't know how many people died in China. You don't know how many people died in Russia. You don't know how many people died in India. They don't exactly give you a straight count, just so you understand.
Source: First 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Chris Wallace , Sep 29, 2020

Coronavirus was China's fault; I tried to close border

Q: What has been the most difficult part of your presidency?

TRUMP: Without question, I would say, because things were going so well, the whole COVID, the China virus, as I call it, because it comes from China, I think it's a much more accurate term.

It's been very difficult; it's been so sad. We will get there, it's going to happen. But nobody's seen anything like probably since 1917.

Q: What did you learn from it?

TRUMP: I learned that life is very fragile, because [even with] strong people, all of a sudden they were dead. And it wasn't their fault. It was the fault of a country that could have stopped it. And I made a great deal with China. I feel so differently about that [China trade] deal. I don't view it the same way because of the horror of this disease, that could have been stopped at the border.

Q: Could you have done more to stop it?

TRUMP: I don't think so. I think what I did by closing up the country, I saved lives. I think we did a very good job.

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

COVID: We're very close to having vaccine

Frankly, we're very close to having the vaccine. If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals, and we're within weeks of getting it. You know, could be three weeks, four weeks, but we think we have it. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, we have great companies and they're very, very close. So I feel that we've done a tremendous job actually, and I don't think it's been recognized like it should.
Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

COVID: If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases

Q: What could have been done differently on coronavirus?

TRUMP: We're very proud of the job we've done, and we've saved a lot of lives, a tremendous number of lives.

Q: We have 4% of the world's population, more than 20% of the cases, more than 20% of the deaths.

TRUMP: We have 20% of the cases because of the fact that we do much more testing. If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases. You would have very few cases.

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

Biden promised a national mask mandate and didn't do it

Q: What about facemasks for coronavirus prevention?

TRUMP: They said at the Democrat convention they're going to do a national mandate. They never did it, because they've checked out and they didn't do it. And a good question is, you ask why Joe Biden--they said we're going to do a national mandate on masks. But he didn't do it. He never did it.

BIDEN (tweeting a response): "To be clear: I am not currently president."

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

COVID-19 is going to disappear; I still say it

Q: You said early in the pandemic hat coronavirus was going to disappear.

TRUMP: It is going to disappear. It's going to disappear, I still say it.

Q: But not if we don't take action, correct?

TRUMP: No, I still say it. It's going to disappear. I want to see people, and you want to see people. I want to see football games. I'm pushing very hard for Big Ten, I want to see Big Ten open. Let them play sports.

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

COVID: If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases

Q: What about a coronavirus vaccine?

TRUMP: Frankly, we're very close to having the vaccine. If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals, and we're within weeks of getting it. You know, could be three weeks, four weeks, but we think we have it. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, we have great companies and they're very, very close. So I feel that we've done a tremendous job actually, and I don't think it's been recognized like it should.

Q: What the next step in fighting the virus?

TRUMP: We're very proud of the job we've done, and we've saved a lot of lives, a tremendous number of lives.

Q: We have 4% of the world's population, more than 20% of the cases, more than 20% of the deaths.

TRUMP: We have 20% of the cases because of the fact that we do much more testing. If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases. You would have very few cases.

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

COVID: Why didn't Biden have national mask mandate?

Q: What about wearing facemasks for coronavirus?

TRUMP: They said at the Democrat convention they're going to do a national mandate. They never did it, because they've checked out and they didn't do it. And a good question is, you ask why Joe Biden--they said we're going to do a national mandate on masks. But he didn't do it. He never did it.

Q: You were saying it was going to disappear.

TRUMP: It is going to disappear. It's going to disappear, I still say it.

Q: But not if we don't take action, correct?

TRUMP: No, I still say it. It's going to disappear, George. I want to see people, and you want to see people. I want to see football games. I'm pushing very hard for Big Ten, I want to see Big Ten open. Let them play sports.

Source: ABC This Week: special edition 2020 Town Hall interview , Sep 15, 2020

Set aside pandemic response plans prepared by Bush and Obama

[In 2005,] Pres. George W. Bush's administration created a 381-page plan that would outline the proper responses to possible virus outbreaks. Sections of this plan were implemented by Pres. Obama in 2014 when an Ebola patient was discovered in the U.S.

The plan was passed on to Donald Trump's incoming administration. The office was shut down in 2018 by Pres. Donald Trump, who disbanded the pandemic response team.

On Jan. 28, 2020, Carter Mecher, Senior Medical Advisor for the Department of Veterans Affairs, warned others [about coronavirus] that, "Any way you cut it, this is going to be bad." Mecher was one of the medical advisers who, in 2006, had conceived for George W. Bush a pandemic response strategy of "social distancing." He started to push for immediate social distancing. Ignoring that and other scientists' requests or emphasis on testing, Trump and his administration decided the best strategy would be to keep infected people in China.

Source: Business Insider, YouTube video "Totally Under Control" , Sep 14, 2020

FactCheck: No, America has tested less than Europe combined

Trump claimed in his Aug 28 convention speech that "America has tested more than every country in Europe put together." The U.S. has tested many millions of people, but that statement isn't true: