The military commander who oversaw the federal response effort following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 said President Trump’s decisions in the fight against coronavirus have been flawed and have prompted avoidable consequences.
“The way he’s going about it is dysfunctional at this point in time, and thank God the governors are taking the lead,” Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the former commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, said on C-SPAN Tuesday.
Honore spent six weeks in New Orleans after the Category 5 storm swept southern Louisiana. Despite the difficult nature of the job, Honore said once the priorities were made, it was easy to follow through. The George W. Bush administration, as well as state and local governments, were initially criticized for the handling of the natural disaster. Honore was quickly brought in during the aftermath and is credited with strengthening and focusing the response.
The lack of clear priorities since February, including Trump’s varying calls to reopen the country despite state and city orders to remain closed, have created a “struggling” whole-of-government response, according to Honore.
Typically, the Department of Health and Human Services or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention oversee the response to a health-related disaster and coordinate with other federal agencies like the defense, state, and homeland security departments. The White House and president would be briefed through the process and included in decisions but wouldn’t single-handedly oversee decisions.
Trump making himself the operations officer, plans officer, and senior member of the national command authority is “very unusual,” according to Honore. In this case, a White House task force is handling all decisions, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is supporting state needs. Honore, who was the face of the Katrina response in the same way that Trump has led daily White House briefings, said Trump’s combative responses to reporters’ questions are confusing to the public rather than informative.
“With all due respect, the president enjoys that role of being upfront and leading the way. It’s hard for him not to run for office at the same time he’s dealing with a disaster, and I think that has a tendency to confuse people, and we miss the message sometimes as opposed to responding to, ‘What are we going to do?’” Honore said. “A lot of good things have happened in terms of deploying the military to assist FEMA and the governors, and the use of the National Guard, which are [in] the governors’ toolbox to use them, and the sorting out of the logistics, even though it’s very cumbersome — started late.”
The dozen coronavirus cases reported in the United States two months ago have skyrocketed to nearly 600,000 this week. Honore blamed the Trump administration for not responding to incoming international travelers in the same way it responded to international cruise ship passengers.
“You saw the example of the contain and isolation with the ships. Obviously, what we should have done with those airplanes is those people coming out there should have been contained, isolated until they got tested before they were released,” Honore said, noting the federal agencies responsible for doing so do not need presidential authority to do that instead of telling airline passengers to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.
“Much pain and suffering possibly could have been avoided,” said Honore.
There are examples of the administration taking steps to limit entry from overseas. The White House announced on Jan. 31 it would block non-U.S. citizens from entering the country if they had visited China within the previous 14 days. On Feb. 29, it expanded the ban to include Iran. American citizens in China and Iran are allowed to return home but are directed to one of 11 U.S. airports for medical screenings before being allowed in. In March, foreigners traveling from Europe were prohibited from entering the country.
TSA requires airline employees at 280 non-U.S. airports that are considered last-point departure airports for people flying to America to ask passengers about their health and look at passports to ensure they have not been to one of the listed countries within the past 14 days.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
