White House was warned of potential pandemic disaster in September: Ex-Trump economist
Coronavirus in USA
Former Trump administration economist Todas Philipson has said his team alerted the White House about the dangers of a looming pandemic outbreak almost three months before coronavirus is believed to have made its way into the United States.
Philipson served three years as acting chairman of the administration's Council of Economic Advisers before stepping down in June to resume his teaching role at the University of Chicago. Philipson acknowledged testing positive for coronavirus less than a month before his White House departure, according to The Wall Street Journal.
On Friday, hetold CNN he co-authored and published a CEA report titled "Mitigating the Impact of Pandemic Influenza through Vaccine Innovation" that warned a pandemic disease could kill as many as half a million Americans and cause up to $3.79 trillion in damage to the US economy.
Trump has insisted that no one could have foreseen or prevented the coronavirus outbreak. And Philipson noted it's not uncommon for White House officials to disagree over what course of action the President should take on certain issues.
The contentious process then compelled Philipson to leave the administration roughly two months before he was scheduled to return to the University of Chicago.