The Infected Country

Hardly a single statement from the White House about the president’s coronavirus infection is reliable. The loss of trust is massive—and reaches far beyond Donald Trump.

When did the president’s oxygen levels drop? By what percentage? Which medications did Donald Trump receive and when? What do the CT scans and x-rays show, exactly? It is a national crisis when the U.S. president falls ill and is not in the White House. Daily medical updates are the rule, just like journalists who want to know all the details. After all, the nation’s ability to function depends on the president’s health status.

But on Sunday, no one in the U.S. could say for sure how Trump, who since Friday has been receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, is really doing. Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, and his team received questions from journalists. He provided information about the second dosage of the anti-viral medication remdesivir that the president had received. He reported that Trump had taken the steroid dexamethasone without having any acutely apparent side effects. The message: that the president was doing well that day and could possibly return to the White House the next day to continue his treatment there. But one can and must question whether this message is true, despite the many details. As recently as Saturday, the doctors had painted a very optimistic image that was foiled just minutes later by Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows.

When asked about this discrepancy, Conley responded that he had not wanted to share any information that could have directed the course of the disease in another direction. That could have implied that they wanted to conceal something—which “wasn’t necessarily true.” But it also was not necessarily false, according to his wording. And information that corresponds to the facts cannot steer the course of a disease. Thus, there is really no reason for transparent communication.

The back-and-forth shows once again how Trump has managed to almost completely destroy trust in his office in the last three and a half years. The White House is not a trustworthy source anymore. Three days after Trump’s coronavirus infection, only one thing seems clear: that the president has indeed been infected. When he fell ill, how seriously, and whether he is still capable of governing, as hastily published videos and a car ride before his supporters in front of the hospital would suggest, cannot be confirmed, despite the press conferences and statements.

The Constant Doubt

Politics are never guaranteed to be transparent. In this situation, too, it is not the case that every detail should be revealed to the public. It is about facts, about the simple truth of how the president is doing. Instead, there is more and more misleading information and many open questions. Metadata from pictures on Twitter of Trump in the hospital were analyzed and media outlets published “What We Do and Don’t Know” texts to get a better grasp on reality.

This constant doubt reaches far beyond Trump’s current disease and its course. It extends beyond the election that will take place in less than one month. Of course, one may hope that the loss of trust is attached to Trump the person. That a new president, if Joe Biden were to win, would be able to rectify it, the office and the country. But America has long been far removed from such simple solutions.

Many people in the country feel that this president confirms their skepticism and rejection of the state. They do not see the doubt that Trump unleashes with his lies and half-lies; they see the doubt that Trump sows in politics and the media. For them, the “deep state” and “fake news” are keywords that will long outlive Trump’s presidency. They are not dependent on one person; they are the expression of a fundamental stance toward a world that is viewed more as an enemy than a friend. And they were there well before Trump, as were ideological rifts concerning basically every social issue. Trump used it all to his advantage and is only too happy to accelerate it further. His negligent handling of the pandemic is the most dangerous and consequential expression of this.

Winning back trust in the Oval Office and the presidency is an immense challenge. No president, whatever his name or his party, will be able to overcome it alone. With their choice on Nov. 3, the citizens can take an important first step to confront the post-fact age of Trump and return to a credible administration. And then in order to be able to confront and believe each other, the people of the United States will have to continue for many steps further.