https://news.yahoo.com/trump-administration-privately-warned-wealthy-164359648.html
Igor Derysh
,Salon•October 15, 2020
The Trump administration publicly downplayed the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic while giving major Republican donors private warnings. The information helped elite traders "gain financial advantage during a chaotic three days when global markets were teetering," according to The New York Times.
President Donald Trump repeatedly downplayed the threat posed by the virus in February. He claimed on Feb. 24 that it was "very much under control" in the U.S., and the stock market was "starting to look very good to me."
That same day, Trump's economic team privately gave a less optimistic briefing to board members of the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank whose members often donate to Republican candidates.
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The stock market was already struggling as public health officials publicly contradicted the administration's rosy outlook, but investors "spotted the immediate significance" of the private messaging, according to The Times.
The president's aides appeared to be giving wealthy party donors an early warning of a potentially impactful contagion at a time when Mr. Trump was publicly insisting that the threat was nonexistent.
Some investors stocked up on toilet paper and other essential items before a mad rush caused nationwide shortages, according to The Times. Others decided to "short everything," or bet that certain stocks would fail, to profit from the collapse.
Callanan reportedly sent the email to Tepper, the owner of the Carolina Panthers and the prominent hedge fund Appaloosa Management, detailing the "level of concern" among officials and how "ill-prepared health agencies appeared to combat a pandemic."
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