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Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History
Instant #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller
From the Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta--the definitive account of the Trump administration's tragic mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the chaos, incompetence, and craven politicization that has led to more than a half million American deaths and counting.
Since the day Donald Trump was elected, his critics warned that an unexpected crisis would test the former reality-television host--and they predicted that the president would prove unable to meet the moment. In 2020, that crisis came to pass, with the outcomes more devastating and consequential than anyone dared to imagine. Nightmare Scenario is the complete story of Donald Trump's handling--and mishandling--of the COVID-19 catastrophe, during the period of January 2020 up to Election Day that year. Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta take us deep inside the White House, from the Situation Room to the Oval Office, to show how the members of the administration launched an all-out war against the health agencies, doctors, and scientific communities, all in their futile attempts to wish away the worst global pandemic in a century.
From the initial discovery of this new coronavirus, President Trump refused to take responsibility, disputed the recommendations of his own pandemic task force, claimed the virus would "just disappear," mocked advocates for safe-health practices, and encouraged his base and the entire GOP to ignore or rescind public health safety measures. Abutaleb and Paletta reveal the numerous times officials tried to dissuade Trump from following his worst impulses as he defied recommendations from the experts and even members of his own administration. And they show how the petty backstabbing and rivalries among cabinet members, staff, and aides created a toxic environment of blame, sycophancy, and political pressure that did profound damage to the public health institutions that Americans needed the most during this time. Even after an outbreak in the fall that swept through the White House and infected Trump himself, he remained defiant in his approach to the virus, very likely costing him his own reelection.
Based on exhaustive reporting and hundreds of hours of interviews from inside the disaster zone at all levels of authority, Nightmare Scenario is a riveting account of how the United States government failed its people as never before, a tragedy whose devastating aftershocks will linger and be felt by generations to come.
From the Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta--the definitive account of the Trump administration's tragic mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the chaos, incompetence, and craven politicization that has led to more than a half million American deaths and counting.
Since the day Donald Trump was elected, his critics warned that an unexpected crisis would test the former reality-television host--and they predicted that the president would prove unable to meet the moment. In 2020, that crisis came to pass, with the outcomes more devastating and consequential than anyone dared to imagine. Nightmare Scenario is the complete story of Donald Trump's handling--and mishandling--of the COVID-19 catastrophe, during the period of January 2020 up to Election Day that year. Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta take us deep inside the White House, from the Situation Room to the Oval Office, to show how the members of the administration launched an all-out war against the health agencies, doctors, and scientific communities, all in their futile attempts to wish away the worst global pandemic in a century.
From the initial discovery of this new coronavirus, President Trump refused to take responsibility, disputed the recommendations of his own pandemic task force, claimed the virus would "just disappear," mocked advocates for safe-health practices, and encouraged his base and the entire GOP to ignore or rescind public health safety measures. Abutaleb and Paletta reveal the numerous times officials tried to dissuade Trump from following his worst impulses as he defied recommendations from the experts and even members of his own administration. And they show how the petty backstabbing and rivalries among cabinet members, staff, and aides created a toxic environment of blame, sycophancy, and political pressure that did profound damage to the public health institutions that Americans needed the most during this time. Even after an outbreak in the fall that swept through the White House and infected Trump himself, he remained defiant in his approach to the virus, very likely costing him his own reelection.
Based on exhaustive reporting and hundreds of hours of interviews from inside the disaster zone at all levels of authority, Nightmare Scenario is a riveting account of how the United States government failed its people as never before, a tragedy whose devastating aftershocks will linger and be felt by generations to come.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published June 29, 2021
361 people are currently reading
1522 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 199 reviews
July 15, 2021
This is a comprehensive, clear, fast paced and infuriating presentation of the bungled handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The combination of the worst pandemic since 1918 and the worst president the US has ever had could not turn out well. It didn’t help that the country is full of science-deniers who are unwilling to sacrifice a little for the common good. A nightmare scenario indeed.
The book tracks how the federal government dealt with the spread of the virus from its first known appearance in the US through the end of the Trump administration. The lack of preparedness, coordination and cooperation was tragic. There were so many people running around like chickens with their heads cut off in an attempt to make the president look good. Fortunately, there were a few non-politicians who refused to stay on message. We can only hope that when the next pandemic hits it will be handled with more intelligence, empathy, transparency, accountability and honesty.
I also read Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response by Andy Slavitt about the same subject. “Nightmare Scenario” is a much better book, so if you are going to read just one, read this one. The narration by Kirsten Potter of the audiobook is also excellent.
The book tracks how the federal government dealt with the spread of the virus from its first known appearance in the US through the end of the Trump administration. The lack of preparedness, coordination and cooperation was tragic. There were so many people running around like chickens with their heads cut off in an attempt to make the president look good. Fortunately, there were a few non-politicians who refused to stay on message. We can only hope that when the next pandemic hits it will be handled with more intelligence, empathy, transparency, accountability and honesty.
I also read Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response by Andy Slavitt about the same subject. “Nightmare Scenario” is a much better book, so if you are going to read just one, read this one. The narration by Kirsten Potter of the audiobook is also excellent.
August 13, 2021
An extremely detailed account of what happens when you let a megalomaniacal criminal sociopath with a single-digit IQ occupy the White House.
June 29, 2021
Okay, we’ve reached the end of the Trump administration and the expose books are coming. There were several that I preordered, but this one, “Nightmare Scenario”, by Washington Post reporters, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta, is the one I’ve been looking forward to reading. And it doesn’t disappoint.
Abutaleb and Paletta know how to tell a story. They start at the beginning of the Covid epidemic (strange to think we don’t know the end yet) and write about both personalities and disease. The personalities include medical, political, and business and the interactions between them. Tempers are frayed, advise ignored, and people are dying at an astounding rate. The authors write as if they’re in the room where it happened. This is an excellent book for those of us who want to know “more”.
Abutaleb and Paletta know how to tell a story. They start at the beginning of the Covid epidemic (strange to think we don’t know the end yet) and write about both personalities and disease. The personalities include medical, political, and business and the interactions between them. Tempers are frayed, advise ignored, and people are dying at an astounding rate. The authors write as if they’re in the room where it happened. This is an excellent book for those of us who want to know “more”.
July 23, 2021
Intriguing and thoroughly reported. Lots of inside information here, generally from people who are trying to make themselves look better. Both reporters do a good job of presenting complex information, and both are willing to admit that they are certain some sources lied to them.
To me, the most interesting points were:
• Most people in the Trump administration saw COVID-19 as a messaging problem, not a public health problem. So instead of confronting the whole issue head-on, they dealt with whatever the media was making a big fuss over at the time.
• For example, the coronavirus task force spent weeks debating what to do about cruise ship passengers because that was such a compelling story in the news media. They spent very little time considering what to do about the far greater numbers of possibly infected people flying into the United States, or the large numbers of people flying into Canada and Mexico and then driving into the United States.
• Alex Azar used to love to tell people that he was the most qualified HHS secretary ever. But shortly before the pandemic emerged in China, Azar convinced Trump to allow a ban on flavored Juul pods to go through. (Azar and many other experts thought the flavors would cause under-18s to become heavy nicotine users.) There was a tremendous backlash to this ban among Trump's base—bad enough that Trump screamed he would lose the election because of it. So because Trump was angry at Azar, he refused to listen to him about this new, worrisome infection in Wuhan. He either screamed at Azar, hung up on him, or ignored him.
"There are three possibilities here, he thought. This could be anthrax. There’s an antibiotic I can take for a month and a half, and I’ll probably be fine. This could be a hoax, someone trying to scare me. I’ll be fine. But if it’s ricin, that’s bad. There is no antidote." —Dr. Anthony Fauci, after opening an envelope that contained white powder
To me, the most interesting points were:
• Most people in the Trump administration saw COVID-19 as a messaging problem, not a public health problem. So instead of confronting the whole issue head-on, they dealt with whatever the media was making a big fuss over at the time.
• For example, the coronavirus task force spent weeks debating what to do about cruise ship passengers because that was such a compelling story in the news media. They spent very little time considering what to do about the far greater numbers of possibly infected people flying into the United States, or the large numbers of people flying into Canada and Mexico and then driving into the United States.
• Alex Azar used to love to tell people that he was the most qualified HHS secretary ever. But shortly before the pandemic emerged in China, Azar convinced Trump to allow a ban on flavored Juul pods to go through. (Azar and many other experts thought the flavors would cause under-18s to become heavy nicotine users.) There was a tremendous backlash to this ban among Trump's base—bad enough that Trump screamed he would lose the election because of it. So because Trump was angry at Azar, he refused to listen to him about this new, worrisome infection in Wuhan. He either screamed at Azar, hung up on him, or ignored him.
"There are three possibilities here, he thought. This could be anthrax. There’s an antibiotic I can take for a month and a half, and I’ll probably be fine. This could be a hoax, someone trying to scare me. I’ll be fine. But if it’s ricin, that’s bad. There is no antidote." —Dr. Anthony Fauci, after opening an envelope that contained white powder
July 8, 2021
For those of us who live in a world defined by facts and not an alternative universe it is clear that over thirty-three million people have contracted Covid-19 and over 600,000 have died from the disease in the United States. From the time of the first case to our current drive to vaccinate all Americans there have been a number of predictions made by the Trump administration as to how to deal with the disease. At one point President Trump said it would be gone once the weather warmed up, then it would be done by Easter, then all we needed to take was the drug hydroxychloroquine or inject ourselves with bleach. These absurdities would be comical if not for the fact that people took Trump’s words seriously as how they should proceed, but what was even more ludicrous was the Trump administration’s overall strategy to cope with the disease. In Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta, both Washington Post reporters’ new book, NIGHTMARE SCENARIO: INSIDE THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC THAT CHANGED HISTORY the authors accurately convey the inner workings of the Trump presidency and how they produced a strategy that exacerbated the effect of the pandemic on American citizens and still impacts the government’s response under President Biden.
One could argue that it has all been said before. The lies, misinformation, and the stupidity just to secure reelection. We all lived through it and despite Fox News and other obscure outlets of right wing media, most news organizations have explained what has occurred as have a number of important books. However, none have gone into the detail and sourcing that Abutaleb and Paletta have put together and therefore if we want to become upset once again because of the crassness of the Trump administration and its dear leader there is a formidable volume that is hard to question, though the likes of Tucker Carlson and his minions certainly will.
The authors have taken a deep dive into the events, decisions, personalities and results of decision making that have led to the catastrophic response to Covid-19 by the United States. They hold no punches, and they dig up information beyond what has been reported in the media for the last year and a half. Trump did not act alone in this process as he was enabled by advisers, cabinet members, friends, and family who shared his view about the virus and in a number of cases exhibited even greater disdain for the government’s scientific and public health experts than the president himself. Decisions revolved around unforced errors, petty rivalries, and a perverted attitude toward the virus that devastated the government – the key being the assault on science by Trump and his minions.
From the outset the United States was at a disadvantage in dealing with the virus as China, despite Trump’s praise of President Xi was not forthcoming with valuable information that might have assisted in containing the disease. One of the key figures was Matt Pottinger, Deputy National Security Head who had witnessed the Chinese response in dealing with SARS in 2003 as a member of the Bush administration and as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who called for a travel ban with China and was ignored. Trump had just made a trade deal with China and was up for reelection and did not want to rock the boat. As the disease proliferated in January 2020, 1300 flights from China entered the United States carrying 381,000 passengers. The situation was exacerbated by the lack of cursory coordination by the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, other agencies, and the inability of the heads of those agencies to come to agreement and leave their egos at the door.
The authors present many examples of Trump’s modus operandi of pitting aides against each other and believed that the virus would magically disappear if he willed it so. Aides and advisors were completely unprepared for what was coming and focused more on their own survival as opposed to what was best for the country. Once the concept of asymptomatic spread emerged the dysfunction and disagreements mirrored what would later occur over the importance of masks, testing, ventilators, and the overall messages from the Trump administration cascaded throughout the media along with the negativity put forth by the likes of Fox News.
The authors have written a carefully crafted narrative of the steps or lack of steps taken by the Trump administration from the outset of the crisis until January 2021. It relies on numerous interviews of government officials, culling of emails and other internal documents, along with speaking with people off the record. The result is that the authors follow the progression of the virus as each chapter heading contains the date, number of cases and deaths that resulted from the lack of the government’s response. They followed up the figures by discussing the decision making process in confronting the virus for that period of time. The chapters that deal with cruise ships which Trump wanted kept at sea or possibly sending people to Guantanamo to keep virus numbers down, the lack of PPE and other supplies to fight the virus, the misinformation put out by the Trump administration, the need by aides and health officials to assuage Trump’s ego as he did not want to deal with the virus as he focused on his reelection, and Trump’s personal comments concerning those who did not kow tow to his viewpoints all reflect the disaster that was the US response to the virus.
All the important personalities are present. Robert Redfield, the head of the CDC was unprepared to deal with Trump’s “team of vipers.” Jared Kushner, the second most powerful decision maker next to Trump would bring in inexperienced people to deal with the lack of PPE and ventilators then when he became bored would move on to the Middle East or other issues. Deborah Birx, the White House Covid-19 Coordinator who did her best behind the scenes to move Trump in the right direction. Dr. Anthony Fauci, served as the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, became a foil for Trump who resented his popularity. Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist who mirrored Trump’s views concerning opening the country and its economic impact was brought into the West Wing. Stephen Hahn, FDA head tried to cope with the pressure in approving certain “cures” for the disease. Scott Azar, the head of HHS whose main goal after warning about the virus was to keep his job. Peter Navarro, the bombastic assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing whose commentary was always over the top. Mark Meadows, Trump’s Chief of Staff whose views were a detriment to the health of the American people. Vice President Pence who privately seemed to agree with public health officials, but publicly fawned over Trump throughout. The authors integrate others into the narrative as the US fell deeper and deeper into the viral abyss.
For Trump everything seemed to be about messaging. Trump and his minions saw the pandemic more as a matter of public relations than of public health. Reelection was his mantra and any information that was not helpful for that process was discarded. As Trump lost interest in the virus by June 2020, he turned nastier toward those who disagreed with him, his rhetoric particularly after the death of George Floyd became more racist. He would resort to threats of violence and prodded his supporters to go after Black Lives Matter protestors and used federal troops and police to create a photo op at Lafayette Square. Further, Trump’s desire to open the country up economically and politically would lead to super spreader events like his rally in Tulsa, OK and other areas. For Trump it was all about the economy and his reelection as his fear about appearing weak. The end result is that the disease spiked from Memorial Day, 2020 throughout the summer, and the violence that Trump encouraged spread throughout the country. Trump weaponized the virus as a tool that exacerbated existing divisions in our country as a means of retaining power for himself.
One of the most important discussions the authors raise was the link between the virus, the death of George Floyd, and the racial impact of what was occurring throughout the pandemic. It is clear that the virus impacted brown and black citizens more than whites. Due to the socio-economic makeup of the country, i.e., more minorities worked in jobs like meatpacking that spiked the disease, 33% of cases involved Hispanics, 22% of cases involved blacks resulting in half the victims were brown and black when they only made up 30% of the population. In the end brown and black people were three times as likely as whites to contract the virus!
The authors cover every aspect of the Covid crisis. Trump’s obsession with hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, the use of bleach, magical fantasy, pressure to approve vaccines as the election approached, and conspiracy theories are all present. In addition, the authors weave the threats against public health officials, the bifurcation of the country over mask use as a political statement for and against Trump, the personal price paid by those who did their best to stem the disease, the errors made by public health officials and their attempts to overcome those mistakes, and many other aspects of the crisis are on full display. The authors have written the most comprehensive study of what transpired from the outbreak of the disease through the beginning of 2021 and all Americans should consider what they have to say because another “nightmare scenario” is certainly something we will have to cope with in the future.
One could argue that it has all been said before. The lies, misinformation, and the stupidity just to secure reelection. We all lived through it and despite Fox News and other obscure outlets of right wing media, most news organizations have explained what has occurred as have a number of important books. However, none have gone into the detail and sourcing that Abutaleb and Paletta have put together and therefore if we want to become upset once again because of the crassness of the Trump administration and its dear leader there is a formidable volume that is hard to question, though the likes of Tucker Carlson and his minions certainly will.
The authors have taken a deep dive into the events, decisions, personalities and results of decision making that have led to the catastrophic response to Covid-19 by the United States. They hold no punches, and they dig up information beyond what has been reported in the media for the last year and a half. Trump did not act alone in this process as he was enabled by advisers, cabinet members, friends, and family who shared his view about the virus and in a number of cases exhibited even greater disdain for the government’s scientific and public health experts than the president himself. Decisions revolved around unforced errors, petty rivalries, and a perverted attitude toward the virus that devastated the government – the key being the assault on science by Trump and his minions.
From the outset the United States was at a disadvantage in dealing with the virus as China, despite Trump’s praise of President Xi was not forthcoming with valuable information that might have assisted in containing the disease. One of the key figures was Matt Pottinger, Deputy National Security Head who had witnessed the Chinese response in dealing with SARS in 2003 as a member of the Bush administration and as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who called for a travel ban with China and was ignored. Trump had just made a trade deal with China and was up for reelection and did not want to rock the boat. As the disease proliferated in January 2020, 1300 flights from China entered the United States carrying 381,000 passengers. The situation was exacerbated by the lack of cursory coordination by the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, other agencies, and the inability of the heads of those agencies to come to agreement and leave their egos at the door.
The authors present many examples of Trump’s modus operandi of pitting aides against each other and believed that the virus would magically disappear if he willed it so. Aides and advisors were completely unprepared for what was coming and focused more on their own survival as opposed to what was best for the country. Once the concept of asymptomatic spread emerged the dysfunction and disagreements mirrored what would later occur over the importance of masks, testing, ventilators, and the overall messages from the Trump administration cascaded throughout the media along with the negativity put forth by the likes of Fox News.
The authors have written a carefully crafted narrative of the steps or lack of steps taken by the Trump administration from the outset of the crisis until January 2021. It relies on numerous interviews of government officials, culling of emails and other internal documents, along with speaking with people off the record. The result is that the authors follow the progression of the virus as each chapter heading contains the date, number of cases and deaths that resulted from the lack of the government’s response. They followed up the figures by discussing the decision making process in confronting the virus for that period of time. The chapters that deal with cruise ships which Trump wanted kept at sea or possibly sending people to Guantanamo to keep virus numbers down, the lack of PPE and other supplies to fight the virus, the misinformation put out by the Trump administration, the need by aides and health officials to assuage Trump’s ego as he did not want to deal with the virus as he focused on his reelection, and Trump’s personal comments concerning those who did not kow tow to his viewpoints all reflect the disaster that was the US response to the virus.
All the important personalities are present. Robert Redfield, the head of the CDC was unprepared to deal with Trump’s “team of vipers.” Jared Kushner, the second most powerful decision maker next to Trump would bring in inexperienced people to deal with the lack of PPE and ventilators then when he became bored would move on to the Middle East or other issues. Deborah Birx, the White House Covid-19 Coordinator who did her best behind the scenes to move Trump in the right direction. Dr. Anthony Fauci, served as the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, became a foil for Trump who resented his popularity. Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist who mirrored Trump’s views concerning opening the country and its economic impact was brought into the West Wing. Stephen Hahn, FDA head tried to cope with the pressure in approving certain “cures” for the disease. Scott Azar, the head of HHS whose main goal after warning about the virus was to keep his job. Peter Navarro, the bombastic assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing whose commentary was always over the top. Mark Meadows, Trump’s Chief of Staff whose views were a detriment to the health of the American people. Vice President Pence who privately seemed to agree with public health officials, but publicly fawned over Trump throughout. The authors integrate others into the narrative as the US fell deeper and deeper into the viral abyss.
For Trump everything seemed to be about messaging. Trump and his minions saw the pandemic more as a matter of public relations than of public health. Reelection was his mantra and any information that was not helpful for that process was discarded. As Trump lost interest in the virus by June 2020, he turned nastier toward those who disagreed with him, his rhetoric particularly after the death of George Floyd became more racist. He would resort to threats of violence and prodded his supporters to go after Black Lives Matter protestors and used federal troops and police to create a photo op at Lafayette Square. Further, Trump’s desire to open the country up economically and politically would lead to super spreader events like his rally in Tulsa, OK and other areas. For Trump it was all about the economy and his reelection as his fear about appearing weak. The end result is that the disease spiked from Memorial Day, 2020 throughout the summer, and the violence that Trump encouraged spread throughout the country. Trump weaponized the virus as a tool that exacerbated existing divisions in our country as a means of retaining power for himself.
One of the most important discussions the authors raise was the link between the virus, the death of George Floyd, and the racial impact of what was occurring throughout the pandemic. It is clear that the virus impacted brown and black citizens more than whites. Due to the socio-economic makeup of the country, i.e., more minorities worked in jobs like meatpacking that spiked the disease, 33% of cases involved Hispanics, 22% of cases involved blacks resulting in half the victims were brown and black when they only made up 30% of the population. In the end brown and black people were three times as likely as whites to contract the virus!
The authors cover every aspect of the Covid crisis. Trump’s obsession with hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, the use of bleach, magical fantasy, pressure to approve vaccines as the election approached, and conspiracy theories are all present. In addition, the authors weave the threats against public health officials, the bifurcation of the country over mask use as a political statement for and against Trump, the personal price paid by those who did their best to stem the disease, the errors made by public health officials and their attempts to overcome those mistakes, and many other aspects of the crisis are on full display. The authors have written the most comprehensive study of what transpired from the outbreak of the disease through the beginning of 2021 and all Americans should consider what they have to say because another “nightmare scenario” is certainly something we will have to cope with in the future.
July 4, 2021
"Nightmare Scenario" is everything that I wish Andy Slavitt's "Preventable" was. It is the first, in-depth, historical draft of the COVID-19 pandemic that changed the world, told from the perspective of the Americans and how it ravaged the richest country on the planet.
I say this in all of my reviews of historical and political books, but I'm something of a History Buff and an active politico. I'm always watching the news. So, as I watched this pandemic unfold in real time, you would have thought I'd have known everything there was to know about it. However, this book pulls back the curtain on what was actually going on in the highest levels of government as they tried, and failed, to stem the outbreak.
This is a story about a perfect storm - a once in a lifetime pandemic that struck at the most inopportune time in American History, when we had a Commander in Chief who doesn't believe in science and was more concerned with saving his floundering re-election campaign; when Republicans, fearing his base, acquiesced to all of his insane decisions because they held the majority, and Democrats were powerless to stop it; when inter-department and agency coordination throughout government was non-existent, and filled with people engaging in power struggles; when the nation's foremost doctors saw the trainwreck coming from a mile away and did their damndest to stop it, against all odds; and when the United States was more polarized than any other time since the Civil War, and - not used to being asked to temporarily give up certain liberties for their fellow citizens - didn't band together when it counted most.
This behind the scene account of the horrific Coronavirus response was sourced by officials in the highest levels of the Trump administration, the doctors involved, and others on the front lines, and as such, the authors were able to weave a compelling account of what happened day-to-day, hour-to-hour during 2020. For me, the most fascinating players to read about were Dr. Anthony "Tony" Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, and how their smarts and the respect they've garnered over the years were pitted against an uncaring President Trump. Indeed, the chapters dedicated to the two doctors and their biographies were the most fascinating, and made me see them in a new light. For example, while Fauci is undoubtedly an American Hero, in the early days of the virus he made some tragic miscalculations. And while it appeared, to many watching the news, that Dr. Birx was acquiescing to Trump's every whim and ignoring the science, apparently she was trying to walk the line of flattering the president and sticking to the facts so that he wouldn't oust her, fearful of who he would get to replace her when she and Fauci were really the only bulwark between a lying president and a panicking American public. It made me sympathize with both more, and I think history will look kindly upon them and their efforts to literally save the country.
All in all, this is an excellent first draft of History - one that will undoubtedly be studied for years to come in universities. And, most importantly, like all excellent drafts of History - and all excellent novels, period - it is written in such a compelling fashion that you won't want to put it down, even having lived through it. I highly recommend this riveting account of the pandemic we just lived through and, for that reason, I'm giving this book five-out-of-five stars. Hopefully, future generations will learn from our mistakes the next time a pandemic rages across the world, and take quicker, bolder, data-based action to prevent as many deaths as possible.
I say this in all of my reviews of historical and political books, but I'm something of a History Buff and an active politico. I'm always watching the news. So, as I watched this pandemic unfold in real time, you would have thought I'd have known everything there was to know about it. However, this book pulls back the curtain on what was actually going on in the highest levels of government as they tried, and failed, to stem the outbreak.
This is a story about a perfect storm - a once in a lifetime pandemic that struck at the most inopportune time in American History, when we had a Commander in Chief who doesn't believe in science and was more concerned with saving his floundering re-election campaign; when Republicans, fearing his base, acquiesced to all of his insane decisions because they held the majority, and Democrats were powerless to stop it; when inter-department and agency coordination throughout government was non-existent, and filled with people engaging in power struggles; when the nation's foremost doctors saw the trainwreck coming from a mile away and did their damndest to stop it, against all odds; and when the United States was more polarized than any other time since the Civil War, and - not used to being asked to temporarily give up certain liberties for their fellow citizens - didn't band together when it counted most.
This behind the scene account of the horrific Coronavirus response was sourced by officials in the highest levels of the Trump administration, the doctors involved, and others on the front lines, and as such, the authors were able to weave a compelling account of what happened day-to-day, hour-to-hour during 2020. For me, the most fascinating players to read about were Dr. Anthony "Tony" Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, and how their smarts and the respect they've garnered over the years were pitted against an uncaring President Trump. Indeed, the chapters dedicated to the two doctors and their biographies were the most fascinating, and made me see them in a new light. For example, while Fauci is undoubtedly an American Hero, in the early days of the virus he made some tragic miscalculations. And while it appeared, to many watching the news, that Dr. Birx was acquiescing to Trump's every whim and ignoring the science, apparently she was trying to walk the line of flattering the president and sticking to the facts so that he wouldn't oust her, fearful of who he would get to replace her when she and Fauci were really the only bulwark between a lying president and a panicking American public. It made me sympathize with both more, and I think history will look kindly upon them and their efforts to literally save the country.
All in all, this is an excellent first draft of History - one that will undoubtedly be studied for years to come in universities. And, most importantly, like all excellent drafts of History - and all excellent novels, period - it is written in such a compelling fashion that you won't want to put it down, even having lived through it. I highly recommend this riveting account of the pandemic we just lived through and, for that reason, I'm giving this book five-out-of-five stars. Hopefully, future generations will learn from our mistakes the next time a pandemic rages across the world, and take quicker, bolder, data-based action to prevent as many deaths as possible.
September 14, 2021
What the hell was I thinking reading this while we're still in the thick of it all?
This is an exhaustively researched book, made all the more impressive by the fact that these events, if you want to be conservative, are so incredibly recent. If you want to get more accurate you'd probably say these events are literally current, and that a new chapter could probably be added every two weeks until this would become the longest book ever written.
What you stand to get from NIGHTMARE SCENARIO depends upon your daily news intake. If you're a cable news junkie there's a lot of this stuff you've been hearing for months already. But even for those readers there are moments of true "WTF?" that sneak up on you, especially the later stuff surrounding Rudy Giuliani and his approach to denying the election outcome, and some pretty dark details about Trump's bout with COVID. It's a rather behemoth tome to wade through just to get to those nuggets, but the writing is so fluid and the research so staggeringly complete that you likely won't mind.
A word of caution, though: I actually regret reading it at this point in time. I feel like, as urgent as the subject is, a book such as this demands a bit of breathing room (so to speak -- ugh). I guess your mileage will vary depending on how you've been coping with COVID life: if you're basically back to "normal" and feel like the worst is in your rear view mirror, go in headfirst and appreciate NIGHTMARE SCENARIO for the feat it is. If like me you're still eyeing the near future with at best wariness and at worst existential dread, though, you might want to wait until your third vaccination and some comforting projections before cracking it open.
"We import goods. We are not going to import a virus. No, why don't we send it somewhere. Don't we have an island that we own?"
The room was silent. Where was Trump going with this?
He continued, "What about Guantanamo?"
Everyone froze.
He was suggesting sending all of the sick passengers, most of whom were elderly, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where there was a US naval base.
-p59
This is an exhaustively researched book, made all the more impressive by the fact that these events, if you want to be conservative, are so incredibly recent. If you want to get more accurate you'd probably say these events are literally current, and that a new chapter could probably be added every two weeks until this would become the longest book ever written.
What you stand to get from NIGHTMARE SCENARIO depends upon your daily news intake. If you're a cable news junkie there's a lot of this stuff you've been hearing for months already. But even for those readers there are moments of true "WTF?" that sneak up on you, especially the later stuff surrounding Rudy Giuliani and his approach to denying the election outcome, and some pretty dark details about Trump's bout with COVID. It's a rather behemoth tome to wade through just to get to those nuggets, but the writing is so fluid and the research so staggeringly complete that you likely won't mind.
A word of caution, though: I actually regret reading it at this point in time. I feel like, as urgent as the subject is, a book such as this demands a bit of breathing room (so to speak -- ugh). I guess your mileage will vary depending on how you've been coping with COVID life: if you're basically back to "normal" and feel like the worst is in your rear view mirror, go in headfirst and appreciate NIGHTMARE SCENARIO for the feat it is. If like me you're still eyeing the near future with at best wariness and at worst existential dread, though, you might want to wait until your third vaccination and some comforting projections before cracking it open.
October 11, 2023
Very interesting. Even if public health isn't your thing, this book is still super fascinating as well as infuriating. I enjoyed learning about the people behind the response, people I had heard of like Fauci, and people I hadn't heard of like Hahn, Birx, and Azar. This pandemic would have been difficult to handle for any administration, but the Trump administration like reallllllly fumbled the ball. I recommend!!
August 2, 2021
This is the second 500+ page nonfiction book I've read about the American response to the coronavirus. And this book is very good. It's well researched and competently written. But I'm going to stop there. Because while this book is undeniably very good, Lawrence Wright's The Plague Year is better. If you read only one (like a normal human), I recommend his.
June 30, 2021
Notes: For the first three years of the Trump administration I contended that George W. Bush remained a substantially worse president than him, and that the whitewashing of Bush’s legacy was dangerous and bizarre. While the latter statement remains true (today’s news of Donald Rumsfeld’s death, a vile and incompetent man who should be remembered as one of the most consequentially terrible public figures of the modern era, has led to many reminders of why that is), the fourth year of Trump’s presidency pushed him down to last place. This book fails to capture the historical scale of the catastrophe in favor of the detached tone common to political reporting, where matters of life and death are treated as having the stakes of high-level amateur athletics. At times a perspective does come through, but it’s rather shocking to read a 500-page exposé of the avoidable death of half a million Americans that’s largely devoid of moral outrage. It’s otherwise a competent enough retelling of the pandemic year in the White House, but there isn’t enough new information (in fact, with the exception of a nuggets here and there, I think the only wholly new episode is the behind-the-scenes look at Trump’s bout with the virus that was excerpted in Wapo) to justify its length or sloppy editing.
July 2, 2021
3.5 stars. Nothing much new here. Just ok.
abandoned
September 21, 2021I will try again another day, Got distracted and the library wanted it back.
Read
August 15, 2021Depressing but it sure explains a lot.
July 6, 2021
Dispassionate. All the more devastating because dispassionate. Even the still-revered scientists come in for their share of criticism but really it comes down to the well-documented, willful failures of the former occupant of the Oval Office, his sycophantic enablers, and his “free dumb” loving cult. This first rough draft of history damns them all with meticulously researched evidence. Will we as a people learn from this?
July 18, 2021
The American response, failure actually, to the Covid 19 Pandemic was beyond incompetent, it was criminal and the result is hundreds of thousands who have unnecessarily died. If ever there was a reason to fight against libertarian and evangelical values infecting the US Government, then this is as clear and precise evidence as is possible.
The book takes us step-by-step through the ordeal of the Trump administration, their bungling, internal squabbling, the idiotic concept of how to treat an airborne virus and politicising of mask-wearing.
Fox's Hannity had more influence on Trump than America's best medical scientists. When a country is run by racists, then minorities suffer. When conspiracy theories are taken as gospel, hundreds of thousands die and millions will be worse off.
But the lack of response and mismanagement was not just pervasive in this one area. There are dozens of crimes trump should have been impeached fo0r yet the right continued and still supports, the insane theories of right-wing nutters. The country has suffered from the fake over truth, myth over science era. And Nightmare Scenario chronologically documents what went on behind the press conferences and meetings.
I now have a better understanding of what Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci faced with this dysfunctional chaotic and political partisanship biased administration. I do not accept how they played this, but I understand the exceptional pressure exerted by the Trump storm troopers. And I am not at all shocked.
A lesson no one needed: If you vote for fools, expect the worse.
The book takes us step-by-step through the ordeal of the Trump administration, their bungling, internal squabbling, the idiotic concept of how to treat an airborne virus and politicising of mask-wearing.
Fox's Hannity had more influence on Trump than America's best medical scientists. When a country is run by racists, then minorities suffer. When conspiracy theories are taken as gospel, hundreds of thousands die and millions will be worse off.
But the lack of response and mismanagement was not just pervasive in this one area. There are dozens of crimes trump should have been impeached fo0r yet the right continued and still supports, the insane theories of right-wing nutters. The country has suffered from the fake over truth, myth over science era. And Nightmare Scenario chronologically documents what went on behind the press conferences and meetings.
I now have a better understanding of what Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci faced with this dysfunctional chaotic and political partisanship biased administration. I do not accept how they played this, but I understand the exceptional pressure exerted by the Trump storm troopers. And I am not at all shocked.
A lesson no one needed: If you vote for fools, expect the worse.
May 18, 2022
There were moments during 2020 where I, a hardened partisan voter, felt that COVID press was too harsh on team Trump. The authors even highlight that a pandemic would be hard for any president. But Nightmare Scenario really paints the full picture of incompetence of the Trump team.
They were so uneven, relying constantly on intuition and bad science to guide policy. And every decision was tainted by the filter of politics.
Trump was the worst leader to be helming control during a world wide pathogen.
They were so uneven, relying constantly on intuition and bad science to guide policy. And every decision was tainted by the filter of politics.
Trump was the worst leader to be helming control during a world wide pathogen.
December 2, 2021
I would give this book five stars, but the subject matter was so infuriating, that it made it difficult to read. Yes, I knew this was happening when it was happening, but having it laid out like this, in a timeline, was very informative. So glad they did all of this research so soon, and did not wait for the "end of the pandemic" - this was just about 2020. Excellent contemporary reporting, but it's going to make you really angry when you read it.
October 27, 2021
I promised myself I wouldn't read any more books about the weak, unintelligent pathetic excuse for a president that is and was Trump, but I am also deeply fascinated by pandemics in general, and the ongoing COVID crisis in particular. I am also extremely interested in history and it seemed that reading a history of an event so fresh in the memory, covering the pandemic still raging across the Globe, would be useful.
Having lived with and observed the Trump Administration's abject failure to tell the truth about COVID and coordinate any meaningful response, it was useful to be reminded of all the missteps, of which there are myriad examples. This book, although long at over 400 pages, is very easy to read and takes us through the players and the key milestones in quite some detail. Most of these things I remember vividly and it is painful to be reminded of them.
It is a straightforward account and since I deplore everything about the Trump years, I am naturally on the side of the author who exposes the in fighting, the narcissistic approach that underpins everything Trump does, the vile characters with whom he surrounded himself and the craven approach of his sycophants. However the issue with writing a history so soon after the events is that one lacks the perspective a bit of time can bring. In other words the pandemic is still ongoing and the Delta variant is still killing over 1000 American's a day. Despite the success of the vaccines, the reluctance of many to take it isn't covered at all here (maybe it came after the writing) and that will be a key factor once we look back at this pandemic over time.
It was a good, relatively fast read and it will be interesting to see if, in the next year or two, it merits another edition to bring the reader up to speed as to what happened after Trump left office, and whether the Biden Administration makes strides towards implementing better systems, procedures, resources and protocols to tackle the next pandemic which, everyone seems to agree, is inevitable.
Having lived with and observed the Trump Administration's abject failure to tell the truth about COVID and coordinate any meaningful response, it was useful to be reminded of all the missteps, of which there are myriad examples. This book, although long at over 400 pages, is very easy to read and takes us through the players and the key milestones in quite some detail. Most of these things I remember vividly and it is painful to be reminded of them.
It is a straightforward account and since I deplore everything about the Trump years, I am naturally on the side of the author who exposes the in fighting, the narcissistic approach that underpins everything Trump does, the vile characters with whom he surrounded himself and the craven approach of his sycophants. However the issue with writing a history so soon after the events is that one lacks the perspective a bit of time can bring. In other words the pandemic is still ongoing and the Delta variant is still killing over 1000 American's a day. Despite the success of the vaccines, the reluctance of many to take it isn't covered at all here (maybe it came after the writing) and that will be a key factor once we look back at this pandemic over time.
It was a good, relatively fast read and it will be interesting to see if, in the next year or two, it merits another edition to bring the reader up to speed as to what happened after Trump left office, and whether the Biden Administration makes strides towards implementing better systems, procedures, resources and protocols to tackle the next pandemic which, everyone seems to agree, is inevitable.
January 5, 2024
I listened to this in audiobook form and I would recommend that for others.
During the height of the pandemic, I was studying in Canada and got to watch the US unfold from afar. It often felt like looking into an alternate dimension seeing how freely friends and family were able to live while I was several weeks into a lockdown. My American citizenship however did benefit me however because I was able to get a second dose sooner than my Canadian counterparts. The one time I crossed the border during these lockdowns I got such a culture shock I was stunned and speechless for the first couple of days.
I lost family to COVID-19 just so shortly before the vaccines were available and I still have not fully processed this. I’m not sure how seriously my family may have taken this virus had that not happened, while they were never fully MAGA indoctrinated, bottles of trump champaign littered a distant relatives home after he won.
This book does a good job of illustrating how ill prepared the country and leaders were for this particular crisis and how the politicization of it snowballed into greater crises of lack of faith in institutions and how that politicization and lack of faith led to mass death.
I think this book is good, maybe feels like it leans a little tooooo into #resist with how much it paints positive portraits of those who served as a foil to trump and all, but maybe that’s unavoidable.
During the height of the pandemic, I was studying in Canada and got to watch the US unfold from afar. It often felt like looking into an alternate dimension seeing how freely friends and family were able to live while I was several weeks into a lockdown. My American citizenship however did benefit me however because I was able to get a second dose sooner than my Canadian counterparts. The one time I crossed the border during these lockdowns I got such a culture shock I was stunned and speechless for the first couple of days.
I lost family to COVID-19 just so shortly before the vaccines were available and I still have not fully processed this. I’m not sure how seriously my family may have taken this virus had that not happened, while they were never fully MAGA indoctrinated, bottles of trump champaign littered a distant relatives home after he won.
This book does a good job of illustrating how ill prepared the country and leaders were for this particular crisis and how the politicization of it snowballed into greater crises of lack of faith in institutions and how that politicization and lack of faith led to mass death.
I think this book is good, maybe feels like it leans a little tooooo into #resist with how much it paints positive portraits of those who served as a foil to trump and all, but maybe that’s unavoidable.
September 11, 2021
An excellent, comprehensive summation of the Trump administration’s botched coronavirus pandemic response. I appreciated this one because it stayed exclusively with the COVID-19 storyline. The other books I’ve read about the nightmare that was 2020 have ventured into the other headlines of that year - civil unrest, George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, the election and, of course, the insurrection. While this book touches on almost all of these elements (how could it not? They’re all intertwined), it keeps a sharp focus on the pandemic. And yes, I learned things I hadn’t yet gotten out of the other books. For instance, did you know that, very early in the pandemic, a deal had been brokered with the company Hanes to manufacture and distribute two cloth masks to every single American? How wonderful, right? How proactive of our government. But if you’re wondering why you never got one of those masks, it’s because the administration killed the plan in the water. It didn’t like the optics. You won’t be surprised by any of the revelations, but I sure as hell hope you’re enraged anew.
July 4, 2021
Full disclosure, I read this book for work while producing a discussion with the book’s authors for the TV show I work on.
This book was excellent, with detailed reporting and a clear explanation of what unfolded behind the scenes in the U.S. COVID-19 response in 2020. Its scoops — including former President Trump suggesting people with early COVID positive cases on cruise ships be sent to Guantánamo Bay and that the President was sicker with COVID than publicly known — are notable if not world-shattering surprises.
But the reporting and narrative are what made this book earn its rating from me. It is clear that this book was built on detailed conversations with people in the room and that the two authors followed up and put in leg work to flesh out the story. The result is a thrilling page-turner that resembles a novel in its ability to keep a reader hooked. I was impressed that this book took something I lived through and was traumatizing for me to survive and report on into a story I didn’t want to put down.
Working on this, it’s clear this book aims to be as close to comprehensive as possible at chronicling the pandemic response. In the book’s epilogue, they note that they hope this book can offer lessons for the next pandemic response to be better.
This book informed. At times, it even entertained. But there’s a chance its biggest effect may be saving lives down the road.
This book was excellent, with detailed reporting and a clear explanation of what unfolded behind the scenes in the U.S. COVID-19 response in 2020. Its scoops — including former President Trump suggesting people with early COVID positive cases on cruise ships be sent to Guantánamo Bay and that the President was sicker with COVID than publicly known — are notable if not world-shattering surprises.
But the reporting and narrative are what made this book earn its rating from me. It is clear that this book was built on detailed conversations with people in the room and that the two authors followed up and put in leg work to flesh out the story. The result is a thrilling page-turner that resembles a novel in its ability to keep a reader hooked. I was impressed that this book took something I lived through and was traumatizing for me to survive and report on into a story I didn’t want to put down.
Working on this, it’s clear this book aims to be as close to comprehensive as possible at chronicling the pandemic response. In the book’s epilogue, they note that they hope this book can offer lessons for the next pandemic response to be better.
This book informed. At times, it even entertained. But there’s a chance its biggest effect may be saving lives down the road.
December 7, 2021
An interesting look at how America organized to fight the pandemic. With all the confusion, backstabbing, empire building it is amazing that anything got done at all in regards to the Pandemic. For me, there are a couple of characters in this book that the authors fawn way too much over. The book becomes a non-objective, subjective work.
December 5, 2021
A very interesting and damning book about how the Trump administration screwed up the response to COVID-19. It's not a very happy book, but considering how well it is written and how insightful it is, I'm happy it came out so soon after the events it describes. There are a lot of characters; often it's very hard to keep track of things because of it, but the focus is always on Trump and how him being elected created an extremely toxic atmosphere. Highly recommend a read.
August 11, 2021
This is the *single most important* book I’ve read this year. Regardless of your feelings / stances on vaccines or the politicization of COVID19, this look behind the curtain reveals exactly what happened in the American government every step of the way.
As someone who plans, executes, and coordinates all day long, this is a case for the ages. It has a little of everything and is told in a gripping way. I burned through it. It is never just one thing, it’s layers and layers of issues on top of issues. Then there are people problems and process problems — all of this surrounding what you’d think could never be impacted by politics: science.
This book is a master class on how everything that can go wrong surely will do just that. It will hit especially close to home if you are someone who spends energy fighting for process compliance or in any way a part of science or tech. It’s a book for anyone who knows the real answer to, “How hard could it be, really?”
Are you in organizational design? Change management? Project or product management? A business analyst or quality assurance tester? Are you an auditor? Do you work in logistics? Warehouse distribution? Supply chain management? Hell, even if you’ve had to work for the boss’ son-in-law, this book is for you.
As someone who plans, executes, and coordinates all day long, this is a case for the ages. It has a little of everything and is told in a gripping way. I burned through it. It is never just one thing, it’s layers and layers of issues on top of issues. Then there are people problems and process problems — all of this surrounding what you’d think could never be impacted by politics: science.
This book is a master class on how everything that can go wrong surely will do just that. It will hit especially close to home if you are someone who spends energy fighting for process compliance or in any way a part of science or tech. It’s a book for anyone who knows the real answer to, “How hard could it be, really?”
Are you in organizational design? Change management? Project or product management? A business analyst or quality assurance tester? Are you an auditor? Do you work in logistics? Warehouse distribution? Supply chain management? Hell, even if you’ve had to work for the boss’ son-in-law, this book is for you.
October 27, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
November 22, 2021
Dnf, was burnt out on the topic. My rating is not to be taken seriously.
July 30, 2021
This book will be taught in future history classes.
August 22, 2021
Excellent Book on the Pandemic.
A good general account of the pandemic under Trump. A good overview and a book that brings clarity to the story.
A good general account of the pandemic under Trump. A good overview and a book that brings clarity to the story.
December 31, 2021
This was fascinating but infuriating.
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