Jeffrey D. Sachs: Lies, manipulation and recklessness infected Donald Trump

Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, details how President Donald Trump's attitudes towards Covid-19 has helped spread the virus

President Donald Trump’s disdain for science and his brazen disregard for public-health advice led directly to his own bout of coronavirus. Photo: AP

Unlike tens of millions of people around the world who have contracted coronavirus because of their poverty, bad luck, vulnerability as essential workers, or poor decisions by policymakers, US President Donald Trump’s infection is of his own making. 

Trump’s disdain for science and his brazen disregard for public-health advice led directly to his own illness; far worse, they have fuelled America’s soaring Covid-19 death toll — now at more than 214,000.