The federal government has known for at least ten years that the country was under-equipped to handle a coronavirus pandemic and that coronaviruses are common. Despite this and the chorus of medical professionals and nurses on the front lines saying they don't have the equipment they need, President Donald Trump continues to claim everyone "even in the really hot spots" has what they need. Lawmakers, governors, and the medical field all seem to be saying the same thing: we're on our own.

Trump has said repeatedly that the shortages are nothing more than rumors and exaggerations. His current claim is that rumors of shortages are making officials ask for more equipment than they really need.

"The fears of the shortages have led to inflated requests," he said.

Of course, there are mountains of evidence to the contrary. Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York, says his city doesn't have enough supplies or workers to make it through the next week.

"We have gotten some ventilators in, but right now, we're struggling to have enough for next week," he said. "About a quarter of all the cases in this entire country are right here in New York City. And we're the tip of the spear, and everyone I talk to in Washington acknowledges it. We're about to hit a huge surge in these coming days. They all know it."

Alicia Mitchell, the senior vice president of communications for the American Hospital Association (AHA), told NPR in a statement that the government needs to take every action available to get more supplies to hot spots.

"Not a day goes by where we don't hear from hospitals and health systems across the country that are concerned about shortages of PPE [personal protective equipment] for their heroic front line caregivers," Mitchell wrote.

Even those closest to the President are now telling him about the shortages. He put his senior advisor and son-in-law, one of the few people he trusts (with a lot of things), Jared Kushner in charge of making sure hospitals across the country get the supplies they need. Kushner has no medical background or experience and a dismal record of carrying out Trump's important causes: see the Middle East Peace Plan, the border wall, immigration in general, etc.

"Very early this morning, I got a call from the president. He told me he was hearing from friends of his in New York that the New York public hospital system was running low on critical supply," Kushner said.

Even the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) seems not to affect his actions. At one of the regular White House coronavirus press conferences, Trump told reporters and all of America that the CDC is now recommending that citizens wear face coverings or masks to protect themselves from the virus. Trump says he won't be following this advice which he stressed was voluntary.

"I don't think I'm going to be doing it," he said as he announced the new input from the CDC. We know that the virus is communicable long before any symptoms are seen, but Trump seems more concerned about his image than his health.

When asked about why he wouldn't be following the guidance from the CDC, he responded, "I'm feeling good. I just don't want to be doing -- somehow sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful resolute desk, the great resolute desk, I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don't know, somehow I don't see it for myself. I just don't. Maybe I'll change my mind."

Meanwhile, Congress has passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) to help small businesses, families, and individuals during the pandemic. As a part of the new CARES Act, Congress has stipulated that they need congressional oversight of the distribution of the $2 trillion stimulus package included in the law. Trump is not a fan of this idea.

"This is not the time for politics, endless partisan investigations. He we go again. I've already done extraordinary damage to our country in recent years. You see what happens. It's witch hunt after witch hunt after witch hunt," Trump said of the call for congressional oversight of the massive bill.

Trump has undergone two separate tests for the virus, both of which came back negative, but the problem with how he's portrayed the situation is that his press conferences reach millions. The President serves as an example for the rest of the country. Many of Trump's staunchest supporters are above 65, the most at risk of dying from COVID-19.

If the example Trump sets is that if you feel fine you are fine and if the information he spreads is that hospitals have everything they need and an untested malaria drug can treat the virus, many more Americans will die.