U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he intends to prepare for future pandemics by replenishing the national stockpile and bringing manufacturing of critical supplies and equipment back to the U.S.
His comments came the same day a whistleblower told Congress the Trump administration had failed to properly prepare for the current pandemic. “Wouldn’t that be nice?” Trump said during a visit to a Pennsylvania distributor of medical equipment. “My goal is to produce everything America needs for ourselves and then export to the world, including medicines.” Trump had complained about supply chains in a television interview that aired before he left Washington for the trip to Owens and Minor Inc.