Donald Trump’s risk management is true leadership – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: William Rees, Boroughbridge.
President Donald Trump's handling of Covid, and his own illness, continues to divide political and public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic.President Donald Trump's handling of Covid, and his own illness, continues to divide political and public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic.
President Donald Trump's handling of Covid, and his own illness, continues to divide political and public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic.

ANTHONY Clavane (The Yorkshire Post, October 16) suggests that the Trump presidency will be viewed as a “nightmarish farce”, while Christa Ackroyd, writing the following day, accuses the President of “gloating” about the impact of the Covid virus while denigrating his decision to stage a drive-by outside the Walter Reed Memorial Hospital in Washington in front of his supporters.

It seems strange to then claim, as she does, that “President Trump is a man devoid of empathy”. She seems particularly angered by his advice to Americans: “Don’t let Covid dominate your lives.”

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And yet statistics issued by the USA Centre for Disease Control in September revealed that Covid survival rates range from 99.997 per cent for anyone aged 19 or younger to 94.6 per cent for people aged 70 and over.

Presidnet Donald Trump, speaking at The White House last weekend.Presidnet Donald Trump, speaking at The White House last weekend.
Presidnet Donald Trump, speaking at The White House last weekend.

Clearly the danger will be higher for people with pre-existing respiratory illnesses, but the truth is that the Covid virus is infectious but in most cases is not lethal. The art of leadership is risk management. Trump has to weigh the risk of closing down the economy to defeat the virus, with no guarantee of success, against the certainty of destroying livelihoods if he does so.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson

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