Bill Gates: I warned Trump during presidential transition about pandemic risk
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In December 2016, Bill Gates warned President-elect Donald Trump about the risks of a pandemic in the country, according to a media report.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Gates "explained the risks of a pandemic" to all the 2016 presidential candidates, urging them to make it a national priority. He reportedly also met with the president-elect at Trump Tower in December of that year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I wish I had done more to call attention to the danger,” the Microsoft co-founder told the Journal. “I feel terrible,” he added. “The whole point of talking about it was that we could take action and minimize the damage.”
Bill and Melinda Gates. (Frederic Stevens/Getty Images)
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At the time of the December 2016 meeting, Gates was interviewed by CNBC and compared Trump to President Kennedy, specifically Kennedy's enthusiasm for the space industry.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“But in the same way President Kennedy talked about the space mission and got the country behind that,” Gates told the news outlet. “I think whether it’s education or stopping epidemics ... [or] in this energy space, there can be a very upbeat message that [Trump’s] administration [is] going to organize things, get rid of regulatory barriers, and have American leadership through innovation.”
Fox News has reached out to the White House with a request for comment.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gates, who is worth some $106 billion, according to Forbes, has focused nearly all of his energy on public health responses since he announced in March he was stepping down from the board of directors of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to focus on philanthropy.
In late April, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it would give an additional $150 million to fight COVID-19, bringing its total contribution to $250 million. Some of the funds will go toward the World Health Organization, a frequent target of Trump for its response during the coronavirus pandemic.
After President Trump's decision to halt funding to the WHO amid scrutiny of its response to the pandemic, Gates slammed the move, saying it "is as dangerous as it sounds."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Microsoft co-founder also recently laid out a plan on how to reopen the U.S. economy, citing concerns the virus will cost the global economy “tens of trillions of dollars.”
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Separately on Monday, Melinda Gates said the U.S. is "lacking leadership at the federal level," which she said is "costing people their lives.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As of Tuesday morning, more than 4.1 million coronavirus cases have been diagnosed worldwide, more than 1.3 million of which are in the U.S.