Before and throughout his presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including the Barack Obama "birther" theory, the Clinton body count theory, conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal and QAnon. A July 2020 video asserting conspiracy theories about coronavirus by Stella Immanuel, a Texas physician, was retweeted by Trump before it was removed from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube because it violated their rules on misinformation. At a press conference on July 28 he was asked why he would trust Immanuel, considering the context of her claims about "alien DNA" and its supposed use in medicine. Trump defended Immanuel saying, "I thought she was very impressive, in the sense that, from where she came – I don't know what country she comes from – but she said that she's had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients. I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her." When pressed further about the conflict with existing official medical information about the virus, Trump ended the briefing abruptly.
Trump's cabinet nominations included U.S. senator from Alabama Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, financier Steve Mnuchin as Secretary of the Treasury, retired Marine Corps general James Mattis as Secretary of Defense, and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Trump also brought on board politicians who had opposed him during the presidential campaign, such as neurosurgeon Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley as Ambassador to the United Nations.
More InfoThe connections between Trump associates and Russia have been widely reported by the press. One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, had worked from December 2004 until February 2010 to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency. Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, have been connected to Russian officials. Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump.Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election. On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that had been imposed the same day; Flynn later resigned in the midst of controversy over whether he misled Pence. The Washington Post reported that Trump had told Kislyak and Sergei Lavrov in May 2017 he was unconcerned about Russian interference in U.S. elections.
More InfoA redacted version of the report was released to the public on April 18, 2019. The first volume found that Russia interfered to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion", and it details how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged foreign interference believing they would politically benefit.
More InfoA redacted version of the report was released to the public on April 18, 2019. The first volume found that Russia interfered to favor Trump's candidacy and hinder Clinton's. Despite "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", the prevailing evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russian interference. The report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion", and it details how Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged foreign interference believing they would politically benefit.
More InfoTrump was slow to address the pandemic, initially dismissing the imminent threat and ignoring calls for action from government health experts and Secretary Azar. Throughout January and February, he rejected persistent public health warnings from officials within his administration, focusing instead on economic and political considerations of the outbreak. He continued to claim that a vaccine was months away, although HHS and CDC officials had repeatedly told him it would take 12–18 months to develop a vaccine. Trump also exaggerated the availability of testing for the virus, falsely claiming "anybody that wants a test can get a test," despite the availability of tests being severely limited.
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