BREAKING: A week before Inauguration Day 2017, Trump team participated in a tabletop exercise with outgoing Obama team about preparing for a "major domestic incident" One incident discussed was a pandemic. I participated in that exercise. THREAD 1/6

There were 3 role-playing scenarios: hurricane, pandemic and cyber incident. Obama team discussed need to anticipate requirements, stay ahead of challenges and provide resources quickly

The goal was to acquaint Trump officials with how to coordinate around major incidents. 2/6

— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020

In event of a pandemic, Trump team was told:

-Pandemics can start in other countries and don't respect borders
-Science must guide decisions
-Federal/state collaboration is key
-Consistent messaging needed
-Social distancing recommended
-"Days - and even hours - can matter"

4/6

— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020

Bottom line: when Trump says "we were all surprised" by #COVID19, he shouldn't have been.

The Obama team warned Trump's staff about a possible pandemic. Whether it was lack of preparation or staff turnover, the necessary work wasn’t done to get in front of this.

/END

— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) March 16, 2020