It is not the first time Trump has provided questionable information in the middle of a crisis. Last year, as Hurricane Dorian bore down on the Eastern Seaboard, Trump used a thick black Sharpie marker to doctor an official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map to support his tendentious warning to the people of Alabama that the storm would probably hit their state…

Once in office, Trump shunned government experts. He shortened or tuned out some of his intelligence and national security briefings and rejected some of the conclusions of scientists. He relied on his instincts, rather than the expertise of those around him, to make decisions in virtually every realm…

In the scientific community, Trump has been similarly dismissive. By the spring of his first year in office, there were nearly 700 vacant positions at the CDC because of a hiring freeze that officials said would affect programs supporting infectious-disease control and health-emergency readiness.

Trump’s 2021 budget, submitted to Congress this month, proposes cuts to a broad array of health and scientific programs, including trimming the CDC’s funding by almost 16 percent and reducing overall funding for global health initiatives.