To the Editor:

The public has learned that the president’s daily intelligence briefings in January and February repeatedly warned of the likelihood that the coronavirus would enter and spread within the United States but that the president did not take any action. He may not even have read the briefings.

I cannot understand why all those who were responsible for informing the president did not take it upon themselves to alert the whole nation about the dangers the country faced. How is it possible that they did not get together as a group and shout from the rooftops about the calamity that seemed to be heading our way?

Miriam Levine Helbok

Bronx

To the Editor:

Re “A Disinfectant That May Mar Trump’s Teflon” (Political Memo, front page, April 27):

One staple of radio entertainment in the 1940s was a show titled “It Pays to Be Ignorant,” a parody of authoritative panel shows that featured discourse on serious questions. Panelists addressed questions like “What town in Massachusetts held the Boston Tea Party?” Invariably, answers were long-winded, ill informed, unresponsive and funny.

In many respects President Trump’s briefings remind me of this radio program. His responses are rambling, inaccurate, evasive and, unfortunately, ludicrous at times. When Mr. Trump, the self-proclaimed expert on Korea, overestimated the population of Seoul by approximately 28 million people last month, Republicans simply smiled forgivingly. However, when he suggested ingesting or injecting disinfectants as possible cures for Covid-19, even loyal backers realized that his ignorance is no longer a laughing matter.