As of this week, the coronavirus has killed 170 people and infected thousands more. In an unprecedented move, China is keeping 50 million people in quarantined zones and closing schools and countless other public spaces, while the World Health Organization is convening again on Thursday to consider classifying the virus as an international public health emergency. But where others see tragedy and mass panic, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sees economic opportunity, à la, Rahm Emanuel’s “never let a serious crisis go to waste.”

During a Fox Business appearance on Thursday, the Trump cabinet official portrayed the coronavirus as a golden chance for the U.S. to bring back manufacturing jobs lost to cheap Chinese labor over the decades. “Every American’s heart has to go out to the victims of the coronavirus, so I don’t want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease, but the fact is it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain,” the Trump official said. (When it comes to the use of “but” in this sentence, forget everything said prior to the conjunction). “You had SARS, you have the African swine virus there, and now you have this. It’s another risk factor that people need to take into account,” he continued, before finally getting to the punch line: “It will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America—some to U.S., probably some to Mexico as well.”

Ross’s comments fall in line with Donald Trump’s long-standing policy goal of pushing U.S. companies to produce in America, rather than outsourcing to China—a key aspect of the “phase one” trade deal he recently signed with Beijing. For his part, the president has reportedly made it a point not to mouth off about the virus, for fear of rattling the already-rattled stock market, or pissing off Beijing, which he needs to keep on his good side. “We’re very much involved with them, right now, on the virus that’s going around. We’re working very closely with China,” he told reporters in uncharacteristically muted remarks before signing the deal, adding that the situation is “totally under control.” In a tweet last week, he added: “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well.” (This from the man who practically had a psychotic break over the Ebola virus.)

Evidently worried that everyone had gotten the wrong impression from all this positivity, White House economic council director Larry Kudlow scrambled to correct the record on Thursday. “This is not about trade or jobs or any of that…we’re trying to help them,” he told reporters, adding that Trump is “compassionate” when it comes to the Chinese. Considering we’re talking about a mega-millionaire who, during the 2019 government shutdown, advised furloughed employees to take out credit union loans to make up for their missing paychecks, Kudlow might have to do some more cleanup work before all this is over.

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