Trump says he has absolute power over the states to open the economy and end this coronavirus lockdown, but he will not take responsibility for fighting the virus on the frontlines by securing and disbursing desperately needed supplies.

This is the opposite of comic book hero Spider-Man's raison dêtre, "with great power comes great responsibility."

Trump believes that with great power there comes no responsibility at all.

This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

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Donald Trump is the anti-Spider-Man — a president who believes that with his great power, comes zero responsibility.

This was the main theme of his daily coronavirus briefing on Monday, where he aired his grievances over a New York Times report detailing weeks of disorganization, dithering, and incompetence at the White House as it failed to prepare the country for the coming coronavirus pandemic.

In one breath the Trump said he had absolute power and "total"authority over the states, in another he also said that it was not the White House's responsibility to ensure every American had a hospital bed during this crisis. One minute he was saying he alone would decide when the economy would reopen, and that states would simply have to ago along with that. In the next minute he was saying it was the responsibility of the states to procure crucial supplies like ventilators.

It was quite a head-spinner.

In Spider-Man — in case you've somehow missed out on this American treasure — our hero Peter Parker comes to use his scientifically-endowed superhuman abilities after internalizing something his late Uncle Ben said: "With great power comes great responsibility."

Donald Trump thinks the opposite. To him, power does not come with any responsibility at all. In fact, on March 13th he said point blank that he didn't "take responsibility at all" for his administration's handling of the coronavirus, and he still doesn't.

This is why we have a mess in the country.

The misery of the coronavirus is being compounded by the president's desire to project power with out any real productivity. States still don't know how to get supplies from the federal government, even though the federal government is bidding against states in the marketplace.

One state even told Politico pointblank that the White House is disbursing supplies based on relationships, not need — another example of the White House flexing its power without any evident desire to fulfill its responsibility.

"All I want them to do — very simple — I want them to be appreciative," Trump said of Governors on Friday.

It's unclear how we're going to get through this pandemic unless there is a change at the top. The President waited until March 24th to enact the Defense Production Act (DPA), which allows him to martial resources from the private sector to help with this crisis. But while he used his power to set it up, he hasn't taken any responsibility for outcomes.

Testing is still in short supply in this country, but it's the only thing that will give Americans the certainty and control to return to the workforce. Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo asked the president to use the DPA to scale up the production of antibody tests that show who has had, and is likely immune, to the coronavirus. It's an extremely difficult problem, onE that Cuomo later compared to putting a man on the moon.

A problem of that magnitude should be the responsibility of the federal government. But Trump eschews those things. He prefers to project power — like his stated power to reopen the economy, like his power to withhold supplies from governors who have not kiss the ring. But he will not deal in the substance of that power.

It is not hard to see that this is not sustainable.