President Trump has used the term “Chinese virus” because the virus originated in China. Instead, we should use the term “Trump virus” because our president is responsible for the virus’ extensive spread in our country.

There are valid reasons to attribute to Trump the rapid coronavirus spread in the U.S.

For starters, the Trump administration in 2018 dismantled the National Security Council’s unit focused on preparing for the type of pandemic we face now. The council’s directorate for global health and security and biodefense initially survived after the transition from President Barack Obama to Trump in 2017. However, this unit was eliminated by the Trump administration in 2018. This was despite the biodefense preparedness adviser warning that a flu pandemic was the country’s No. 1 health security threat and the U.S. was not prepared.

This NSC’s pandemic preparedness unit was specifically charged with preparing for and reacting to the type of crisis we face now. Because of the Trump administration’s actions, our government’s response to the coronavirus has been flat-footed and delayed. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Heath, told Congress last week: “It would be nice if the office was still there.”

At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Trump declared the outbreak the Democrats’ “new hoax” to destabilize his presidency. This type of language and his general dismissal of the coronavirus problem as a fake issue caused many in our government to delay their response to the outbreak. That allowed the coronavirus to spread much more widely than it would have if more aggressive actions had been taken initially.

Trump also claimed on many occasions that the coronavirus outbreak was under control. This was blatantly false and misleading. In deceiving the public and other government officials about the risk posed to the American population, the president created an air of complacency, the vestiges of which still linger.

Another issue is the availability of testing in the U.S. The administration’s fumbling of the coronavirus testing program has left health care providers dangerously unaware of who is infected and who is not. Without the ability to identify infected patients, the coronavirus infection has been widely spread by individuals who were minimally symptomatic or, in some cases, even asymptomatic. In the early phases of the outbreak, United States was only able to test — on a population basis — one patient for every 100 patients tested in many other countries. This was a disgraceful example of poor planning and poor decision-making regarding U.S. testing policies.

Trump can also be faulted for generally decimating — during the course of his presidency — the ranks of key public servants in the federal government. Thousands of indispensable experts have left their long-held positions because of pressure from the administration or the outright elimination of their positions. This has left our country much less capable at dealing with major threats such as the coronavirus pandemic we face today.

This virus might have started in China, but China seems to have it well under control. If not for the Trump administration, it might be under good control within the United States, as well. Thus, for assigning responsibility in allowing the coronavirus to spread so successfully in the U.S., it is only appropriate to call it the “Trump coronavirus.”

Dr. Michael J. Martin is an internal medicine specialist and an associate clinical professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the UCSF. He serves on the board of directors and is treasurer for Physicians for Social Responsibility, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit working on issues related to nuclear proliferation and climate change.