When SARS broke out in China --- did we rush to shutdown the U.S.? The President was likely informed only weeks after the initial cases appeared. SARS was an epidemic that only had 8,096 cases total. COVID-19 started as a small breakout limited to one city in China. The probability would be that it would land up to be more like SARS - a limited epidemic with a mere 27 cases in the U.S. months after the breakout in China. In the scope of global issues -- the breakout of a new epidemic in another country with a small number of cases is probably not something they worry the President with. COVID probably was not even a foot note on a White House intelligence briefing at this November/December time.
If it was enough to warn Israel and Nato then it was not looked at like SARS but maybe closer to H1N1 wiht some insight. No matter what the intelligence community reported in Dec...Jan...Feb...Trump still would not have lifted a finger except for the fake travel ban to make it look like he stepped up while talking it down repeatedly for weeks after.
I expect that anytime a possible epidemic breaks out and some western country hears about it then the information is passed around the western intelligence community within hours. In the same way any small arms sale to a 3rd world nation from Russia is passed around the intelligence community in hours. In the same way any new Internet malware report is passed around the intelligence community in hours. In the same way any severe weather alert passed around the intelligence community in hours. None of these items are probably brought to the intelligence briefing of any western country's leader.
we knew the measures being taken in Wuhan just from youtube videos. Our intelligence knew far more, this was no SARS
"It was revealed that the US Intelligence Agencies - All Seventeen of them - did not inform President Trump of a problem at Wuhan until January 23", NY Times, May 22, 2020 cued...
Sars, Ebola and Mers were near misses that led us to believe Covid-19 would pass us by too Each briefly threatened to become a pandemic, but those who dealt with them directly knew they could have caused far greater damage. https://www.newstatesman.com/intern...ere-near-misses-led-us-believe-covid-19-would
Plenty of time to act I would think. The country did not really reactin earnest until middle of March while we were watching Asia react in february.
So you mean to tell me the government knew about this in November and the top priority was an impeachment where no crimes were committed.