President Donald Trump’s son-in-law has taken it upon himself to lead the federal government’s efforts to manufacture new ventilators after months of inaction, The New York Times reported Thursday.
“The shortage of ventilators has emerged as one of the major criticism of the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus. The need to quickly equip hospitals across the country with tens of thousands more of the devices to treat those most seriously ill with the virus was not anticipated despite the Trump administration’s own projection in a simulation last year that millions of people could be hospitalized,” the newspaper reported. “And even now, the effort to produce them has been confused and disorganized.”
“At the center of the discussion about how to ramp up the production of ventilators is Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior White House aide, who has told people that he was called in two weeks ago by Vice President Mike Pence to produce more coronavirus test kits and who has now turned his attention to ventilators,” The Times reported.
The newspaper noted that the White House had been preparing to announce on Wednesday a joint venture between General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to manufacture up to 80,000 ventilators. The Federal Emergency Management Agency canceled the announcement.
The newspaper noted Kushner “has been directing officials at FEMA in the effort. Two officials said the suggestion to wait on the General Motors offer came from Col. Patrick Work, who is working at FEMA.”