In the fevered imagination of Trump, he has in fact sent enough of the requested aid, so there can only be a shortage because health care workers are stealing personal protective equipment, such as gloves and face masks, as well as other supplies like ventilators, out of New York hospitals.
On Sunday, during a White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing, the commander in chief questioned why hospitals are going through medical supplies so quickly, asking: “Are they going out the back door?”
Trump later stated during the White House briefing: “Even though this is different, something is going on, and you ought to look into it as reporters. Where are the masks going? Are they going out the back door? How do you go from 10,000 to 300,000 [masks used in a hospital per week]? And we have that in a lot of different places. So, somebody should probably look into that, because I just don’t see, from a practical standpoint, how that’s possible to go from that to that.”
The president also went on to suggest supplies are being stashed, stating there is a “question as to hoarding of ventilators” by hospitals.
So what are the health care workers on the front lines going to do with all their supposed hoards of supplies? Nobody really knows - except for, perhaps, The Donald.