reinfection or immunity.

He’s always been worried about numbers and if more tests are done the more cases there will be. I really don’t know. That or someone has told him we’ll never have the number of tests needed.

He is suppressing testing in the hopes that he can spin lower numbers as a "success" story, and that it's really his second strategy after realizing that he can never provide enough tests to surveil and contain the virus.

The only thing I'd add is that I think there was a pivot at some point where sadism and aggression entered his approach. The outpouring of outrage by the public always puts him on the defensive and he retaliates by either doing nothing or exacerbating a situation, by design, while trying to claim it is a success.

He wants this to just go away and he can't seem to separate his fantasy from the reality. The worse it gets the more he'll detach from reality.

Admitting that he made a mistake that needs to be fixed is an admission of failure he's incapable of.

It's as simple as that.

away with (sort of) saying the virus is going away so we can go back to HIs normal great economy. If testing shows a whole lot more cases of the virus, not even his loyalists will believe that.

has been able to run his businesses to the ground and prop some of them up on unpaid debts, exaggeration and dirty money. When he became president, he had a chance to make the world a better place, but he just isn't smart enough to even realize that. He simply hasn't got the mental capacity to make good decisions. It is all from a place of satisfying his own personal grievances. Does more testing satisfy his own personal grievances? No. That is why there isn't more testing.

reels from one self-serving scenario to another, trying to find the scenario that is most pleasing to his mindset at that specific moment.

Killing millions of people by not responding to a pandemic? "Attractive -- such power! And they can't arrest me for it!"

Save the world with a cure? "Get a medal and be revered forever!" Hard to grab credit, esp since he's a science denier, but still a decent idea. May not be enough narcissistic kibbles in this, though.

Deny and refuse any and all serious study of the matter? "NOBODY'S GONNA TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Plenty of power play in this reaction, too.

IOW, it's not necessarily always about looking good; it's often about what will make him feel powerful.

As several posters noted above, it doesn't help that he is an essentially stupid person. His stupidity, narcissism and family money have allowed him to be an agent of great destruction, and he's taking pleasure from that. He acted that way in business, too. He loved to sue, to bankrupt contractors, etc.

That is what he has done his whole life. He cannot change course.

He could have turned this pandemic into a plus for him.Just as he could with the Russia investigation.

He planned to run on the greatest ever economy and how great he is for re-election. Welp, the virus interrupted that narrative.
So now more testing means more people are positive which in turn makes the entire country more nervous, the stock market nervous. Nervous people will not be returning to " normal life". Won't be spending money.

If he had been honest from the jump, said look we are headed for troubling times. However we can get through this together. I will do everything to help us get through this, and acted accordingly. Fostered an all of us against the virus mentality. He might have sealed himself a re-election victory doing that.

Same with the Russia investigation. If he had confronted Putin, and made it clear that he was not going to put up with Putin's shenanigans. And followed through -
He would have been seen more favorable.

He is incapable doing any of these things I mentioned. He's a common criminal that has lied, cheated, and played dirty his whole life. He does not know any other way to "win" except to play dirty.

He believes himself capable of bending people, nations, and even nature to his will in a manner that meets his needs in the moment. This is an individual with a very disturbed mind. You can't make his thought processes fit normal reasoning. The most you can do is recognize what predictable patterns his chaotic thought processes allow.

like a hero and would easily have gone on to a second term in office, had he not had such a narrow and avaricious view of the situation.

We should all be grateful that he is so healthy, so thoroughly tested, that we can be confident in his continuing great health.

Oh, you probably think that perhaps YOU or I are worthy of the costly testing. Well, no, because the world does not revolve around us, we are not the energy source that keeps the economy alive. Our faces do not project so much beauty and strength that should not be diminished by a mask.

Remember he’s a coward, scared of the truth. The truth will show he ignored the problem.

Truth is a non-existent entity in dumps world.

He's not as smart as he thinks he is otherwise he would be personally giving tests.