The Press Secretary by Peter Fuller

The following is a work of fiction

She thought that she had planned for every eventuality and, being a consummate and efficient aide to the most powerful man on the planet, Barbara McKinnon had, indeed, carried out his instructions in minute detail.  She had successfully arranged for eighty-nine world leaders to assemble, in the strictest secrecy, at a military facility in the Nevada desert for crisis talks.  She listened to the Vice-President welcome the distinguished delegates and invite the President of the United States to step up to the podium.

Donald J Trump rose from his chair and walked slowly to the microphone in a manner that he considered to be the most presidential.  At the lectern he adjusted his tie and gently tugged the front of his jacket as he was prone to do. Further seconds passed before he began to read carefully from his prepared script.

“Presidents, Prime Ministers, world leaders, ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you to this unprecedented gathering.  As is my style, I shall cut straight to the point”.  He smiled smugly.  “I am addressing you today because the world is on the brink of a catastrophe, for the world’s economy is in the gravest financial peril.  Our economists predict that the current situation is many times worse than that which facilitated the financial crash of 2008”.  The room was silent as the President continued his opening statement.

“Unless a way is found out of this impending crisis, stock markets and banks will crash, currencies will lose much of their value, including the mighty dollar, unemployment, starvation, riots, crime and deaths will all rise to unprecedented levels.  But, more importantly, and I speak pointedly to every delegate in this room, the populous will determine that you should shoulder the blame for this eventuality, fairly attributed or not, and that the political class will, and I repeat ‘will’, lose control of the situation very quickly”.

The possibility of losing control stung deep into the consciousness of every politician in the room.  Cries rang out and it took several minutes to quell the disorder.  Once quietude had been restored the American President ceased calling for calm and lowered his outstretched arms.

“Thank you, delegates, for retaking your seats.  I want to assure you that I, and the other members of the G7 countries, would not have called this emergency conference if a formula had not already been devised to protect World governments from the worst of this crisis.  This is the very plan that we shall put to you today”.

Having regained the attention of the room, Donald Trump paused and smiled before proceeding. “Other speakers will shortly explain in greater detail how this radical plan will work, but what I can tell you that it relies on the trusted formula of political “distraction”, one that will mask the impending crisis for as long as it takes ‘we’ to work it through the world’s economies”.

“The algorithm we have used predicts that by following the plan there will be only minor demonstrations, not riots;  there will also be deaths, but not on an unmanageable scale;  and, of utmost importance, the populous is expected to be subdued and acquiescent, allowing we politicians to retain control of the events, the timetable and the eventual outcome.”

“I will take up no more of your time”, the President said self-deprecatingly,  “For I want to introduce you to our first speaker of the day, Doctor Zhang Yong, the principal and president of the internationally-funded Viral Research Centre, located in the city of Wuhan in Southern China.  He will give you details of a new virus that we have code-named covid-19, and describe its effects and how we intend to distribute it around the world”.

Barbara McKinnon smiled broadly, nestled her back into her chair and slipped off the new shoes that had pinched her toes all morning.  She was in no doubt that whenever bold, fearless and decisive action should be required, her President would always rise to the occasion, and in this crisis-to-end-all-crisis’s that is what she had hoped would happen in the first place.