The world is currently braced for how a series of hantavirus cases could potentially spread, following an outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship.
Eight cases have been reported so far, including three deaths. Five of the 8 cases have been confirmed as hantavirus.
While the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported public risk as "low", people are understandably concerned.
"Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents such as mice and rats, transmitted by their droppings and urine", the UK government described of the outbreak. "Most hantaviruses do not spread between humans, although person-to-person transmission has happened with the Andes virus strain in rare cases. This is the strain of hantavirus that has been identified in the cruise ship outbreak."
However, one person who seems particularly chilled about the situation is Donald Trump - not least when there were a number of Americans on the cruise.
Not only that, but in 2025 the Trump administration eliminated funding for a group that had been running a project studying the same hantavirus linked to the current outbreak.
Confirming he'd been briefed on the outbreak during a press interview yesterday (7 May), the president shrugged: "It's very much, we hope, under control."
The 79-year-old claimed there are "a lot of great people" studying the virus.
When quizzed on whether Americans should be concerned, he responded, "I mean, I hope not. We'll do the best we can."
But, not everyone is convinced by his nonchalance, particularly as back when the Coronavirus pandemic happened, he repeatedly asserted that it would go away, and was criticised for the lack of urgency in his response.
"Don't be afraid of Covid. Don't let it dominate your life", he urged the public at the time.
"I’m having really bad flashbacks to a very dark time", Ron Filipkowski of Meidas Touch wrote on X in response to the new video.
"Last time he said this millions of people died", another added.
A third added: "We cannot survive another one with this one."
"Last time he said this it didn't end well for 1.2 million Americans", someone else echoed.
Why not read…
Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter 
