Why would President Trump go along with, or even allow, such a hoax?
Because people are in fact dying from this SARS strain of influenza. As they are, have been this season, from all the other strains. The panic that’s been set in motion feeds on itself making it politically impossible for the President to approach this thing with anything less than a total war style response.
Plus states and cities have independently imposed shutdowns and moratoriums across the country. Cumulatively, these actions alone would hobble our economy. Trump has no authority to interpose his administrations in these affairs. He has to be so very careful event what he says in an election year.