That Trump's motivation for literally anything is anything but pure, raw self-interest. It had nothing to do with a fear of panic and everything to do with the number of ways he perceived it in his self-interest to continually deny this was even happening. He gaslit an entire nation.
Judging by the comments I've seen here lately (not yours), I'm really starting to question the company I'm keeping here.
Agree though I don’t think it’s mutually exclusive. Trump doesn’t like the look of panic because it would make him look bad. Or make the stock market tank, or whatever. I don’t for a second think that his desire to avoid panic was because that would be better for the country (I honestly don’t even think it occurred to him that that would be a valid excuse for downplaying).
The entire premise of this is absurd.