There are two numbers that Donald Trump has consistently cared about and watched like a hawk. And, in his mind, they are inextricably linked.

The first is his approval ratings. Nothing unusual in that. Ever since the end of World War Two and Gallup introducing its regular polling on this, every president from Harry Truman onwards has kept a wary eye on how they are being seen by the great American public - that is normal.

The second figure is the stock market. While other presidents have seen that as a barometer to keep a watch on, no-one has obsessed about Wall Street like Donald Trump. Or if they have, they haven't provided a running commentary in quite the same way that he has.

His calculation is that if the stock market is soaring, then his approval ratings will go up and QED - he will be re-elected in November this year. So even when the stock market has the wind in its sails, the president will inhale deeply and blow forcefully in the hope of pushing the Dow even higher. And every time the Dow Jones or the S&P 500 hits a new high, he tweets to celebrate it. 280 times to be exact. In other words, roughly once every four days of his presidency he has exalted the markets.

But with the arrival of the coronavirus, the markets have taken fright - and have been plunging vertiginously over the past couple of weeks. On Monday, the steepness of the decline was such that it set off a circuit-breaker alarm on Wall Street. It fell by more than 7%, and so trading was suspended for 15 minutes to give traders a breath to take stock. They took a breath. They took stock. And after 15 minutes the markets continued their plunge.

There were complicating factors that are way above my pay grade to explain - all to do with Russia and Saudi Arabia and the OPEC group [Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries] failing to agree on cuts in production in light of the collapse in demand for oil as a result of everyone cancelling their flights because of coronavirus. But the fright on the markets is real. And what they have heard from this administration has not been reassuring to them.

President Trump is used to fighting from his bunker when a crisis arrives - and let's face it, the past three and a bit years haven't lacked drama. But the coronavirus is quantitatively and qualitatively different from anything he has faced. With the Robert Mueller investigation (remember that?), there were names. People: Lyin' Jim Comey, Bob Mueller, little Jeff Sessions, Michael Cohen, Andrew McCabe etc. And during the impeachment trial there was a whole host of people that Donald Trump could swing a haymaking left hook at: shifty Schiff, nervous Nancy, cryin' Chuck Schumer. As Donald Trump will tell you, he's a great counter-puncher. 

But how do you hit a virus? Who's to blame? Who's the guilty party? Who do you tweet at? Covid-19 doesn't have a Twitter account.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51803890