I personally would have SAID different things in March than Trump SAID. I'm not sure how much difference it would have made. I might also have panicked everyone into hoarding something weird, like say toilet paper.
But given Trump down played this, and he did early on, what should WE be doing NOW that we are not doing?
My criticism is that as of early February, per the Woodward tapes, Trump knew it was more deadly than the flu, knew it was airborne transmission, and was publicly downplaying it.
Now, that may have been great if in March he started to realize it was going to spiral out of control, and changed his tune. But he's continued to downplay it, and actively foment his base against things like distancing and masks, ever since. Even to the point of the debate where he chided Biden "I always see that guy wearing a mask". It played into the absurd masculinity crap of "I'm not going to wear a mask because I'm not scared of this thing." Hell, even after GETTING the virus and needing oxygen and taking experimental treatments, he's tweeting "don't be scared of COVID" even though without the access to medicine and rapid testing he has, given his age and obesity, it very well could have killed him.
He's been downplaying it since day 1 and turning it into a political issue. His statements, EVER since this started, have been causing the messaging problems I've been highlighting here.
A proper president would have been telling the truth, and trying to communicate how America could get through this, together. This one just blames the lockdowns and deaths on "cities run by Democrats, all" that are trying to make him look bad.