Silent Invasion

The Untold Story of the Trump Administration, Covid-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before It's Too Late

By: Deborah Birx

Narrated by: Kathe Mazur

Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The definitive, inside account of the Trump Administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic from White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator and Coronavirus Task Force member, Dr. Deborah Birx.

In late February 2020, Dr. Deborah Birx—a lifelong federal health official who had worked at the CDC, the State Department, and the US Army across multiple presidential administrations—was asked to join the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force and assist the already faltering federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For weeks, she’d been raising the alarm behind the scenes about what she saw happening in public—from the apparent lack of urgency at the White House to the routine downplaying of the risks to Americans. Once in the White House, she was tasked with helping fix the broken federal approach and making President Trump see the danger this virus posed to all of us.

Silent Invasion is the story of what she witnessed and lived for the next year—an eye-opening, inside account, detailed here for the first time, of the Trump Administration’s response to the greatest public health crisis in modern times. Regarded with suspicion in the West Wing from day one, Dr. Birx goes beyond the media speculation and political maneuvering to show what she was really up against in the Trump White House. Digging into the hard-fought victories, the costly mistakes, and the human drama surrounding the administration’s efforts, she examines the forces that crippled efforts to control the virus and explores why these blunders continue to haunt us today.

And yet amid the agonizing missteps were bright spots that point the way forward—the fastest vaccine creation in history, governors that put their citizens’ health first, and Tribal Nations that demonstrated the powerful role of community in curbing spread, despite their criminally underfunded healthcare systems. Collectively these successes reveal the valiant work of many who were committed to saving lives, as well as highlighting the dire need to reform our public health institutions, so they are nimble and resilient enough to confront the next pandemic.

With the pandemic now moving into its third year confounding two presidential administrations, Dr. Birx presents a story at once urgent and frustratingly unfinished, as Covid-19 continues to put thousands of American lives at risk. The end result is the most comprehensive and extensive accounting to date of the Trump Administration’s struggle to control the biggest health crisis in generations—a revelatory look at how we can learn from our mistakes and prevent this from happening again.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Deborah Birx (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Coach

Dr Birx make clear that politics and public health crises are always tangled. Second, the governmental agencies responsible for public health outcomes are buried in bureaucracy, protectionism and unprepared for novel crises. Third, we cannot rely on global supply chains for critical medical supplies. Forth, You cannot count on politicians, right or left, to separate politics from science. Witness the losses of life in 20-21 & then 21-22. Nearly the same!! The epilogue is full of wisdom. As frequently happens once the crisis apparently ends the lessons also pass. Lessons learned are not learned until changes have been instituted. Ask yourself is there evidence of change.

Silent Invasion

So much truth in this book. I think this is the first time since all this started that I have known what I suspected was true for sure.

Absolutely excellent, with caveats

I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to know about how our government reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-2022. I thought the book was insightful, thoughtful and intellectually fulfilling. I really liked learnning more about how things really progressed in the United States of America. And, I learned a great deal of very valuable material in the first 90% of the book. I must admit that I had to drag myself through the end of the book as the conclusions were stated, restated and restated again. Perhaps I am wrong with suggesting I was slammed with the same conclusions over and over again, but I really did read the book carefully and had already internalized the conclusions. Still, it was a very worthwhile read that helped me much better understand what had happened and how we could and should have done a better job. The author should be commended for writing a very important historical document with truthful observations doring a difficult time in our history. Thanks for this book. It was well worth my time and I did learn much.

Understandable and informative

I anticipated that this might be another Trump bashing book and was pleasantly surprised that it was not. This book totally focused on the spread of the virus and our response to preventing the spread. It is told in layman’s terms without a lot of scientific or medical jargon. Very well done.

Great insight into Public Health

Dr. Birx provided an excellent overview of public health during a very difficult time. It was very interesting to hear how different aspects of the pandemic was handled.

Expert analysis but unrealistic recommendations

The author is a knowledgeable expert on the subject, offers solutions & recommendations that are thoughtful but unrealistic. Good luck getting congress to agree to implement sweeping controls over pandemic public behaviors, etc. The advice on how to keep yourself safe is good. Revelations on the Trump administration’s mishandling of the pandemic are shocking. The book takes you through a detailed diary of the pandemic, sometimes too tedious & repetitive.

Phenomenal book. A must read. So much information!

I’ve listened to and read a lot of books about the Covid-19 pandemic but this one leaves the rest in the dust. This is a brilliant, brutally honest account of what happened inside the government without any political finger-pointing or party bias. It was fascinating to hear of how and why things unfolded the way they did as America was overwhelmed by the virus. My admiration of the author (whom I didn’t really know much about except what I’d seen during task force briefings) skyrocketed as I realized just what she did and tried to do to help save our country, our people, regardless of their political views.
I finally understand now how the vaccines work (and how they were never meant to be the only “answer”) and why I contracted severe Covid-19 Delta variant eight months after my second dose of the vaccine in January 2021, resulting in a two week hospitalization and four days in the intensive care unit after I listened to the CDC’s recommendation in mid 2021 saying masks were no longer needed if you were vaccinated. I actually still wore a mask quite often but felt silly because after all, the CDC said… and one of those times I walked into what the ICU head doctor told me must have been a “mother load of virus.” I am one of the lucky ones. The advanced treatments available by late 2021 saved my life. My heart aches for the families who were not able to save their loved ones.
The narration of the book was excellent. I often forgot I wasn’t actually listening to the author.
I can’t say enough positive things about this book. Buy it and listen to it or read it. If you do so with an open mind you will learn so much and that information might just save your life or the lives of your children or grandchildren one day when we face something like this again, because we will and we still have so much to learn. This book is a great place to start.

Essential to understand the Trump Covid response

This is very much a personal perspective on the Covid crisis from someone inside the Trump White House. It's a bit repetitive, but defends its points of view well. It's important to remember that when the virus hit very little was known about it, and so the response had to adjust as more information became clearer. An important feature she points out is the necessity of fast action to minimize damage. For that to happen the necessary organizational structure and materials need to be in place. We have a professional army training and preparing for the next war. We have a much more ad hoc, volunteer based approach to pandemics, though they can, and in this case, did kill more than any previous war.

This is a great listen

It’s refreshing to know that someone tries to separate healthcare from politics, relying on science.

Scientists should “rule” the world.

Compelling. Thorough. Captivating. I have listened to this book twice (in less than two weeks).
I have recommended this book to every person I speak to.
Dr. Birx is the quintessential public servant.
Please read this book.