The Trump Admin started off well with a tough travel ban form China.
...a week after the first case was reported already in the US. And at the same time the administration, against the advice of the CDC, was bringing in flights of quarantined Americans from China, and having them greeted by health workers who weren't wearing protective gear.
Outside of the actual responses and well documented failures and misplaced priorities, there is also the problem of having a “president” who has spent 3 and a half years on the job shitting on his own credibility by telling literally tens of thousands of lies.
Before it becomes a matter of life and death it’s all fun and games. Even his supporters who laugh at the CNN fact checks, and dismiss the lies as not the point, internalize the fact that Trump can’t be trusted. They don’t care. Until it matters.
The man says everything is going to be ok, trust me, and the next day the stock market tanks. He says there will be zero cases in the US in a few days, now we have over 1,000. He actively spreads disinformation, and while literally no one believes him, it adds to the atmosphere of disinformation and fear. A leader can’t lead when he can’t be trusted.
That isn’t a specific misstep. But it is 100% a problem Trump is responsible for.