To borrow a favorite phrase: Go ahead, Mr. President, lock us up!

Mr. President: Lock us up! Please.

This is a dangerous invitation to a man whose authoritarian tendencies are well known and who made a similar phrase a staple of his 2016 campaign. But for a guy who likes to play the strongman and who admires them around the world, President Trump’s efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus have been, to coin a phrase, low-energy.

The country has two to three weeks to avert a catastrophe, public health experts say, by imposing severe restrictions on crowds and movement before the deadly virus spreads out of control at a level that will overwhelm hospitals and drive up the number of deaths before a vaccine can be developed.

States, localities and private businesses are moving quickly to keep people from congregating at offices and schools, on mass transit and at public and private gatherings. Austin canceled South by Southwest. Boston canceled its St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Several universities are switching to online studies. New York declared a containment zone in Westchester County, closing schools, businesses and places of worship and calling in the National Guard to deliver food. Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders both canceled campaign rallies.

And Trump? Instead of using the bully pulpit to reinforce these critical efforts to slow the spread of the virus:

His White House reportedly rejected a request from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to advise the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions not to fly on commercial airlines.

He rejected the idea that he would cancel his own mass campaign rallies, saying, “It’s very safe.”

He bristles at the idea of shutting down any activities. On Monday, he tweeted that tens of thousands of Americans die from the flu, yet “Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on.”

Trump has always been more concerned about his own interests than the national interest. To the extent he’s concerned about the coronavirus, it’s that it might hurt him. In Vanity Fair, Gabriel Sherman reports that Trump told aides “he’s afraid journalists will try to purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One.” Trump is also said to have “asked the Secret Service to set up a screening program and bar anyone who has a cough from the White House grounds.”

British scientists, writing in the Lancet this week, write that 60% of the world population would become infected with the virus without attempts at slowing its spread. By contrast, with social distancing, the transmission rate could be reduced by 60%, as happened in China, and the spread kept in check.

Let’s leave aside the humanitarian consideration of lives saved and look at it strictly as Trump would from the perspective of self-interest. He wants to be reelected. Therefore, he wants markets to rally and employment to grow.

There’s no call for (or possibility of) a China-style crackdown. But if Trump puts the weight of the presidency behind efforts to slow the spread of the virus through social distancing, the economy would continue to take a short-term hit, but has a chance of recovering by, say, Nov. 3. If he continues on his current path, he could well have a Wuhan situation on his hands, resulting in an overwhelmed health care system, an unimaginable death toll and an economy in ruins — just in time for Election Day.

If not for us, Mr. President, do it for yourself.