Trump said he played down severity of Covid-19 to avoid panic
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New York — President Donald Trump told journalist Bob Woodward that he intentionally downplayed the severity of the coronavirus in public comments to avoid triggering a panic.
“I wanted to always play it down, I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic,” Trump told Woodward, the author and associate editor for the Washington Post, on March 19 in one of a series of interviews for his book, Rage, due for publication in September. CNN published audio recordings of excerpts of the conversations on Wednesday.
Trump told Woodward on February 7 that the virus was very dangerous and could be transmitted through the air — even as the president made public comments at odds with those statements.
“It goes through air, Bob, that’s always tougher than the touch,” he told Woodward. “The air, you just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed.”
Trump also told Woodward the virus was more deadly “than even your strenuous flus”.
The president said publicly in February and early March that the US had the virus under control. Trump repeatedly compared it to the flu and said it could fade away.
The same day Trump commented to Woodward, he tweeted praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s handling of the pandemic.
Woodward’s book reports that Trump was warned by national security adviser Robert O’Brien in a January 28 meeting that the virus “will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency”, according to the Washington Post, which said it obtained a copy in advance of publication.
“This is going to be the roughest thing you face,” O’Brien said, according to Woodward, who wrote that Trump’s head popped up at the dire warning. Trump told Woodward in May that he did not remember being told that.
Trump restricted travel from China shortly after. “The risk of infection for Americans remains low,” his health secretary, Alex Azar, said on January 31.
The book is based on 18 interviews that Trump gave Woodward between December and July, the Post reported. It also is based on background conversations with officials and other sources.
The book comes as Trump trails Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden in polls, with surveys showing Americans are displeased with the president’s handling of the virus. Trump has sought to shift blame for the pandemic, which has killed more than 189,000 Americans, to Beijing, regularly calling it the ...
“I wanted to always play it down, I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic,” Trump told Woodward, the author and associate editor for the Washington Post, on March 19 in one of a series of interviews for his book, Rage, due for publication in September. CNN published audio recordings of excerpts of the conversations on Wednesday.
Trump told Woodward on February 7 that the virus was very dangerous and could be transmitted through the air — even as the president made public comments at odds with those statements.
“It goes through air, Bob, that’s always tougher than the touch,” he told Woodward. “The air, you just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed.”
Trump also told Woodward the virus was more deadly “than even your strenuous flus”.
The president said publicly in February and early March that the US had the virus under control. Trump repeatedly compared it to the flu and said it could fade away.
The same day Trump commented to Woodward, he tweeted praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s handling of the pandemic.
Woodward’s book reports that Trump was warned by national security adviser Robert O’Brien in a January 28 meeting that the virus “will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency”, according to the Washington Post, which said it obtained a copy in advance of publication.
“This is going to be the roughest thing you face,” O’Brien said, according to Woodward, who wrote that Trump’s head popped up at the dire warning. Trump told Woodward in May that he did not remember being told that.
Trump restricted travel from China shortly after. “The risk of infection for Americans remains low,” his health secretary, Alex Azar, said on January 31.
The book is based on 18 interviews that Trump gave Woodward between December and July, the Post reported. It also is based on background conversations with officials and other sources.
The book comes as Trump trails Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden in polls, with surveys showing Americans are displeased with the president’s handling of the virus. Trump has sought to shift blame for the pandemic, which has killed more than 189,000 Americans, to Beijing, regularly calling it the ...