Donald Trump suggested that the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe is the result of a ‘horrible mistake’ made by China and that Chinese officials tried to cover it up.
The president continued to point the finger at Beijing and fueled growing suggestions that COVID-19 spread from a Wuhan laboratory before snowballing into a worldwide pandemic.
His fiery remarks at Sunday’s Fox News virtual town hall meeting at Washington’s Lincoln Memorial came hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was a ‘significant amount of evidence’ the disease had escaped.
Trump also said there was enough evidence to prove President Xi Jinping’s regime misled the global community.
‘Well, I don’t think there’s any question about it. We wanted to go in, they didn’t want us to go in. Things are coming out that are pretty compelling. I don’t think there’s any question,’ the president said Sunday.
‘Personally, I think they made a horrible mistake, and they didn’t want to admit it,’ he added.
His comments came as a Department of Homeland Security report shared on Sunday revealed US officials believe China ‘intentionally concealed the severity’ of the pandemic in early January and hoarded medical supplies.
The four-page report dated May 1 that was obtained by the Associated Press notes that China downplayed the virus publicly but increased imports and decreased exports of medical supplies.
The document accuses China of covering their tracks by ‘denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data.’
It lends weight to a leaked dossier drawn up by the Five Eyes intelligence alliance which describes how Beijing made whistleblowers ‘disappear’, destroyed early virus samples and scrubbed the internet of any mention of the disease in the early stages.
In the wide-ranging interview last night:
- The president said he believed a coronavirus vaccine could be developed by the end of the year;
- He lashed out at Democrats who he said were motivated by politics and ‘don’t want to see a good result’;
- Trump conceded that 100,000 Americans could die from the disease, after initially touting 60,000 as the final toll;
- Trump claimed he has been treated worse than Abraham Lincoln by the press, as he sat in the shadow of the 16th president’s memorial;
- He lashed out at the World Health Organisation, branding its handling of the pandemic a ‘disaster’ and justified his decision to cut funding
- Trump said everyone, even Dr. Fauci, told him the virus would be ‘no big deal’
- Vice president Mike Pence admitted he should have worn a mask when he visited the Mayo clinic following a backlash for flouting the rules.
President Donald Trump suggested that the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe is the result of a ‘horrible mistake’ made by China
The president continued to point the finger at Beijing on Sunday during a Fox News virtual town hall meeting at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. where he said China sparked the outbreak before scrambling to cover it up
‘Personally, I think they made a horrible mistake, and they didn’t want to admit it…like a fire…They couldn’t put out the fire,’ the president said
In Sunday’s virtual town hall, Trump said that China failed to admit their mistake in refusing to accept global aid.
‘We wanted to go in, but they didn’t want us there.
‘Even World Health wanted to go in – they were admitted but much later, not immediately.
‘They made a mistake, they tried to cover it, like a fire…They couldn’t put out the fire,’ Trump said.
He condemned the Communist nation for not alerting global leaders on the severity of the outbreak while continuing to allow flights to exit China.
‘What they really treated the world badly on, they stopped people from going into China but they didn’t stop people from going into the USA and all the rest of the world.’
‘They knew they had a problem, I think they were embarrassed by the problem,’ Trump added.
When asked about President Xi, Trump said ‘I’m not going to say anything’ but ‘this should never have happened’.
He also lashed out at the World Health Organisation for siding with China and blindly regurgitating its ‘wrong’ information.
The president branded the UN agency’s handling of the emergency a ‘disaster’ and said the US had been ‘foolishly’ pouring funding into its coffers.
Trump said that the federal government is putting together a ‘strong’ report on the origin of COVID-19 that has infected over a million in the US and killed over 68,000, adding it will be ‘very conclusive’.
Last week Trump told reporters that he had seen proof that suggests the virus originated in the lab, but he did not go into detail.
Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin watch as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the ‘America Together. Returning to Work’ town hall
In Sunday’s virtual town hall, Trump said that China failed to admit their mistake in refusing to accept global aid
Last week Trump told reporters that he had seen proof that suggests the virus originated in the lab, but he did not go into detail. The Wuhan Institute of Virology located near the wet market pictured above
Diplomats had complained about the slack safety measures at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the years prior to the coronavirus outbreak
Earlier on Sunday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that ‘a significant amount of evidence’ suggested the virus came from the Wuhan lab.
TRUMP SAYS SAID FAUCI SAID CORONAVIRUS WAS ‘NO BIG DEAL’
Trump claimed ‘everybody’ – including Dr Fauci – told him coronavirus was going to be ‘no big deal’ after he closed the border with China.
‘Nancy Pelosi was a month later saying it was going to pass — everybody, even Tony Fauci, was saying it’s going to pass, not going to be a big deal,’ he said on Sunday night.
Fauci has been hailed by many as a voice of reason amid the pandemic.
He has resisted criticizing the president but has contradicted him, especially on medical guidance, at daily White House briefings.
Fauci warned in 2017 that a disease outbreak could be something the US should worry about.
In April, he said that more lives would have been saved if the US had been shut down sooner but that there was ‘push back’.
Hours after he said it, Trump retweeted a tweet calling for Fauci to be fired.
The president says that by stopping foreign nationals from entering the US from China in January, before any other country, he responded quickly.
‘I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan.
‘These are not the first time that we’ve had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab,’ Pompeo said on ABC’s This Week.
The US intelligence community said it believes that COVID-19 was not ‘manmade or genetically modified’ but was investigating whether it was caused by ‘an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan’.
However, Chinese officials and scientists have denied that there is any connection between the outbreak and the Institute of Virology in Wuhan that studies infectious diseases including coronavirus.
Experts believe the virus started spreading as early as February in the United States before it forced states to issue lockdown directives for millions of Americans beginning in mid-March.
Last week, Trump claimed that he had seen evidence that coronavirus started in the Wuhan virology laboratory and warned he could impose tariffs of $1trillion on China in retribution for the pandemic.
‘Yes I have. Yes I have,’ Trump said when asked if he had seen proof the virus originated in the Wuhan Institute of Technology.
The Wuhan lab is located near a wet market that has been identified as the likely epicenter of the outbreak that took place late last year.
However, the president would not divulge what the evidence was that confirmed his suspicions, when asked by a reporter.
‘I can’t tell you that. I am not allowed to tell you that,’ he responded.
In Sunday’s virtual town hall, Trump said that China failed to admit their mistake in refusing to accept global aid
President Trump holds still during a commercial break at Sunday night’s Fox News Channel town hall that was filmed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington
The Five Eyes spy document, which was leaked to the Australian Telegraph on Saturday, also details how ‘risky’ bat-related virus studies were carried out at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The 15-page document brands Beijing’s secrecy over the pandemic an ‘assault on international transparency’ and points to cover-up tactics deployed by the regime.
It cites several studies led by scientist Dr. Shi Zhengli at the Institute into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses, with at least one of the virus samples being a 96 per cent genetic match for Covid-19.
But as part of a mass ‘suppression and destruction of evidence’, the state ordered samples of the virus to be destroyed in laboratories while wet market was bleached to extinguish remnants of the disease.
On Sunday Trump blamed US intelligence officials for failing to warn the country about the severity of the virus tweeting: ‘Intelligence has just reported to me that I was correct, and that they did NOT bring up the CoronaVirus subject matter until late into January, just prior to my banning China from the U.S. Also, they only spoke of the Virus in a very non-threatening, or matter of fact, manner…’
Trump predicts the US will have a COVID-19 vaccine ‘by the end of the year’ and says Dems are motivated by politics and ‘don’t want to see a good result’ – as he admits up to 100,000 could die of virus
By Nikki Schwab, senior US political correspondent for DailyMail.com
President Donald Trump expressed optimism that there would be a coronavirus vaccine by the conclusion of 2020.
‘We are very confident that we are going to have a vaccine by the end of the year,’ he said last night.
He hailed companies racing to find a drug and said the United States was working with Australian and UK partners in an international effort to beat the disease.
Trump offered the ray of hope to Fox News Channel anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, who were hosting a virtual town hall Sunday night from the Lincoln Memorial.
But the president’s enthusiasm faded as he made a bleak forecast up to 100,000 people could die from COVID-19 in the U.S.
As he gears up for November’s election, Trump also swiped at Democrats who he accused of rather seeing people suffer than allow him to take credit.
During the two-hour Q&A, where Americans asked Trump questions via video, he was joined by Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for the last 30 minutes.
Counselor to the president Hope Hicks (left), who recently rejoined the administration, and new Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (center, speak to President Trump during a commercial break during Sunday night’s Fox News Channel town hall
President Trump’s motorcade prepares to leave the White House Sunday for the short drive to the Lincoln Memorial
Hope Hicks, Trump’s longtime aide who recently rejoined the White House, and new Chief of Staff Mark Meadows were seen at the president’s side during commercial breaks. The president’s new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, was also on hand.
Throughout the town hall, he came back to his claim that the coronavirus vaccine was coming in 2020.
‘We think we’ll have a vaccine by the end of this year. And we’re pushing very hard. We’re building supply lines now and we don’t even have the final vaccine,’ Trump said.
He pointed to Johnson & Johnson as one company making a dent. ‘Many companies, I think, are close,’ he told the Fox News Channel hosts.
Admitting that it didn’t sound like his usual ‘America First’ rhetoric, Trump answered, ‘I don’t care,’ when asked how he would feel if another country developed a successful vaccine first.
‘I really just want to get a vaccine that works,’ the president said.
He added that the U.S. was working alongside Australia and also the United Kingdom, and brought up Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who became extremely ill from COVID-19.
‘He thought it was over, it was vicious,’ Trump said.
The president said he wasn’t worried about people volunteering for vaccine trials.
‘No, because they’re volunteers,’ Trump said. ‘They know what they’re getting into,’ he added, calling those who sign up ‘good people.’
The president said he’d like to see therapeutics, too, that would work to cure patients who have COVID-19.
‘I would rather have therapeutics, something to make people better, not a cure, at least a therapeutic,’ Trump said.
Most recently, the Federal Drug Administration authorized the use of the anti-viral drug Remdesivir for COVID-19 cases.
The president also continue to tout the anti-Malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
He pushed back when Baier mentioned some of hydroxychloroquine’s side effects. ‘They’re bragging about it,’ Trump said of the success doctors in other countries have seen using hydroxychloroquine.
He then used that moment to attack his political opponents.
‘Here’s what we’ve been reduced to in this country,’ Trump began. ‘The Democrats, the radical left, whatever you – would rather have people, I’m going to be very nice, I’m not going to say die – would rather see people not get well because they think I’m going to get credit, if hydroxychloroquine works.’
‘I have nothing to do with hydroxychloroquine,’ the president went on, mentioning how some media reports suggested he owned the company that makes the drug. ‘Other then, if it worked, it would be great.’
Trump also used his time at the Lincoln Memorial to go after the press – and compare the two leaders’ shoddy press coverage, in the president’s view.
The president was asked by a supporter, who said her family, prayed for him every day, about his ‘manner and presentation.’
‘Why do you use descriptive words that could be classified as bullying and why do you not directly answer the questions asked by the press and instead speak of past success and generally ramble?’ she asked, asking him to stop.
Trump said he had to act this way because nearly 100 per cent of the White House press corps was ‘hostile.’
‘Look I am greeted with a hostile press the likes of which no president has ever seen. The closest would be that gentleman right up there,’ the president said, pointing to the massive Lincoln statue. ‘I believe I am treated worse,’ he added.
The president described the questions asked by reporters in the briefing room as ‘disgraceful.’
‘And if I was kind to them, I would be walked off stage,’ he said.
Trump mentioned how boaters in Florida were out earlier Sunday with all sorts of Trump signs.
‘We have tremendous support, but the media, they might as well be in the Democrat Party,’ the president said.
The president, again, showed support for the protesters that have shown up to state capitols, a number of them sporting Trump gear.
‘And those are meaningful demonstrations,’ Trump pointed out to the Fox News Channel hosts.
And at the top of the program, he talked about how ‘probably everybody’s scared.’
‘I’ve never seen death like this, I’ve never personally experienced anything like this,’ Trump said of COVID-19.
He pointed out that he had known people who had gotten the flu all of his life.
‘I was lucky I never had the flu, then I came here, and they wanted to give me a flu show, I said, “I don’t want to a flue shot,’ but they have to give it,’ he said, seemingly of a discussion he had with the White House doctor once he became president.
‘I’ve known people that had the flu all my life, nobody ever died,’ Trump said.
While drawing comparisons between the two viruses in the past, Trump did no such thing Sunday night.
‘I’ve lost three friend,’ the president said. ‘One a very good friend, a very successful man, New York guy, employed a lot of people – they were all crying over his death, Staney Chera.’
Chera passed away from COVID-19 complications at the age of 78 in mid-April.
He was a fellow New York real estate investor.
‘He went to the hospital, he calls me up, he goes, “I tested positive,” I said what are you going to do? “I’m going to the hospital.” I’ll call you tomorrow,’ Trump said, recalling their conversation.
‘I call the hospital, he’s in a coma,’ Trump said. ‘I know a lot of people who had the flu, they were never in a coma.’
Trump called it a ‘horrible thing’ that the country is fighting.
‘This thing is vicious, it can take you out, it can take you out very strongly,’ the president said.
Trump praises boaters setting sail near Mar-a-Lago as 31 states kick off phase one of restarting the economy and tens of thousands across the country trickle out of lockdown to enjoy the sun
By Marlene Lenthang and Meghan Sheets for DailyMail.com
People across the country are slowly trickling out of quarantine and heading to local parks, beaches, and the few businesses that are up and running as states begin to reopen.
So far 31 states in the US have lifted some coronavirus lockdown restrictions with most governors restarting the economy in phases, starting with allowing retailers and recreational parks to open first.
Photographs taken over the weekend showed thousands packed into outdoor farmers markets in California, crowds practicing social distancing while shopping in Seattle, beach-goers soaking up the sun on recently-opened sand strips in Texas, and boaters hitting the waves in Florida.
President Donald Trump showed support for Floridians when he tweeted a video of a flock of boats bearing his 2020 campaign logo near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach on Sunday morning.
‘Thank you very much to our beautiful “boaters.” I will never let you down!’ he wrote.
America reopens: At least 31 states have started to reopen up and allow businesses to open their doors. Florida eased restrictions over the marinas on Sunday as revelers hit the water – including this group of boaters showing off Trump 2020 campaign logos near the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach
The president tweeted a video of the flock of pro-Trump boats on Sunday morning, writing: ‘Thank you very much to our beautiful “boaters.” I will never let you down!’
Florida: Revelers hit the waves near Palm Beach on a jet ski with a Trump 2020 campaign flag on Sunday
California: Protesters call for Gov. Gavin Newsom to lift lockdowns during a demonstration near Huntington Beach
Georgia: Dozens of people are seen near an Atlanta Beltline railway station in the Georgia capital on Sunday
Washington: In Seattle customers were seen Sunday practicing social distancing and wearing face masks in a line that stretched around the block as they waited to enter the West Seattle Farmers Market, which opened for the first time in nearly two months due to the coronavirus outbreak
Virginia: A drone photo shows cars lined up to watch the movie Trolls World Tour at the newly re-opened Family Drive-in Theatre in Stephens City, Virginia, on Saturday. Theatre owner James Kopp successfully lobbied Virginia governor Ralph Northam to reopen his drive-in during the coronavirus pandemic, by promising to adhere to strict social distancing guidelines
Texas: Beaches throughout the state were ordered to be open on May 1, prompting hundreds to flock to Galveston Beach on Saturday to enjoy the warm weather
California: In Studio City a Farmer’s Market was inundated with thousands of eager shoppers who ignored social distancing orders as they enjoyed the spring time sunshine
In Florida startling photographs of packed beaches have emerged over the past month as Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a shelter-in-place order on April 2, but later allowed beaches to reopen that same month.
This weekend big crowds were seen at Miami-Dade County marinas and parks, which opened Wednesday after weeks of being closed due to the virus.
Most of Florida will reopen on Monday, starting with restaurants that will allow services at 25 percent capacity and retail stores, museums and libraries with restrictions.
However, those orders won’t apply to Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, where a majority of coronavirus cases in the state lie. In total Florida has seen over 36,000 infections of COVID-19 and over 1,000 fatalities.
Gov. De Santis touted the success of his state’s handling of the virus last week saying: ‘There’s been a lot that’s been done to try to promote fear, to promote worst-case scenarios, to drive hysteria. People should know that worst-case scenario thinking (in Florida) – that has not proven to be true.’
‘The only thing we have to fear is letting fear overwhelm our sense of purpose and determination,’ he added as an explanation for his reopenings.
President Trump praised De Santis during a town hall meeting on Sunday night, saying: ‘Florida tested the people very, very well and look how low the numbers are in Florida.
‘They’ve done a great job.’
Florida: This weekend big crowds were seen at Miami-Dade County marinas and parks, which opened Wednesday after weeks of being closed due to the virus. People pictured enjoying their boats, some waving USA and Trump flags on Sunday off of Palm Beach
These two boats were spotted in the water off of Palm Beach on Sunday as parks and marinas were allowed to open earlier this week
Most of Florida will reopen on Monday, starting with restaurants that will allow services at 25 percent capacity and retail stores, museums and libraries with restrictions. However, those orders won’t apply to Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, where a majority of coronavirus cases in the state lie
Boaters seen enjoying a sunny day on the first Saturday since the reopening of marinas in Miami-Dade following coronavirus lockdowns
Locals came out in droves to enjoy the water on the first weekend they were allowed to hit the marinas since they reopened this week
Even though California has not officially reopened tons of people were seen at the Farmer’s Market in Studio City on Sunday. Gov. Gavin Newsom has not said when the state would open but said it would take weeks
An aerial view of the Ocean beach where people enjoy warm weather in Long Branch, New Jersey, United States during coronavirus pandemic
Locals in Los Angeles headed out to their parks to sunbathe after Gov. Gavin Newsom doubled down and closed public beaches after crowds gathered there last week
People pictured walking on sand in front of the Golden Gate Bridge at the Crissy Field East Beach in San Francisco on Sunday. Beaches were mostly empty over the warm weekend as Californians heeded stay-at-home orders in anticipation that Gov. Gavin Newsom might ease some restrictions this week
An aerial view of the Ocean beach where people enjoy warm weather in Long Branch, New Jersey, United States during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic
A Huntington Beach police officer asks two men to leave as the beach is closed amid the coronavirus pandemic in Huntington Beach, California on Saturday
In California on Sunday, hundreds of people were seen out and about at an outdoor farmer’s market in Studio City, Los Angeles.
California has been under shelter-in-place orders since March 19 restricting locals to stay at home except for essential trips without an official end date in sight. Newsom said some businesses could open ‘in weeks, not months.’
However, protests have broken out across the state as locals force their way onto beaches to enjoy warm weather.
In LA County beaches are closed through May 15 but Ventura and San Diego counties have been gradually opening their beaches.
Orange County fully opened their beaches, drawing massive crowds last weekend, prompting Newsom to close the area’s local and state beaches on Thursday. After last weekend’s crowds, some locals still headed to the beach, but police were on site to order them to go home.
California has the fifth-biggest COVID-19 breakout in the country with over 54,000 cases of the virus and over 2,000 deaths.
Thousands of New Yorkers flocked to city parks this weekend as warmer weather tempted them out of quarantine and forced the city to dispatch 1,000 officers to streets to enforce social distancing guidelines and a ban on large public congregations (Pictured: Central Park’s Sheep Meadow on Saturday afternoon)
Under the instructions of Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD officers set out on foot, bicycles and in cars to break up crowds and remind those enjoying the weather of public health restrictions requiring they keep 6 feet away from others
Governor Andrew Cuomo said he appreciated residents were bored but that they should not take ‘false comfort’ from falling COVID-19 cases or from seeing other states reopen
Sarah Schu places a sign advising customers of the direction of travel at the West Seattle Farmers Market on Sunday reminding people to practicing social distancing
Washington state’s reopening guidelines allows a few vendors at farmers markets to reopen as long as there is a limited number of customers moving in a single direction inside with hand washing and sanitizing stations available
Apple vendor Dani Clauson waves to a customer after a purchase at her stand in the West Seattle Farmers Market during its first opening in nearly two months because of the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday
Farmer Samantha Alvarez rings up a purchase for a customer at the West Seattle Farmers Market during its first opening in nearly two months on Sunday
Gotta golf! A golfer pictured wearing a mask and protective gloves in his retrofitted cart as he heads out on Sunday at the Shenvalee Golf Resort in New Market, Virginia
Practicing social distancing: The Shenvalee Golf Resort retrofitted all their carts to maintain social distancing measures
In Seattle customers were seen Sunday practicing social distancing and wearing face masks in a line that stretched around the block as they waited to enter the West Seattle Farmers Market, which opened Sunday for the first time in nearly two months due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Washington state, which saw the first outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, has stay-at-home orders through May 31 but phrase one of reopenings starts on Tuesday May 5 where outdoor recreation is open and essential businesses – such as construction, landscaping, and curb-side pick-up retail can open.
The reopening guidelines allows a few vendors at farmers markets to reopen as long as there is a limited number of customers moving in a single direction inside with hand washing and sanitizing stations available.
In Texas thousands flocked to beaches as the state allowed them to reopen on May 1. A couple at Galveston Beach was seen celebrating their wedding at the scenic shoreline, inundated with locals enjoying the warm weather and sunshine.
In Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued a stay-at-home order on March 30 that extends through June 10 – making it one of the longest in the nation, but allowed golf courses to remain open throughout that time period. The ‘Forward Virginia’ plan to ease public health restrictions started on April 24 and allowed certain businesses to open.
On Sunday happy golfers were seen at the Shenvalee Golf Resort in New Market, Virginia using retrofitted golf cars that had sheets of plastic running along the middle to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Texas: Locals in Galveston headed to the beach over the weekend after the state’s beaches were allowed to be opened on May 1. Liza Pankey and Christopher Pankey share a laugh after getting married at Galveston Beach on Saturday above
Hundreds of people headed out to Galveston Beach in Texas on Sunday to enjoy the partial statewide reopening of the economy following strict coronavirus lockdowns
In Texas there are over 31,900 cases of COVID-19 and there have been over 870 deaths so far. Beachgoers enjoying a day of sunshine at Galveston Beach pictured Saturday
Meanwhile in New York, thousands flocked to city parks this weekend to enjoy the warm weather that tempted them out of quarantine and forced the city to dispatch 1,000 officers to streets to enforce social distancing guidelines and a ban on large public congregations.
Two of the city’s largest public gardens, Central Park and Prospect Park, were filled with sunbathers basking in the 70-degree sunshine across the weekend, many of them in groups.
Mayor de Blasio said in parks alone yesterday, officers were forced to issue 43 summonses to those ignoring social distancing protocol. New Yorkers can be fined up to $1000 for violating the orders.
An additional eight summonses were issued to lockdown rebels outside of the parks, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said, noting the ‘majority’ of the 51 issued in total were for a failure to maintain a social distance.
Three arrests were made citywide, Shea said, though the circumstances of each was not disclosed. The NYPD has made 60 arrests and issued 343 summonses related to social distancing since shelter-in-place instructions were implemented on March 16.