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President Donald Trump knew Covid-19 was deadlier than the flu earlier than it hit the US however wished to minimize the disaster, in accordance with a brand new ebook.
Bob Woodward, the journalist who broke the Watergate scandal, interviewed Mr Trump 18 occasions from December to July.
Mr Trump is quoted as telling him the virus was “lethal stuff” earlier than the primary US loss of life was confirmed.
Responding to the ebook, the president mentioned he had wished to keep away from inflicting public panic over the outbreak.
Some 190,000 Individuals have been recorded as dying with Covid-19 because the starting of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, some US media launched elements of the interviews between the president and the journalist, revealing his reported remarks on the outbreak in addition to race and different points.
Listed here are a number of the key quotes so removed from Rage, which might be launched on 15 September.
What does the ebook say about Mr Trump and the virus?
In interviews with Woodward, Mr Trump indicated that he knew extra concerning the severity of the sickness than he had mentioned publicly.
Based on a tape of the decision, Mr Trump instructed Woodward in February that the coronavirus was deadlier than the flu.
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“It goes by means of the air,” Mr Trump instructed Woodward on 7 February.
“That is all the time more durable than the contact. You do not have to the touch issues. Proper? However the air, you simply breathe the air and that is the way it’s handed.
“And in order that’s a really difficult one. That is a really delicate one. It is also extra lethal than even your strenuous flus.”
Later that month, Mr Trump promised the virus was “very a lot below management”, and that the case rely would quickly be near zero. He additionally publicly implied the flu was extra harmful than Covid-19.
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Talking on Capitol Hill on 10 March, Mr Trump mentioned: “Simply keep calm. It’ll go away.”
9 days later, days after the White Home declared the pandemic a nationwide emergency, the president instructed Woodward: “I wished to all the time play it down. I nonetheless like taking part in it down, as a result of I do not need to create a panic.”
- From 2018: Woodward on Trump – the explosive quotes
- How Trump’s attitude toward coronavirus has shifted
How did the White Home react?
Talking from the White Home on Wednesday, Mr Trump instructed reporters: “I do not need folks to be frightened, I do not need to create panic, as you say, and definitely I am not going to drive this nation or the world right into a frenzy.
“We need to present confidence, we need to present power, we need to present power as a nation and that is what I’ve performed.”
The president – who’s operating for re-election in November – mentioned the Woodward ebook was “a political hit job”.
Responding to reporters’ questions on the ebook on Wednesday, White Home press secretary Kayleigh McEnany mentioned: “The president by no means downplayed the virus, as soon as once more.
“The president expressed calm. The president was severe about this.”
In a tweet on Wednesday, Mr Trump’s Democratic White Home challenger Joe Biden mentioned that “whereas an epidemic ripped by means of our nation, [the president] didn’t do his job – on objective”.
“It was a life or loss of life betrayal of the American folks.”
Disaster administration
Evaluation by Tara McKelvey, BBC White Home correspondent
Leaders are liable for maintaining folks calm, however there is a superb line between avoiding panic and making a disaster worse.
President Trump instructed Woodward Covid-19 was deadlier than the flu, however in public he downplayed the hazard, explaining to the writer that he did not need “to create a panic”.
Different leaders took a unique method. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned bluntly that individuals would die: “Many extra households are going to lose family members earlier than their time.”
Mr Johnson thought folks ought to know the severity of the pandemic. In distinction, Mr Trump usually downplayed the virus from the start. In current weeks, his advisers started talking of the coronavirus in previous tense – as if the issue was gone.
Scientists disagree, saying there may be prone to be a surge within the autumn, following the sample of different respiratory ailments.
One reality is irrefutable, nonetheless. Mr Trump desires folks to see him as a robust chief. He additionally desires them to go to the polls and vote – and to not fear concerning the virus.
What else did the ebook reveal?
When Woodward introduced up the Black Lives Matter protests in a dialog on 19 June, suggesting that “white, privileged” folks like themselves must work to grasp how black Individuals really feel.
“You actually drank the Kool-Help, did not you?” Mr Trump mentioned. “Simply hearken to you.”
The nationwide protests towards police brutality and racism have been sparked by George Floyd’s loss of life in Might.
Mr Trump additionally repeated the suggestion that he had performed extra for African-Individuals than any president other than Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery.
Later, on 8 July, Mr Trump once more reiterated that he had “performed an incredible quantity for the black neighborhood” however was “not feeling any love”.
The Washington Submit additionally cited an interview the place Woodward requested the president about whether or not America has systemic racism.
Mr Trump mentioned whereas these issues exist all over the place, “I believe in all probability much less right here than most locations, or much less right here than many locations”.
The president additionally acknowledged racism impacts the lives of individuals within the US, saying “it is unlucky”.
Woodward’s ebook additionally cites dozens of letters between Mr Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Within the letters, full of flowery language, Mr Kim reportedly referred to Mr Trump as “Your Excellency” and famous their “deep and particular friendship will work as a magical power”.
Mr Trump reportedly instructed Woodward that he felt his predecessor, Barack Obama was “extremely overrated”.
“I do not suppose Obama’s good,” Mr Trump reportedly mentioned. “And I do not suppose he is an important speaker.”
Based on CNN, Mr Trump instructed Woodward he made President George W Bush “seem like a silly moron, which he was”.
