Donald Trump knew the extent of the threat of a deadly coronavirus in February but deliberately misled the public by deciding to "eliminate it", according to an interview with the most under-investigated American journalists.
The US president gave 18 interviews to Bob
Woodward between December 2019 and July 2020. He lays the groundwork for his
respected new book, Ridge, obtained Wednesday by the Washington Post and CNN,
in which Trump condemns his own words.
Just two months before running for
re-election, Trump has been ridiculed by former President George W. Bush as a
"stupid moron" and ridiculed by the Black Lewis Pea movement for
racial equality’ and police brutality.
The book also states that in 2017, the
United States may approach a nuclear war with North Korea.
Anger coincides with Trump's
public-private rhetoric on Code 19 epidemics, which has killed more than
190,000 Americans and created the worst economic crisis since the Great
Depression.
Early on January 28, 2020, National
Security Adviser Robert O'Brien informed the President that Code 19 would be
the biggest national security threat to his presidency. The book states that
Trump's head was a "pop-up."
Three days later, Trump announced a travel
ban from China, even though the virus was already in the United States.
On February 7, he told Woodward in a phone
call: "It goes through the air. It's always harder than contact. You don't
have to touch things. Okay? But wind, you just breathe air. Take it and pass it
like that. And so it is very difficult. It is very delicate. It is more deadly
than your severe pollution.
"It's a deadly thing," he added.
But February, according to Woodward and
many other analysts, was a lost month. On February 27, Trump publicly said:
"It will disappear. One day - it's like a miracle - it will
disappear." In a tweet on March 9, he made it clear that it comparing, he said
that in the flu season, "nothing stops; life and the economy are going
on". "Think of it!"
By March 19, Trump had declared a national
emergency but told Woodward: "I've always wanted to end it. I still like
to play it, because I don't want to panic.
Speaking at a campaign event in Warren,
Michigan, on Wednesday afternoon, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden
reacted to the reports by saying: "He knew how deadly it was. Far more
deadly, he knew and deliberately paid for it. Worse, he lied to the American
people, who deliberately and deliberately lied about the threat to the country
for months. He said
Biden added: "He had information. He
knew how dangerous it was and, while this deadly disease had spread to our
nation, he failed to achieve his goal. It was a matter of life and death with
the American people. Experts say 36,000 people would have survived if it had
worked just a week earlier.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told
the MSNBC network: "I think what he said makes sense in two ways. One, his
weakness: he's tackling the challenge facing our country. Did not know for
"Secondly, the hatred and denial of
science, which has answers, we could have included it at the outset. But the
biggest thing was that they completely ignored the impact on individual
families in our country. Done
At a White House Corona Virus Task Force
briefing on April 3, Trump was still reducing the virus.
"I said it's going and it's
going," he said. But just two days later, he told Woodward: "It's a
terrible thing. It's unbelievable." On April 13, he admitted: "It can
be moved so easily, you don't even believe it. Will do. "
In May, Woodward asked Trump if he
remembered O'Brien's stern warning on January 28. He replied: "No, I
don't, I'm sure if he said that - you know, I'm sure he said that. Good
boy."
And in his last interview in July, Trump
sought to absolve himself of responsibility, telling Woodward: "This virus
has nothing to do with me. It's not my fault. That's it; China has kicked it.
Killed the virus. "
Anger also has negative implications for
Trump's failure to respond to the virus, for example his willingness to order
an economic lockdown, and months of attacking and resisting wearing a mask.
Anthony Fauci, the country's leading
infectious disease specialist, has been quoted’ as calling Trump's leadership
"flawless" and saying his timing is like a negative number.
"His sole purpose is to be
re-elected," Foucault was quoted’ as saying.
Woodward, 77, is a two-time Pulitzer Prize
winner and has written nearly nine American presidents. His reporting with Carl
Bernstein, a Washington Post correspondent on the Watergate break and cover-up,
helped bring to light the resignation of Richard Nixon. Trump praised Nixon
But Trump said Woodward made Bush look
"like a stupid moron who he was", and said of Barack Obama: "I
don't think he's smart about Obama; I think he's overly." He's
overwhelmed. And I don't think he's a good speaker. "
He also told Woodward that North Korean
dictator Kim Jong UN thought Obama was "a ** hole."
In June, at the height of protests against
racial injustice following the police assassination of George Floyd in
Minneapolis in May, Woodward advised Trump that white and privileged’ people
like him need to appreciate the plight of African Americans. ۔
"No," Trump replied
sarcastically. "You really drank K Cole Aid, didn't you? Just listen to
you. Great. No, I don't feel that way at all."
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and
senior adviser, was quoted’ as saying that four phrases are important for
understanding Trump, including Lewis Carroll's Ellis in Wonderland. Kushner
mapped out the Cheshire cat from the book: "If you don't know where you're
going, either way will get you there."
Woodward also wrote that Trump's national
security team had warned that the United States may move closer to a nuclear
war with North Korea in 2017. The then Secretary of Defense, James Mattis,
slept in his clothes to prepare for the North Korean missile launch and prayed
at the National Church in Washington. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was quoted’
as saying: "We never knew if it was real or if it was a hoax."
Mysteriously, Trump bragged to Woodward
about a new secret weapons system: "I've built a nuclear-weapon system
like never before in this country." Woodward writes that other sources
confirmed the claim but were surprised that Trump made the revelation.
Woodward received 27 "love
letters" in which Trump exchanged less. Kim repeatedly flattered Trump by
calling him "your respect," and wrote that "the deep and special
friendship between us will act as a magical force." In another statement,
Kim said the reunion would be "reminiscent of a fantasy movie scene."
Last month, Trump immediately tweeted in a
fit of rage: "The Bob Woodward book will be as fake as ever, as so many
others have been."
READ MORE
0 Comments