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The White House no longer announced Trump’s appearances as press conferences in recent days, but nonetheless resembled them. Image: AP
Allegations against China and much praise: this was Trump’s press conference, which was not a
United States President Donald Trump says he has evidence that the crown pandemic may have originated in a Chinese research laboratory. When asked by a reporter if he had information that would give him a “high level of confidence” in this regard, Trump said twice on Thursday night (local time) at the White House: “Yes, I do.” The President of the United States referred to the Institute of Virology in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first cases were known late last year.
This was the appearance of Trump before the media on Thursday:
Trump’s accusations
The head of the laboratory, Yuan Zhiming, rejected the accusations several days ago. Trump again criticized the leadership in China, accusing him of failing to stop the virus. “They could not do it or decided not to, and the world suffered severely,” said the President of the United States. Experts believe the virus originates from bats and could have spread to humans directly or through another animal as a host.
The World Health Organization should be “ashamed”
Trump also criticized the World Health Organization (WHO), which he compared to a “public relations agency for China.” “You shouldn’t make excuses for people who make terrible mistakes,” Trump said. “You should be ashamed.” Trump has suspended US financial contributions to the WHO over these allegations of the crown crisis. The United States is the main payer. Critics accuse Trump of seeking scapegoats in the crown crisis to distract himself from his own failures.
The president does not confirm the intelligence findings
Trump declined to confirm the information from his own executive intelligence coordinator, Richard Grenell, when asked. His office had announced Thursday that the American secret services, like most scientists, assumed that the new coronavirus was a natural and not an artificial or manipulated pathogen. Trump said he had not seen the announcement. There are many theories and the United States examined the origin. “We will find out.”
Speculation about the laboratory.
In the United States, it has recently been repeatedly speculated that the Sars-CoV-2 virus was accidentally released by a laboratory worker in Wuhan. The pandemic had started in the metropolis. Most scientists assume that the pathogen in China jumped from infected animals to humans and then spread rapidly.
Trump’s praise
Trump again praised himself and his government’s crisis management. “No one spent more time late at night thinking about what happened to this country,” he said. “I don’t think anybody has done a better job than we did in testing, respirators, everything we did.” The President added: “We are proud of the work we did.” The Trump administration has been criticized for weeks due to a lack of evidence. The President is also accused of responding too late to the virus.
The situation in the United States
According to Johns Hopkins University statistics, over a million coronavirus infections have been reported in the United States, just under a third of all cases worldwide. According to this, more than 62,000 people in the United States died as a result of an infection. Trump said on April 17 that his government expected 60,000 to 65,000 deaths as a result of the coronavirus epidemic in the United States. Given the increasing number of victims, it no longer seems realistic that these numbers hold.
Trump loses his main reelection argument
Trump is still trying to get the economy back on track as quickly as possible. Since the United States coronavirus pandemic escalated in March, more than 30 million people have registered as unemployed. The number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week through April 25 inclusive totaled 3.8 million, according to the Washington Department of Labor on Thursday. The United States economy is heading into a deep recession due to the coronavirus crisis. Before the crisis, Trump’s booming economy was the main argument for his reelection next November.
Trump and the protective masks
Trump left open whether he would wear a protective mask on an upcoming domestic trip or not, despite the official recommendation to do so. Trump barely left the White House in recent weeks due to the crown pandemic. He is planning a visit to the US state of Arizona next week. When asked if he would wear a respirator there, he said Thursday that it would depend on conditions during the visit. “I have no problem wearing a mask.” But the question arises whether this makes sense if he gives a speech.
Trump press conferences
Trump had held press conferences on the crown crisis almost every day in recent weeks. The American media reported that the consultants discouraged these appearances because they damaged his image. This was especially true after Trump raised the question last week whether it could be helpful in fighting the coronavirus injecting disinfectants into people, which is life-threatening and caused a storm of outrage.
The White House no longer announced Trump’s appearances as press conferences in recent days, but nonetheless resembled them. Thursday was officially about protecting older people. Trump then told reporters present that he would also answer questions on other issues. (viw / sda / dpa)
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