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US President Donald Trump knew that Covid-19 was more deadly than the flu before it reached the country, but wanted to downplay the crisis, according to a new book.
Bob Woodward, the journalist who sparked the Watergate scandal, interviewed Trump 18 times between December and July.
Trump is quoted as telling him that the virus was “somewhat deadly” before the first death in the United States was confirmed.
In response to the book, the president said he had wanted to avoid causing public panic over the outbreak.
Some 190,000 Americans have been recorded to have died with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, some US media published parts of the interviews between the president and the journalist, revealing their comments on the outbreak, as well as race and other topics.
Here are some of the key quotes so far from Rage, releasing on September 15.
What does the book say about Trump and the virus?
Trump indicated that he knew more about the severity of the disease than he had publicly said.
According to a tape of the call, Trump told Woodward in February that the coronavirus was more deadly than the flu.
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“It goes through the air,” Trump told the author on February 7.
“That is always more difficult than touch. You don’t have to touch things. Right? But the air, you just breathe the air and that’s how it happens.”
“And that is very complicated. It is very delicate. It is also more deadly than even her exhausting blush.”
Later that month, Trump promised that the virus was “very under control” and that the case count would soon approach zero. He also publicly hinted that the flu was more dangerous than Covid-19.
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Speaking on Capitol Hill on March 10, Trump said, “Just keep calm. He will go.”
Nine days later, days after the White House declared the pandemic a national emergency, the president told Woodward: “I always wanted to minimize it. I still like to minimize it, because I don’t want to create panic.”
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How did the White House react?
Speaking from the White House on Wednesday, Trump told reporters: “I don’t want people to freak out, I don’t want to create panic, as you say, and I’m certainly not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy.
“We want to show confidence, we want to show strength.”
The president, who is running for reelection in November, called Woodward’s book “a political success.”
Responding to reporters’ questions about the book, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said: “The president never downplayed the virus, once again. The president expressed calm. The president took it seriously. “.
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In a tweet, Trump’s Democratic challenger to the White House, Joe Biden, said that “as a deadly disease ravaged our nation, [the president] it failed to do its job – on purpose. It was a life and death betrayal of the American people. “
Crisis management
Analysis by Tara McKelvey, BBC White House correspondent
Leaders are responsible for keeping people calm, but there is a fine line between avoiding panic and making a crisis worse. President Trump told Woodward that Covid-19 was deadlier than the flu, but publicly downplayed the danger.
Other leaders took a different approach. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said bluntly that people would die: “Many more families will lose loved ones before their time.”
Johnson thought that people should know the severity of the pandemic. Rather, Trump often downplayed the virus early on. In recent weeks, his advisers began talking about the coronavirus in the past tense, as if the problem had disappeared.
Scientists disagree, saying there is likely to be a sudden spike in fall, following the pattern of other respiratory illnesses. However, one fact is irrefutable. Trump wants people to see him as a strong leader. He also wants them to go to the polls and vote, and not worry about the virus.
What else did the book reveal?
Woodward writes that he mentioned the Black Lives Matter protests in a conversation with the president on June 19, suggesting that “white and privileged” people like them should work to understand how black Americans feel.
“You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you?” Trump said. “Just listen to yourself.”
Nationwide protests against police brutality and racism were sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minnesota in May.
Trump also repeated the suggestion that he had done more for African Americans than any president apart from Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery.
Later, on July 8, Trump reiterated that he had “done a lot for the black community,” but that he “felt no love.”
The Washington Post also cited an interview in which Woodward asked the president if the United States has systemic racism.
Trump said that while these problems exist everywhere, “I think probably less here than in most places, or less here than in many places.”
The president also acknowledged that racism affects the lives of people in the United States and said “it is regrettable.”
Woodward’s book also cites dozens of letters between Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. In the letters, filled with flowery language, Kim reportedly referred to Trump as “Your Excellency” and noted that their “deep and special friendship will function as a magical force.”
According to US media, Trump told Woodward of his connection to Kim: “You meet a woman. In a second, you know if it’s going to happen or not. It doesn’t take you 10 minutes or six weeks. It’s like, wow. Okay. You know, it takes a little less than a second. “
Trump also reportedly told Woodward that he felt his predecessor, Barack Obama, was “very overrated.”
“I don’t think Obama is smart,” Trump said. “And I don’t think he’s a great speaker.”
According to CNN, Trump told Woodward that he made President George W Bush “look like a stupid idiot, which he was.”
The US elections are in November and the BBC wants to answer your questions about everything from candidate policies to the electoral process.
