Trump says downplaying coronavirus threat showed 'strength as a leader'


President Trump on Thursday defended comments he made to journalist Bob Woodward about the coronavirus, telling reporters at the White House that if what he said was "so bad," Woodward "should have immediately gone out publicly" and alerted "the authorities."
For his new book, Rage, Woodward interviewed Trump 18 times. In February and March, Trump privately told Woodward the airborne virus was deadlier than "the most strenuous flu," but he wanted to "play it down" so he wouldn't "create a panic." Publicly, Trump said the coronavirus was "just like the flu," and it was "very much under control."
Jonathan Karl of ABC News asked Trump, "Why did you lie to the American people and why should we trust what you have to say now?" Trump shot back, "That's a terrible question and the phraseology. I didn't lie. What I said is we have to be calm. We can't be panicked."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Karl pushed back, noting that Trump said one thing to Woodward — the coronavirus was "deadly stuff," for example — while telling Americans it was a hoax that would disappear "like a miracle."
"Listen," Trump said. "What I went out and said was very simple. I want to show a level of confidence, and I want to show strength as a leader. I want to show our country will be fine one way or the other whether we lose one person — we shouldn't lose any. This shouldn't have happened. This is China's fault. Nobody's fault but China. I don't want to jump up and down and start screaming, 'Death! Death!' Because that's not what it's about. We have to lead a country. We're leading a great country. We're doing a great job."
The coronavirus death toll in the United States is nearing 200,000, but Trump struck an optimistic tone, saying he believes that "we're rounding the corner and the vaccines are right there. We're rounding the final turn."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach Boys
Feature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Trump says Iran and Israel agreed to ceasefire
Speed Read This followed a night of Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and multiple waves of missiles fired by Iran
-
Israel strikes Iran, killing military and nuclear chiefs
Speed Read Israeli officials said the attack was a 'preemptive' strike on Iran's nuclear program
-
Israel deports Thunberg after seizing Gaza aid boat
speed read The Swedish activist was delivering food and medical aid to Palestine, highlighting the growing humanitarian crisis there
-
Colombian senator shot on streets of Bogotá
speed read Miguel Uribe Turbay, who has announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election, was shot at a rally
-
Trump says Putin vowed retaliation for Kyiv strike
speed read The Russian president intends to respond to Ukraine's weekend drone strikes on Moscow's warplanes
-
Dutch government falls over immigration policy
speed read The government collapsed after anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders quit the right-wing coalition
-
South Korea elects liberal Lee as president
speed read Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, was elected president following months of political instability in the wake of Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment
-
Nationalist wins tight Polish presidential election
speed read Karol Nawrocki beat Rafal Trzaskowski in Poland's presidential runoff election