Trump says intelligence told him coronavirus was 'non-threatening' in January as criticism of his ea

Donald Trump pushed back on Sunday against recent reporting that intelligence officials were issuing classified reports to his administration as early as last November warning about the early outbreak of coronavirus in the Wuhan province of China.

The president also claimed the restrictions he placed on travel to the US from China in January have saved "tens of thousands" of American lives, which he has used as a data point to defend against criticism that he did not take the threat of the coronavirus seriously.

"Intelligence has just reported to me that I was correct, and that they did NOT bring up the CoronaVirus subject matter until late into January, just prior to my banning China from the U.S.," Mr Trump tweeted. "Also, they only spoke of the Virus in a very non-threatening, or matter of fact, manner," the president added.

Link to tweet

?s=20

Mr Trump appeared to be responding to recent reporting by ABC News and other outlets that his administration had been warned for weeks and even months about the budding health crisis in China, even as White House officials and congressional Republicans downplayed the severity of the coronavirus through much of the first three months of 2020.

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-says-intelligence-told-him-211021372.html