US President Donald Trump knew how dangerous the coronavirus was and deliberately downplayed the threat of the disease in public, famed journalist Bob Woodward claimed in his new book "Rage," CNN reported.
Woodward claimed that the president told him on February 7 that the coronavirus was "more deadly than even your strenuous flus" and that "this is deadly stuff,"
According to Woodward, Trump admitted to downplaying the dangers posed by the coronavirus in another interview in March. "I wanted to always play it down," Trump was quoted as saying. "I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."
Woodward conducted 18 interviews with President Trump from December 5, 2019 to July 21, 2020. Those interviews form the basis for the book, along with interviews with many former Trump Administration officials such as former Defense Secretary James Mattis, former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
"There was a duty to warn. To listen, to plan, and to take care," Woodward wrote, suggesting that Trump was derelict in his duty to protect the American people from the coronavirus.
"Rage" will release on September 15.