What has Donald Trump said about the coronavirus pandemic?

The president has batted away sharp criticism of his controversial response to the outbreak
David Child2 October 2020

US President Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19 after months of downplaying the pandemic.

Mr Trump has repeatedly eschewed masks, criticised others who wear them, offered bogus medical advice and held large rallies with unmasked supporters against the advice of public health professionals amid the public health crisis.

The 74-year-old has also batted away sharp criticism of his controversial response to an outbreak that has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States alone since initially erupting in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December of last year.

Instead, he has touted his management of the pandemic, claiming to have "done a very good job from the beginning".

With that in mind, here is a timeline of some of his most notable comments on the crisis:

January 22

Mr Trump says his administration has Covid-19 "totally under control" during an interview with US news channel CNBC interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

"We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine," he says.

A day earlier, federal officials reported the first case of coronavirus in the United States.

January 24

Mr Trump takes to Twitter to praise China's response to the Covid-19 crisis, singling out Chinese President Xi Jinping's efforts to contain the virus.

“China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus," Mr Trump says.

"The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!"

Mr Trump will later turn on China over the crisis and repeatedly blames the country for the pandemic in the months ahead.

February 23

Answering questions from reporters at the White House, Mr Trump claims his administration is "very cognizant of everything going on" with the pandemic and says the US had the virus "very much under control".

"We’re very much involved," the US President says in response to a question asking whether he had been updated on the pandemic.

"We’re very — very cognizant of everything going on. We have it very much under control in this country.”

Donald and Melania Trump - In pictures

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February 26

Mr Trump says the US' coronavirus caseload of 15 will be eradicated within a "couple of days".

“The 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero," he says during a White House coronavirus task force briefing.

"This is a flu. This is like a flu.”

February 27

Speaking at the White House, Mr Trump predicts the coronavirus pandemic will eventually "disappear".

"It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear," he says.

March 10

After meeting with Republican senators, Mr Trump says the Covid-19 crisis was "unexpected" and offers assurances the pandemic "will go away".

"This was unexpected. … and it hit the world," he says.

"And we’re prepared, and we’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”

March 13

Mr Trump claims his administration has "done a great job" managing the pandemic while declaring a national emergency over the crisis.

"We’ve done a great job because we acted quickly," he says at the White House.

"We acted early. And there’s nothing we could have done that was better than closing our borders to highly infected areas.”

March 15

Mr Trump tells reporters at a White House briefing that Covid-19 is a "very contagious virus" but offers assurances his administration has control over the pandemic.

"This is a very contagious virus. It’s incredible," he says. "But it’s something that we have tremendous control over.”

March 18

Referring to Covid-19 as the "Chinese Virus", Mr Trump claims in a post on Twitter he always took the pandemic seriously and has done a "very good job" of managing it.

"I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning, including my very early decision to close the ‘borders’ from China - against the wishes of almost all," he says.

Donald Trump - In pictures

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April 3

Speaking at a White House briefing, Mr Trump tells reporters the wearing of face masks is "going to be really a voluntary thing" in the US and suggests he won't be donning one himself.

"With the masks, it’s going to be really a voluntary thing. You can do it, you don’t have to do it. I’m choosing not to do it, but some people may want to do it and that’s OK," he says.

"As I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens ... I don’t see it for myself, I just don’t.”

April 23

The US President makes a series of controversial comments regarding disinfectant and Covid-19 during a White House briefing.

"I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?," he says.

"Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that.”

Pressed later about the issue, Mr Trump says he was not encouraging people to ingest disinfectant and portrays his remarks as sarcasm.

July 12

Before publicly donning a face mask for the first time, Mr Trump praises the use of Personal Protective Equipment in certain settings.

"When you are in a hospital, especially in that particular setting when you are talking to a lot of soldiers, people that in some cases just got off the operating table, I think it’s a great thing to wear a mask," he says.

July 21

U-Turning on his earlier comments on face masks, Mr Trump tells reporters at a White House briefing that his administration is "asking everybody" to "wear a mask" when unable to socially distance.

"We’re asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask, get a mask," he says.

"Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact, they’ll have an effect and we need everything we can get... I will use it, gladly ... Anything that potentially can help ... is a good thing.”

July 28

Mr Trump issues a strong defence of the disproved use of hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment, hours after social media companies delete videos he shared promoting its use which they saw as potentially harmful.

The US President takes to Twitter to promote the anti-malarial drug as a treatment for Covid-19 and to amplify criticism of Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert,

And in a White House briefing, Mr Trump defends his decision to promote a viral video of a group of doctors promoting the use of the drug, even though his own administration withdrew emergency authorisation for its use against the coronavirus.

“I think they’re very respected doctors,” Mr Trump says, adding they believed in the drug.

“There was a woman who was spectacular in her statements about it.”

He continues: "Many doctors think it’s extremely good and some people don’t. Some people I think it’s become very political. I happen to believe in it. I would take it. I … took it for a 14 day period. And I’m here. Right?”

September 29

Speaking at the US' first presidential debate after producing a mask from his pocket, Mr Trump says he "wears" the items when needed.

"I wear masks when needed. When needed, I wear masks," he says.

Mr Trump goes on to ridicule his Democratic rival for the White House, Joe Biden, for wearing them regularly.

“I don’t wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from them and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen," he says.

Later in the debate, the US President downplays concerns his political rallies may be aiding Covid-19 transmission

"Well, so far we have had no problem whatsoever," he says.

"It’s outside - that’s a big difference according to the experts," And we do them outside, we have tremendous crowds, as you see.... We had no negative, no negative effect. We’ve had no negative effect, and we’ve had, 35-40,000, people at some of these rallies.”

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