President Donald Trump is “very disappointed” in China for its handling of coronavirus, but he is not ready to discuss retaliation, the president said at a cabinet meeting Tuesday.
The comments come after weeks of messaging from the White House and Republicans condemning the Chinese government’s response to the disease. Trump said in April that China should face consequences if it is found to have “knowingly” contributed to the spread of COVID-19. U.S. intelligence has concluded China falsified its data on coronavirus cases and deaths in Wuhan and that Chinese Leader Xi Jinping personally asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to delay declaring the disease a pandemic.
“It was blocked very effectively from leaving [Wuhan] and going into China, but it went out to the rest of the world,” Trump said. “Why didn’t they let us go in and help them fix it? So I’m very disappointed in China.” (RELATED: Democratic Witness In House Coronavirus Hearing Pleaded Guilty In 2019 Sex Abuse Case)
When a reporter followed up to ask whether the administration had decided to pursue any punitive measures, the president declined to comment.
“I don’t talk about retaliation,” he said.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 08: (L-R) White House Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (Photo by Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images)
Several Republican senators have pushed the envelope in holding China accountable for the pandemic, including Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.
Sasse and a group of Republicans introduced legislation to rename the Chinese Embassy’s street in Washington, D.C after Dr. Li Wenliang, one of the first whistleblowers to alert the public to the disease in Wuhan.
The Trump administration also accused Chinese-backed hackers of attempting to steal research on a coronavirus vaccine from U.S.-based companies last week, which Sasse also criticizes harshly. (RELATED: One Of Trump’s Personal Valets Reportedly Tests Positive For Coronavirus)
Chairman Xi is an arsonist who wants to steal a firetruck and play the hero,” he said in a statement to the Daily Caller. “The Chinese Communist Party will do whatever it takes to beat the United States to the vaccine, and it has nothing to do with saving lives and everything to do with selling propaganda. The Chinese Communist Party’s domestic legitimacy and international clout depend on telling a phony story where China is the hero. It’s the same reason they’re lying about numbers, promoting conspiracy theories, and disappearing whistleblowers.”
Hawley has also introduced legislation that would create a State Department task force to lead an international investigation into China, as well as allow American citizens to sue the Chinese government for damages incurred by the virus.
“There is overwhelming evidence that the Chinese Communist Party’s lies, deceit, and incompetence caused COVID-19 to transform from a local disease outbreak into a global pandemic,” Hawley said in a statement.