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Coronavirus 'worse' than Pearl Harbor, 9/11 for US, says Trump

WION Web Team
Washington, United StatesUpdated: May 07, 2020, 07:06 AM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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His administration is weighing punitive actions against China over its early handling of the virus outbreak.

US President Donald Trump has described the coronavirus pandemic as the "worst attack" ever on the United States.

Renewing his criticism of China on Wednesday over the global coronavirus pandemic and said it has been worse for the United States than Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

His administration is weighing punitive actions against China over its early handling of the virus outbreak.

Beijing says the US wants to distract from its own handling of the pandemic.

The surprise Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii drew the United States into World War II. 

The 9/11 attacks killed about 3,000 people, triggering two decades of US wars and anti-terrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.

Trump lashed out at China, continuing a war of words over the origins of the deadly virus that emerged in Wuhan last year. 

"It should have never happened," he said. "Could have been stopped at the source. Could have been stopped in China."

China hit back Wednesday at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his claims the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory, saying he has no evidence.

"This matter should be handed to scientists and medical professionals, and not politicians who lie for their own domestic political ends," China's foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

Scientists believe the disease originated in animals and jumped to humans -- possibly in a Wuhan wet market where wild animals were sold. 

So far, more than 73,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, and the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted the toll in the US could top 100,000 by the end of May.