#Trump: ‘Strange’ that coronavirus didn’t spread throughout China

President Trump on Wednesday called it a “strange deal” that the coronavirus was largely contained to the city of Wuhan within China, but at the same time spread all over the world.

“I ask this, why is it Wuhan? It came out of Wuhan, why is it that it didn’t go to [all of] China but it went to the rest of the world. It went to Europe, it went to the world, it went to the United States, [but] it didn’t go to Beijing,” the president said during an interview on Fox Radio.

“How come they let it go out into the world but they didn’t let it go into China. It went all over the world, that’s a little strange deal going on there.”

Trump also alluded to a report Tuesday from the World Health Organization that said that China delayed releasing critical information about the coronavirus in the weeks after the outbreak was first reported.

“The plague came in from China, they shouldn’t have let it happen. It’s not right. In fact I see today there’s a very big article that they weren’t very transparent or forthcoming to put it mildly. The stall, they call it,” he said, referring to the WHO report, which also lauded the Communist country for its quick response to the pandemic, which has killed more than 380,000 worldwide, including more than 105,000 in the US.

The president also touted his phase one trade deal with China, but seemed to cast doubt on its future because of the pandemic and escalating tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

“The trade deal was done, but the ink wasn’t dry before the virus floated over from China and started killing everybody in the world. Not just here, in the whole world. Look at Brazil, look at what it went through, Spain, France, all of them, the whole world,” he said.

“I did a great deal but you know what? I’m not excited about anything with respect to China right now because of what happened. They could have sealed it, they could have closed it off.”

He also trashed his predecessors, asserting that past presidents had been snookered by the Chinese Communist Party government, which has pulled back from meeting some provisions of the deal.

“China was having, before the plague, China was having the worst year they’ve had in 66 years because of me. I’m not proud of that. I’m just saying that these presidents let China pick our pockets,” he said.