Donald Trump admits to 'playing down' Covid-19 in US
                     DONALD TRUMP ADMITS TO 
'PLAYING DOWN' COVID-19 IN 
US
INTRODUCTION
• President Donald Trump was confronted by reporters at the White House 
over his comments to American journalist Bob Woodward about his 
downplaying of the seriousness of the coronavirus early on.
Source: Times Now
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
• 'I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic’
• Woodward obtained 25 never-seen personal letters exchanged between 
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
• Trump denounced the book as 'another political hit job'
Source: Global News
USA COVID 19 CASES
• The US has a total of 6,350,475 COVID-19 cases.
• Some 190,000 Americans have been recorded as dying with Covid-19 
since the beginning of the pandemic.
Source: DNA India
ABOUT THE BOOK
• The book is not only an assessment of Trump's handling of the pandemic 
in the US but also his conduct from former Secretary of Defence Jim 
Mattis. 
• The book is based on 18-on-the record interviews between Trump and 
Woodward from December to July.
Source: Wikipedia
WHAT DOES THE BOOK SAY ABOUT MR. 
TRUMP AND THE VIRUS?
• In an interview to American journalist Bob Woodward for his upcoming 
book 'Rage,' Trump had told the journalist months ago that he "always 
wanted to play it down" and acknowledged it was more serious than the 
flu, despite downplaying the severity of the virus publicly.
Source: The Economic Times 
TRUMP AGAINST CHINA
• Trump made allegation on China for spreading of corona virus.
• Trump further told Woodward that the virus was not his fault and that 
China was responsible for it.
Source: The Guardian
'I STILL LIKE PLAYING IT DOWN'
• In another interview on February 7, 'The Washington Post' posted the 
audio clip in which Trump can be heard telling the journalist that the 
coronavirus was deadlier than the flu and could be transmitted through 
the air.
Source: WMTV
HOW DID THE WHITE HOUSE REACT?
• Responding to reporters' questions on the book, White House press 
secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the president never downplayed 
the virus, once again. The president expressed calm. The president was 
serious about this.
Source: The New Republic
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
• Leaders are responsible for keeping people calm, but there is a fine line 
between avoiding panic and making a crisis worse. 
• President Trump told Woodward Covid-19 was deadlier than the flu, but in 
public he downplayed the danger.
Source: Times Now
WHAT ELSE DID THE BOOK REVEAL?
• Woodward writes that he brought up the Black Lives Matter protests in a 
conversation with the president on 19 June, suggesting that "white, 
privileged" people like themselves ought to work to understand how black 
Americans feel.
• Woodward's book also cites dozens of letters between Mr Trump and 
North Korea's Kim Jong-un. In the letters, filled with flowery language
Source: The New York Times