Talking at a White House briefing recently, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he may be looking into fining China over the coronavirus pandemic which originated in Wuhan last year and quickly spread around the globe.
The President said:
“We are not happy with China, we are not happy with that whole situation because we believe it could have been stopped at the source.
“It could have been stopped quickly and it wouldn’t have spread all over the world”
“There are a lot of ways you can hold them accountable,” he said. “We’re doing some very serious investigations as you probably know.
“We haven’t determined the final amount yet,” Trump noted. “It’s very substantial.”
“This is worldwide damage. This is damage to the US, but this is damage to the world.”
Last week German paper Bild made a calculation and came up with an invoice of nearly €150billion (around $162billion) in economic damages to Germany because of the pandemic.
The idea of fining China is not being considered by the German government, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Mass describing the thought of it as ‘illusory’.
There have so far been 59,266 COVID-19-related deaths in the United States and the crisis has shut down large parts of the economy, leaving millions of Americans without work.
President Trump also briefly talked about the situation surrounding the health and whereabouts of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and seemed to suggest he is alive, saying he wished him the best.
When questioned about whether he knew anything about Kim Jong-un’s health, Trump said:
“Yes, I do have a very good idea, but I can’t talk about it now. I just wish him well.
“I hope he’s fine,” Trump added. “I do know how he’s doing, relatively speaking.”
The President said the media will “probably be hearing in the not-too-distant future” about Kim
