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International Desk: US President Donald Trump has said China “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid, stepping up his criticism of Beijing amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\nInternational Desk: US President Donald Trump has said China “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid, stepping up his criticism of Beijing amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
In a White House interview with Reuters news agency, he said Beijing faced a “lot” of possible consequence from the US for the outbreak.<\/p>\n
He said China should have let the world know about the contagion much sooner.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump himself is often accused of not doing enough to tackle the crisis.<\/p>\n
The coronavirus has ravaged a formerly humming US economy that had been the president's main selling point for his re-election campaign in November.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump, who has waged a trade war with China, offered no specifics about how he might act against Beijing.<\/p>\n
He told Reuters: “There are many things I can do. We're looking for what happened.”<\/p>\n
Mr Trump added: “China will do anything they can to have me lose this race.”<\/p>\n
The Republican president said he believes Beijing wants his likely Democratic challenger Joe Biden to win in November's election.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump also said he is sceptical of data indicating Mr Biden would win.<\/p>\n
“I don't believe the polls,” the president said. “I believe the people of this country are smart. And I don't think that they will put a man in who's incompetent.”<\/p>\n
US media reported earlier in the day that Mr Trump had erupted at political advisers last Friday evening about internal polling that showed him losing in critical states.<\/p>\n
His aides have doubts about whether Mr Trump will win crucial battlegrounds such as Florida, Wisconsin and Arizona, while some of his re-election team have all but given up hope of success in Michigan, according to the Associated Press news agency.<\/p>\n
“I'm not losing to Joe Biden,” Mr Trump reportedly said, inserting an expletive, during a conference call with campaign officials.<\/p>\n
The US president also reportedly snapped at his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, who had called in from Florida.<\/p>\n
He cursed at Mr Parscale and at one point mentioned suing him, according to CNN and the Washington Post, though it is unclear how serious was his threat of legal action.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Trump said he would not be renewing his government social distancing guidelines once they expire on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The guidelines – which were originally supposed to last 15 days and were then extended an additional 30 – encouraged Americans to work from home and avoid large gatherings, while advising those with underlying health conditions to self-isolate.<\/p>\n
After more than a month being stuck mainly at the White House, Mr Trump said he plans to resume travel, starting with a trip to Arizona next week.<\/p>\n
He told reporters he hopes to hold mass campaign rallies in the coming months with thousands of supporters.<\/p>\n
The US currently accounts for around a third of all coronavirus cases worldwide. Its death toll – at more than 60,000 – has in six weeks surpassed the number of Americans killed in the two decades of the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n
Unemployment, which just a few weeks ago was at a near-record low, now stands at more than 26 million.<\/p>\n
Newly released figures on Wednesday showed the US economy had shrunk by nearly 5% – its sharpest contraction since the Depression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International Desk: US President Donald Trump has said China “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid, stepping up his criticism of Beijing amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a White House interview with Reuters news agency, he said Beijing faced a “lot” of possible consequence from the US for the outbreak. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":58833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,5,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n