Trump promises ‘very conclusive’ report on how outbreak started
President Donald Trump said he thought China made “a horrible mistake” on the virus outbreak, that it did not want to admit it and had tried to cover it up as he promised the US would soon release a “very conclusive report” on what had happened.
His comments, broadcast in a Sunday night interview on Fox News, echoed comments made earlier in the day by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who said there was “enormous evidence” that the virus came from a Wuhan laboratory.
China has previously denied the claims that the virus was linked to the laboratory.
Mr Trump suggested “a case could be made” that Beijing deliberately allowed the virus to spread outside China, but declined to directly criticise President Xi Jinping.
Markets were broadly lower in Asia after the comments highlighted heightened tensions between the US and China.