‘Yes, I have:’ Trump claims seeing evidence virus came for Wuhan lab

US President Donald Trump claimed Thursday he has seen evidence that would prove the theory that the pandemic virus was made at Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Trump stood firm on his claims despite the US intelligence agencies’ conclusion that the SARS-CoV-2 was “not manmade or genetically modified”.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We’re going to see where it comes from,” Trump said at a White House event on Thursday. “We have people looking at it very, very strongly. Scientific people, intelligence people, and others. We’re going to put it all together. I think we will have a very good answer eventually. And China might even tell us.”

When asked by the press if he has seen evidence that gave him high confidence to conclude that the new coronavirus came from the Wuhan lab, Trump replied: “Yes, I have.”

He, however, did not give further details on the evidence saying, “I can’t tell you that. I’m not allowed to tell you that.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the clearinghouse for the web of US spy agencies, earlier released a statement asserting that the intelligence community “concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the Covid-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified”.

“The intelligence community will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan,” the statement added.

Trump said Tuesday he may seek damages from China over the virus outbreak, which began in Wuhan City and has now infected more than 3 million people worldwide.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We are not happy with China,” Trump said at a White House briefing Monday. “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,” Trump said, saying there were many options to “hold them accountable.”

Trump was asked if the US would also seek damages from China like Germany. Germany is asking China to pay $165 billion in reparations due to economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We can do something much easier than that,” Trump answered.