Trump says intelligence told him coronavirus was 'non-threatening' in January as criticism of his early response persists

Donald Trump pushed back on Sunday against reporting that intelligence officials were issuing classified reports to his administration as early as November 2019 warning about the early outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China.

The President also claimed the restrictions he placed on travel to the US from China in January have saved "tens of thousands" of American lives, which he has used as a data point to defend against criticism that he did not take the threat of the coronavirus seriously.

"Intelligence has just reported to me that I was correct, and that they did NOT bring up the CoronaVirus subject matter until late into January, just prior to my banning China from the U.S.," Mr Trump tweeted. "Also, they only spoke of the Virus in a very non-threatening, or matter of fact, manner," the president added.

Mr Trump appeared to be responding to recent reporting by ABC News and other outlets that his administration had been warned for weeks, and even months, about the budding health crisis in China, even as White House officials and congressional Republicans downplayed the severity of the coronavirus through much of the first three months of 2020.

The US military's National Center for Medical Intelligence compiled a classified report on the spreading contagion in November 2019 through analysis of wire and computer intercepts in the Wuhan region, ABC News reported in April.

"Fake News got it wrong again, as always, and tens of thousands of lives were saved by my EARLY BAN of China into our Country. The people that we’re [sic] allowed were heavily scrutinized and tested U.S. citizens, and as such, I welcome them with open arms!" the president tweeted, without providing any evidence that ABC News or other outlets' reporting was erroneous.

ABC News' reporting also contradicts the president's tweet on Sunday that the early intelligence briefings he received about Covid-19 were "very non-threatening."

"Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event," one of ABC News' sources told the outlet of the military intel report from November.

The Pentagon issued a statement at the time that said such an intel report did not exist.

Mr Trump has faced intense criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic after dismissing it for weeks as no more dangerous than the common flu and claiming Democrats' public concerns about Covid-19 were a plot to undermine the strong economy in order to hamper his re-election in the fall.

He first publicly commented on the coronavirus pandemic on 22 January, when he was asked in an interview with CNBC whether he was worried about a potential pandemic.

"No. Not at all. And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine," the president said at the time.

His administration — and Capitol Hill Republicans — have since pivoted to scolding China for suppressing information about the severity of the contagion during its initial outbreak in Wuhan.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday he believes the virus was "man-made" and came from a lab in Wuhan, theories Mr Trump has also suggested.

Mr Pompeo's comments contradict the assessment of the US intelligence community, whose director said in a rare public statement last week that intel officials believe the virus was not man-made.