Woodward Rejects Claims He Could Have Saved Lives By Revealing Trump’s COVID-19 Comments Sooner

Trump told Woodward in March that as the pandemic began to spread across America, he tried to downplay the seriousness of COVID-19.

“Well, I think Bob, really to be honest with you … I wanted to always play it down,” Trump reportedly told Woodward in a phone conversation. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”

But Trump made no secret of his effort to keep America calm, telling reporters on March 30, “The statements I made are: I want to keep the country calm. I don’t want to panic in the country.”