China either made a terrible mistake or probably it was incompetence: Trump

Trump also described the allegations from the opposition Democratic party that Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential elections to help him win the polls as the "Russia hoax"

The spread of the coronavirus across the globe from China was either a terrible mistake on the part of the Chinese or probably it was incompetence, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.

"It (coronavirus) could have been stopped at the point. It could have been stopped right at the source. It would have been easy to do, but something happened," he told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.

"Either they made a terrible mistake -- probably it was incompetence. Somebody was stupid and they did not do the job that they should have done. It is too bad," the president said in response to a question.

More than 2,64,000 people have died of Covid-19 globally and 3.7 million tested positive for the disease. In the US alone, more than 76,000 Americans have died and 1.2 million people tested positive for coronavirus. The deadly virus has spread to over 180 countries, Trump pointed out.

Russia hoax

According to US President Donald Trump, "Russia hoax" made it very difficult for the leaders of the two countries to deal with each other. He described the allegations from the opposition Democratic party that Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential elections to help him win the polls as the "Russia hoax". Investigations, however, have not been able to prove the allegations.

The President even asked the newspapers that won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Russian investigation should return the highest award in journalism. "They are not journalists. They are thieves. All of those journalists that we see with the Pulitzer Prize should be forced to give those prizes back because they were all wrong. You saw it today, more documents came out saying there was absolutely no collusion with Russia," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed progress in combating the coronavirus pandemic along with arms control issues and oil prices in a phone call Thursday, the White House and the Kremlin said. They spoke to commemorate and reflect upon the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.