China needs to pay $60 trillion in reparations for COVID-19 pandemic, says Donald Trump

Former President of the United States, Donald Trump has once again held China responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, Trump reiterated that the Wuhan lab is the origin of COVID-19 and that anyone who believes differently is "simply deceiving themselves." However, he did not present any evidence to substantiate his claim. The ex-President also estimated the global damage caused by COVID to be at $60 trillion. "China must pay reparations, but I believe the country doesn't have this much of money," Trump added.  

Donald Trump further went on to add that China must do something to make amends for their misdeeds. "What they have done to the world is horrific, and it continues to be horrific all around the world," he added. Last year, the Trump administration pushed the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic began as a result of a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Trump also referred to the disease as "China Virus" and "Kung Flu." Meanwhile, earlier this year, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated in a report that both natural exposure and a laboratory-related incident are possible as far as initial exposure to the Coronavirus is concerned, Sputnik reported. 

Earlier in June, Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that the Chinese Communist Party should be held accountable for the Coronavirus outbreak. Speaking at Sinclair’s television news program, he also argued that Coronavirus leaked from the Wuhan lab before it was covered up. Pompeo, who served as  Trump's first CIA director, had suggested that China should be removed from the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Coronavirus was most likely leaked from Wuhan lab: Canadian biologist

It is pertinent to mention here that amid controversy surrounding the origin of COVID-19, a Canadian molecular biologist asserted that the novel Coronavirus was most likely leaked from a lab in Wuhan. Last week, Dr Alina Chan, gene therapy and cell engineering expert, claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was likely triggered by the unique feature of the SARS-CoV-2 called furin cleavage site, as per Wales Online report. She also noted that the furin cleavage site has been linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the facility which has been the centre of COVID-19 lab leak theory.

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