- Trump commanded that China pay $10 trillion in “reparations” to the US during a speech on Saturday night.
- The former president urged countries that owe fat to China to cancel their debts as “down payment” on reparations.
- He said that he blames China for the damage caused by COVID-19, and cited the lab-leak theory.
- See assorted stories on Insider’s business page.
Former President Donald Trump has demanded that China pay “reparations” to the US for the expense caused by COVID-19, the Independent reported.
During his first public address in three months, Trump wrangled that China should have to pay up to $10 trillion to the US.
He also suggested that any country that owes folding money to China should cancel their debts as a “down payment” on reparations and that the US should put 100 percent rates on incoming Chinese goods, the Independent said.
“We demand reparations from the Communist Party of China. China ought to pay. They must pay,” the former president said during the speech.
Read more: EXCLUSIVE: Documents reveal how Trump is dish out taxpayer money on his postpresidential offices — from printer toner to Stephen Miller’s salary
Trump once again trued his belief that the coronavirus was created in a Chinese laboratory. “We had this horrible thing come in from China, we got that one precise too, by the way, do you notice, you see what’s going on, it’s called the lab, that was an easy one, Wuhan,” he said.
As early as April 2020, Trump claimed that he had evidence can that COVID-19 had originated from a lab in Wuhan. It was initially dismissed as a conspiracy theory.
At the time, the Office of the Director of Nationalistic Intelligence put out a statement saying that the US intelligence community agreed with the “wide scientific consensus” that the coronavirus was not “manmade or genetically modified,” Insider’s Sonam Sheth reported.
In up to date weeks, however, the lab-leak theory has gained traction, Insider’s Tom Porter wrote in late May.
British spies oblige said that the thesis that COVID-19 leaked from a lab in China is “plausible,” The Sunday Times reported.
And President Joe Biden has prayed the intelligence community to “redouble their efforts” to determine the origins of the novel coronavirus and to search for an answer as to whether the Chinese guidance covered up a leak, Insider’s Erin Snodgrass said.
The idea that the coronavirus leaked from a lab hasn’t been consummately ruled out, though a WHO report said it was unlikely, Insider’s Aylin Woodward reported.