President Donald Trump might have dissed China for its ineptitude approach in tackling the COVID-19 outbreak, but now has no qualms in admitting that he’s open to collaborating with the South Asian superpower if the country develops an effective vaccine.
“We are willing to work with anybody that's going to get us a good result,” said Trump said on Tuesday upon being asked if he was ready to put differences aside and work with China if a vaccine came through.
Trump’s acrimony to China is an open secret. The president has time and again slammed China for covering up the severity of the outbreak during its initial stages. Aside from blaming the country for being a total failure at containing the virus, which eventually spiraled out of control and spread the world over. Trump has also repeatedly criticized the World Health Organization of siding with China to help cover the severity of the pandemic.
The 74-year-old Republican, who’s tested negative for COVID-19, was highly optimistic about the U.S.’s progress in the vaccine development. Trump also hinted at a potential vaccine in the pipeline, which will make its way to the Americans “sooner than expected”, with the assistance of the U.S. military in distributing it.
The pandemic’s origin was traced to Wuhan, in Hubei Province, when the outbreak was first recorded towards the end of December last year.
The United States of America stands in the top spot among countries to be worst affected by the novel coronavirus, with over four million confirmed cases. While the Trump administration amassed severe flak for their mismanagement of the pandemic, the president has always been oddly optimistic about the country’s progress. Trump faced severe backlash for propagating the benefits of hydroxychloroquine -- an anti-malaria drug that has scientifically not been proven beneficial.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has also been a staunch loyalist of the drug and admits to using it rather religiously despite being tested positive.
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