US Intelligence Officials Did Not Raise Coronavirus until Late January - Trump

By Staff, CNN

US President Donald Trump claimed Sunday that the country’s intelligence community "did NOT bring up the Coronavirus subject matter until late into January" and that "they only spoke of the Virus in a very non-threatening, or matter of fact, manner."

CNN and other news outlets have reported that Trump’s daily intelligence briefing included information about the coronavirus outbreak in China and its potential to spread to the United States as early as January 3.

However, it is not clear whether Trump, who infrequently reads the President's Daily Brief compiled by intelligence officials, read the information at the time or whether officials briefing the President in person raised the issue.

The Washington Post also reported last week that US intelligence agencies included warnings about the coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for Trump in January and February.

Trump claimed Sunday night that he was first briefed about coronavirus on January 23 and indicated the US intelligence agencies would be issuing a statement in the coming days.

"On January 23, I was told that there could be a virus coming in but it was of no real import. In other words it wasn't, 'Oh we gotta do something, we gotta do something.' It was a brief conversation and it was only on January 23," Trump said during a Fox News town hall.