China was very secretive on Coronavirus, went through hell: Trump

President Donald Trump has hit out at China for being "very secretive" in sharing information on its coronavirus outbreak that has claimed over 13,000 lives globally, asserting that US and world would have been better prepared if Beijing gave an "vance warning" about impending crisis.

Speaking at a press briefing here on Saturday, Trump denied reports that US intelligence reports in January and February h warned of a coming pandemic, saying America did t kw about outbreak until it started coming out publicly.

"Just so you understand, China is t a beneficiary here. China has thousands and thousands of people. China has gone through hell over this. y've gone through hell. I've h conversations with (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping). I just wish y could have told us earlier. y knew y h a problem earlier. I wish y could have said that," Trump said.

For more than a week w, Trump has been dressing White House press on a daily basis, with each briefing running for more than an hour every day.

"China was very secretive (on coronavirus). Very, very secretive. And that's unfortunate," he told reporters.

Trump reiterated that he greatly respects China and shares a very good relationship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, but expressed his disappointment that Beinjing was dishonest and slow to alert world about seriousness of coronavirus.

"I have great respect for that country. I have great respect for leer of that country and like him. He's a friend of mine. But I wish y would have told us earlier, that y were having a problem," he said.

"Because y were having a big problem and y knew it, and I wish y could have given us an vance warning. Because we could have done a lot of things - as an example, some of things that we're talking about, where we order m as quickly as we can. If we h a two- or three-month difference in time, it would have been much better," Trump said.

As per latest figures available at Worldometers, United States with 26,686 confirmed cases has emerged as third most coronavirus infected country after China (81,054) and Italy (53,578).

A total of 340 deaths have been reported in US, sixth worst affected country in terms of fatalities after Italy (4,825), China (3,261), Iran (1,556), Spain (1,378) and France (562).

Trump insisted that US and world would have been better prepared but for more timely information from China.

Trump rejected a report in a leing US daily claiming he h repeatedly igred warnings as early as January and February that coronavirus could present a huge problem.

"We didn't kw about it until it started coming out publicly, but I wish y could have told us earlier about it because we could have come up with a solution," said president. China, at same time, he said, has worked very hard. China has lost thousands and thousands of people, he said.

In a tweet, former National Security visor John Bolton said that China silenced coronavirus whistleblowers, expelled journalists, destroyed samples, refused CDC help, and concealed counts of deaths and infections.

It is a fact re was a massive coverup. China is responsible, he said.

" world must act to hold m accountable," Bolton demanded.

However, Democratic leership did t agree with Trump's explaination.

"We need to bring people toger to fight coronavirus. Blaming China may seem like good politics, but it doesn't solve anything, or mitigate Trump ministration's failures," said Democratic Congressman am Schiff.

"Calling it 'Chinese virus' only breeds disunity, discrimination and division. Eugh alrey," said Schiff, Chairman of House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a tweet early this week alleged that president h been turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take coronavirus early on.

Trump criticised China over coronavirus this week, saying Beijing should have acted sooner to warn world and dismissing criticism that his labelling it "Chinese Virus" was racist.

Trump ministration has rejected attempts by Chinese officials to blame virus on US military.

Globally, death toll from virus has risen to 13,048 with more than 307,277 cases reported in over 165 countries and territories, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.