Trump touts US weapons 'that nobody knows about'

President Donald Trump is heading for a rally in battleground Michigan Thursday as he tries to move past revelations that he was determined to play down the threat of the coronavirus last winter —even as he talked of the dangers in private.

Trump is grappling with fallout from a new book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward. In a series of interviews with Woodward, the president spoke frankly about the dangers posed by the virus - even as he downplayed them publicly - and admitted he had tried to mislead the public. The book, based on recorded phone interviews, has refocused attention on Trump’s handling of the virus, a subject he has tried to shift away from less than two months before Election Day.

Making remarks to reporters as he left Joint Base Andrews, the president denied he revealed classified information on another revelation in the Woodward book that the United States processes a previously undisclosed new nuclear weapons system.

"There are systems that nobody knows about, including you," Trump said. "Frankly, I think I'm better off keeping it that way. We have some incredible systems."

He's getting new push back concerning the virus and his rallies, too.

Local leaders are worried that the rallies are growing in size and flouting public health guidelines intended to halt the spread of the virus.

This week, the state of Nevada became the first to scuttle Trump's plans for rallies initially set for Las Vegas and Reno.

Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also raised alarms about Thursday's event.