US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the coronavirus crisis was "worse" than Japan's surprise attack in 1941 against the Pearl Harbor military base in Hawaii.
"It's worse than Pearl Harbor," Trump said from the Oval Office when he spoke of the air offensive that killed more than 2,400 American victims and pushed the United States into World War II.
"It's worse than the World Trade Center," he added in a reference to the September 11, 2001 attacks that left nearly 3,000 dead.
“There has never been an attack of this nature. And that should never have happened, "he said again, reaffirming his desire to" reopen the country ".
The American president also explained why he finally gave up on suppressing the coronavirus crisis cell set up to organize the federal response to the pandemic.
"I didn't realize how popular the crisis cell was," he said, adding that "two or three" people could be added to it. "It is very appreciated by the public," he insisted.
Tuesday, Vice-President Mike Pence had indicated that this "Task Force" would be dismantled in the coming weeks to return to a more traditional operation, by departments.
The United States has just passed the milestone of 70,000 deaths linked to the coronavirus and could reach that of 100,000 before the beginning of June, according to multiple epidemiological models.
jca / la