Trump: Not Racist to Call Disease 'Chinese Virus'

President Donald Trump said his use of the term “Chinese virus” to describe the coronavirus isn’t racist.

“It’s not racist at all,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. “Because it comes from China. It’s not racist at all, no, not at all.”

He later criticized the Chinese government for allegedly withholding information on the outbreak that began in the country’s Hubei province late last year. “I think they could have given us a lot earlier notice, absolutely,” Trump said.

With the coronavirus spreading from China into the U.S. and around the world, both nations are trading tit-for-tat claims about its origins.

The tense back-and-forth over what to call the virus is the latest chapter in a broader clash between the world’s two largest economies that ranges from trade and military competition to network equipment made by Huawei Technologies Co.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press briefing on Tuesday that a Trump tweet referring to the “Chinese virus” smeared Beijing, state broadcaster CCTV reported. “We are very angry and strongly oppose it,” he said, “The U.S should redress its mistake and stop baseless attacks against China.”

Another Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, earlier pushed a conspiracy theory the U.S. Army may have had a role in spreading the virus. Trump denied that.

The president has begun to routinely call the disease “the Chinese virus,” using it in a meeting with travel industry executives on Tuesday and at the opening of his news conference on Wednesday.

He said he was aware of remarks by Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who said in a statement on March 12 that the U.S. should “hold accountable those who inflicted” the virus on the world.

“I know exactly what he’s been saying,” Trump said, but didn’t say whether he agreed with Cotton.