President Donald Trump knew in early February that coronavirus posed a unique and deadly threat to the United States, and was “more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”

At the time, Trump repeatedly publicly downplayed the virus as no more dangerous than the flu.

The revelation is one of many in journalist Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book, “Rage,” for which Trump granted Woodward a series of interviews. 

“I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told Woodward on March 19, according to a copy of the book obtained by CNN. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”