Chinese Regime Will Face Retribution for COVID-19 Origins, Trump Declares

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee's Annual Meeting in Salem, N.H., on Jan. 28, 2023. Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump has called for “retribution” against the Chinese regime now that “the world is finally admitting the truth” that the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.

In a new campaign video shared on Truth Social, Trump declared that it is time to hold China accountable for the global pandemic that led to millions of deaths and economic destruction.

Trump’s comments came after the U.S. Department of Energy recently concluded that the Wuhan lab leak theory is the most probable explanation for the virus’s origin. He also pointed out that he had been correct about the lab leak theory three years ago.

“Three years ago, I declared that the China virus almost certainly came from the Wuhan lab. Now, the world is finally admitting the truth, and they’re saying I was right,” Trump said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic three years ago, and questions still linger over the virus’s origins as China has yet to share relevant data with independent investigators.

“Millions of people all over the planet have died from the China virus,” Trump said.

According to Trump, the COVID-19 pandemic and “the coverup” of its origins represent “one of the greatest scandals in the history of the world.” He argued that China and “corrupt forces” that facilitated a “colossal suppression of facts” must be held accountable for the damage they have inflicted upon the world.

“We have to do something about it,” Trump said in the video, declaring that the Chinese regime would face “some form of retribution.”

“China cannot pay for the damage they’ve caused,” he added. “It’s more than $50 trillion, and they don’t have anything near close to that. But something has to be done, and it will be done.”

The very first COVID-19 infections were recorded in late 2019 in Wuhan. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initially denied human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 until January 2020, claiming the virus was transmitted at a wet market in Wuhan despite a lack of supporting evidence. The Chinese regime has also obstructed a WHO-led investigation into the virus’s origins.

Declassify Origins Information

Bipartisan legislation to declassify intelligence information related to the potential connection between COVID-19 and the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China has gained support in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

Companion bills passed unanimously in early March. President Joe Biden’s decision to sign or veto the bill remains uncertain.

During a House Rules Committee hearing on March 7, Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) spoke to the difficulties posed by the Chinese regime in determining the origins of the pandemic. “At every juncture, the … [CCP] has obfuscated and obstructed legitimate inquiries, a deeply irresponsible approach to global public health,” he said.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) expressed his frustration at the lack of certainty regarding the virus’s origins and called on Congress to act and force the administration to declassify relevant intelligence.

“It’s been three years since COVID-19 upended our lives and we’re still asking basic questions about the origins of this virus. That’s unacceptable,” Gallagher said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a recent television interview that COVID-19 “most likely” originated in a China-based laboratory, and suggested a “potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab.”

Wray noted that the bureau’s investigation is still classified and that he can’t share many details. He also said the CCP hasn’t been cooperative with U.S. efforts.

“I will just make the observation that the Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here,” Wray said. “The work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing. And that’s unfortunate for everybody.”

Recently released emails from the House Oversight Committee (pdf) reveal that Dr. Anthony Fauci directed a group of scientists to write a paper to disprove the theory that COVID-19 leaked from a lab, which he later used to support his claim that the virus had a natural origin, without disclosing his involvement in commissioning the paper.

On March 11, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it remains a “moral imperative” to find the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.