'I still like playing it down': Trump told a veteran journalist he 'always' downplayed the threat of COVID-19 to avoid causing 'panic'

President Donald Trump told Bob Woodward that he "always" downplayed the threat of COVID-19 to avoid causing panic, the veteran journalist wrote in his book "Rage," set to be released next Tuesday.

"I wanted to always play it down," Trump told Woodward on March 19, according to CNN, which obtained a copy of the book.

He added, "I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."

The remarks came roughly a week after Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus outbreak.

Over 17 interviews with Woodward, the president revealed that he knew far more about the dangers of the virus than previously thought, according to CNN.

Trump told Woodward in February that the virus was "deadly stuff" and "more deadly than even your strenuous flus."

And in the March 19 interview, Trump mentioned how fatal the coronavirus was. "Now it's turning out it's not just old people, Bob," he said, according to audio that CNN obtained.