The United States' closest ally is in a state of 'genuine disbelief' about how bad Trump's response to the coronavirus outbreak has been

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The United States' closest ally is in a state of 'genuine disbelief' about how bad Trump's response to the coronavirus outbreak has been
Donald Trump coronavirus

Reuters

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Donald Trump

  • The United States' closest international ally is in a state of incredulity and "disbelief" at how badly President Donald Trump is handling the coronavirus outbreak.
  • UK government officials told Buzzfeed News that the president's slow response, and his tweets seeking to downplay the spread of the virus, have triggered disbelief among Boris Johnson's administration.
  • One UK official accused Trump of spreading fake news about COVID-19.
  • Relations between Trump and Johnson have deteriorated in recent months after the president slammed down the phone on the prime minister in a moment of "apoplectic" fury.
  • Here's how the coronavirus is spreading in Britain.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The UK government is in a state of "genuine disbelief" about how badly Donald Trump has handled the coronavirus outbreak, with officials reacting with "incredulity" to the president's attempts to downplay the crisis.

The Trump administration's slow response to the crisis, and the president's stream of tweets about the COVID-19 disease, have triggered widespread "eye-rolling" among Prime Minister Boris Johnson's team, UK officials told Buzzfeed News.

"There is a general level of incredulity over his comments but especially over the lack of testing," a UK official told the website.

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"People [in the UK government] are used to the steady stream of tweets, but the last few days have caused more than the usual eye-rolling. There is genuine disbelief."

In recent days the president has sent a series of tweets seeking to downplay the significance of the outbreak and used it to attack his Democrat opponents.

The president labeled the outbreak a "hoax" and falsely claimed that "anyone who wants a test can get a test."

He also reportedly become fixated on keeping the official number of cases artificially low.

Referring to Trump's tweets and a new UK government unit designed to counter fake news spread about the virus online, one UK official told the website that "Our COVID-19 counter-disinformation unit would need twice the manpower if we included him in our monitoring."

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Boris Johnson distances himself from Trump after 'apoplectic' call

Boris Johnson Trump

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Donald Trump and Boris Johnson

Relations between Trump and the UK Prime Minister have deteriorated in recent months as Johnson has sought to distance himself from the president.

The two men have had a series of public disagreements on everything from the telecoms policy, to trade, to the president's conflict with Iran.

Last month the president slammed down the phone on Johnson in a moment of "apoplectic" rage, after which he accused the prime minister of "betrayal."

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Johnson subsequently cancelled his planned trip to the White House originally due to take place later this month.

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