Donald Trump: China did not release the coronavirus on purpose

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Fox News program on Friday that he does not believe China released the coronavirus on purpose.

The statement came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conceded that the U.S. could not be certain about where the virus originated, despite claiming over the weekend that "enormous evidence" had shown that the virus was made in a Chinese lab.

Earlier on Friday, Beijing reiterated its stance when it comes to tracing back to where the deadly virus originated, urging scientific explanations.

"We should patiently leave that problem to scientists," said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying.

Trump also said in the interview that the U.S. government was not behind a bungled incursion into Venezuela this week, allegedly to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro.

"I know nothing about it. I think the government has nothing to do with it at all, and I have to find out what happened," Trump said. "If we ever did anything with Venezuela, it wouldn't be that way. It would be slightly different. It would be called an invasion."

Trump said the incursion "was not a good attack," carried out by a "rogue group" that included Venezuelans and "people from other countries."

"I saw the pictures on a beach. It wasn't led by General George Washington, obviously," he said, referring to the first U.S. president, often considered a military genius.

A former U.S. soldier captured in Venezuela has said he was contracted by a Florida security firm to seize control of Caracas' airport and bring in a plane to fly Maduro to the United States. According to a document published by the Washington Post on Thursday, members of the country's opposition party negotiated a 213 million U.S.-dollar deal with the company, Silvercorp USA, to invade the country and overthrow Maduro.

(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House National Day of Prayer Service in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, the U.S., May 7, 2020. /Reuters)