Trump tells of his coronavirus worries saying he finds it ‘hard as a parent’ to talk about its deadly impact

PRESIDENT Trump expressed his worries about the coronavirus pandemic, and said as a parent he finds it "very hard" to talk about the virus and its deadly impact.

The father of five told Fox News' Sean Hannity that "as anybody that a parent knows," it's hard to discuss the pandemic, particularly with his youngest child, 14-year-old Barron.

President Trump said he finds it difficult as a parent to talk with his youngest son about the coronavirusCredit: Alamy

Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity on a phone interview 'It’s very hard talking about a thing like this'Credit: Fox

"It's very hard talking about a thing like that," Trump said, referring to the deadly virus.

"Because it's so negative – it's death," he added.

Trump's comments came as the U.S. coronavirus cases skyrocketed past 85,000, with more than 1,288 deaths.

He said while his older kids – Tiffany, 26, Eric, 36, Ivanka, 38, and Donald Jr., 42 – "are old enough" and "can see for themselves" the severity of the virus, it is difficult to explain to his youngest child.

"You don’t like discussing it and you can hope they can always handle it in some way," Trump added.

The President's call came right before he was scheduled to speak on the phone with China's President, Xi Jinping.

"It’s better to have a good relationship," he told Fox of U.S. relations with China.

"Let's get along with China," he added.

Hours before his call with Fox, Trump once again called COVID-19 the "Chinese virus" during a Coronavirus Task Force Briefing at the White House.

"I talk about the Chinese Virus. And I mean it. That’s where it came from," Trump said.

Trump, a father of five, is pictured with his wife and kids, and their spouses and childrenCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Hours before a scheduled call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump called COVID-19 the 'Chinese virus'Credit: The Mega Agency

He said China "took advantage" of the U.S. during previous White House administrations, but the two countries now have a good relationship and they recently made a "very big" trade deal.

"I don’t blame China – I blame the people that were right here because they never should have allowed it to happen," Trump said of the former lack of tariffs.

He said now, however: "The relationship with China is a good one."

Trump also questioned China's total coronavirus case numbers at the briefing.

"You don't know what the numbers are in China. They tell you the numbers," Trump said.

"You just don't know, what are the numbers?" he questioned.

The President said that the high numbers in the U.S. can be attributed to the amount of tests being done, as America took the top spot for cases worldwide.

"We’re testing tremendous numbers of people," Trump said.

Vice President Mike Pence later added that 552,000 coronavirus tests have been completed in the U.S.

Pence then announced that a potential game-changing COVID-19 test that can be done in 15 minutes at the doctor's office has been submitted to the FDA for approval.