President Donald Trump knew in early February that the coronavirus posed a unique and deadly threat to the United States, and was more deadly than even your strenuous flus.

At the time, Trump repeatedly publicly downplayed the virus as no more dangerous than the flu.

The revelation is one of many in journalist Bob Woodwards forthcoming book, Rage, for which Trump granted Woodward a series of interviews.

You just breathe the air and thats how its passed, Trump said in a Feb. 7 call with Woodward. And so thats a very tricky one. Thats a very delicate one. Its also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.

This is deadly stuff, he repeated.

I wanted to always play it down, Trump told Woodward on March 19, according to a copy of the book obtained by CNN . I still like playing it down, because I dont want to create a panic.

But by ignoring reality in public, the president didnt prevent panic, he provoked it . Many statements Trump made as the virus spread in the U.S. were outright falsehoods:

We have it very much under control in this country. Its going to be just fine. Its one person coming in from China. Were doing a great job with it. Its going to have a very good ending for us. Were in great shape. We have 12 cases 11 cases, and many of them are in good shape now. Just stay calm. It will go away. And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero. Its going to disappear. One day its like a miracle it will disappear.

Responding to the bombshell on Wednesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump has never lied to the American public on COVID and also claimed he never downplayed the virus.

Republican lawmakers had mixed reactions.

When asked about Trumps admission in Woodwards book that he downplayed the coronavirus, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters on Capitol Hill, It doesnt sound ideal to me.

I dont think he needs to be on TV screaming, Were all going to die, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a staunch supporter of the president, countered. His actions shutting the economy down were the right actions.

Trump repeatedly resisted calls to shut down businesses in order to save lives. In March, he claimed that the U.S. would see more deaths from an economic shutdown than from coronavirus.

Nearly 190,000 Americans so far have died of COVID-19, according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University.

Separately on Wednesday, emails obtained by Politico showed that the Trump administration has tried to muzzle Anthony Fauci, the governments top infectious disease expert, and encouraged him to minimize the risk that the coronavirus poses to children. Fauci told the outlet that nobody tells him what to say, and that he speaks on scientific evidence.

According to The Washington Post, Woodwards book is based in part on 18 on-the-record interviews with Trump from December through July. Woodward also interviewed former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and former Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats.

In addition to documenting the Trump administrations failed and fragmented coronavirus response, the book also chronicles Trumps response to anti-racism demonstrations, North Korean diplomacy and other topics.

Igor Bobic contributed reporting.