Washington, March 19: US President Donald Trump on Thursday alleged that some American media outlets are "siding with China" as he defended his calling of novel coronavirus as "Chinese virus". The mainstream US media has termed Trump's usage of "Chinese virus" as "racist".

"I think they do. They are siding with China. They are doing things that they shouldn't be doing. They're siding with many others. China's the least of it," Trump told reporters at a White House press conference. Catch all the live updates related to coronavirus outbreak.

The president was asked if he believes that the US media outlets are siding with the Chinese propagandist on the use of his term "Chinese virus" for coronavirus.

"It amazes me when I read the things that I read," Trump said, asserting that he calls coronavirus as "Chinese virus" as it originated from China. Over the past few days, Trump has increasingly been using the term "Chinese virus".

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)