Trump denounces Fauci's handling of Covid pandemic and demands reparations from China

Donald Trump has called on Republicans to back only candidates loyal to him at next year's mid-term elections as he sought to re-enter the US political arena with his first rally since leaving office.

He also demanded China pay the US $10 trillion compensation for the coronavirus pandemic as he took the opportunity to exercise the fiery rhetoric that defined his presidency.

The attacks came at the beginning of a 90-minute address to Republicans in North Carolina on Saturday night that will be seen by many as the beginning of Mr Trump's long march to a second White House run in 2024.

Seeking to galvanise supporters ahead of next year's elections for the Senate and House of Representatives, he hailed his administration's achievements, repeated his unsubstantiated claim that the presidency was stolen, and launched typically colourful attacks on opponents foreign and domestic.

Mr Trump called Anthony Fauci, the man leading America's Covid response, "not a great doctor but a great promoter" for his frequent television appearances.

Dr Fauci was sceptical of the Wuhan lab leak theory and has become a lightning rod for Right-wing ire after asking people to wear masks and endorsing lockdowns.

"But he's been wrong on almost every issue and he was wrong on Wuhan and the lab also," Mr Trump said.

He said Joe Biden, the US president who defeated him in the 2020 vote, was leading “the most radical Left-wing administration in history".

“All Joe Biden had to do was sit back and do nothing — it was taking off like a rocket ship nobody's ever seen,” Mr Trump said. “Instead, the economy is going to hell and inflation is going to cause a catastrophe in the near future.”

He added: “They're also pushing a $2.25 trillion infrastructure bill. That's not infrastructure. It's the kind of things you don't want. Nine per cent looks like it might be infrastructure, but mostly it's not infrastructure at all."

He later repeated his unsubstantiated claim that Mr Biden stole the 2020 election in "the crime of the century"

Turning to foreign policy, he said: "We demand reparations from the Communist Party of China. China must pay. They must pay," he said when talking about the virus.

He called for the US to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods and urged other countries to repudiate their debts to Beijing as a "down payment" for the economic devastation they had suffered.

Mr Trump has been criticised in the past for calling the coronavirus epidemic the "Kung Flu."

The speech was Mr Trump's first major public appearance since February, when he delivered the keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Staff are believed to be planning further events in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio ahead of next year's elections, where US voters will elect new members of the House of Representatives and some Senators.

The event was small compared to the mega-rallies he hosted during his presidency, with about 1,200 people seated at dinner tables rather than tens of thousands filling a stadium.

Mr Trump, who has not confirmed he will run in 2024, said he would campaign for Republicans who share his views to be on the ballot and took a swipe at members of the party he considers disloyal.

"The survival of America depends on our ability to elect Republicans at every level starting with the midterms next year," he said before endorsing Rep Ted Budd for the Republican primary for the Senate race.

"You can't pick people who have already lost two races and do not stand for our values," Mr Trump said. The words were an open swipe at Pat McCrory, a former Republican governor of North Carolina who is also standing in the primary and who criticised Mr Trump's unsubstantiated claims about a stolen election.

Mr McCrory responded by protesting his pro-Trump credentials, writing on Twitter: " I am disappointed that President Trump has endorsed a Washington insider who has done more to oppose the Trump agenda than anyone in this race."