During a press conference at the White House on Monday, Trump made the threat to China after being asked whether he was considering seeking money from Beijing for its response to the pandemic. 

The idea came after a German newspaper published a mocked-up bill of a $160billion invoice for the impact shutdowns have had on the economy following the spread of the infection from Wuhan to Europe.

The president claimed he had a 'much easier' idea and claimed he was planning on obtaining much more than what the Germans were suggesting.

China has been accused of trying to cover up the extent of the virus when it first came to light, and preventing other countries around the world from being prepared.

'We have ways of doing things a lot easier than that,' Trump told a coronavirus press briefing Monday in Washington DC. 

'Germany's looking at things, and we're looking at things, and we're talking about a lot more money than Germany's talking about. 

'We haven't determined the final amount yet. It's very substantial,' Trump added.