How I scored Covid scoop with Donald Trump

For the facts, it’s best to go straight to the source. And that’s exactly what Sharri Markson did to score a bombshell interview, on Sky at 8pm tonight, over the origins of the global pandemic.

It was 6.30am on an April Saturday, hunched over my computer and on a call to Rudy Giuliani’s mistress when I realised how far down the rabbit hole I had gone to secure an interview with former US President Donald Trump.

Determined to speak to the former President in order to find out what intelligence convinced him Covid originated in a Wuhan laboratory, I was trying every possible avenue to get in contact. It wasn’t easy.

First I would need to secure an interview and then I would need to convince him to open up about classified intelligence.

Sharri Markson interviews Donald Trump.

I made an uncomfortable request of a great contact who put me in touch with Trump’s lawyer and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

And so, early on April 19, Giuliani rang my mobile and agreed to touch base later that week.

“I’ll get my notes out too,” he said. “I have a bunch of notes on this.”

But five days later, Giuliani was only in the background and instead a woman called Dr Maria Ryan was on the phone. I Googled her as I said my hellos.

A New York Post article came up: “Rudy Giuliani interviews alleged mistress Maria Ryan on radio show.”

When she carefully spelled the name of batwoman Shi Zhengli, who I had reported on a year earlier, I took a deep breath.

Maria said she was in Mar-a-Lago: “You know, I happen to be seeing the President tonight for dinner.”

Trump talks during the one-hour, documentary What Really Happened in Wuhan premiering tonight.

I asked if she could mention my book and documentary to the President. “I could do that very easily,” she said breezily.

Maria emailed me a few days later. The conversation at dinner, she said, had been dominated by the Arizona vote audit. My documentary and book had not come up.

I also tried Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist in the White House during his first seven months in office.

He hosts a popular podcast, War Room Pandemic, which I’d been on a few times to speak about the scoops I’d broken in The Australian.

“I can get you Trump. Do you want him? Would you fly here?” Bannon texted. Perhaps he may have been able to secure Trump, but this wasn’t how the interview finally eventuated.

Amid these approaches, we also made a request through Trump’s media adviser. She then forwarded our pitch to Trump’s inner circle.

“What is everyone’s opinion on the interview request below? Do we want 45 to do this?” the adviser wrote.

45 is evidently how they refer to Mr Trump, the 45th President of the United States.

Jason Miller, the CEO of Gettr, a key player in Trump’s inner sanctum, replied: “Yes yes yes – she is HARD CORE. She’s interviewed me several times over the past two years, I’ve had her on the War Room, super ‘buzzy’ internationally, has been the top of the spear calling out the CCP. Love her work!!!”

And so it was decided. Just like that, Trump agreed to his first interview with an Australian media outlet since becoming President in 2016.

When any Australian politicians do a television appearances, their media advisers always call to ask what topics will be discussed.

I was surprised when there was no demand made for questions or topics over the subsequent days and weeks.

And by the time Trump sat down for the interview, he seemed to forget what it was about.

“Thank you so much for making the time. This is the most important topic in the world right now, so we’re so grateful for your time,” I said.

“Are we talking Covid?” Trump ­replied.

“We’re talking the origins of the virus, what really happened in Wuhan,” I corrected.

Impressed at how many cameras we had for the Presidential set-up, Mr Trump said: “That’s a lot of shots now. You must have plenty of money, you do have plenty of money. Sky, right?”

And after some minutes spent trying to fit the too-small earpiece to Mr Trump’s ear before the President abandoned it entirely, fixing hairspray, camera grading and airconditioning, it was finally time to delve deep into what happened in Wuhan.

Relaxed with slightly messy hair, perhaps from a day on the golf course, Trump was conversational and ­candid.

He opened up on the World Health Organisation, Anthony Fauci, the cover-up not just in China but in America, as the media, scientific community and tech giants labelled a lab-escape as a conspiracy theory.

But most importantly he spoke about other information he had seen that indicated the virus may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

What really happened in Wuhan, by Sharri Markson.

Then, as I asked him about why he had lifted the ban on ‘gain of function’ research introduced by the Obama administration, Trump said he needed to go: “Because I’m really late.”

Just another couple of questions? He agreed. After that, his adviser stepped in and said: “Sharri, we’re going to have to leave it there. Sorry, because it took so long to set up we made it through our time.”

Knowing this opportunity was not going to come around again, and it had been hard enough to get here, I had to take every minute I could. I asked three more questions, as his media adviser huffed.

“Sharri, you asked for one last question,” his adviser reprimanded, as I asked one more – which Trump ­happily answered. He seemed to be enjoying the interview.

By now, Trump’s adviser was really losing his patience.

But then I decided to show Trump my book.

“Mr President. I would love to show you my book, if that’s OK, the book I’ve got coming out, What Really Happened in Wuhan.”

“Oh, I look forward to reading it,“ Trump said as he looked at the cover.

His media adviser was done.

“Just close the laptop,” he said, as he walked in front of the screen where my image was beaming into Trump and slammed it shut.

And that was my interview with the 45th President of America, Donald J. Trump. 45, as they call him.