Trump claimed that Abe told the Group of Seven (G-7) leaders at a video conference earlier this week he had not yet decided whether to postpone this summer's Olympics because of COVID-19, he told a White House press briefing in Washington D.C. on the coronavirus situation in the US.

Trump's claims come on the same day that Japan Olympic Committee Board member Kaori Yamaguchi said the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed because athletes are unable to prepare adequately because of the pandemic.

Whether this summer's Olympics should go ahead as scheduled in July and August has been a hot topic of discussion this week, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) receiving criticism for telling athletes earlier this week to "continue preparing for the Games as best they can."

Speaking at a press conference today Trump said: "Yes, we did discuss it [postponing the Olympics]. 

"As you know, Prime Minister Abe was on the call and that’s a big decision for him.  

"And we don’t know what his decision is, but we would live with his decision. 

"It’s a tough situation. They’ve done an incredible job.  Japan has done an incredible job on building the venues — getting them built.

"You know, you’ve seen so many Olympic venues that have been a disaster over the years, where they cost five times more than they were supposed to and they weren’t ready on time.

"Japan has been just the opposite.  They built it beautifully.  They built it for what it was supposed to be built for.  

"But then he got hit with the same thing that the rest of the world got hit with unexpectedly.

"He has told us that he has not made a decision as to what to do."

Speaking last week about what should happen with this summer's Olympics Trump said: "I would say maybe they postpone it for a year".

He also added: "I like that better than having empty stadiums all over the place."

Trump's comments from last week were today echoed by Yamaguchi, who won a judo bronze medal at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988.

"As far as I can see in news from the United States and Europe, athletes aren’t in a position where they can continue their training as usual," Yamaguchi is reported as saying by The Nikkei newspaper.

Yamaguchi claims she will raise the issue at a Japanese Olympic Committee Board meeting scheduled for March 27.

After the video conference involving the leaders of the seven IMF advanced economies - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States and the European Union, Abe told reporters that he had "secured support to hold the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in their complete form."

However, Abe did not indicate whether the leaders discussed any possible changes to the scheduling of either the Olympic or Paralympic Games.

The Olympics are scheduled to run from July 24 to August 9, with the Paralympics due to take place from August 25 to September 6.