U.S. President Donald Trump stepped up pressure against China on Thursday, saying that he might cut ties over Beijing's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Trump made the remarks during an interview with Fox Business, when asked how the U.S. might choose to retaliate over China's handling of the pandemic. 

Trump said that there are many things the U.S. could do and it could "cut off the whole relationship" with China, in which case the U.S. could save 500 billion dollars.

Fox News said it was one of Trump's strongest comments yet in dealing with China in the wake of the communist country's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  
Trump also said that he's "looking at" Chinese companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq exchange but do not follow U.S. accounting rules. 

The Trump administration has for weeks been accusing China of concealing the origin of the virus and the scale of the outbreak and has been mulling ways to possibly punish or seek financial compensation.